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| A First Visit to an 1800's Shipwreck |
| September 3, 2003 -- Jean Thornton |
How could I refuse such an exciting opportunity?
Pat Clyne invited me to go along to do some preliminary
archaeology work on a newly discovered shipwreck
near the Atocha. Archaeologist Jim Sinclair was coming to
Key West to take some measurements and record significant
data for his first report on this new (old) wreck. This
experience was a first for me. Although I've always enjoyed
‘treasure hunting,’ one of its main thrills for me is the
act of uncovering the past - being the first to touch and
help unravel the clues to a part of history that has
been long-lost and all but forgotten.
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Five of us were going out to the new
site: Jim, Pat, Gene Lewis (admiralty attorney), Dana
Langolf (Pat's assistant and 'Golden Girl-in-training'), and
me. After about an hour and a half boat ride we arrived at
the new wreck site and prepared for the dive. Jim, who had
previously been diving on this site once before, tentatively
identified the ship as being from the late 1800's and gave
us a briefing of what to expect. He drew a layout of the
site: the three huge anchors, the large chain, and the
enormous winch (windlass), which was the most recognizable
remains of the ship. He explained that he would go in the
water first and put a baseline down the midsection of the
ship as a point of reference. All measurements would
be taken from this baseline. Everything would eventually be
drawn and measured and on that dive we were to specifically
look for and measure the large U-shaped brackets that
supported the ship's timbers and would help give us an idea
of the exact size of the ship and ultimately help us
discover its identity. Jim was also looking for some type of
artifact that could provide more clues to this ship.
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When we finally arrived and anchored at the site, everyone
was hot and ready to gear-up and jump into the water. With
five people on a relatively small boat, this was no easy
task. To further complicate the dive, this wreck lies in
fairly shallow (25 feet) water and like the Margarita site,
which is also a shallow wreck, the current here was quite
strong.
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Jim and Pat were old pros at this. Jim was in the water
first while the rest of us were still getting ready. Gene
was the most inexperienced diver in the group, complicated
by the fact that his borrowed weight belt and BC didn't fit,
and we were all trying to make sure that he got in the water
safely. Out of kindness and respect to all of the divers,
myself included, I won’t make any comparisons to ‘Curly,
Larry and Moe’ in describing this whole ungraceful scene,
but we were all in the long run, successful, despite the
current and other obstacles.
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Eventually I made my way down and swam into the current
until I began seeing bits of encrusted wreckage scattered
along the sandy bottom. I followed the wreckage and began to
recognize parts of the ship: pulleys, brackets, and links of
huge anchor chain. I followed the chain to two of the
anchors and then made my way to the largest bit of shipwreck
material remaining, the windlass. Even though the current
was so strong that I had to hold on to keep from being swept
away, the wreck was a beautiful site. There were lots of
fish and a couple of rays and barracudas swimming about. The
water was clear blue and the visibility was good. When I
found Jim, he had finished putting down the baseline, filled
his slate with professional-looking drawings and notes and
was heading up for a new tank of air. He left his tape
measure with me, gave me a few hand signals, pointed to the
baseline, and swam away.
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Okay, this was it - my first big chance at underwater
archaeology! Let me tell you right now that tasks you could
easily perform on land (take measurements, write down
details, and make simple sketches) is a totally different
can of worms when you are fighting a strong current
underwater. Even though my slate was attached to my BC, it
kept trying to drift away from me, and my drawings looked
like the scrawlings of a preschooler. I was trying my best
to measure the pieces of the structures while avoiding the
fire coral and not disturbing any part of the wreck or
surrounding marine life, all the while being tossed about by
the current. My pencil lead broke, and I felt I had made a
major accomplishment just to get out my dive knife and
sharpen it. Curious fish swam by and wondered, I'm sure,
what this awkward-looking creature was doing in their world.
Dana worked diligently, her blonde ponytail flowing
gracefully in the water, taking measurements and looking as
professional as Jacqueline Bissett in The Deep. After some
initial trouble with his ears and equipment, Gene finally
made it down to the wreck and was totally awestruck by the
underwater world that he discovered there. He learned a
valuable lesson about fire coral and why some of us choose
to wear dive skins when working near any type of underwater
wreckage. Jim continued his work, taking measurements,
making drawings and laying a grid. Pat swam about with his
video camera, capturing the entire wreck and all of us at
work.
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All in all, the trip was a success. Jim collected invaluable
data which will provide more clues as to the identity of
this mystery ship. He commented that this would be a perfect
wreck for training archaeology students, and I, for one,
would love to go back and do some more training here.
Unfortunately, Dana’s drawings and measurements drifted away
in the current on her dive slate, but her assistance above
and below the water was priceless to us all. I was able to
copy my crude drawings and notes to hopefully provide a
little more information for Jim’s report. Gene became much
more comfortable with the undersea world and got a better
understanding of how the archaeological data gathered on
site is so valuable to successfully presenting admiralty
claims in court. Pat, as usual, enjoyed the experience and
brought back some excellent video footage. For me, the day
was just about as good as it gets, and I hope to get back
out to this site to further my underwater archaeology
experience soon!
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