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The following is an ongoing account for the year 2009 regarding what is happening on each of
our 3 salvage vessels: The Magruder and The DARE on the Atocha wreck site and our sub-contractor
on the Margarita wreck site, The Blue Water Rose. Check back to see what the crews recover each
trip and what they are up to when they are stuck in port due to repairs or inclement weather.
For photos and more detailed information on items recovered visit our extensive artifact database.
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11/16/09 - 11/21/09
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The Magruder
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After the winds died down the crew set out for the site to find 7 silver coins, 6 musket balls, 1 ship's pin, and 4 EOs. Keep up the good work, we can't wait to see what is found on the next trip out.
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11/9/09 - 11/23/09
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The Dare
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After a prolonged period of high winds and rough seas the Dare crew headed to the site to find an emerald, 25 ballast stones, 2 empty holes and a bomb fragment before being forced back into port by a blown engine. They will rebuild the engine and head back out to sea as soon as possible.
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10/28/09 - 11/9/09
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All crews have been held in port due to high winds stemming from Hurricane Ida in the Gulf.
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10/24/09 - 10/27/09
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The Dare
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The crew found 17 ballast stones and uncovered 3 empty holes before the wind forced them back to port.
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10/7/09 - 10/19/09
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The JB Magruder
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The guys found 20 pottery sherds, 2 emeralds, 2 small nails, 1 glazed pottery sherd and uncovered 18 empty holes.
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10/14/09 - 10/17/09
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The Dare
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The crew uncovered 38 ballast stones, 1 ceramic sherd and 1 musket ball on this trip.
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9/28/09 - 10/04/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew found 266 ballast stones, 3 animal teeth, 134 pieces of lead sheathing, 240 olive jar sherds, 31 spikes, 29 barrel hoop fragments, 1 sword fragment, 11 animal bones, 17 EOs, 3 ship's pin heads, 1 blade fragment, 1 sword handle, 2 alababa sherds, 2 iron grommits, 1 musketball, 3 tacks along with uncovering 17 empty holes.
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9/26/09 - 10/7/09
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The Dare
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The crew found a timber with 2 spikes attached to it, 15 ballast stones, 1 copper fragment, 1 silver coin, 1 coin fragment, 1 EO and also found 11 bomb fragments while uncovering 15 empty holes.
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9/25/09 - 10/2/09
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J.B. Magruder
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The crew found 2 keys, a gold ring with a stone that is likely amethyst, 2 pieces of glazed pottery, 1 dagger, 2 square spikes, 2 nails, 18 pottery sherds, 1 lead bottle top, 1 EO, 1 OJ neck, 1 piece of lead sheathing and they also uncovered 24 empty holes. Great job striking gold! Today's the Day!
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9/12/09 - 9/19/09
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The Dare
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The guys found 2 EOs, 2 pieces of pottery and uncovered 25 empty holes.
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9/11/09 - 9/23/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew uncovered 65 empty holes, found 48 spikes, 6 animal bones, 2,193 ballast stones, 8 musket balls, 235 pieces of lead sheathing, 20 barrel hoop fragments, 1 split shot, 282 olive jar sherds, 16 EOs, 1 silver object, 2 arquebus, 6 tacks, 4 pieces of wood with pin holes, 3 bowl fragments, 1 ceramic fragment with markings, 1 tooth, 1 piece of majolica, 1 ornate silver object, 1 conglomerate and 2 blade fragments. Congratulations also to the crew for their Gold Reliquary find!
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9/8/09 - 9/13/09
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The Magruder
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The crew was set up on Emerald City this week and they recovered 22 Atocha Emeralds with the help of Investors. Congratulations!
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9/2/09 - 9/7/09
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The Dare
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The crew found 67 modern bomb fragments, 1 ballast stone, 1 potter sherd, 1 EO and uncovered 1 empty hole. They were working in an area of thick mud and deep waters.
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9/1/09 - 9/8/09
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J.B. Magruder
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The Magruder crew found 1 split shot, 14 musket balls, 9 pottery sherds, 7 spikes, 1 piece of lead sheathing, 1 rapier/sword, 2 EOs, 1 silver coin and uncovered 13 empty holes.
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9/1/09 - 9/4/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew found 12 silver coins, 76 musket balls, 22 spikes, 4 iron grommets, 5 EOs, 31 barrel hoop fragments, 24 olive jar sherds, 1 tack, 1 animal tooth, 25 ballast stones, 29 pieces of lead sheathing, uncovered 22 empty holes, found 2 animal bones, 1 conglomerate, 1 copper fragment, 4 ship's pin, 1 lead object, 1 unidentified object, 1 alibaba sherd, 1 copper nail, 1 flat piece of rigging, 1 possible gemstone which is dark blue, 1 possible deer antler and 1 arquebus.
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8/25/09 |
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The Dare
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The crew headed out once again to uncover a silver coin, an EO and worked their way through 7 empty holes. This area did have several artifacts that are from an 1800s wreck that will be left in situ.
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8/21/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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This trip the crew found 1 anchor ring, 20 EOs, 22 spikes, 199 olive jar sherds, 2 bones, 1 in tact bowl, 28 barrel hoop fragments, 2 gold chains, 44 pieces of lead sheathing, 1 silver coin, 1 tack, 1 blade fragment, 1 tooth, 70 ballast stones, 1 majolica sherd, 1 alababa sherd, 1 ships pin, 2 iron grommits, 1 small conglomerate along with uncovering 43 empty holes.
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8/20/09
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The Magruder
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The guys found 4 musket shots, 6 pottery sherds, 1 wood needle, 3 square spikes, 2 other spikes, 1 ladle, 1 bone and uncovered 25 empty holes.
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8/4/09
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The Magruder
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The crew found 1 auger, 8 musket balls, 11 pottery sherds, 1 cannon ball 1 axe head, 2 spikes, 2 barrel hoops, 2 split shots, 1 spike, 1 bone and 1 square spike along with uncovering 23 empty holes. Keep up the hard work!
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7/23/09
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The Dare
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The Dare crew found 2 bomb fragments, 3 Eos, 1 emerald, 3 silver coins, a 3 coin clump, 1 bomb fragment, 1 copper ingot, and uncovered 5 empty holes. We look forward to seeing what comes up on the next trip!
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7/23/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew found 1 possible silver object, 197 olive jar sherds, 587 pieces of lead sheathing, 656 ballast stones, 1 alababa sherd, 30 spikes, 58 barrel hoop fragments, 24 EOs, 3 ships pins, 1 glazed OJ sherd, 1 fire brick, 23 uncovered empty holes, 3 animal bones, 4 tacks, 4 blade fragments, 1 animal tooth, 1 majolica sherd, 1 possible pearl, 6 silver coins, 1 conglomerate, 1 dagger handle, 2 musket balls and 2 coin fragments. Good luck on your next trip!
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7/22/09
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The Magruder
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The Magruder found 32 spikes, 5 spike clumps, 17 pottery sherds, 1 pick axe, 1 drift pin, 3 barrel hoop fragments, 1 square spike, 1 round lock and uncovered 11 empty holes.
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7/8/09 - 7/15/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The Blue Water Rose headed to the site to find 116 olive jar sherds, 243 ballast stones, 11 barrel hoop fragments, 7 EOs, 1 unidentified object, 75 pieces of lead sheathing, 1 hammer, 1 glazed ceramic sherd, 8 pieces of pottery, 3 blade fragments, 1 fire brick, 5 spikes, 1 small conglomerate, 1 silver base with an EO attached, 1 bronze buckle, 2 animal bones and 1 silver plate rim.
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7/6/09 - 7/15/09
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The Magruder
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The Magruder found 12 pottery sherds, 2 musket balls, 2 small spikes, 3 EOs, 2 small nails, 1 chest of assorted spikes, 13 regular spikes, 1 half of a split shot, 1 clump of spikes, 1 clump of nails, 1 square spike, 1 silver coin and also uncovered 35 empty holes.
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7/6/09 - 7/15/09
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The Dare
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The Dare was at Emerald City this past week with investors and they found a total of 9 emeralds!
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6/29/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The Blue Water Rose found 29 pieces of lead sheathing, 31 olive jar sherds, uncovered 20 empty holes, found 1 EO, 2 ship's pins, 4 spikes, 178 ballast stones, 1 musket ball, 1 barrel hoop fragment, 1 silver coin, 1 grinding wheel and 1 lead sounding weight.
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6/24/09
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The Magruder
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The crew returned from their most recent trip with 281 pottery sherds, 25 EOs, 36 spikes, 3 OJ pieces including 2 necks, 20 musket split shots, 1 iron bar with eye and ring, 1 square spike, 1 cannon split shot, 3 arquebus with wood firing mechanisms, 2 silver coins, 2 pieces of lead sheathing, 1 ceramic pin, 1 nail and they also uncovered 20 more empty holes. Check the In the News page in the next few days to see video footage of the artifact check-in process in the conservation lab.
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6/24/09
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The Dare
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The crew has been back in port after discovering they'd received a faulty water pump from the manufacturer. They have replaced it again and will be heading out to sea today.
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6/24/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew started out the trip in virgin territory uncovering 66 empty holes and then switched it up a bit going on to find 12 spikes, 8 EOs, 185 OJ sherds including a base fragment, 116 pieces of lead sheathing, 2 conglomerate pieces, 3 animal teeth, 25 barrel hoop fragments, 143 ballast stones, 1 blade fragment, 1 ceramic sherd, 1 three inch iron ring, 4 iron chain links, 1 musket ball, 1 possible silver plate fragment, 1 in tact sword, 2 tacks, 1 glazed ceramic bowl bottom, 1 possible sharpening wheel and 1 possible silver coin with a spike attached. The crew made a brief trip back to Key West to refuel and quickly went back out to the site and found 29 more OJ sherds, 76 ballast stones, 9 EOs, 3 ship's pins, 1 silver coin, 8 pieces of lead sheathing, 5 barrel hoop fragments, 3 animal bones, 4 spikes, 1 silver coin fragment, 2 alababa sherds, 1 tooth and 6 more empty holes. Keep up the tenacious approach!
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6/9/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew found a large quantity of artifacts this trip. They brought back 320 pieces of lead sheathing, 114 olive jar sherds, 28 barrel hoop fragments, 97 gold flakes, 10 silver coins, 1 iron tack, 1 bronze tack, 1 musket ball, 2 iron EOs, 1 blade fragment, 2 animal teeth, 2 gold flowerettes, 2 gold beads, 1 spike fragment, 1 piece of majolica, 13 EOs, 5 gold nuggets, 1 brass ring, 15 spikes, 1 iron EO, 2 possible pearls, 2 glazed ceramic pieces, 2 tacks, 1 animal bone, 2 sword handles, 1 blade fragment and they also found 561 ballast stones. Keep up the hard work guys!
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6/5/09
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The Magruder
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Captain Andy and the crew of the Magruder just brought in a large silver serving platter which is 14 inches in diameter and its pre-conservation weight is 5.5 lbs. It is fully encrusted so we are very eager to begin the conservation process and determine whether it is silver gilt like the other one and if there are any descriptive markings that may lead us to discovering who owned the platter. They also found over 414 musket balls, 1 split shot musket ball, 2 lead bottle tops one with threads and one with a ring, 31 pottery sherds, 2 large spikes, 10 small spikes, 1 piece of lead sheathing and 11 Encrusted objects. The guys have been working what has been dubbed the Carpenter's Trail due to all of the carpenter's tools that were found on this branch of the trail. It is an entirely different area than where the Dare crew recently found their silver-gilt platter which is exciting because we have two areas of the trail that are very promising and are producing very impressive artifacts. They reluctantly came back into port today to replenish their provisions and fuel and will head back to the site on Monday, weather permitting.
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6/5/09
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The Dare
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The Dare headed out to sea and uncovered 8 empty holes and 2 EOs before they were forced into port to make a repair. The water pump that cools their engines had broken and was causing the engines to overheat. They have replaced the water pump and are gearing up for another trip.
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5/19/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew had quite a successful trip finding 26 silver coins, 24 small gold flakes, 757 pieces of lead sheathing, 24 EOs, 133 ballast stones, 2 gold beads, 14 barrel hoop fragments, 69 musket balls, 1 split shot musket ball, 1 piece of majolica, 1 candle stick fragment, 3 flint fragments, 1 copper fragment, 6 animal bones, 1 animal tooth, 1 spike, 3 tacks, 2 spike fragments, 1 conglomerate an d1 silver object. Pictures of the gold beads will be up shortly, keep up the good work fellas!
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5/08/09
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The Magruder
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After a very windy start to their Division week trip the Magruder crew along with many investors spent the week searching for beautiful, Columbian emeralds at the infamous Emerald City. As it has proven many times before Emerald City produced just like we knew she would. Through the week 20 emeralds were found by investors Rose Dirkes, Jim Ford, Julie Kuhn, Monty Aviles, 2 by Vicki Johnson, Jeff Southard, 2 by Randy Casada, Phil Roblin, 2 by Jim Nichols, Carol Anderson, 2 by Becky Nichols, Kathy Roblin, 2 by Teri Fainberg, 3 by Debra Jenks, 2 by Beth Ortego and another by Wes Bossman. Congratulations everyone as you will all receive them in your 2009 Division! Jim Ford also found a pottery sherd on the emerald trays; Vicki Johnson found a nail and also a key! Stay tuned for information regarding subsequent trips to Emerald City in July and September.
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5/09/09
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The Dare
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The DARE was also greatly effected by the weather during the first portion of the trip by luckily by the end of the week investors were able to head out to dive the site with the crew. The trip began with the crew uncovering 8 empty holes, 5 pottery sherds, 3 EOs and 1 small spike. Investor Beau Radloff found one of the EOs which appears to be modern. Investor Dave Pfent and writer Phaedra Hise found pottery sherds. On the last day of the trip however the excitement of the week built up and the DARE crew found a clump of 47 silver coins! Investors along with a writer and photographer for Fortune Small Business Magazine were there to see them uncover this exciting find. Check out the Significant finds page for pictures of the coin clump and later on for pictures of the coins post-conservation. The boats headed out again yesterday afternoon so, Today's the Day!
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4/15/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew has been making some repairs to their engines. Can't wait to see you back out on the water!
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4/15/09
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The Magruder
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The Magruder crew continues to work on renovations. They have finished the plumbing, the bathroom, the shower, shelving, the tool
room is back in order and they have fresh water. The electrical work is 90% completed and they are currently laying carpet. So
far carpeting is finished in the wheel house and crew's quarters. Shawn Redding anticipates their first trip post- renovation to
be the last week in April or May 1st at the latest, just in time for division week!
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3/20/09- 4/15/09
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The Dare
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During a string of windy weather conditions the crew has been doing some labor intesive renovations in preperation for division
week. A new air compressor for SCUBA tank refills has been mounted and will soon be hooked up. The air lift compressor has
been moved to the generator room. They have also been doing some much needed painting. As long as the weather report is
accurate they will be heading out to the site on Monday.
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3/11/09 - 3/20/09
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The Dare
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As many of you already know the DARE had a great trip out to the Atocha site! The crew found 1 large 17 1/4" silver serving platter
along with 2 silver plates, a silver bowl, pottery, a timber, 4 EOs, a piece of copper, 3 barrel hoop fragments, 4 bomb fragments
and uncovered 8 empty holes. Congratulations guys, incredible job! For the full story and photographs of the silver items found see
the Significant Finds page http://www.melfisher.com/SalvageOperations/RecentFinds.asp
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3/11/09 - 3/14/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew headed out to find a Key EO, a Tack EO, 20 pieces of lead sheathing, 77 ballast stones, 29 olive jar sherds, 5 barrel hoop fragments, 1 spike fragment, 1 bone, 1 EO and 1 possible silver bottom. The also uncovered 8 empty holes. Keep up the hard work!
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2/12/09 - 2/17/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The Blue Water Rose found two small pieces of gold! Congrats to Jessie, BWR first mate, this is his first gold find!
One is a 1/2" square with ornate pre-Columbian design on it
Sue, in conservation, just found out that two similar pieces were found in 1980 on the Margarita site. The other gold piece was a floweret, much like the one we found back in November.
Captain Dan said they also have a silver coin encrusted to a spike, 42 olive jar sherds, 73 pieces of lead sheathing, 108 ballast stones, one animal bone, 11 barrel hoop fragments, 1 unidentified stone fragment, 6 spikes, 1 tack, 1 Allibaba sherd and 1 possible key EO along with one other EO. They are working an area just north of the cannon ball clump. He was very excited and said "Things out here are looking good! This is going to be one heck of a year!"
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2/12/09 - 2/17/09
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The Dare
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The Dare just found a timber from what could be the lower hull structure!
They also found what appears to be a 4"-5" square silver vessel base. This could be the bottom to a candlestick or an incense burner! It has a small silver coin encrusted to it! Another coin was found here too, this one is a nice 8 reale. These items along with 4 glazed pottery sherds, 2 barrel hoop fragments, 5 encrusted objects and 3 empty holes were found by Captain Papo and the crew just northwest of the main pile and emerald city in the same area that they found the emerald, a month or so ago, while metal detecting!
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2/9/09
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All Boats
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For the past two weeks the weather has been cold and windy keeping The Dare and The Blue Water Rose in port. The Dare crew has been doing routine maintenance work in hopes of heading out later this week when the wind subsides. The Magruder crew continues to do much needed, more involved work above the water line of the vessel.
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1/23/09 - 1/26/09
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The DARE
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The crew found a silver coin, a piece of pottery and uncovered 4 empty holes. Here's to a great year of treasure hunting! |
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1/6/09 - 1/12/09
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The DARE
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The DARE had a great first trip finding a silver plate, 3 silver coins, 2 Eros, one piece of lead, 1 barrel hoop fragments, 3 bomb fragments and they uncovered 8 empty holes.
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12/31/08 - 1/1/09
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The Blue Water Rose
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The crew started off 2009 right, out at sea treasure hunting! On this trip they found a silver coin, a spike, 3 olive jar sherds, a split shot, 5 barrel hoop fragments, one tac, one EO, one blade fragment, 34 ballast stones, one piece of lead sheathing, and uncovered 10 empty holes. Good luck next trip!
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Archive boat happenings information for 2008 can be viewed at: Boat Happenings 2008.
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Archive boat happenings information for 2007 can be viewed at: Boat Happenings 2007.
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Archive boat happenings information for 2006 can be viewed at: Boat Happenings 2006.
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