Dramatic pictures of this incident which speak for themselves, a lot of the ships cargo was beech timber which was shed overboard during this incident and then to lighten the ship prior to refloating, this timber presumably was to be used in local furniture production. The ship was eventually refloated and inspected / surveyed for damage sustained etc .

There is a technical difference between the jetsam which has been voluntarily cast into the sea by the crew of a ship, usually in order to lighten it in an emergency and flotsam which describes goods that are floating on the water often after a shipwreck without having been thrown in deliberately. Generally speaking, jetsam is the property of the finder, while flotsam remains the property of its original owner. Many local people were collecting the timber from the beach around the bay until the Customs stepped in to state that it was illegal to do so. I know of one local Customs Official who soon after the incident, was walking in Seaford town where someone had collected some of the timber and stacked it in their back garden. Unfortunately they stood it "on end" to dry out, thus leaving the tops visible over the garden wall, much to the delight of the Customs Officer who promptly stepped in to "Recover the property for the Crown".

Further to the flotsam/jetsam issue, I remember it as flotsam floating off and jetsam being jettisoned. In the late 70's or early 80's a freighter - the Arrosette - was forced to jettison it's deck cargo of timber to correct a list whilst in serious trouble off of Beachy Head (photos on the Newhaven lifeboat website). Everyone was waiting for this timber bounty to wash up on the shore but all but one piece travelled all the way across channel and ended up in France. The sole piece that came ashore here ended up above the bar of the Beachy Head hotel following a renovation.

I was involved in the Walter Richter original rescue as I turned up to watch, she came ashore and I got handed the 'wrong' end of the breeches buoy rope i.e. as the Coastguards and Police hauled in the 'right' end and brought the crew ashore, Roy Bellingham and I (and others) got pulled into the surf!! Luckily we had some central heating with us (a bottle of Scotch) so no harm was done. Very exciting!