HUNTING FOR TREASURE

Hunting for "TREASURE" takes many forms. Alongside is our home base "ARITA", from which we 'adventure' out each day to explore. It still amazes us what we find. Now that the dock-owners have returned from Europe, we have attended a number of highlights with them and while they have a very beautiful house it can only be described as "a badly-designed yacht that is permanently anchored". They are great people though, and we are all having fun, which is more than we can say for this monsterous snake found in the suburbs in Florida. Highly poisonous and at least 9ft long. The police were called who in turn called 'the wildlife people' but they took too long to come and the fear of it escaping into someone's house........... Well that too, would have been hunting for a different kind of treasure............... That's a six-inch (150mm) knife blade holding its mouth and fangs open. Bouganvillea are out in bloom again signalling that we've been here way too long.................... We did those last year.



Seeing snakes is kind of rare, but seeing squirrels is common-place. Cutest things you ever saw. They hide on the back side of a tree and then quickly move around to face you.................... "Just checking if you saw me!"...........



We took a little trip to visit a treasure hunter's museum at SEBASTION, FL 15 miles north of VERO BEACH. This is owned by MEL FISHER who is probably the most famous and definitely the richest treasure hunter in America. His really big museum is in KEY WEST, but this one gave us a good taste. The Spanish plunder from South America as well as the riches from the Phillipines were not only sought after by the Caribbean pirates, but they fell victim to the seasonal hurricanes over the Gulf Stream. These Spanish caravels, while solid and functional were slow, barnacle-ridden and at the mercy of the weather, with little or no ability to sail to windward. The entire Spanish treasure fleet that sailed from the Caribbean in 1715 was wrecked on the Florida coast and its contents (or that which hasn't been found) remain spread along the coast for some 200 miles. Jewelery, gemstones, silver, gold and ornaments regularly wash ashore after storms and hurricanes. Recently a lady found the largest emerald ever, at the high tide mark without realising what it was (at least at first, now she has quit her job)............... You definitely need to double-click on each of these photos and then check out that little gold filigree door set, which we could have purchased at the front counter by leaving a genuine check (cheque) for US $ 375,000...............................Regrettably we had left the checkbook on board. It measures about 4" by 4" (100mmm x 100mm) The photo in no way does it justice. An incredible piece of exquisite jewelery.



Incredible history, shameful plundering and unforgiveable brutality if you get into the annals of South American history, or history of almost anywhere for that matter. Today's "gold" is liquid and black and just as precious............. Not that in today's modern world anyone would want to steal someone else's............ maybe best not to go there........................ for fear of sending mixed signals, like the TOYOTA we were following in the photo below (double-click on it for a real good laugh)..................We will just continue with our project of plundering the salty Ocean and making fresh water from it, and sewing more covers to keep the brutal Sun out............. then again, if someone has a spare metal detector that can be used underwater, well, there's still plenty of GOLD to be found and MEL FISHER's legal underwater leases in Florida to be plundered............................ Could be fun.....




So far our "TREASURE" stands at one frisbee, one used lightbulb, one plastic jar and a large pine cone, a real cone not the other kind and a shoe-less sole........... Then again we managed to get a bunch of sanderlings to help us 'dig' for buried treasure..................maybe.................we'll get lucky.