Wreck Nuts? Perhaps that’s not a very tactful way to coin it. Maybe we might call ourselves wreck radicals, enthusiasts, or better still, aficionados. Well, you get the picture. We know who we are. Shipwrecks are our passion. Some of us like to categorize and research our favorites, such as the ore carriers of the Great Lakes, the Old Bay Liners of the Chesapeake or the windjammers of the world.  And there are treasure galleons too…Mel Fisher didn’t discover all of them.

The SAPONA, broken in half by the hurricane of 1926, rests in 30 feet of water. Photo by Ellsworth Boyd.

In choosing a favorite, we might seek out the history of the ship, what it was transporting, how it sank, and other links that lead to the joy of exploring a ghostly structure resting on the bottom of the sea. The tale might come first, before the exploration, or perhaps it can be researched later. Either way, the story is the hook that garners interest and spawns the Wreck Nut. more »

When the Titanic was discovered in 1985 cries went up to “salvage it,” but it was too late. Clive Cussler had already done it nine years earlier in a bold adventure thriller, Raise the  Titanic, one of several early best sellers that launched his career.

Titanic

Now, the 100th anniversary of the “unsinkable” ship’s demise (April 14) evokes a slew of theories. Here’s one I’m tossing into the hopper. more »

To know the “Fizz,” an audacious adventurer who takes friends on enterprising endeavors with unpredictable outcomes, is to love him. He’s Captain Carl “Fizz” Fismer, a highly regarded and successful treasure salvor who makes his home in Tavernier, Florida, when he’s not globe trotting on a covert mission. I’m not saying that his proposal to me was covert, but it had a shade of mystery and a tad of 17th century intrigue that I couldn’t resist. more »

Would you be interested in joining me on a search for the presidential yacht, Despatch, sunk off Assateague Island, Virginia? I’ve been thinking about this for years. I would need someone with a boat, someone who has side scan sonar or a magnetometer, and someone with marine archaeological experience. Another ship researcher might be good too. I could use some help in tying in some loose ends.  Summertime or early fall would be best for our venture. I would propose five, maybe six of us at most. We would share expenses and hopefully, some good times. I think it would be worth a try. more »

December is a fitting time for me to respond to a reader’s question about Lake Michigan’s Christmas Tree Wreck. Can you imagine one’s shock and chagrin upon learning of the loss of an entire crew and ship’s cargo of more than 5,000 trees one month prior to Christmas? That’s what happened to the 130-foot schooner Rouse Simmons on November 23, 1912.
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