Pirate ship Whyda found off Cape Cod

[Spratman]

Did anyone see the blurb on GMA this morning? I'm sure this must have popped up before, since they are exhibiting some of the finds. Shows how treasure isn't laying out and in normal form.

It was amazing!

 

[LVX]

They have been working that wreck for a long while now. They just had a really good summer so that is why it is out in the news again. I worked with Barry in Madagascar in 2002 and they had already had several seasons before then. here is their website.

L

 

[carlislere]

I have a book on the Whydah, "Treasure Wreck, The Forturnes and Fate of the Pirate Ship Whydah" by Arthur T. Vanderbilt II. Copyright is 1986 and the ISBN number is 0-395-39975-0. It's a great book for pirate history buffs like me.

 

[LVX]

Hey Ron,

If you are a pirate buff, you might be interested in a project I was on a few years back. Working with Barry, we were on St. Marie off the coast of Madagascar. It is known as pirate island because it was a big stronghold for pirates working the Indian Ocean. There was pirate symbols everywhere. The cemetery was especially interesting with all the skulls and crossbones that were still present on the gravestones.

Very interesting place.

Layne

 

[carlislere]

Thanks! Yep, Madagascar was the Port Royal of that part of the world. I wondered around some very old cemetaries on the east end of Grand Cayman back in the early 80s and found a few graves with skulls and crossbones on them. Around 1987-88 there was a land owner on GC who was clearing some land behind his house on the east end and found what was believed to be a pirates grave. There were two 4 reale coins in a pocket remants of the pants. I was speaking to a jeweler on GC who was mounting them for the land owner and was told the story. Apparently, a couple of coins would be left in a pocket so they would have money for the next world.

 

[LVX]

Here is what we were finding...

 

[Eris Lucan7*]

It is one off the most divers wish to find a middelge or else unknown goldcarrier

shipwreks.In mthe Medterriansea is it that we have much more sunken antik

cargo vessel then any where else on earth, i had foun the most wired junk uw

mixed with new junk is it in my homwaters so that you not sight iff that

woodwrek is 100-or 1000 years old...and it is dangerous to dive the

seldom dark water shipgraveyards beside old bombs as granates and

mashinepistols,when you had found somfing is it not your owen wail the

states will confiscate it when its older then 100years

E.L.7*

 

[carlislere]

Oh, Yeah! I noticed the hole in the bottom disk. The owner would hang that from his neck I assume? We never found anything like that at the Aquarena Springs Indian camp site in San Marcos, Texas! That was in the mid to late 80s.

 

[LVX]

If you are interested, I will be teaching my underwater archaeology workshop at Aquarena Springs this fall. Eric P is trying to set up dates now so hopefully I will have something firmed up soon..

Layne

 

[carlislere]

Thanks, but I took an U/W Archaeology course from the late Dr. Joel Shiner back in the 80s. I helped him work the site at Aquarena for a couple of years after that. Of course, it would be fun to take with one of my kiddos. Let me know the dates, if you get it set up there. Thanks, again!