A maritime experiment from Nova Scotia sparked innovation – and legal drama – when one colossal raft was lost at sea, and another completed the journey to New York.

Timber rafting – the practice of binding felled logs into massive floating structures – was once a practical solution to a daunting challenge: how to transport thousands of tons of timber efficiently over long distances. Unlike loose log driving, timber rafts allowed for relative comfort. Crews could live aboard the raft in makeshift cabins, guiding it with oversized steering oars while it was towed by a tug.

But no raft had ever been attempted on the scale of the one launched from Joggins, Nova Scotia, in the fall of 1887.

The First Attempt – The Miranda Tow: Disaster at Sea

In November 1887, shipbuilder James D. Leary contracted with the steamer Miranda to tow an experimental cigar-shaped raft from Joggins to New York. Measuring 525 feet long and 50 feet wide, the raft held 21,000 logs – about three million board feet of timber – tightly bound with a patented network of internal chains.

This was no casual venture. The raft was built on shore under the supervision of a man named Robertson, who had a financial stake in the scheme. Leary hoped this innovation would revolutionize timber transport, reducing the need for entire fleets of lumber schooners.

But the sea had other plans.

After departing Joggins on December 8, 1887, the Miranda and her tow encountered increasingly severe weather. Within days, gale-force winds and high seas battered the raft. On December 18, during a hurricane off the coast of Block Island, both towing hawsers broke. The raft was lost.

Despite rescue efforts – including a search by the U.S. Navy ship Enterprise – the raft was never recovered. Debris was spotted days later by the steamer Missouri, which reported a floating field of logs stretching five miles across the Atlantic.

Leary sued the owners of the Miranda, claiming negligence in the tow. The case was dismissed. The court ruled that the loss was due to the ‘perils of the sea’ and not to any fault by the tug’s crew or equipment.

The Second Attempt – the Underwriter Tow: Success in 1888

Undeterred by the loss – and presumably still convinced of the concept’s potential – Leary tried again the following year. In the summer of 1888, a new raft was assembled at Joggins, this time slightly larger: 595 feet long and 55 feet wide, made of approximately 24,000 spruce logs.

This time, the raft was towed by two of the most powerful tugboats available: the Underwriter and the Ocean King. It had no crew, no steering, and no propulsion – just a system of lights and a small team aboard for safety.

The raft reached Vineyard Haven, Massachusetts, on August 8 to great public excitement. Thousands came out in boats or climbed aboard. ‘She was black with human beings’, the New York Herald reported.

Two days later, the raft successfully passed through Hell Gate and under the Brooklyn Bridge, reportedly depositing its timber along the Harlem River as landfill for the Astor estate. It was a remarkable, if lumbering, success – and a full vindication of Leary’s original idea.

He wasn’t done yet. In 1890, a third raft – this one over 1,000 feet long and hitched together in 17 articulated sections – made it as far as Vineyard Haven before taking shelter from bad weather. This one was described as a ‘slocated sea snake’ by onlookers.