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.

SOME PICTURES NEED FEW WORDS......................

Very few words are actually needed. Everyone of these photos is worthy of a double-click, especially this one on the right. Nature's perfection. This was our visit to McKEE GARDENS in Vero Beach. IT"S WHAT YOU DO WHEN YOU ARE NOT SAILING. The closer you look, the more you find, and this hidden pearl on the TREASURE COAST was the best treasure yet. We are going back to do it all again next weekend. A 12-acre piece of paradise sculptured out of the natural Florida bushland. It used to be 80 acres and part of a zoo, until the new freeway (I-95) was built, and Orlando and DisneyWorld took the people away. Orchids and water-lillies are everywhere and the species of palms left us breathless, some from as far away as Madagascar. There were pink bananas from Asia and at least ten different varieties of bamboo.. Even a whole building made of bamboo...... and who knew you would find a sausage tree......



My two daughters in Darwin,N.T., AUSTRALIA love flowers also. One of them is a full time florist................need I say more.....



And if this wasn't enough, then we found tucked away in one of the natural log buildings, the world's largest single slab table. A huge piece of sanded and varnished mahogany, about four inches thick, six feet across and at least as long as a sleep-less night. The table is supported on some swamp cypress knees. One wonders if there are still 'Giants of Men' around who devote themselves to such preservation for all of us to see...............................

THE TREASURE COAST ...........................

Back to VERO BEACH on the Treasure Coast and back to our wonderful "Red Rocket Pick-up" kindly lent to us for the duration of our FLORIDA stay by Lauren Anne and Tony, soon to be married. With it, we have been able to achieve many projects, make new friends and do all the normal things, like soldering on a new VHF antenna up the mizzen mast, not that we needed the 'rocket' for that job. That's the "rocket" down below, and on the right are John and Marianne King from the yacht "Pura Vida" who have the ultimate of cruising yachts an "AMEL". Every global cruiser dreams of one of those. John works in the field of agricultural science and has supplied us on numerous occassions with the fruits of the land like, AVOCADOES, MANGOS, and STAR FRUIT (Carambolas) and to top that he is a powerhouse of information and ingenuity. We may have to induce them to follow us. Other friends like John and Dottie Noble, also cruisers from Vero, have been extremely supportive during our stay in VERO. Ever since the cruise-ship trip, our walks have gone to pot. The routines are upside down and the only phenomenal happening is that there have been no major tropical disturbances WHATSOEVER.

Now on the beach at VERO in the photo below, you'll see a diver's flag and a portable diving compressor with divers under water searching for relics. Numerous items have been found, from various spanish galleons and other wrecks, for after all, this is the "TREASURE COAST". If you go less than a mile offshore in this location, you will find the wreck of the "BRECONSHIRE" in quite shallow water.



THE WRECK OF THE "BRECONSHIRE", VERO BEACH FL, 1894

An iron screw steamer, built in 1884, the Breconshire was a schooner-rigged ship with compound engines of 350 horsepower complementing her sail power. She was 300 feet in length and 37 feet in breadth. A man by the name of Robert Taylor, who possessed a Master’s Certificate, commanded the ship’s crew of 24 men. Edwin H. Curling, was the Second Officer. During her last voyage, the Breconshire sailed from England to various Mediterranean ports and then on to New York. In the spring of 1894, she was ordered to proceed to Tampa to pick up an unknown cargo.
Taylor, unfamiliar with Florida’s waters, ordered charts of the coast of the state. The package of charts, however, failed to include the Florida coast for about 20 miles south of Cape Canaveral. This information was unbeknownst to Taylor when they set out because he did not bother to open the package until three days after they were at sea. The Breconshire left New York on April 25, 1894, less than five days later, she was lost. The night of April 29 was calm and clear when Taylor set his course and ordered, “I am to be called at 1 a.m.” He then went below. At midnight the Second Officer, Curling, took charge. He instructed his early morning crew to keep a sharp lookout for land on the starboard. Land was seen as a “dark streak” on the water, but each man on lookout attributed it to a morning breeze until it mistakenly developed into land. At 1:45 a.m., Curling sighted land on the starboard beam and estimated that the distance was four to five miles. Unaware of his danger, he continued his course. A few minutes later, the Breconshire hit a reef and headed for the bottom where it still rests a quarter mile in front of the Ocean Grill dining room. At low tide a watchful eye can still see the bow of the ship peeking out from below the surf. The entire crew managed to escape from the sinking vessel in the ship’s boats and after being sheltered in a nearby Coast Guard station for three days, they returned to London.

The ordeal was not ended for the Master and his Second Officer, however. Back in London they faced Her Majesty’s Justices of the Peace who determined that the casualty was primarily in negligence on the part of the officers. The courts suspended their Certificates for six months. The value of the Breconshire was listed at $75,000.
(Written by Mary Beth Herzog. Reprinted courtesy of the Press Journal, Sunday, September 1, 1974.)

And this is all that remains of the "Breconshire" just below the surface.

THE HISTORY OF YACHT "SVEA"................

We bought the yacht "SVEA", because we couldn't do anything else. She was just beautiful. Having seen her on internet, we drove to North Carolina with Lauren's daughter ANNE to make the decision..... YES or NO....... but one look inside at the magnificent construction and the beautiful teak interior, and there was no going back. Lauren's daughter was single at the time, and involved with getting her own yacht-detailing business off the ground and this was to become her 'Dream Classic yacht and office'. With the purchase came the incredible story of "SVEA's" history. ANNE is now no longer single but engaged to marry Tony Shiver in March next year in Hopetown BAHAMAS, and it all happened in the cockpit of SVEA, see for yourself. (double-click on the photo on the right). LOVE is a powerful thing. Powerful enough to change things.




"SVEA's" keel was laid down in Denmark in Year 1938, amidst the occupation by German forces during the WW II. She was built with oak frames and stringers and clad in solid pitch-pine built to withstand the Baltic and North Seas. The yacht had been designed as a "Spitzgatter ketch" (a Danish double-ender) by Naval Architect 'Aage Utzon' whose son, Bjorn Utzon, subsequently designed the famous Sydney Opera House in Australia. "SVEA" was hidden from the Germans in a boat-shed till after the war. It was then sailed to America and sold to a California couple who had never sailed before, but were determined to give it a shot. They succeeded in an incredible feat of circumnavigating the World. "SVEA" was then sold to a Florida couple who previously had owned a small fishing trawler, and they again sailed "SVEA" around the World and published their book, still in print under author "Sue Moesly". "SVEA" was again sold to a man from St. Augustine, Florida, who sailed her north but died of a heart attack and so "SVEA" ended up in our hands. Thus began the four-year renovation, first with a journey to Jacksonville, all under her own power, and then everything back to bare wood and removal of the masts. A labor of love, sweat, blood, tears and money........... all mixed up together.



Everything was overhauled. New flexible water tanks added, more large batteries installed, water supply was pressurised, electrics were upgraded, fuel tanks cleaned, the masts were stripped to bare wood, as was the hull, and re-coated. Rigging was checked and spreaders replaced. Old mattresses thrown out and replaced with new. VHF, depthsounder and GPS chartplotter installed. Even an electric anchor winch was added with galvinised chain and stainless steel anchors. "SVEA" became a classic yacht with modern techniques. Even the tiller got an auto-pilot to help with steering. Bit by bit she became a new "SVEA", ready for a whole new adventure and as sound as ever as a 70-year old yacht with more that 70,000 miles under her keel. Even a wind-generator was added to the mizzen mast to provide additional electrical power in addition to the solar panels and the portable generator, and for going ashore an inflatable dinghy and outboard motor. She was even equiped with a 4-man inflatable liferaft and a 406 EPIRB. "SVEA" was truly made cruise ready with an all-weather canvas dodger-canopy over the cockpit.



After five months cruising in the Bahamas, "SVEA" is now back in Florida and here is the really sad part. In growing up, and dreaming of sailing, I would have given my right arm to have been able to sail on such a grand historic yacht as "SVEA". To have been able to fall asleep with the glow of an oil lamp reflected in the sheen of burnished teak, and to have felt that rhythm of 'Motion of the Ocean' as we felt it, when we sailed her back to Florida................. Where can we find such a person, to whom such a magnificent historic yacht can be passed on................. to keep her alive and to keep that spirit alive. Or is it that nowadays everything has to be fast and plastic, sterile and something from a production line put together with payroll and deadlines. What has happened to those people with sailing dreams, who would draw the lines of a would-be 'dream' yacht with no more than the curve of a coat hanger, as I did, when I was twenty. Where are those people today?..................... Here we are, willing someone to come forward, to love "SVEA" as we do, even to finance them with the purchase of the yacht, so that their dream can become 'real and alive'. Someone who still wants to explore new places and sail to unknown destinations.....................and to cruise over the horizon, out of sight of land, to discover another world and in doing so, themselves.



They can't all be wedded to jobs and mortgages and tied to texting and football on HDTV.............................. Surely there are still some for whom " THE OCEAN IS CALLING AND I MUST GO" For surely if you double click on the photo below of "SVEA" in the sunset, you will see much more than just a screen-saver.



There has to be someone out there for whom this is their life's dream. Not an escapist but a realist. For sailing is very real and practical and requires fortitude, patience and endurance and in many ways "McGyverism".

PERHAPS YOU CAN HELP US FIND THEM....................