Slobodna Shipwreck "Winch Hole"
The Winch Hole site is believed to contain remnants of the 1887 Austrian sailing vessel Slobodna which ran aground Molasses Reef on March 16, 1887 in Key Largo, Florida, carrying 4,500 bales of cotton. The site contains a large 8 foot winch or windlass and numerous additional wreckage. It is believed that this winch once belonged to the Slobodna; a 170-foot wooden schooner those three years after its completion ran aground and bilged. Wreckage is scattered throughout a large area which contains a number of deck riggings, a large mast, and a boom which is not is not seen at the "Mast Wreck Site" suggesting the association of the two sites. If identified as the Slobodna, the sailing vessel would be the only representative ship of its era in the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park adding to our understanding and interpretation of the past.
