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Papa Bear
06-11-2009, 01:40 AM
I have been asked to be on a team to map and document a new Spanish Wreck that is unidentified at present. We are putting the team together and will be leaving next month. It will be quite an experience and will produce a lot of pictures and a new Video. I will keep all informed and this is the first place to have this news. We maybe recruiting in the future for volunteers to help with the mapping. All your skills will need to be top notch;) and a good ability to follow directions.

The Publisher
06-11-2009, 01:57 AM
We are looking forward to reports and video. Sounds like quite the adventure.

shinek
06-11-2009, 04:55 PM
Sounds interesting, when will we be seeing you, or your footage, on the Discovery Channel?

Papa Bear
06-11-2009, 10:16 PM
That's a good question? We fly out the 6th of July to survey the site! We will grid document the site.... So far 20 canon have been identified as canon! I am told it is at a location that will be challenging, but the viz looks pretty good! So I will have to get permission from the guy who has found and registered it, before I can post or release info on it! The last thing he wants is a contaminated site with divers and boat traffic! :iagree: So if all goes well some time in July!

acelockco
06-12-2009, 02:14 AM
We maybe recruiting in the future for volunteers to help with the mapping. All your skills will need to be top notch;) and a good ability to follow directions.

Darn, I would love to help but that ability to follow directions is going to be an issue. :rolleyes:

Papa Bear
06-12-2009, 04:10 AM
You can always LOCK away that side! Don't lose the key! :iagree:

acelockco
06-13-2009, 12:09 AM
You can always LOCK away that side! Don't lose the key! :iagree:

LOL, well if someone decides they need help and are willing to pay my way out there and such, let me know. I would just have to bite my tongue. You know it would be worth it if I was diving for free or even better, getting paid to dive. :D

Papa Bear
06-13-2009, 04:24 AM
I have the feeling it will be at best a Mel Fisher kind of deal, where once the ground work is done they will charge to dive it and offer a Archeologist cert for your wallet! Under the new rules that Clinton signed in 1993, no real money comes from the wreck like in the old days! Government, Museums, and the Production people make it all! One of the real ways is to have people pay to dive, but they do get to be a part of it and history! So no new mansion on the hill for me, just the same one:rolleyes::violin:

Papa Bear
06-17-2009, 04:12 AM
It is official! We leave July 6th 2009! Look out Cannon here I come!

Papa Bear
07-08-2009, 12:37 AM
I am here on site and a lot has happened! We flew in yesterday to find out that the boat we had arranged was not available!!!! So now we have burned a day trying to find one! The local dive ops want big bucks and one that "Would have done it" has two of three boats broke down! It is only two miles, but maybe the longest two in history! Waiting to have a beer with a captain with a boat who might be interested??? Next the two divers who found it are now fighting over it and the locals don't know who to trust! The other guy is talking about bringing up stuff without state permission! The plot thickens! This is not easy stuff! I will try to keep you posted!:mad2::mad2::mad2:

The Publisher
07-08-2009, 12:43 AM
Sounds like high drama on the high seas!

Papa Bear
07-08-2009, 04:24 AM
Latest update! WE HAVE A BOAT! In the morning at 7:00am for our first survey dive on the Canon! We have done our home work at the local museum and have an appointment with the curator on Thursday for an interview! She might have some insight??? We are the local talk on the Island and this is gaining momentum! We spoke to an understanding Harbor Master that with our introduction seems to be behind our efforts! This is turning into high drama!

acelockco
07-08-2009, 03:42 PM
Sounds like the real fun is about to begin. PLEASE post some photos and video as you keep us updated.

Papa Bear
07-09-2009, 07:02 AM
Latest news! We meet the boat this morning at 7:00am and the Captain and boat are top notch! The wind not so much, it was top Knots though, and we were looking for something else to do! We headed for the other side of the Island to get in some kind of dive in! We were told of another wreck and thought we might at least get some practice in! Well to add to all this I have had battery issues and one of my Strobes seems to have run a foul of TSA and the plastic retainer was broken of in the Strobe! Seems this wreck my have a curse on it! So I Jerry-rigged one strobe and we packed both the still and Video cameras into a Ford Ranger..... After the captain gave us the no go we headed for the known wreck, as I was saying and we found a couple divers coming out who reported 15ft viz on the sight! So much for my 10-22mm lens! No macro, didn't think I would need it! So our guide suggested a Cave system we might want to checkout and we were all smiles!

Right in front of the cave the clutch goes out on the Ford and we have to push it out of the road! Our guide says stay with the gear and car and he will hike out to were he can get a phone signal and call a friend! Well needles to say we just got in from a long day!

The weather is supposed to change tomorrow and we have been promised the boat all day Friday! The tanks and air have been provided free, but the boat has to be paid for! To say things have not been going smooth is like saying the Economic Stimulus isn't working! NO ****!

I have land pictures and a lot of raw video for the story that will get told!

It is an ADVENTURE and that is 3/4 of the fun! The Country we are in runs things very different than we are used to, like ramp permits, and some boats not being able to go out of certain harbors!

The word is getting out and more people are interested in what we are doing and are giving the finder more credibility! The poor guy is trying to do it right but has no budget and things are breaking besides dawn!

One of use is sleeping in a recliner chair and I have a couch I am calling home! It is seeming we will need a lot more time and resources on this one!

The other diver who found the wreck has hooked up with a fellow who claims to have worked for Mel Fisher and are talking about bring "Stuff" up and a lot of locals are afraid they will cross the government! Is it BS? Who knows, Mel knew a lot of people in his life including me! Sorry I have not processed any photos yet, but time is slipping through our hands and a week will soon over! Now it seems a lot of people want to dive with us and leaned their boat to the effort! :mad2: This ship finding and discovery stuff is for the very well organized or well healed who have a lot of time and money!:mad2

Papa Bear
07-09-2009, 07:43 PM
Latest while we wait for the Vehicles to be fixed! Weather is improving and we have high hopes for tomorrow! We have found out a few more details and we no believe it may not be Spanish, but a 300 year old Gun runner that had canyon on from a couple different countries! It maybe 150 ton ship that was used to fight against neighboring Island Nations???? Eight canon so far have been discerned from the pictures taken by the discoverer! So it will be interesting what we can find tomorrow to confirm or bust our bubble???? More to come!

Papa Bear
07-10-2009, 06:55 AM
Things are not looking so hot!!! We lost the Friday boat with a promise of Saturday! This Shipwreck stuff is hard on the nerves and the pocket book! We will hopefully get one day on the wreck or it will be next time weather permitting! The thing that mad it a wreck in the first place! We have a new player asking about helping, but it maybe too little too late????

acelockco
07-10-2009, 08:17 PM
weather permitting! The thing that mad it a wreck in the first place!

How do you know that? It could have been sunk during a battle, it could have been scuttled, or even had a collision. I am wondering, as you still are not sure what the wreck was, or it's orig ion how you would know it was sunk due to weather.

Papa Bear
07-10-2009, 10:41 PM
Assuming weather was at least one factor due its sallow location and its nearness to save anchorage! It looks like it was blown into sallow water and sunk! We hope to know more if we can get on it for the survey! We just got back from the Historical Society and some good leads! It is like a big puzzle and we have just s few of the pieces so far! We were told the Smithsonian was on a wreck on the other end and it took 4 weeks to find one object and four years to survey it! Believe me everyone who knows has their theory of how it got where it is!

Papa Bear
07-12-2009, 06:00 AM
Well it has been a learning experience to say the least! I think the locals did not believe the fellow who found it was creditable? So when we showed up with the right credentials and the Harbor Master, the Government, and the Museum behind us it got real, but people mad other plans not thinking it was going to happen! So we have made contacts and lined up real help for next time! We have talked to people who are now excited about what we are planning!

Papa Bear
07-13-2009, 03:48 AM
Well the weather just broke and so are we! The founder is flying off to the capital to talk with the government to see what help we can get since the local boats can't or won't! This was a very frustrating first trip because we could not start the survey as hoped and the weather will play such role in the future as well..... The canyons look Spanish, but we have nothing but a few pictures of them to go by! It is hit and miss with the weather and the logistics, and this time it was logistics that got us! We were in a small shop and the owner asked us about what brought us here and after telling him he responded that his best friend had a boat and he wished he had known as "It would have been no problem for his friend, who would have loved to be involved with such a project!" Go figure! We fly out tomorrow night and will be home sometime Tuesday and I will try to get some pictures of the land part up! Maybe a couple of the Canyon, so stand by! Is the treasure in the hunt???? If so we did find a little, because we have nothing else at this time!

Papa Bear
07-20-2009, 03:55 AM
Pictures and the start of the story are up at our web site: http://twotankedproductions.com/whatwedo/underwatersurveys.html

http://twotankedproductions.com/images/820__MG_2412_Beach_on_east_side_near_wreck_Kauai_0 9.jpg

Near the wreck site.

Papa Bear
07-20-2009, 04:09 AM
This is the boat that was the closest to getting us there, thank you Captain Elis!
http://twotankedproductions.com/images/820_DSC01729_Elises_Boat_at_Nawillywilly_Hawaii_09 .jpg

lottie
07-20-2009, 04:54 AM
Sounds fascinating and those pictures are fantastic

The Publisher
07-20-2009, 04:27 PM
That is a slick looking boat....was it raining at the time of the pic? It looks like there were water drops on the lens...

Papa Bear
07-20-2009, 07:25 PM
With 466 inches average per year it was always raining! Had the small HD in the sport housing to keep it dry.......

Papa Bear
07-20-2009, 07:27 PM
It was so funny, he put up the fishing poles so people would think it was a fishing charter..... The rules are just nuts, you would think it was a third world country, but things would have been easier! ;) :mad2:

Papa Bear
07-22-2009, 02:41 AM
Correction! We saw a lot more Canyons than Cannon, but it was cannon we were looking for! I had canyons on my mind since I saw some very beautiful ones and was labeling my pictures of Wiamea Canyon and had Canyon on the brain! So please substitute Cannon for canyon where appropriate! Sorry for any miss understanding, I really need an editor!

Papa Bear
07-22-2009, 04:02 AM
From Wikipedia:
Kamehameha was now aliʻi nui of all of Hawaiʻi east of Oʻahu, but the islands of Kauaʻi and Niʻihau continued to elude him. When he attempted to invade the islands in 1796, his governor on Hawaiʻi, Namakeha, led a rebellion against his rule, and Kamehameha was forced to return. In 1803 he tried again, but this time, disease broke out among his warriors; Kamehameha himself fell ill, though he later recovered. During this time, Kamehameha was amassing the largest armada Hawaiʻi had ever seen - foreign-built schooners and massive war canoes, armed with cannon and carrying his vast army. Kaumualiʻi, aliʻi nui of Kauaʻi, watched as Kamehameha built up his invading force and decided he would have a better chance in negotiation than battle. He may also have been influenced by foreign merchants, who saw the continuing feud between Kamehameha and Kaumualiʻi as bad for the sandalwood trade.

We believe this is one of the Schooners he had built!

phmadeira
07-29-2009, 07:52 PM
Hello, I'm just inquiring about this and waiting for the video and...

Papa Bear
07-30-2009, 04:20 AM
The video is in the works, but I have a couple other projects including Roatan Honduras and Bonaire in September! We have been called by the State Archeologist and been promised more support, but the Harbor Master Shawn is our best bet..... He seemed very reliable and that Island that is a hard thing to find! If you want to know what it would be like to legalize POT spend some time there! You will see why nothing gets done!

If you have any questions please feel free to ask and I will do my best, short of GPS coordinates, to answer...... The Adventure continues!

phmadeira
07-30-2009, 08:29 AM
i think you already have a lot of diver / videographager etc to help all your project, but if you need some help
let me know
http://www.la-video-sous-marine.com/underwater-video/index.htm

Papa Bear
07-31-2009, 01:43 AM
Very nice site! We might need help? You never know? The history is very intriguing for the state and those interest in Hawaiian history and culture! I am surprised more has not been done! This was a turning point in the Islands and the first time they were unified under one government......

Anyway, thanks for your interest and we will be moving forward, I hope, as soon as someone can get organized and take this project seriously!