Nimble Small Ballast Ingot No.2 (2019)

A stout iron ingot is square in cross-section and 18 inches (53 centimeters) long is one of eight found on a reef near Key Largo, Florida. It is a "half-size" piece, in that some of the other iron ingots at the site are exactly twice as long. These blocks of iron were ballast carried in the hold of a ship, to stabilize the vessel by making it bottom heavy. The site is thought to be where the British Royal Navy schooner *Nimble* ran aground on the Florida Reef while chasing the pirate-slaver *Guerrero* in 1827. *Nimble's* crew jettisoned iron ballast and iron shot to lighten the vessel, so it could float off the reef. Model created June, 2019. Scale = 20cm.