[3] In the mid-morning of 23 February 1812, Blossom was five leagues (24 km) off Cabrera when a strange schooner sailed towards her, mistaking her for a merchantman.

She had made no captures but within the previous five days her excellent sailing had enabled her to evade two British frigates and a brig.

[4] On 18 August 1812, shortly after the outbreak of war with America, Blossom and Hyacinth were in sight when the letter of marque Sir Alexander Ball captured the American ship Grace Ann Green.

His soundings revealed that it was a large rock, whose top was 5 feet (1.5 m) below the water line at mean low tide.

Beechey also discovered that two especially prominent giant sequoia trees on the east coast of the bay could serve as a navigational aid to locate the position of the rock, allowing ships to bypass the obstacle and avoid a wreck.

In 1870, American military engineers, led by R. S. Williamson, were able to develop technology adequate to remove enough of Blossom Rock to mitigate the hazard to ships.