covediver
Contributor
I seem to be reading a lot of treasure hunting/shipwreck diving books this winter. Doing so is a great activity for passing long nights of an Alaska winter. I recently continued my discovery of books related to Florida treasure seekers with Randy Lathrop's A Treasured Life: Surrenduring to the Siren's Song. Most of the book is centered on the author's activities as a treasure salvor around the Indian River/Space coast of Florida and as a cave diver. The salvor includes recollections of working various wrecks of the 1715 treasure fleet, Among his other other exploits richly described in the autobiograph are the discovery of a red cedar canoe following Hurricane Irma in 2017 and diving in the 1980s in cenotes and caves around Akumal on the Yucatan Peninsula.
An unexpected story, as it takes place outside the main area covered by the book, related to the dives he did on the Regina a ship lost on Lake Huron is the Great Storm of 1913. I found that srory intriguing since my great-granfather was an engineer on Great Lakes steamers in that era and one ship on which he served sank. I dived on Michigan shipwrecks while researching magazine articles 2008 and appreciate the details and insights he provides of his own experience. He also alludes to the increasingly rigorous and restrictive legal framework governing sunken vessels. I find myself sympathetic to his point of view despite having been involved with the Federal government's historic shipwreck preservation efforts.
The book is generously illustrated with photos that the author took over his long career. Maps give the reader who may be unfamiliar with the general and specific location of places covered in the text. For me, not including a map to orient the reader is a shortcoming of many books on aquatic exploration.
I recently provided a description of John Fine's recent book Hunt for Gold. Of the two books, I found Lathop's A Treasure Life easier to read and more enjoyable, with the prose much like a dive buddy telling stories around a fire.
An unexpected story, as it takes place outside the main area covered by the book, related to the dives he did on the Regina a ship lost on Lake Huron is the Great Storm of 1913. I found that srory intriguing since my great-granfather was an engineer on Great Lakes steamers in that era and one ship on which he served sank. I dived on Michigan shipwrecks while researching magazine articles 2008 and appreciate the details and insights he provides of his own experience. He also alludes to the increasingly rigorous and restrictive legal framework governing sunken vessels. I find myself sympathetic to his point of view despite having been involved with the Federal government's historic shipwreck preservation efforts.
The book is generously illustrated with photos that the author took over his long career. Maps give the reader who may be unfamiliar with the general and specific location of places covered in the text. For me, not including a map to orient the reader is a shortcoming of many books on aquatic exploration.
I recently provided a description of John Fine's recent book Hunt for Gold. Of the two books, I found Lathop's A Treasure Life easier to read and more enjoyable, with the prose much like a dive buddy telling stories around a fire.
