The small coastal lugger Foam loaded paving stones at Red Bay bound for Belfast, but off Garron Point she encountered a strong south-easterly gale and her skipper had no option but to put about and run for shelter. The nearest shelter in a south-easterly was Church Bay but straining under full sail and a heavy cargo, the Foam began to leak quite badly and the skipper had no alternative on reaching Church Bay but to beach his vessel, in the hope that the leak could be repaired. Before this could be done, the wind backed into the northwest and increased to force nine. With the strong wind a heavy swell got up and the Foam began to pound very heavily. It soon became quite clear that nothing could be done to save the vessel, so the crew abandoned her to the mercy of the sea to become yet another victim of Rathlin’s treacherous coastline.

It is not known in which part of Church Bay the Foam was wrecked but one would presume that in a south-easterly a vessel entering the bay would seek shelter in the area of the old mill or kelp sore especially if, as in the case of the Foam, the intention was to beach the vessel. I would imagine that very little, if anything, remains of this vessel as she was so small.

It was quite common practice at that time for a boat to take a cargo of paving or cobble stones as they were sometimes called from suitable sites along the coast. In fact, Rathlin can boast that she helped pave the streets of Belfast for at one time paving stones were shipped from the east side of the island for this purpose.