 Captain
John Brandon, 47 and his wife, Debbie and 3 year old
twins, John William and AnnaRose reside in Ft. Pierce,
Florida. John is captain of the 40 foot, twin diesel,
recovery vessel M/V Endeavor.
John grew up in Ft. Pierce, the heart of what was to
become known as the Treasure Coast. At age 10, through
the exploits of salvors such as Kip Wagner, Bob Marx and
most of all Mel Fisher, John became interested in
historical shipwrecks and Spanish galleons lost off the
Florida coast, and the treasures and artifacts they
contained .
At age 13, John recovered his first Spanish silver coin
on the beach at Ft. Pierce. That same year he met Mel and
applied for a job. While having to turn John down because
of his age, Mel encouraged him to follow his dream. John
didn’t give up and continued to seek employment with Mel
until he finally hired him at age 16. This began John’s
thirty year association with Mel and his family.
Over the years, John has recovered just about every type
and category of treasure and artifacts to be found on a
Spanish galleon, including a magnificent jeweled gold
belt from the Atocha site.
John has worked extensively on the 1622 fleet wrecks of
the Atocha and Margarita, lost off Key West and the 1715
fleet wrecks lost off the Treasure Coast. He has also
explored a 1618 Spanish wreck off Wabasso, Florida and a
1628 Spanish wreck off Grand Bahama Island as well as
dozens of other types of vessels lost off Florida and the
Bahamas.
When not on the boat, John plays an active role in the
shaping of policies affecting the private sector recovery
of historical shipwrecks in Florida waters. As a founding
member of the Historic Shipwreck Salvage Policy Council (HSSPC)
his efforts, along with those of the many other dedicated
treasure salvors, will pave the way for a bright future
in waters off the coast of Florida.
John is now preparing the M/V Endeavor for the 2000 field
season on the 1715 fleet wrecks. Last year proved to be a
successful year for John and his crew, who recovered 23
gold coins, a magnificent emerald ring, over 100 silver
coins and numerous beautiful and valuable artifacts. Most
exciting of all, is that the majority of these recoveries
were made in virgin territory on the 1715 wreck known as
Douglas Beach, about a half mile north of where Mel first
saw the bottom paved with gold doubloons on May 24, 1964!
Does another carpet of gold lurk near by? John and his
crew certainly think so and will be doing their best to
bring it in this summer!
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