"Finding the vessel fast aground she anchored to windward and veered down alongside, when the Captain asked the Coxswain to do his best to salve her."

As was usual in such difficult conditions, a complement of men from each of the lifeboats boarded the wreck, an anchor being laid out in a suitable place.

Only then could the task of throwing over the side an amount of the cargo begin, but the worsening weather made this attempt to lighten the ship futile.

Shortly afterwards, "a great towering sea struck the Walmer lifeboat, broke the rope connecting her with the vessel, smashed her rudder and other parts of her steering gear, and carried her far away to leeward in a helpless condition with about half her crew aboard the stranded ship, over which the seas were by now making a clean breach."

In the attempt to veer close enough to accomplish this, the lifeboat was raised clear above the wreck, and in descending she was struck heavily by a part of the upper structure of the ship, narrowly escaping total destruction.

So fierce had conditions become that many of those stranded upon the ‘Cap Lopez’ had no other recourse other than to take to the rigging, and from there to jump for the lifeboat whenever the opportunity presented itself.