Post by Admin on Jun 2, 2014 23:25:41 GMT
#CHAPTER ONE
DISCOVERY
Barbara Mason was having the best vacation of her life. Instead of staying at a five star resort on the Yucatan as usual, she had finally talked her husband Frank into doing it her way. They rented a jeep in Cancun and were just flying by the seat of their pants. Driving along the coast to the south, staying at small Mom and Pop hotels. Eating the local food and diving at secluded spots along the coast of the Yucatan.
Today they had pulled over where the coast was visible through the jungle. With their scuba gear in mesh bags on their backs and a tank of air on their shoulders, they had walked to the shoreline. The diving in these remote sites was spectacular, with a lack of divers, the fish, turtles and other marine life had no fear of man.
The reef itself was incredible, this large formation looked like an underwater mountain range. Valleys would plunge downwards hundreds of feet down a sheer wall with abundant fish life all along it. She was now at forty six feet deep floating just above the reef as huge schools of colorful fish swam nearby looking at her with little concern. A large Hawks bill Turtle was eating a sponge on the bottom as a Queen Angel fish gracefully hovered over its shell eating the small scraps.
Swimming over a drop-off in the coral, she couldn't believe her eyes. There sticking out of the coral was a very large, ancient anchor. She excitedly rang the small brass bell on her Buoyancy compensator to alert Frank. Frank, a short distance away looked at her as she urgently waved him over. When he arrived next to her she pointed at the anchor.
Together they pulled the cords releasing air so they could sink down to the level of it. The bubbles rushed around their heads tickling their ears as the went deeper. The anchor chain links were larger than her hand, they led off through the sand and coral, appearing here and there as they followed it. Soon a large section of reef appeared. Squeezing the inflator button to add air, Frank rose up several feet above the reef to get a better perspective.
It didn't look natural, the shape of it was too perfect. Even though encrusted with coral and sponges, it was definitely an ancient ship, a very large ship. His heart pounded in his chest as he saw what was obviously a pile of ballast stones to make the ship ride better when unloaded spilled out in a mound on one side.
Barbara was scooting just along the top of the reef, swimming along its length when something caught her eye. A slight glint of gold reflected the sun’s light in the sand near the wreck. Swimming to it, she waved her hand moving the sand away. It was a large, gold coin. The Spanish cross was plainly visible on one side, the other had the profile of a man’s head.
She rang the small bell holding it up for Frank to see. Seeing the gold coin, he quickly swam over to her and took it examining one side then the other. He motioned with his hands as to where she found it. Barbara again waved her hand over the sand and there was another. Then a stone caught her eye, it appeared green under the water but it was not a natural shape either, it was oval. Placing it in her palm, she showed Frank who also examined it.
Together they began to fan their hands over the sand, finding six more coins over the course of a half hour. Frank looked at his gauge console and saw that his air supply was approaching five hundred pounds. He tapped Barbara’s shoulder, showing her the gauge and motioning with a thumbs up signal. She nodded her head and slowly they swam upwards toward the shoreline. Stopping at twenty feet for five minutes to breathe off the excess nitrogen, Barbara couldn't wait to talk to Frank as she looked at the coins in her hand.
After a five minute safety stop, they slowly rose to the surface. Barbara pulled her mask under her chin, “Frank! Its a treasure ship!”
“Whoa, don’t get excited just yet. Its an old ship for sure, but those coins might be the only ones there. That could have been in someone’s pocket way back then.”
“No! There has to be more! All we did was wave our hands at the sand. Most of the ship is encrusted in coral. Who knows how much more is down there? We need to come back here for sure.”
“Well I agree with that. The collectors value alone of the ones that we found will more than pay for this trip. There may be more, we will see, that’s for sure. Come on, lets get back.”
Barbara slipped the coins into her BC pocket securely fastening the Velcro flap. Once they reached the shallow water, they removed their fins and steadied each other against the crashing waves as they waded onto shore.
“We need to mark this spot.” Frank said, looking around, “There, look.”
Two palm trees leaned away from each other forming a V shape directly ahead of them. Walking up on dry land, they removed their buoyancy compensators with the now heavy scuba tanks laying them in the sand. Barbara opened the flap of her BC pocket removing the coins and the stone. The stone was a perfect oval of deep red, it glimmered in the bright sunlight.
“My God, it’s a ruby!” she said.
“Yes, you lose the color red at thirty feet. That’s why it looked green, let me see it.”
She placed it in his palm then examined one of the large gold coins. The date was clearly visible, 1514.
“This is a gold escudo! I told you it was a treasure ship!”
“Don’t get excited, we don’t know that. All sailors carried money in their pockets, that may be all that there is.” he said looking back out at the turquoise water.
“Well, it sure is worth looking some more, don’t you agree?” She smiled.
“Of course it is. We will come back tomorrow with several tanks. At that depth, we can stay down almost an hour at a time, then off gas for a few hours, eat lunch and go back down.”
“We need to be able to chip away at the coral. There may be a lot more under it.”
“Destroy the reef? Are you kidding? Its the home for countless fish and small marine animals.”
She looked at him incredulously, “Frank! There are miles of reef out there. The small fish and crabs will just move to another section of it. We may be sitting on a fortune here.”
Frank looked at the coins, “OK, you are right. We will find a welding supply and buy some chipping hammers. They have a point on one end and a flat edge like a hatchet on the other. We‘ll come back tomorrow early.”
Barbara hugged him then kissed his cheek. Together they carried their scuba gear back through the short section of jungle to the jeep.
DISCOVERY
Barbara Mason was having the best vacation of her life. Instead of staying at a five star resort on the Yucatan as usual, she had finally talked her husband Frank into doing it her way. They rented a jeep in Cancun and were just flying by the seat of their pants. Driving along the coast to the south, staying at small Mom and Pop hotels. Eating the local food and diving at secluded spots along the coast of the Yucatan.
Today they had pulled over where the coast was visible through the jungle. With their scuba gear in mesh bags on their backs and a tank of air on their shoulders, they had walked to the shoreline. The diving in these remote sites was spectacular, with a lack of divers, the fish, turtles and other marine life had no fear of man.
The reef itself was incredible, this large formation looked like an underwater mountain range. Valleys would plunge downwards hundreds of feet down a sheer wall with abundant fish life all along it. She was now at forty six feet deep floating just above the reef as huge schools of colorful fish swam nearby looking at her with little concern. A large Hawks bill Turtle was eating a sponge on the bottom as a Queen Angel fish gracefully hovered over its shell eating the small scraps.
Swimming over a drop-off in the coral, she couldn't believe her eyes. There sticking out of the coral was a very large, ancient anchor. She excitedly rang the small brass bell on her Buoyancy compensator to alert Frank. Frank, a short distance away looked at her as she urgently waved him over. When he arrived next to her she pointed at the anchor.
Together they pulled the cords releasing air so they could sink down to the level of it. The bubbles rushed around their heads tickling their ears as the went deeper. The anchor chain links were larger than her hand, they led off through the sand and coral, appearing here and there as they followed it. Soon a large section of reef appeared. Squeezing the inflator button to add air, Frank rose up several feet above the reef to get a better perspective.
It didn't look natural, the shape of it was too perfect. Even though encrusted with coral and sponges, it was definitely an ancient ship, a very large ship. His heart pounded in his chest as he saw what was obviously a pile of ballast stones to make the ship ride better when unloaded spilled out in a mound on one side.
Barbara was scooting just along the top of the reef, swimming along its length when something caught her eye. A slight glint of gold reflected the sun’s light in the sand near the wreck. Swimming to it, she waved her hand moving the sand away. It was a large, gold coin. The Spanish cross was plainly visible on one side, the other had the profile of a man’s head.
She rang the small bell holding it up for Frank to see. Seeing the gold coin, he quickly swam over to her and took it examining one side then the other. He motioned with his hands as to where she found it. Barbara again waved her hand over the sand and there was another. Then a stone caught her eye, it appeared green under the water but it was not a natural shape either, it was oval. Placing it in her palm, she showed Frank who also examined it.
Together they began to fan their hands over the sand, finding six more coins over the course of a half hour. Frank looked at his gauge console and saw that his air supply was approaching five hundred pounds. He tapped Barbara’s shoulder, showing her the gauge and motioning with a thumbs up signal. She nodded her head and slowly they swam upwards toward the shoreline. Stopping at twenty feet for five minutes to breathe off the excess nitrogen, Barbara couldn't wait to talk to Frank as she looked at the coins in her hand.
After a five minute safety stop, they slowly rose to the surface. Barbara pulled her mask under her chin, “Frank! Its a treasure ship!”
“Whoa, don’t get excited just yet. Its an old ship for sure, but those coins might be the only ones there. That could have been in someone’s pocket way back then.”
“No! There has to be more! All we did was wave our hands at the sand. Most of the ship is encrusted in coral. Who knows how much more is down there? We need to come back here for sure.”
“Well I agree with that. The collectors value alone of the ones that we found will more than pay for this trip. There may be more, we will see, that’s for sure. Come on, lets get back.”
Barbara slipped the coins into her BC pocket securely fastening the Velcro flap. Once they reached the shallow water, they removed their fins and steadied each other against the crashing waves as they waded onto shore.
“We need to mark this spot.” Frank said, looking around, “There, look.”
Two palm trees leaned away from each other forming a V shape directly ahead of them. Walking up on dry land, they removed their buoyancy compensators with the now heavy scuba tanks laying them in the sand. Barbara opened the flap of her BC pocket removing the coins and the stone. The stone was a perfect oval of deep red, it glimmered in the bright sunlight.
“My God, it’s a ruby!” she said.
“Yes, you lose the color red at thirty feet. That’s why it looked green, let me see it.”
She placed it in his palm then examined one of the large gold coins. The date was clearly visible, 1514.
“This is a gold escudo! I told you it was a treasure ship!”
“Don’t get excited, we don’t know that. All sailors carried money in their pockets, that may be all that there is.” he said looking back out at the turquoise water.
“Well, it sure is worth looking some more, don’t you agree?” She smiled.
“Of course it is. We will come back tomorrow with several tanks. At that depth, we can stay down almost an hour at a time, then off gas for a few hours, eat lunch and go back down.”
“We need to be able to chip away at the coral. There may be a lot more under it.”
“Destroy the reef? Are you kidding? Its the home for countless fish and small marine animals.”
She looked at him incredulously, “Frank! There are miles of reef out there. The small fish and crabs will just move to another section of it. We may be sitting on a fortune here.”
Frank looked at the coins, “OK, you are right. We will find a welding supply and buy some chipping hammers. They have a point on one end and a flat edge like a hatchet on the other. We‘ll come back tomorrow early.”
Barbara hugged him then kissed his cheek. Together they carried their scuba gear back through the short section of jungle to the jeep.