New Spanish Wreck Discovered!

[The Publisher]

Sounds like high drama on the high seas!

[Papa Bear]

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]

Sounds like the real fun is about to begin. PLEASE post some photos and video as you keep us updated.

[Papa Bear]

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! 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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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!