Ed Hinkle had never considered himself a superstitious man, but the events of Friday, Aug. 13, changed his life forever. "Don't do anything on Friday the 13th," said Hinkle, who survived a nighttime plane crash into the Atlantic Ocean that shattered eight ribs, his spine, sternum, both ankles and a wrist. The crash also lacerated his spleen and collapsed a lung, making his attempted two-mile swim to shore all the more torturous.

He doesn't remember the crash and has no idea what went wrong in the tiny Cessna 172 Skyhawk he had rented from Island City Flying Services to practice nighttime takeoffs and landings. The practice maneuvers are required by the Federal Aviation Administration for pilots who intend to carry passengers.

No one was in the plane with Hinkle when it crashed into calm seas at about 10 p.m. on that moonless night.

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December, 2010 Carol Tedesco, Blue Water Ventures -- The Robb Report, the definitive luxury lifestyle publication for those who really do have everything, has hit the holiday newsstands with its annual offering of the 21 Ultimate Gifts in the entire world. This year, featured among indulgences that include a $44 million super-yacht and expedition, $20 million backyard home theme park, $9.78 million Bugatti sports car package, $2.5 million fighter jet training and combat battle experience, $1.75 million lion-saving expedition with National Geographic explorers—and other selections of almost unimaginable opulence, luxury and adventure—is the magnificent gold chalice discovered by Mel Fisher’s Treasures’ joint venture partners; Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures on the Santa Margarita shipwreck expedition.  
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From time to time it is fun to look back to the Mother Lode days. To remember the hard times and also the glory days and everything that made Mel and Deo’s crewmembers and staff such a tight knit group.

Mel and Deo appreciated the hard word and allegiance that their staff provided for so many years before the Mother Lode was found. They stuck with them through all of the hard times, bankruptcies and court cases. Day in and day out they were on those boats working, many times without pay. It is because of their loyalty that Mel was able to realize his dream; he couldn’t have done it on his own.  
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The 25th Anniversary Celebration of the Discovery of the Atocha Mother Lode was a huge success! Mel Fisher Days 2010 was bigger than it has ever been before.

This year we introduced our 1st Annual Mel Fisher Days Block Party with a free concert by Howard Livingston and the Mile Marker 24 Band. With the help of our friend CW Colt the two drew in record crowds and filled the street on the 200 block of Duval. Those who attended had a blast participating in the tricycle races; dunk tank and many other carnival games that were available.  
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"The weather in Key West over the past weekend has been perfect for diving – flat calm warm waters (86 degrees water temp), sunny skies and no threat of tropical storms.

We invite you to join the adventure and come dive with us.

According to officials at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the U.S. Coast Guard, if the Florida Keys get any effects from the non-contiguous patches of oil sheen currently in the Gulf Loop Current, they are expected to be in the form of small tar balls, not large amounts of aqueous oil as seen near the spill site.  Read more here...

"Good Morning America" weather anchor Sam Champion showcased the Florida Keys & Key West Monday, helping to counter misperceptions that the island chain has been physically impacted by the Gulf oil spill "These coasts are clear," said Champion as he waded off the beach at the Waldorf Astoria Casa Marina Resort, where the live broadcast originated. Live segments featured Keys watersports including paddleboarding and kayaking, music by the local band Monks of Phunk and a taste of Key lime pie with the Casa Marina's executive chef Erik Malzahn.
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Kicking off the 2010 search and recovery season, underwater exploration divers for Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures Key West discovered a five-pound fused conglomeration of artifacts Wednesday afternoon, among which a number of sea-blackened silver “pieces of eight” treasure coins are clearly identifiable. Returning to port from sea late Friday night, Captain Dan Porter, Operations Manager for BWV, said that it won’t be known exactly how many of the hundreds-of-years-old coins are in the calcareous concretion until the mass has undergone conservation. Read more here...

Over the weekend we were able to spend some time getting to know Mark Gordon, COO of Odyssey Marine. Mark and his wife Sue made a trip to Key West to celebrate his birthday, which kicked off with a Danger Charters Wind and Wine sunset sail charted exclusively for the event and attended by marine exploration colleagues from Mel Fishers Treasures, Blue Water Ventures, Artificial Reefs of the Keys, Historic Research and Certification, Inc., Florida Straits Diving, Digital Island Media, and Diveguru.net. Kim and Sean Fisher joined the group along with Gary Randolph and Archaeologist Jim Sinclair to exchange treasure-hunting techniques and discuss industry details and initiatives. Read more here...

Nearly 400 years before Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures—joint-venture partner of Mel Fishers Treasures—began searching for the remains of the 1622 fleet shipwreck Santa Margarita in the Florida Straits, two 17th century salvors, Captain Gaspar de Vargas and Havana businessman Francisco Núñez Melián, used Florida "Indians" and pearl divers from the Caribbean island of Margarita to recover treasure from the sunken galleon. On April 21, 2010, BWV diver Gavin Rall (left, with Capt Dan Porter, right) surfaced with this carved, polished greenstone artifact.

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Last Friday Mel Fisher’s Treasures in Key West held our first ever VIP event for the World Sailfish Championship participants. Guests were invited to tour the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society after hours while enjoying cocktails and hors d’oeuvres prepared by the Fisher family and staff. The evening was very well attended with nearly 200 guests who were excited to learn the history of the Atocha and hold 400 year old artifacts in their hands. Those who were familiar with the story were intrigued to discover the operation is still ongoing and they too could be a part of the hunt! 

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"Relay for Life" for cancer victims, fighters, and survivors

Mel Fishers Treasures awarded a 1715 coin to the each of the top winnera in Mens and Womens East Coast Champions in the National Scholastic Surfers Competition Sunday, April 11, 2010. Little did most of the surfers know they were surfing over shipwrecks.......for more information, visit

http://www.nssa.org 

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Yesterday we checked in with Captain Andy about the scheduled maintenance he and his crew have been working on in the dry dock. As we arrived all of the crewmembers had paint rollers in hand and were working on one of the layers of bottom paint. Captain Andy explained that they alternate paint colors they are able to keep track of what coat they are on. If you reference the picture: the first coat was gray, the white you see is the second coat and the gray you see is the third coat. The final coat will be black. The side of the vessel will, of course, be painted “Magruder Blue” which I’m told is what the guys at the local paint shop also now call that shade of blue. Read more here...

We will be exhibiting at the 2010 Adventure Travel Expo in Chicago at the Donald Steven's Convention Center. The show runs from March 19-20. We have complimentary tickets so if you are interested in stopping by the show please send an email to skwiley@melfisher.com and we can connect in Chicago! For more information on the show check out their website www.adventureexpo.com

Do you have unique Mel Fisher's Treasures photos?

We are putting together a presentation to be shown during our Investor Division Week this year and would like to include some great photographs. We are looking for images from 1986-present of major finds, media events, interesting dive shots, basically anything exciting involving the Mel Fisher's Treasures operation.
Please send them to skwiley@melfisher.com no later than March 19, 2010.

"Mel Fisher’s Treasures will enter World Sailfish Championship"

Key West, FL January 29, 2010 – Mel Fisher’s Treasures is a historic shipwreck salvage company credited with discovering the most famous shipwreck in history, the Atocha, which is valued at $500 million to date. This Spring Mel Fisher’s will cross industries to enter the World Sailfish Championship Tournament hosted in their hometown of Key West, Florida. Read more here...

"Cantore's Stories"

In October 2009, Jim Cantore and a film crew from the Weather Channel visited Key West to shoot footage for a series of short episodes called "Cantore's Stories." As part of this series, Mel Fisher's Treasures is featured discussing the history of the Atocha along with Mel Fisher's epic hunt and landmark discovery of the Atocha motherlode. Through interviews with Sean Fisher, the video also goes into information about the ongoing search for the remaining half of the Atocha's still undiscovered treasure.Cantore's Stories debut is scheduled for February 13th at 10 pm. Subsequent airings are likely but not yet scheduled. Set your DVR today, as we are told it is unlikely a hard copy will be available. Visit TWC's website for more information

The Science of Treasure Hunting

In this forum, Sean Fisher will discuss the many facets of the search and the technology used to make that search possible. Technology has always played a key role in historic shipwreck salvage, and over the years Fisher has seen the field move beyond simple mechanical innovation to GPS, anomaly location technology, and charting and mapping advances. These technological innovations have continually increased the efficiency of historic shipwreck salvors.

Visit USC website for more information

The Dare in Dry-dock for One Week

Each year during the winter months when the weather conditions are often windy and not conducive to treasure hunting, Mel Fisher’s crew takes time to perform necessary maintenance work to our fleet of treasure salvage vessels. By doing minor repairs and routine maintenance work each year, the boats are able to avoid more costly major overhauls.

This past weekend, the Dare was hauled from the water into dry dock at Robbie’s Marina on Stock Island not far from where the boats are usually docked. View Entire Story Here.

History Making Diver Visits Mel Fisher’s Treasures

Matt Johnston is the world’s first quadriplegic person on a ventilator to go scuba diving. Today he visited Mel Fisher’s Treasures and received a VIP tour of the conservation lab and museum.

Key West, FL January 13, 2010 – This morning Mel Fisher’s Treasures had a visit from a very inspirational diving enthusiast. In 2006 at the age of 29 according to his website “after a lifelong battle with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, and a near three year pursuit of his dream, Matt achieved a HUGE first for the adaptive scuba community, being the first ventilator dependent individual in the world to dive in the ocean.”  View Entire Story Here.