Diving to begin on possible wreck of 1622 Atocha fleet

[piratepete5055]

Off the coast of Key West Florida divers are seeking possible treasure aboard a shipwreck believed to be from the 1622 Atocha Fleet.They will begin Memorial Day weekend 2006 on preliminary salvage operations in the area known as the Kirby site. This wreck site is the last privately salvageable shipwreck in the United States. Dives are offered for interested parties.

visit www.thelastwreck.com for all the details.

 

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[Salvor6]

I have to argue with that last statement. It is the last privately salvageable wreck until the next one is found!

 

[wreckdiver1715]

I must agree w/ Salvor6 on this one. The web site makes it sound as this wreck is the last on yet to be discovered off the coast of Florida. I just happen to have it on good authority, that many shipwrecks remain to be discovered, and most will be privately salvaged. Well, if I have anything to do with it. Reads more like and advertising ploy to get divers out on charter dives.

 

[wreckdiver1715]

Of course this could be a good opportunity for some folks who are just looking for some adventure diving on a wreck who would be paying for a dive charter in the Key’s anyway, even if it’s not the last one. Dive charter competition is hot down in the Key’s this time of year, so, go dive it and have a good time blowing bubbles.
I know that I am regularly contacted by folks who are seeking the opportunity do dive an old Spanish Galleon just for the fun and excitement of it, and yes maybe the opportunity to find some treasure. There really is no one that I am aware of that offers this type of dive opportunity in Florida, maybe these guys are onto something.
I personally don’t take folks out on charter type dives, yet, and the sub-contractors on the 1715 fleet are forbidden by their contract to take visitors to the wreck sites. Could be an un-tapped market, and an entrepreneurial opportunity, or at the very least a way to offset the coast of fuel.

How many folks reading this would pony up an arbitrary figure of say $600.00 a day per person to dive some of the old wrecks along the coast during there vacation to Florida?

 

[rgecy]

I think this website was a bunch of BS. They have nothing of interest and have not proved they have a 1622 wreck. The website was vague and uninteresting.

As for the last statement, I can tell you personally that isn't the case. There will be another 1622 site revealed later this summer. But unlike these "investor seekers" we plan on actually recovering and documenting some treasure.

Robert in SC

 

[Chagy]

I have to argue with that last statement. It is the last privately salvageable wreck until the next one is found!

Hello my friend,

Glad to hear from you again, I will send you your log soon with the translation, there is not much to do, since you already know where the wreck is located.

Best of the season,


Chagy.........

 

[mad4wrecks]

My initial reaction of the website was, what a bunch of cr@p! They are already lining up dive charters to see what? the layer of crust they keep talking about?

Oh and nice photo gallery-a guy with a rock, some guys lounging on a boat....where do I send my check? LOL

I like to keep an open mind however, maybe they are on to something.

 

[Donovan]

When Mel Fisher bought a boatyard in Key West in the mid 70's he inherited Sam Kirby. Sam lived in a packing crate on the premises. He was an unemployed illeagle Australian, who panhandled and scammed any one he could. How he conned a group of Atlanta investors in 1987, into giving him $ 38,000 for his " 1622 wreck site " is amazing to me.
The first thing you do is your homework. These guys that are starting work Memorial day have not done theirs. The materials that have been recovered sound to me like prehistoric stuff. There is a lot of that around here. After all, the reefs we dive on today were a dry land pine forest about 10,000 years ago and had been dry land for 90,000 years. We have found pine cones, mastodon bones, pine wood. fresh water oysters, deer antlers and burned coral.... evidence of a forest fire. Right smack in the middle of the Margarita wreck site was a tree stump with roots stretching into the coral bottom, 22 feet deep. The pine cones were in 52 feet of water. The only legit artifacts that have been found in the area were from the wrong century to have been 1622 material.
Splash,
Donovan

 

[piratepete5055]

This is the last completely private salvage of a shipwreck. The arrest for this site was obtained before the abandoned shipwreck act.

 

[mariner]

The 1987 Abandoned Shipwreck Act is not the issue here. That was overtaken by the findings of the Federal Court of Appeal in the 2000 SeaHunt case involving the Juno and La Galga. The court ruled that Spanish shipwrecks in US waters cannot be inferred as abandoned simply because of time passing. They still belong to the original owner or their legal successors. Spain were awarded complete title to the Juno and La Galga, and SeaHunt got nothing. As a result of this ruling, title of no Spanish wrecks in US waters will now devolve to the coastal states, so Florida, Virginia etc cannot issue recovery permits for them, unless Spain agrees to having the wrecks recovered. This is not out of the question, in my opinion, despite the headlines such as "Spain declares war on Treasure Hunters!" that followed the SeaHunt ruling.

The permits for the Atocha and the known 1715 fleet etc. were issued before Spain decided to start exerting her rights under the 1902 Treaty with Spain, which was the basis of their appeal against the permits that Virginia had issued to SeaHunt. While Spain has apparently decided not to assert her rights retroactively, I doubt if we will see any of the coastal states issuing permits for newly discovered wrecks, even if they are in areas for which exclusive recovery rights have been issued.

Just my opinion,of course. I am glad to say that I am not a lawyer.

Mariner