Wreck Dive

[DandyDon]

Hi All,

A friend of mine turned me on to this dive site last summer . It turned out to be a wooden ship buried deep in the muck. After spending quite a few days/weeks digging, we finally hit a little paydirt and came up with the following items. Two coins one from 1775 and another from 1834, some pieces of a platter, silverware and a glass bottle stopper .

We are both looking forward for the weather to break here so we can hit it again in the spring.

 

[DandyDon]

no, i meant the patina makes it look like its red and blue- at least on my screen. it is in beautiful shape.

DR that's fine, just didn't know if it was OK or if there was something wrong with the coin or not. As for the colors, they're real and don't wash off.

DD

 

[Calworks]

AWESOME FINDS.

CAN A PERSON WITH BAD EARS DIVE?

 

[DandyDon]

AWESOME FINDS.

CAN A PERSON WITH BAD EARS DIVE?

What do you mean by bad ears, hearing loss or that you can not clear your ears or equalize the pressure in them. If you can not equalize the pressure, you risk rupturing your ear drums and that hurts like the dickens. If you just have loss of hearing and can clear your ears - there shouldn't be a problem. But like with all sports, please see your doctor and get a physical before spending the money to get certified.

DD

 

[Calworks]

Besides the hearing loss, which I knew wouldn't be a prob, but have perforated ear drums. Can clear them, most times they clear by themselves, but I'm not under water either

 

[Daisy]

Hello Don,

I'm sorry it's taken so long to reply to your email. I've been out of commission for a while. If you could email me a picture of the plater pieced together as best you can without actually having to "glue it" ; I might be able to clean up the image using some imaging software.

As for drying out wooden items, I have to say I'm against it. The risk of deterioration is too high. I *think* the best way to preserve them is to remove the salt content by giving it fresh water baths. Follow this with a PEG (polyethylene glycol) treatment. It basically "fills" the cells with a waxy substance while preserving the shape of the wood. There are tons of how-to sites on the net that you can research along with other methods. Assuming of course the relic is worth the expense of time and money.

Good luck and keep us posted!
Daisy

 

[DandyDon]

Hi Daisy,

Sorry to hear that you were out - hope your feeling better. As for the wood and plater, they were both found in fresh water and kept in the same lake water until I contacted one of the museum's and asked them how to care for them. The fork and knives are in pretty good shape now, as for the platter, what I'll do for you is use the modeling clay that I have and piece it together. By using the clay I can prop the sections up and give you a more realist perspective of what the plater looks like. Once done, I'll be more than happy to send/email you the pictures for your preview.

Thanks again,

Don

 

[rosevelt]

I've always wanted to go scubadiving to find TREASURE!!!!!!! Good Luck with that

-Mike

 

[SimonLakeSub]

Hi Don ,,,,Some years back I dug a top of a 18th century cane ( about the size of a golf ball ) It was carved and was a neat find ,, Well after about a few months, it started to shrink and crack ,, An old timer suggested soaking it GLYCERINE well after (soaking) about a month the crack closed . It dried perfectly,, and left no shine or coating,, That was 25 yrs ago, This method worked for me !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Regards Simon

 

[DandyDon]

Simon,

Thanks for the hint as to soaking my handle in GLYCERINE. As for piecing together my plater - what do you recommend? As of now, I've pieced together all the parts that I have with clear package tape as it is 2 inches wide. However, I would like to use something better than that as it eventually gives and the pieces fall apart. As for updated pictures of the platter, I hope to have some by the end of the week. I also plan to use tracing paper to copy the pattern and then use it to fill in the voids to give it some definition as to its size and shape.

Don

 

[SimonLakeSub]

Hi Don , You may want to use 5 min. epoxy I like it!! dries in 5 mins. But BIG disadvantage is once its glued ,,,, Its glued !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So be carefull and play around with pieces that you just want to experiment with , Important!! the key is once after about 1 min. take your finger nail and glide it over the 2 pieces that you have joined together to match the fit ,, than after the 5 mins . take a pin and remove the excess glue. No glue should be showing where you glued the pieces together!!!!! Always us just a drop of glue ,,,, Plus you have to Mix the 2 liquids evenly ,, once again many people don't like this method because once its glued its stuck!!! Your platter looks like something called transfer ware .. maybe English about 1840
( Just a guess ) Does it have any markings on the bottom?? 18th century pottery is usually not marked ............ carefull with the 5 min. epoxy........ (use a pin to mix the 2 parts)
Simon....

 

[DandyDon]

Hi Simon,

No, there no marking on the back of the platter, spent a good hour looking over the pieces for any kind of trade mark and there just isn't any. Of the eleven pieces that were originally found, I was finally able to piece them all together. As for the platter, it still has a lot of pieces missing from the outer rim and some from the center. Hopefully I'll be able to recover the rest of the platter this summer as it is really quite a nice design.

Don

 

[tinpan]

"CONGRATS ON YOU FINDS"Awsome and chance you can post a pic of the glass bottle stopper
t.p

 

[DandyDon]

Hi TP,

Here is a picture of the bottle stopper/topper that you requested.

Don

 

[DandyDon]

Calworks,

Like I mentioned before, since you have do have perforated ear-drums, you really should see a physician, this way it will clear up any questions you have before signing up for classes.

Don

 

[Baggins]

Those are some great finds!

 

[Snee]

Really great finds!!

 

[DandyDon]

All,

I put the platter together with the pieces that I currently have (see Pics). My plan is to copy the platters design of those pieces that I have and then overlaying them on some styrofoam make up the missing outer rim of the platter.

Don

 

[treasuremaster]

Awsome Finds. Keep us updated


Hound Dog