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| February 9, 2004 -- Caroline Menighan |
KEY WEST - On Friday, February 6, 2004, the dive crew aboard Mel Fisher’s salvage boat, the
Dauntless, surfaced once again with golden treasure. Capt. Mike Piranio and
Paul had only been underwater for a couple of minutes when there before their
eyes, sitting right on top of the bedrock, was a six-inch gold bar! They took
a moment of silence, nodded to one another, and headed for the surface.
News of the discovery made its way back to Key West and to the folks on the Mel
Fisher home front. What a rush!
The bar weighed in at two pounds with all the right markings and 21.75 karats.
This is the furthest north on the Atocha treasure trail that any gold has been
found to date. In addition to the gold bar, the site in mention has been the
bearer of many iron spikes, pewter bottle tops, and silver coins. Also, the
Magruder, another of Mel Fisher’s salvage boats found an arquebus about 75 yards
away in the same area. These are just a few of the clues indicating that this
is the trail of the stern-castle, a very substantial section of the Atocha.
This was diver Paul's first gold discovery as part of the Mel Fisher Dauntless crew.
It was a job well done indeed and sure to keep him going back for more. Where there
is one gold bar there are bound to be more.
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