Diving for Mel Fisher's Gold and Silver
Back in the late 70s I had the opportunity to dive for gold, silver and other artifacts with the famous Mel Fisher who discovered the Atocha and Margarita in the Marquesas off Key West, Florida.
I had just moved down to Orlando, Florida from Cleveland, Ohio due to a promotion from my company. Now keep in mind that I started diving Lake Erie in 1956 and did my share of wreck and salvage diving whenever I had the chance. I had heard of Mel’s quest to locate the two galleons but never dreamed that someday I might assist him in his search.
My wife Adrienne and I were sitting in the living room of our newly acquired house watching a National Geographic Documentary about Mel’s on-going efforts in locating the Atocha. It showed how they fitted various boats with large tubes that would swing down over their props allowing them to direct the propeller wash down to the seabed bellow. Mel called them "Mail Boxes".
Mel's crew was originally working off the East Coast of Florida between Vero Beach and Miami and most of the wreck sites were in about 30 feet of water so he thought the mail boxes would assist the divers by blowing a clear column of water down so they could see better.
When he first tried the mail boxes out they not only delivered the clear water but uncovered a large amount of silver and gold coins and a new use for the boxes was realized. Afterwards when he began working the Atocha Site they proved invaluable in uncovering artifacts as well as treasure.
The Propeller Diverters or “Mail Boxes”
They would position the boat over the area they wished to excavate and then throw an anchor from the bow. Following this they would deploy a small dingy that would carry two anchors and position them off each of the rear corners of the search boat in order to have a three point fix over the area.
Anchor Positioning to Swing Boat
Once this three point anchorage was accomplished, they would lower the diverter tubes down, over the propellers. The captain would then run the propellers full throttle for about two minutes and then back off to just an idle. This action would excavate a large diameter hole in the sand all the way down to the bed rock. Once the excavation was complete the captain would back off on the throttle to idle and two divers would leave their station on a side ladder and swim down to check out the excavation..
Once this location was cleaned out or determined there was nothing to be found, the captain would have the one stern anchor let out while taking up on the opposite stern anchor. In this manner it would swing the rear of the boat on an arc and position the boat so the next hole could be blown. This would continue in order to blow a number of holes in a semicircle covering a lot of territory without having to constantly pull up the bow anchor and resetting it. After the boat had moved the length of the anchor they were letting out, they would take up on the bow anchor and continue back the other way to excavate holes in front of those excavated.
Now the special, Adrienne and I were watching, showed a video of the two divers on the bottom searching the excavation opened by the propeller wash. Because the propellers were still running at idle the remaining sand was being blown all around the divers. Adrienne said “How would you like to be in that situation?” I responded “I’d love it!” obviously she didn’t share my love of wreck diving.
I learned that Mel Fisher was headquartered in Key West, Florida and eventually found a phone number in order to reach him. I made the call and was surprised when Mel answered himself. After some stammering I told him I had been diving for over 20 years and would like to experience diving on the Atocha. I also said I would be available for two weeks, my vacation time, and was not interested in being paid. Mel answered that he would be happy to have me assist his search crews. You can imagine how excited I was to not only talk to the famous Mel Fisher but to also have the opportunity to work in his operation.
The day finally came when I drove down to Key West to meet with Mel and his crew. On Sunday they stocked a converted 50 foot Chris Craft with provisions for a week trip. Who should be piloting the boat but Mel’s son Cain Fisher? We departed Key West for a three to four hour trip out to the area to be searched.
Upon arrival we didn’t waste any time getting into the search. As mentioned earlier, the anchors were set and the diverters lowered to begin the first round of excavating the bottom. After I was able to view how the routine was played out I got into my gear and took my position on the side ladder of the boat. Cain ran the props full throttle for the standard two minutes after which he cut the throttle back to idle and gave the signal for me and my buddy to hit the excavation. Because the props were still running at idle, as you got under the open end of the tube the prop wash pushed you down without having to swim, in fact you had to put your arms out in front of you to prevent from crashing into the bottom at the wrong angle. Once in the crater I was in that sand swirling vortex that Adrienne and I viewed on that National Geographic special.
While in the crater, we searched for any item that may have some relationship to the Atocha. As with any treasure hunting expedition nothing found was the more frequent report than “Wow, look at this!” Don’t get me wrong it was not all disappointment, we did come up with some pieces of eight which are the silver coins that looked like black stones when you found them. We also would come across the remainder of swords that mainly consisted of the handles only due to the blades being eaten away by the 350 years of salt water exposure. Following a visual survey of the area we would surface and get metal detectors to check around the rim of the crater to see of there was anything hiding there.
Pieces of Eight When Found Piece of Eight Cleaned
A silver piece of eight on today's market will be worth anywhere from $1,000 to $3,000 dollars depending on how much information is readable. One with a readable date is usually the most valuable.
In addition to the pieces of eight, there are also gold escudos that are about the same size as the piece of eight however, their value is far higher. Normally when found they have very little wear and can have a value of up to $20,000.
Gold Escudo
After the first week of searching we returned to Key West and docked in the harbor for the weekend. Because I had not made arrangements for a place to stay, they allowed me to bunk on the boat until Monday when we would go out again.
Sometime during the weekend Mel's dive manager came back from a short vacation. His name was Ted and was a retired Navy Captain that was formerly stationed at Guantanamo, Cuba where he trained recruits in boat handling.
When Ted saw me he immediately asked what I was doing there? I told him I called Fisher and offered my services to assist in the locating the Atocha treasure. Ten's reply was "Boy Mel will allow anybody to work here". Taking offense to this comment I immediately came back with "Now wait a minute, I just dove a whole week with guys that were taking their tanks out of the box they came in. I've been diving for over 20 years and take offense to that remark, plus I'm working for nothing". Ted backed off from that initial response and was willing to allow me to dive the second week on his boat.
On Monday morning what comes to the dock but a steel hull 50 foot boat that was formerly used to supply oil rigs in the Gulf. The next surprising thing was the paint job. It had been painted the same colors as a regular Navy boat with front numbers and everything. I guess Ted had a hard time getting the Navy out of his system.
We shoved off out of the marina and headed back out to the area where Ted felt might have been more lucrative then where Cain was searching last week. Ted was a very methodical person and ran the boat somewhat like a military operation. I had never had been in the service but I felt like I was that week.
Apparently Ted had information where previously someone had taken magnetometer, or magnetic, readings over a wide expanse of the possible location of where the Atocha may have met its end. For this reason, Ted was following those charts to have divers go down and physically put eyes on the area that emitted a signal to the magnetometer.
Me at the dive spot. I wish I still had that physique!
On one occasion Ted told me that we were over a large reef that may contain something of interest seeing that over the years a large pile of ballast stones can look just like a reef. Equipped with a metal detector I dropped in and swam down to the edge of the reef. First of all I was alone which did not sit with me to well seeing I was always with a buddy when diving, but the depth of about 40 feet and the crystal clear water made that fact seem unimportant.
While I was inspecting the reef, I got an eerie feeling that I was not alone. It's amazing how this feeling comes over you, either because your mind plays tricks on you or you become psychic.
I did a 360 degree turn and not 30 feet away from me I was being watched by what must have been a 200 pound Grouper. Now Grouper are one of the most nosy fish in the Ocean. Even when a movie is being shot underwater the crew sometimes have to put local Groupers in a cage to prevent them from interfering with the various shots.
Well being glad it was a Grouper rather than a shark, I continued my search. I covered that whole reef around the perimeter and over the top but never got a peep out of the metal detector. Returning to the boat the Grouper story brought a chuckle from the rest of the crew.
All in all it was a pretty productive week bringing up pieces of eight, gold bars, muskets, sword handles and stone cannon balls. Yes, I said stone cannon balls which I questioned Fisher about when we got back to the dock. He said the manifest in Spain listed 900 iron and 100 stone cannonballs. The stone ones would burst when they hit creating shrapnel that would cause injury to the crew of the other ship. We found 3 stone cannonballs during that week.
Finds from the Atocha
It proved to be a great week and a time for Ted and me to understand where each one was coming from. Ted asked how I liked the endless searching for the artifacts and I told him it was a great experience but I had to get back to work. I left with the understanding that I just may return in the future and Ted said he would be happy to have me as a diver.
When Summer rolled around the next year, I once again got the urge to see what the Fisher team was up to. I was now at the stage in my job where I had four weeks vacation so I thought I would take two of them to head South again..
I had Ted's number so I contacted him this time to see if it was OK if I could join them. Ted was very excited and said they had started working the Margarita which was with the Atocha when they both went down during a hurricane.
The records read that after the hurricane, Spain sent a salvage crew to see what they could recover. Upon arrival they found the Margarita, which was in about 30 feet of water while only the tip of the mast was visible of the Atocha. For this reason they began salvaging the Margarita by using pearl divers brought along for their skill. Shortly after they began their salvage attempts another hurricane was upon them and they had to abandon the search to seek shelter. When they returned they were able to continue their salvage of the Margarita but the mast of the Atocha had disappeared and they were not able to locate it again.
This is the first reason Mel Fisher zeroed in on the Atocha, because there had never been a salvage attempt on it, while the second was it had a more extensive cargo than the Margarita.
Ted explained they had known the general location of the Margarita but because Mel wanted to concentrate on the Atocha, up till now, they had not searched the site. He also said they were bringing up all sorts of gold and silver at the location.
In addition Ted said come on down and I'll put you up at my house in Key West until we go out and on the weekend in between.
You can imagine my excitement as I prepared to make the trip back down to Kay West to join in the hunt. Ted also said they were having difficulty getting new tanks to add or replace their present ones. I told him I had a source in Orlando where I could purchase some at a better price than they were paying in Key West so I loaded 10 tanks in my car and headed to Key West.
Upon arrival the boat was just returning from a week at the Margarita site and unloaded their finds to display and photograph.
Weeks Findings From the Margarita
They not only found bars of gold but gold chains, a silver cup and a couple large bars of silver. Can you imagine how that sparked my interest to get out there and begin searching to see just what I could come up with.
We stocked the boat with the weeks provisions and were about to embark when the girl, who was our cook, said her cat was about to have kittens and she couldn't leave so another guy and I agreed to take on the responsibility. Fortunately he had more cooking experience than I did so I took breakfast and he did lunch and dinner.
We had a rewarding time during the two weeks, bringing up gold and silver among a number of other artifacts but all good things must come to an end so it was time to pack up the car and head back North to where I made my living every day instead of hit and miss.
Upon arrival home Adrienne said she thought I might not come back I was enjoying myself so much but I assured her that a stable lifestyle was much more to my liking than one of chance.
It wasn't until some years later that Fisher's crew came upon the main ballast pile of the Atocha which contained a number of ingots of silver the size of a loaf of bread. In addition they found more pieces of eight, gold, emeralds and numerous other artifacts.
My understanding is that the main portion was found by one of the divers who decided to take a swim and looking down just happened to see the pile. After all that plotting and searching it took an act of chance to locate one of the richest finds in history.
George