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| Treasure Coast Living Up To Its Name! |
| June 15, 2004 -- Taffi Fisher Abt |
FORT PIERCE - GOLD FOUND!! The Treasure Coast lives up to its’ name again. An
exquisite ornate gold religious medallion and cross was recovered by the m/v
Gold Hound captain Greg Bounds. His crew Chaz Francovigilla and Jeff Croy were
yelling, “Today’s the Day!” in the background as he called in on his cell phone
from the site to report the find. Bounds is working the 1715 Fleet shipwrecks
under a contract with the Mel Fisher Center and Museum in Sebastian Florida
who holds the State contracts to salvage the ships. The gold was found on the
site known as the Cabin Wreck, just south of Sebastian Inlet. The artifacts
recovered there in the past have left a trail that runs nearly three miles.
This site was one of the first where Kip Wagner started finding coins in the
early 1960s’ resulting in the naming of the “Treasure Coast”.
The ill fated fleet of ships wrecked along our shores during a hurricane in 1715
taking with them over 700 lives.
When Bounds brought the find in to the conservation lab of the Mel Fisher Museum,
it was discovered to be a missing piece of a rosary recovered 10 years ago in
1994 by Fort Pierce treasure hunter Demostines Molinar. The same area in
1993 and 1994 yielded 4 intact gold rosaries, 10 pairs of gold cufflinks, 2 gold
buckles, two gold manicure sets and a gold chain. Bounds hopes to continue to
add to the list this week.
“It’s really tough to find it all,” said Taffi Fisher Abt, daughter of the world
famous treasure hunter Mel Fisher who started it all. “It’s a big ocean with a lot
of deep sand and Mother Nature makes it difficult.” Twenty adventurous crews have
subcontracted with the Fisher Group to go for the gusto and search for the missing
1715 Fleet treasure this summer. The salvage season just began in late May.
There are only about 100 days a year that these sites can actually be worked due
to weather conditions.
The new find will be on display at the Mel Fisher Treasure Museum located at 1322
U.S. 1 in Sebastian.
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