Shipwreck Treasure Hunting

aquanut

Bronze Member
Jul 12, 2005
2,162
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Sebastian, Florida
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I thought I'd just try to layout some things I have gotten involved with lately and at the same time not release any information that may involve my partners, past and present. Many of you don't know or care who I am and I like that. This is just to let you know what kind of interesting projects I get myself involved in. There is a project we're trying to get together on the Serranilla Bank, another off the shores of the Honduras, another in the Bahamas, and a look see around the Alabama area. Additionally my current partners and I are surveying six sites in the Gulf of Mexico. There will be no further information forthcoming so don't bother to ask. The reason for starting this thread is to find out what and who is actively trying to look for shipwrecks, where they are searching and any other discussion they would like to bring to the table.
BTW, treasurehuntin' tom, it's good to hear from you. I hope all is well. I still have those ming bowls I intend to give to my potter uncle in Virginia if I ever get back up that way.
Aquanut
 

old man

Bronze Member
Aug 12, 2003
1,773
1,709
East Coast
John, It's nice to see someone start a thread with no drama involved. You forgot to mention the deep water wreck with the rectangular bars and 8 to 12 foot cylindrical objects that were picked up with the side scan near Key West. I also heard that some gold coins were found by some fishermen in the Country where Pete's wreck is. :icon_pirat:
 

cpt scuba

Jr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
75
2
i dive the gulf between tampa and the dry tortugas .. spearfishing and lobster mostly .. allways an eye out for a wreck so far nothing very old .. would love to help someone find a good wreck in the gulf ... 35 years experience ..captain ... dive instructor .. mechanic ...welder ... inventor ... dug most all the1733wrecks years ago .. anyone need help let me know
 

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aquanut

aquanut

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Jul 12, 2005
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Old Man, Feel free to tell as much as you dare.
Cpt Scuba You're talking about an area that has held the interest of a few of us. It's unlikely you'll visual much above the sand in the way of old wrecks. There are wrecks out there where you're going, although there won't be any record in the archives or anywhere else for that matter. The more eyes and ears we have out there, the more likely something will be found. We have some info in that area that requires dragging a mag. I don't see the harm, but the state seems to frown on "exploring without a permit", so all we do is go fishin' with large lures. All outside the 9 mile limit of course.
Aquanut
 

old man

Bronze Member
Aug 12, 2003
1,773
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aquanut said:
Old Man, Feel free to tell as much as you dare.
Cpt Scuba You're talking about an area that has held the interest of a few of us. It's unlikely you'll visual much above the sand in the way of old wrecks. There are wrecks out there where you're going, although there won't be any record in the archives or anywhere else for that matter. The more eyes and ears we have out there, the more likely something will be found. We have some info in that area that requires dragging a mag. I don't see the harm, but the state seems to frown on "exploring without a permit", so all we do is go fishin' with large lures. All outside the 9 mile limit of course.
Aquanut

John, I'd go into detail, but I just noticed that my IP address appears at the bottom of my posted name. I'd rather not give too much info to UNCLE Sam.
 

signumops

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Feb 28, 2007
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Hey Aquanut:

Strange turn of events:
Some nations are beginning to realize that the UNESCO convention is primarily a management device designed by Europeans to exert their separate claims to everything lying in the sovereign waters of the third world. Globalization at the expense of everyone who doesn’t know any better. This is called “World Heritage” in ideologue speak.

Enter Spain who has effectively said, “No, it does not belong to the world, it belongs to Spain, and we’ll get the PC types in the American government to help us make it so.” Read: “Let’s steal everything we can from these dumb asses by using a ‘legal precedent’ concocted by our fifth column confederates in the egalitarian establishment.”

Result: third world begins to see that UNESCO is meaningless when money is involved.

Enter The Bahamas who, like most smaller nations with seaboard, basically have what might be referred to as a ‘structured settlement’ in place (thank you J.G. Wentworth), with wreckage all over the countryside, possibly with money to be had. They need the money, they know it, and everybody knows it is probably there to be found. Found money; the best kind of money known to the luckless! Furthermore, as part of the Commonwealth, they see that they can have their national treasure if they pay a price for it, as is the case in England herself. But, they don’t have cash for treasure, so they examine the model devised in Florida some 50 years ago and see that it served Florida well enough (consider the many thousands of coins in the ‘study’ collection in Tallahassee). Found money! However, this is an invitation to commercialization, rather than archaeology, from the altruistic point of view. We are talking about found money, not ‘cultural resources’.

As things get tougher and tougher, more folks like the Bahamians will begin to entertain the actual concept of taking the term ‘cultural resource’ for its true, plain English meaning, to wit: a product of our culture which can be used. The double-speak standard of academic dialectics will take a back seat as ‘cultural resources’ terminology takes on a new meaning.

Now, philosophical conflict aside, could you possibly find a better place to train for underwater archaeology than the Bahamas? I can only think of a few spots that might be more advantageous, particularly the Med, but, still, consider everything the Bahamas has going for it from an academically suitable venue…

They have the proximity to North America and South America.
They have a vast potential undersea laboratory, much larger, per capita than anywhere else in the western hemisphere.
They have the weather.
They have supreme water conditions where an operation can be recorded visually and students can be deployed to work for extended periods on the bottom.
They have a stable government and enjoy the protection of the Commonwealth.
They have a long history of living as mariners, with a huge number of experienced sailors and captains available, along with commercial vessels suitable for support.
They have a long history in the wrecking trade as well.
They have friendly people, and the universal language, English, is the native tongue.
Did I mention their beautiful water?

I hope the Bahamians can profit from all of this with some sort of university extension dedicated to underwater archaeology, and I hope they manage their new venture into salvage with a benefit for everyone involved. No doubt, this potential academic institution will not be one anchored in the United States, but from Europe, perhaps England, where artifact collection is not deemed to be a religious experience as it seems to be touted here in the States.

If this pans out, possibly other countries will consider similar ventures. Meanwhile, strangeness does prevail. Consider the Dominican Republic, which just ratified UNESCO, effectively ending 20 or more years of commercial enterprise that has netted the country millions in recovered ‘cultural resources’. A mystery for sure.

Cay Sal Bank.
 

FISHEYE

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Feb 27, 2004
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Cpt Scuba,

Your IP address can only be seen by you and not anyone who posts here with the exception of the owners of the website and the moderators.However if you email someone your IP number can be extracted from the mail then traced directly to your door step by anyone that knows how to do this:)If you want to stay anon on the net,use a wireless from one of the many free wireless sites all over the state of florida or even hack into one.
 

Alexandre

Bronze Member
Oct 21, 2009
1,047
432
Lisbon
signumops said:
Hey Aquanut:

Strange turn of events:
Some nations are beginning to realize that the UNESCO convention is primarily a management device designed by Europeans to exert their separate claims to everything lying in the sovereign waters of the third world. Globalization at the expense of everyone who doesn’t know any better. This is called “World Heritage” in ideologue speak.
Result: third world begins to see that UNESCO is meaningless when money is involved.

You are wrong. Look at Namibia - an African country on whose shores a portuguese ship from the 1530's was discovered with a lot of gold on board.

No only have they kept the site and the artifacts, they have even signed the UNESCO Convention after that find!

And Portugal has cooperated - not hindered them.

When will you learn that it is not WHO does it that matters, but HOW they do it?


http://ibnlive.in.com/generalnewsfe...e-successfully-rescued-in-namibia/793916.html

http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2009/10/shipwreck/smith-text.html
 

stevemc

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Feb 12, 2005
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I am always looking! I live on the West Coast of Florida, and have been diving all my life, and always looking. Growing up with a dad who was working Spanish shipwrecks before I was born, I just thought it was normal to do that. Still am. I have a few wrecks that I am looking for over here.
 

signumops

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Feb 28, 2007
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Hey Aquanut
Alexandre's retort was completely predictable, presumptive, and totally in character... he speaks to me as if I were his child and he were my parent. I expect nothing less. These happy little encounters remind me of the time General Sheridan sat down to smoke the peace pipe and browbeat Sitting Bull. Eventually Sheridan looked around and said: " E Gads! Where did all these &*!##$%$ Indians come from!!!? "

Meanwhile, you got my drift. And, I will also probably dig right in there on the 1715 wrecks and destroy as many artifacts as I possibly can, using dynamite and bulldozers this coming summer if nothing else pans out.
 

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aquanut

aquanut

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Hey Signumops,
My experience tells me that panning the 1715 fleet doesn't "pan out" very well. Too slow! LMAO. A man's gotta do what a mans gotta do! I'd like to shake up that reef of worm rock in front of Disney that sits about 100 ft off the Wabasso beach. I have often wondered if the stern castle of the Capitana didn't wind up there. It seems that whenever I find worm rock, there is often evidence of an old shipwreck. The worms have to have something to eat,right?
Aquanut
 

signumops

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That particular location you spoke of is the confluence of two wrecks, possibly three. Billy Elam did pretty well in that area. The theory is that some of that material is from the Corrigan Patch wreck and the San Martin. There was another vessel sailing with the San Martin... never really found. Because of some of the stuff found to the immediate south of the Disney area, including a very, very old anchor at the shoreline, and the cannon I located even farther south, I am suspicious that perhaps the San Martin's sister might be in there. No idea about the metrics on this ship, however. 1715 stuff sprinkled all through there, down, at least, to the Spring of Whitby.

Doug Armstrong did a serious survey and excavation at the dune in this area many years ago. I am going to reprint his manuscript this year. There was a salvage camp there.

BTW, Mike Brown works with Greg Bounds during the summer and Mike pans gold in Georgia and Alaska the rest of the year. He does pretty good! I've seen some of his collateral! I only wish there was some place close by where I could do that myself. You know, there was gold dust and nuggets recovered from the Rio Mar wreck. Maybe some of it got washed into the berm marl at the north side of the country club. I don't know how you would go about getting at it though.
 

FISHEYE

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Feb 27, 2004
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The only way to get suspended gold dust out of water is to use a high speed centrifuge and pump alot of water thru it.I have a centrifuge and a pump that can do this.Whats nice is you dont have to watch it,just turn on the pump and let it run all day or night then take apart the bowl and see all the gold thats trapped inside.I use this centrifuge for cleaning my waste cooking oil.It traps particles down to 1 micron.
 

cpt scuba

Jr. Member
Jul 17, 2006
75
2
aquanut .... let me know if you need a diver on one of these gulf trips ... usually got the time.. am good too 175 ft .. and can run a air lift
 

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aquanut

aquanut

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Jul 12, 2005
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cpt scuba said:
aquanut .... let me know if you need a diver on one of these gulf trips ... usually got the time.. am good too 175 ft .. and can run a air lift

I'll be in touch.
 

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