In what could be a race against time, researchers are scrambling to gather all the data they can about a section of an old sailing ship that washed ashore on a Florida beach near St. Augustine before the sea reclaims its prize.

The 48-foot section of ship washed ashore overnight Tuesday on Vilano Beach, according to the Florida Times-Union, and since then researchers from the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Maritime Museum have been documenting the remains.

They say that it could date back to the 1700s.

The problem is that technically the remains belong to the state, and with high tide threatening to drag the boat's remains back into the water, there isn't much time, according to the Times-Union.

It's a surprisingly well preserved section of the boat, researchers said. Museum historian Brendan Burke told the newspaper there are signs the wood was once sheathed in copper and Roman numerals were found on its wooden ribs.

Crews have begun documenting, measuring and photographing the remains in hopes to learn more about its origin. With the photographs, researchers could create a 3-D model of the hull, reports the Times-Union.

The wreckage was found around 8 a.m. by Juliano Turner, a Vilano Beach resident, and her 8-year-old son. When she first saw the husk, she thought it was a part of a fence or dune walkover that had washed ashore. But her son said he knew what it was right away.

"When I looked out the window, it was immediately a ship," he told the newspaper.