1/16/18 Report - 16th Century Shipwreck Near Canaveral. International Dispute. Space X Rocket. Treasure Coast Beaches.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com

Space X Rocket From Cape Canaveral
Photo by Chris N.

Chris N. caught this nice photo of a rocket launch from the cape.  He also found a whale rib.

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For the last several weeks, the country with the most readers of this blog other than the United States was France.  I don't know why that is  Over the years France hasn't ranked that high.

I came across an article, which might or might not have something to do with it.  The article isn't the latest news, but I thought it might still be worth addressing.

16th-Century Shipwreck Off Florida Is Causing an International Dispute  That is the title of the article.  Below is an excerpt from the article found in LiveScience.

... "Classically, treasure hunters are supposed to be snatch-and-grab type of people, and they're only interested in shiny stuff — but that's not the case anymore," Sinclair told Live Science. "People who actually want to do this from the private sector have to come up to a pretty rigid set of rules, regulations and specifications to do the work that they want to do."

Even so, the judge in the case will probably rule that the sunken artifacts came from a French ship, likely Ribault's flagship Le Trinite, said Chuck Meide, an underwater and maritime archaeologist who heads the Lighthouse Archaeological Maritime Program (LAMP) at Florida's St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum.

LAMP and the St. Augustine Lighthouse and Museum are funded, in part, by grants from the state of Florida, but Meide is not involved in the case involving France, Florida and GME.

"In my opinion, it certainly looks like it is the La Trinité," Meide told Live Science. "It's hard to know these things, but I'm cautiously optimistic that, when presented with the evidence, the judge will agree that this is one of those French Ships and probably the Trinité," he said.

Here is the link for the rest of the article.

https://www.livescience.com/60859-shipwreck-excavation-awaits-court-ruling.html

After reading the article I was even more convinced that Florida will not be issuing many, if any, new salvage leases  They'll just issue exploratory leases and learn what they can and then not issue a salvage lease.  They'll tie up the wreck or assign it to some foreign government or something.  That is my opinion.

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One time I posted a a note  from George of Loxahatchee who wanted to find some hunting buddies.  Steve in Sebastian contacted George and is glad he did.   I guess that worked out well, so if anyone else is wanting to find a hunting buddy, send me your email address, tell me where you are located and any other important information, and I'll post it.

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Surf At John Brooks Beach Monday Just Before Low Tide

Monday the Treasure Coast was getting some good north winds at something like 25 knots.

The beach there was mushy all the way down to the water line.

Below are a couple more pictures from the same beach and time.

Looking South From John Brooks Beach Monday Just Before Low Tide

There was one detectorist working the water line up towards the condos.

John Brooks Beach Monday Just Before Low Tide.

I didn't see any of the beaches anywhere else Monday.  Some could have been better than John Brooks.  The wind was pretty strong from the north.  The surf was more from the east at John Brooks.

I just got these pictures from Searape and Turtle Trails from Alberto S.  Thanks Alberto.

Searape Trail Around 4:45 Monday.
Photo by Alberto S.

Turtle Trail  Near 5 PM Monday.
Photo by Alberto S.

Alberto also said Wabasso was closed for dune restoration.


Tuesday the wind is still form the north but not a directly.  It doesn't seem to be as strong either.

The surf will be decreasing today.



Tomorrow or sometimes soon, I'll talk about the skills required for successful metal detecting.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net

4/27/17 Report - More On Cooper's Treasure Show. Salvage Lease Process In The Bahamas. Blog Provided Touch of Home to Deployed Detectorist.

Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of treasurebeachesreport.blogspot.com.

Sometimes I wonder why I do this blog. But then I get an answer.  That happened just yesterday.

I got an email from Dustin P. who mentioned reading this blog.  He said, I started following your blog while I was deployed in the middle east last year May 2015 - June 2016... It was something that I looked forward to reading every day while I was deployed and made me feel a sense of comfort from home. 

Thanks Dustin!  I never imagined that my blog would provide that type of connection for someone deployed overseas.  Thanks for your service and your kind words.

Dustin started detecting a few years ago around Belle Chase, which had a military base since 1742.  He did his research and made some nice finds.  Now he is stationed at the Canaveral Naval Air Station and is using a Fisher F2 on the beaches around there.  Besides some of his older finds, he occasionally finds rocket parts, which he turns over to the base historian.

I received some emails concerning the Cooper's Treasure TV show.  Maybe you read my previous comments on the show.  I caught part of the second episode last night.

The readers of this blog are very informed people and I often get some great information.  I got an email from James F. who had some contact with the producers of the show back when it was being formed.  Here is what Steve told me.

A year or two ago, I got a bunch of e-mails from the producer of this series, asking about gamma ray spectrometers, knowing I had done some classified stuff for Lockheed Space Operations Corporation (LSOC); I had done some spacecraft electronics work. He asked me how far a spectrometer could sense a change in gamma radiation from Gordo's spacecraft and the answer was somewhere within 6 to 30 feet or so...anyway...not very far, given the technology of the day. He didn't seem to like that answer very much and asked me a few more questions, to which he didn't like the answers very much either. The classified communication transcripts and NASA data are no longer SECRET or even CONFIDENTIAL anymore. There is nothing remotely mentioned in any of these documents (I looked) or even the thinnest theory to support the pretext of this "show" Your feelings are correct...the whole thing is BS.

Thanks James.  All of the emails I've received concerning the show are from people who have serious reservations about it.

After viewing the short segment of the show that I saw Wednesday night, I did a little google search on Roger Miklos (who had the map that Darrell Miklos wanted), who appeared on the Merv Griffin show in the 70s along with Gordon Cooper.

You can find that Merv Griffin show online easy enough.

One thing I found was the following link to an article talking about Roger attempting to get a salvage lease for a project in the Bahamas a few years ago and complaining that a multi-million dollar contribution was be required.  That article was more interesting to me than the TV show.  Here is the first three paragraphs.

The Antiquities, Monuments and Museums Corporation (AMMC) chairman yesterday denied that underwater salvage/exploration licence approvals were being tied to multi-million dollar donations to preserve historic Bahamian sites.

Courtney Strachan’s denial came despite Tribune Business possessing a January 22, 2013, letter to one salvage licence applicant, in which he promised to “personally pursue” Prime Minister Perry Christie for an approval if the latter was able to secure a $22 million donation to the Historic Bahamas Foundation.

In the letter, shown here on Page 1B, Mr Strachan tells Key West-based applicant, Roger Miklos: “Further to our meeting and discussion (January 22, 2013), you are prepared to show good faith by securing a commitment for a donation of $22million to the Historic Bahamas Foundation.”

Here is the link if you want to read the rest of the article.

http://www.tribune242.com/news/2014/jun/19/22m-donation-tie-to-salvage-licence-denied/

The article seems like it might provide some insight into how things are done in the Bahamas.

On the TV show last night, Darrell visited the Houston Space Center, which reminded me of the time many years ago I sent my parents to Space Academy at Huntsville.  It was really a big hit with my dad, who is now deceased.  Probably the best thing I ever did for him.  My mom still talks about meeting John Glenn there.  Unfortunately they didn't come back with a treasure map or file on UFOs.

Back to the Cooper's Treasure show.  At the end of episode 2 when Darrell, who appears to live in the Melbourne, Florida area, jumped off his boat  and right onto a completely visible steel wreck and swam around holding a Vibra-tector in his hand like an over-grown lolly pop and claimed that the wreck validated the chart.  Anyone could draw an arrow on a chart and go out and jump on a wreck.

I probably spent too much time talking about this show.  It does have a lot of Florida connections and touches on things that interest all of us.  I don't know what the general population thinks of the show, but I received several emails about the show.  So far, Darrell Miklos is coming off very much like what he called his father - "a flim-flam man."

We are all interested in treasure hunting, but the last thing we want to see is a hoax that reflects poorly on the hobby and the industry of treasure hunting.

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The surf is small but we are getting some good negative low tides on the Treasure Coast.  That could open up a few good opportunities.

Happy hunting,
TreasureGuide@comcast.net