Moelfre surf

About 500 metres north of the lovely old fishing village of Moelfre is Porth Helaeth. Sadly its a spot with terrible history. On the 26th October 1859 the steam clipper Royal Charter was wrecked with the loss of around 450 souls. The weather had reached hurricane force and and when the wind direction changed from north west to north and increased in strength the already stranded ship broke in half and was flooded in a few minutes . Unfortunately the women and children were sheltering below decks . Many of the passengers were returning from Australia, having made their fortunes in the goldfields.They world have the gold in their clothing, which obviously would have impeded them.
It was and still is one of the worst wrecks in British history . As a result of the disaster there was massive leap forward in weather forecasting, which included the use of the Beaufort scale to measure and indicate wind strength,  which is still in use today . 
The painting illustrates the conditions in a northerly but in far calmer conditions than those of that fateful night. 
 
Oil on canvas framed in blue