huntsman53
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Being as I worked for the National Weather Service for almost 33 years, I can attest to the raw power of Hurricanes! However, I will contest the theory that a Hurricane will move Spanish shipwreck coins for hundreds of miles across the state of Florida. Across the Florida Keys, yes but the entire state no! There are too many variables to consider and two that have to remain fairly constant is fluid unimpeded water and unimpeded winds. The size of a storm surge can reach enormous sizes while a Hurricane travels over open, deep water, however, as the storm surge and eventually the Hurricane runs into a Coral Reef as is the case around most of the state of Florida, the storm surge diminishes rapidly due to lack of depth and volume of water. Now, since the water along much of Florida's coastline lying inside the boundaries of the Coral Reef is generally 50 feet or less in depth and get's shallower as you near the beach or coastline, the storm surge looses more and more intensity and depth. Also, you combine the aforementioned with the many Coral and rock outcroppings that especially plague part of Florida's east Coast, a storm surge's strength is diminished even more by these. I will grant you that the storm surge of a Hurricane can pick up coins from the bottom of the shallow water along a coastline, fling them into the air as waves break and then they can be carried hundreds of yards to possibly a few miles inland depending upon their' sizes and composition! However, even though individual coins are not very heavy, they are still subject to gravity which is a constant even when the forces (water and wind) that carried them into the air continue to propel them along. Since the true storm surge of a Hurricane diminishes rapidly as it travels inland, the coins loose the fluidity needed if carried by water and since the winds of a Hurricane become somewhat variable and hindered as they travel across land (due to terrain, trees and buildings), the coins rapidly loose the propulsion needed to continue on for miles and miles and miles. One must remember that although both are extreme low pressure systems, a Hurricane is not a Tornado which can easily suck items high up into it's circulation and carry these items for as much as 25, 50, 75 or even 100 miles as some Tornadoes have been known to do! The cases of the Santa Margarita and Atocha shipwrecks are great examples of how both the storm surge and winds of Hurricanes can carry large fairly intact items (in this case ships) and most of their' cargo for many, many miles. Even though both were sunk by Hurricanes, they both sat reasonably intact on the bottom of the ocean and were then propelled along the bottom and probably at times off the bottom by preceding Hurricanes that eventually tore them apart mainly by the storm surge action and collisions with the bottom where they collided with Coral Heads, rocks, shoals and mainly underwater sandbars. While a vast majority of the cargo and other items (cannons, dinnerware, sextants, etc., etc.) have been salvaged from these two shipwrecks, there is still a lot that has not been found and especially so with the Atocha whose' Sterncastle (sometimes called Stemcastle) has never been found. Now, unless you worked on either of these shipwrecks (either in the water or in doing research) or know someone that worked on them and are privy to their' locations, don't think that you can find either by using the Nautical charts that show their' location as the their' true locations have been skewed to protect both of the sites from anyone (looking for a quick score) other than those authorized to work the sites. I knew Mel Fisher, his wife and one of Mel's Salvage Photograpers and spent some time discussing both the Santa Margarita and Atocha wrecks and their' finds up until late 1984. I sold my' 1977 Pontiac Grand Prix to Mel's Salvage Photographer (who's name escapes me as it was 29 years ago) and gave him pertinent information on the Hurricanes that carried both the Santa Margarita and Atocha ships away from their’ original resting places which may or may not have been of benefit to Mel, his' salvage crews and Researchers.
I spent a total of 5 years and 11 months on the tiny island (Key) of Key West (November 19, 1978 to October 19, 1984), working for the National Weather Service first as an Upper Air Technician trainee, then a Meteorological Technician trainee, then as a Meteorological Technician. In my spare time, besides fishing, catching shrimp and blue crabs and metal detecting, I studied books containing logs from the Captains of many Spanish Galleons in an attempt to gleam where the Hurricanes developed and traveled that carried off the Santa Margarita and Atocha wrecks.
Frank
I spent a total of 5 years and 11 months on the tiny island (Key) of Key West (November 19, 1978 to October 19, 1984), working for the National Weather Service first as an Upper Air Technician trainee, then a Meteorological Technician trainee, then as a Meteorological Technician. In my spare time, besides fishing, catching shrimp and blue crabs and metal detecting, I studied books containing logs from the Captains of many Spanish Galleons in an attempt to gleam where the Hurricanes developed and traveled that carried off the Santa Margarita and Atocha wrecks.
Frank
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