How To Discover And Profit From Florida Shipwreck Treasures

Is attempting the impossible a good idea? Generally, no, because it's... impossible. Or so you might think until somebody does it. With the discovery of the 1715 Plate Fleet shipwrecks along Florida's Treasure Coast, what seemed impossible at first has, over five decades of toil, become standard operating procedure. How to locate and recover the remains of the wreckage is accomplished today using computerized technology and advanced sensory methodology, but that was not the case when the first salvors of the modern epic began exploring the many sites we know of, which are currently spread out over fifty miles of coastline. The progression of techniques employed to discover, recover, and document the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks begins with ardent adventurers, using hit-and-miss methods, right through analog mapping schemes, and on to digital data collection that is tried-and-true. "Finding X" gives the reader a brief glimpse of the technological developments resulting from this enterprise, why they came about, and how they came about. In the prologue Taffi Fisher Abt provides the reader with an ample summary of the problems encountered along with the solutions devised over time. In the addendum the Mel Fisher Center, Inc. contributes excerpts from the Florida East Coast Shipwreck Project reports highlighting germane issues covered throughout the volume. T. L. Armstrong gives the reader a lay-person overview of the practices and defining circumstances that are the foundation of the salvor's craft, with special notes on recent developments in the 21st century where software is a key element.

Salon sleuth Marla Vail determines to peel back the truth when a wealthy socialite has a fatal facial at her day spa in this stylish cozy mystery. During the frenzy of the December holidays, the last thing salon owner Marla Vail needs is a dead body slathered in a green facial mask at her new day spa. The victim, Valerie Weston, had been a major donor for Friends of Old Florida, a nonprofit historic building preservation society. Marla’s stylists are scheduled to work backstage at their upcoming gala fashion show, but Val’s demise might put a crimp in their plans. Hoping to salvage her reputation, Marla determines to track down the killer. Although Val had been well liked by most people, she may have stumbled onto secrets that others would kill to keep. Soon Marla is unraveling clues involving historic buildings, family journals, pirates, and shipwrecks off the Florida coast. She’d better prepare for a body count that has nothing to do with hot stone massages and everything to do with murder. Readers’ Favorite Gold Medal Winner Royal Palm Literary Awards Finalist “Take a twisty mystery, add a cast of amiable characters, a dash of family drama, and a pinch of South Florida during the holiday season—they all add up to the recipe for a delightful cozy!” —Lucy Burdette, bestselling author of the Key West Food Critic Mysteries

More Shipwrecks of Florida is a sequel to Shipwrecks of Florida, 2nd edition. This new book with all new content adds over 1,500 shipwrecks to the guide, and includes additional information on hundreds of previously listed shipwrecks, all organized by year. It also includes more GPS coordinates, as well as stories of pirates and privateers, wreckers, and buried and sunken treasure.

Over 2,100 shipwrecks from the 16th century to the present; the most comprehensive listing now available. Wrecks are arranged primarily by geographical section of the state. Within sections, wrecks are arranged chronologically. Extensive and heavily illustrated appendices offer a wealth of information on topics of interest to divers and researchers alike. A companion volume, More Shipwrecks of Florida, is now available from Pineapple Press.

Sunken treasure, cannibalism, prison ships, Nazi submarines, the Bermuda triangle—all are tied into the lore of shipwrecks along Florida's coasts. There are as many shipwreck stories as there are thousands of Florida shipwrecks. This book offers thirty of the most interesting of them—from the tale of young Fontaneda, who wrecked in 1545 and was held captive by Indians for 17 years, to the story of the Coast Guard cutter Bibb, which was sunk off Key Largo in 1987 to provide an artificial reef and diving site. In between there is the Atocha, flagship of a Spanish treasure fleet, which sank in a hurricane in September 1622 and was found, along with its $100 million worth of gold and silver, by Mel Fisher in July of 1985. Each shipwreck story has a map pinpointing its location and a full-color illustration by renowned artist William L. Trotter. There is an extensive bibliography and a foreword by Florida state underwater archaeologist Roger Smith.

From aerial survey to zoology, Part I of this two-part encyclopedia covers all aspects of underwater archeology, treasure hunting and salvaging. For example, entries are included for different types of artifacts, notable treasure hunters, the various salvaging equipment, and techniques in mapping and excavating. Part II covers the shipwrecks themselves, dividing them into 13 geographical categories. Beginning with the northernmost category (Canada) and ending with the southernmost (South America), every known shipwreck--both identified and unidentified--receives an entry in alphabetical order under its appropriate geographical category. Entries are by name, such as Andrea Gail, Titanic, and Queen Ann's Revenge. Unidentified is used when a shipwreck's name remains unknown. Entries give the nationality (e.g., Spanish, British, American), type (schooner, frigate, brig are three), function (examples: slave transportation, piracy, fishing), location and history of the shipwreck.

“Titanic meets Tom Clancy technology” in this national-bestselling account of the SS Central America’s wreckage and discovery (People). September 1875. With nearly six hundred passengers returning from the California Gold Rush, the side-wheel steamer SS Central America encountered a violent storm and sank two hundred miles off the Carolina coast. More than four hundred lives and twenty-one tons of gold were lost. It was a tragedy lost in legend for more than a century—until a brilliant young engineer named Tommy Thompson set out to find the wreck. Driven by scientific curiosity and resentful of the term “treasure hunt,” Thompson searched the deep-ocean floor using historical accounts, cutting-edge sonar technology, and an underwater robot of his own design. Navigating greedy investors, impatient crewmembers, and a competing salvage team, Thompson finally located the wreck in 1989 and sailed into Norfolk with her recovered treasure: gold coins, bars, nuggets, and dust, plus steamer trunks filled with period clothes, newspapers, books, and journals. A great American adventure story, Ship of Gold in the Deep Blue Sea is also a fascinating account of the science, technology, and engineering that opened Earth’s final frontier, providing “white-knuckle reading, as exciting as anything . . . in The Perfect Storm” (Los Angeles Times Book Review). “A complex, bittersweet history of two centuries of American entrepreneurship, linked by the mad quest for gold.” —Entertainment Weekly “A ripping true tale of danger and discovery at sea.” —The Washington Post “What a yarn! . . . If you sign on for the cruise, go in knowing that you’re going to miss meals and a lot of sleep.” —Newsweek