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Coin and other artifacts found on Jupiter
wreck We came
back to Fort Pierce for more fuel and went right back out to
E-89 for more digging. We worked here until the end of
August and returned to the TIGER SHORES SITE on September 1
with a new DEP permit in hand and began digging for the pile
of cannon. We found what we believe is a period artifact in
the first hole we dug. After only four days on site we had
to come back into the Intracoastal Water Way at Port Saint
Lucie. Since we were in the waterway we elected to go down
to the JUPITER WRECK. This wreck site is only 200 yards
from a safe inlet if we need to duck in due to bad weather.
While here found were several coins, some Indian pottery and
lots of junk. After a short stay, due to the arrival of a
bad offshore weather system. We returned to Ft. Pierce
to get the Polly L ready for a commercial job assisting the
St. Lucie Power Plant as a platform and support team to
Underwater Construction Company for some plant maintanance. |
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Tiger Shores
On August 30, 2007 the POLLY-L headed
to the TIGER SHORES SITE where we hope to someday find the
remains of another of the 1715 wrecks. We remained on this
site for some 27 days and finally left because of permit
problem.
We came back to Fort
Pierce for more fuel and went right back out to E-89 for
more digging. We worked here until the end of August and
returned to the TIGER SHORES SITE on September 1 with a new
DEP permit in hand and began digging for the pile of
cannon. We found what we believe is a period artifact in
the first hole we dug. After only four days on site we had
to come back into the Intracoastal Water Way at Port Saint
Lucie.
After leaving the TIGER
SHORES SITE we came back into Fort Pierce Inlet and refueled
and departed again for contract area E-89. We worked this
area for 96 days before returning to port for more fuel. We
found hundreds of pounds of encrusted artifacts with very
few of them being form the 1715 period We found no
treasure. |
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Moving on up
The Polly L moves north to
check out another part of the area. Targets and mag work
have been the focus in the last week. Working is a mixture
of sand and grey clay have made things difficult and
visibility impossible..
More exciting news soon.
The weather finally
brakes
With crew and our Weekend
Warriors", work has been in full force. Recovery efforts
began close to the beach, later we moved out into somewhat
deeper water (25'-40') and to the south, plans changed from
time to time with the discovery of a layer of grey dense
clay. Excavation was hindered by lack of visibility and the
process of working different layers of bottom material.
Partial pieces of a pewter platter were found. The nice
weather allowed for constant work without many
interruptions. Lots of projects were completed such as a new
outside shower, a new TV installed in the galley and
maintenance on one of the lift poles. Progress was delayed
by mating turtles which looked like swimmers to far off
shore and two men seen in a raft early in the am...just
finishing their beer. Several guest came aboard to tour our
great R/V Polly L.
First
tropical storm of the treasure hunting season hits Melbourne
Beach
Tropical storm, Barry, surprised us and delayed
work for several days. My first night on board the Polly L
during a "named" storm wasn't as bad as I expected it to be.
It was not until about 4:00am when the roar of the wind woke
me from a sound sleep. Even though the boat was vibrating
from the pounding seas against the legs of the boat, there
was very little movement of the boat it's self (Thankfully).
The seas were approximately 12'-15' and rain pelted
the windows. By morning, things had calmed down somewhat
only to pick up again in the afternoon.
Lynn Jackson
/ Crew Member
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Treasure Hunting Season
Opens The
POLLY-L departed Saint Augustine on November 11, 2006
and headed down the Intracoastal Water Way enroute to
contract area E-89. This contract area is located off the
coast of Melbourne, Florida and cold contain the remains of
at least one of the ships from the 1715 treasure fleet. We
stayed on this site for about 33 days and returned to port
at Titusville, Florida to set out some bad weather and to
work on the POLLY-L. May 1
opened the treasure-hunting season along the Space and
Treasure coasts. The Polly-L is now working off the
coast of Melbourne Beach looking for ships that wrecked
hundreds of years ago. After a 15-year absence, longtime
treasure hunter Rex Stocker slipped into clear, still waters
last week to search for bounty from a Spanish fleet that
sank in 1715 heavy with gold and silver, priceless porcelain
and the still-undiscovered queen's jewels. Stocker is one of
three founders of Amelia Research, which operates the
Polly-L and serves as a Fisher subcontractor. Stocker and
other divers brought up encrusted iron material that could
be fasteners, tools or rigging from a ship -- or possibly
something more valuable. "I thought I might be lucky again,
but everything is encrusted so we don't know yet," Stocker,
64, said. The items that Stocker and other divers found have
been returned to a restoration shop next to Mel Fisher's
Treasure Museum in Sebastian. Stocker, a Sebastian resident,
was part of a group of eight engineers and scientists who
lived around Cape Canaveral who spent weekends diving for
treasure before going into business with Mel Fisher
Treasures. It was Stocker who, in 1962, handed Fisher his
first gold coins. "We've been finding artifacts every day,"
said Doug Pope, captain of the Polly-L. "We just don't know
what they are yet."
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