Jack Barlow
Member
Today I had the —Great Pleasure— of working the salt beach in front of the famous “Cabin Wreck” or “Capitana” of the 1715 Spanish Plate Fleet...at my hometown of Sebastian, Florida! We had a strong SE wind for a couple days, that removed about half the overburden of loose sand in this area. I always stand in reverence in front of that Spanish Galleon... so close offshore in only 15-20 feet of water. The likes of the late great Kip Wagner who first discovered this Lost Fleet of 13 galleons (with a couple still missing). Kip was a stone mason here in Sebastian, and in his days off (often when raining) he would wander these lonely, desolate beaches back in the mid-60s. A fellow he worked with told of going to this piece of beach and finding all these strange black pieces of metal. Often almost square in shape, so he never thought these could be old, very old, 250 year old Spanish Silver Coins! The stuff every young boy dreams of finding... The Famous Pirate Treasure... The Spanish “Piece of Eight!” Correctly these coins, when minted in the regular, large denomination are 8 Reales “(RAY-ALL-ACE).”
Also working this Spanish Treasure Fleet was the man known as “The World’s Greatest Treasure Hunter”... Mel Fisher. Mel of course is most known for his 17 year search for the Spanish Galleon Atocha off the Eastern end of the Florida Keys...that cost him the lives of family and crew when one of his salvage ships capsized.
I had the great pleasure of calling Mel my friend. He was the only person ever allowed to smoke a cigarette in my home in twenty years! Funny the things we remember? I did projects with Mel down in Uruguay and other areas of Florida besides working the 1715 Fleet, that still has hundreds of millions in treasure prospects! Coins regularly wash in to the beaches up and down “The Treasure Coast,” as this area is now officially known. The wrecks reach from Sebastian Inlet down just past Ft. Pierce Inlet. Over thirty miles to hide treasure! Mel came off as an old “Happy go Lucky” chicken farmer from Indiana...he was anything but that. A highly intelligent man who got things done....there was —always— a solution.
So standing in front of Kip’s original cabin and looking out to sea is and always will be a great treat for me. I moved my young family from the snow of Wisconsin in 1987, just to be here! And what a beautiful unspoiled area Indian River County still is. I was blessed. Anybody can detect there, public beach access is less than a mile away... Most of the 1715 wrecksites just by luck...have public beach access. The walk is getting tough for me now...as I am legally handicapped and have damaged nerves in my feet and lower legs. Maybe it will be time soon for someone else to take up this torch! Come to Sebastian with a kind heart and I will take you there.
But wait! This is about the ANFIBIO MULTI in these conditions. And I am proud to say... I was very impressed. I knew that with such a powerful detector, that before reaching the wet, salt sand...I had better be locked and loaded in BEACH MODE. The machine came close to “purring like a kitten.” I knew I did not have to try to press the highest gain out of her...because I had replaced my sweet, everyday 9” Concentric Coil...(The Iron Buster!) with the huge KR-40 Coil, 15”x14”. I ran 5 KHZ, gain @ 70-75. (Discrim automatically sets to 15 in beach mode). I backed her down to 8. I like to keep a STABLE SIGNAL by scrubbing the coil shoe on the hardpacked firm sand. You of course most importantly relieve easily half the stress and strain of the weight, but also trying to hold a big coil like this up in the air, especially with a strong wind blowing. The bonus is stready, even readings, with your best depth possible! As you shoe gradually wears down, I use the liquid spray rubber in a commercial “rattle can”. I do the same whenever possible on a lawn area, by “scrubbing” the grass by sliding the coil along, maintaining control by bearing up about half the weight.
All in all I worked my way down to right in front of “The Capitana’s” final resting place. I smiled as I stopped and looked out to sea just a little farther before heading home.. For here in just 30 feet deep of water was a pair of cannon that to this day...now over 300 years later...guard the main ballast stone pile from the inside of the lower hull. A huge, huge pile of smooth river rock, about the size of basketballs, some a little smaller, some much bigger...that Spaniards dragged in horse & wagon from the river down to the ship, and up the gang plank in wheelbarrows and then down into the hull. Now that was some kinda work!
To sum this report up... the ANFIBIO MULTI worked extremely well on the salt ocean beach. “Ubilla” the Admiral of the Fleet was not ready to give up any of her treasure today. But thinking back decades ago, when I recovered my first Spanish “Piece of Eight” from this exact same site (but in the water, 15’ down) was truly beyond words. I hope you found this report both helpful, informative, and most of all entertaining.
God Bless You with a Happy, Healthy New Year.
Also working this Spanish Treasure Fleet was the man known as “The World’s Greatest Treasure Hunter”... Mel Fisher. Mel of course is most known for his 17 year search for the Spanish Galleon Atocha off the Eastern end of the Florida Keys...that cost him the lives of family and crew when one of his salvage ships capsized.
I had the great pleasure of calling Mel my friend. He was the only person ever allowed to smoke a cigarette in my home in twenty years! Funny the things we remember? I did projects with Mel down in Uruguay and other areas of Florida besides working the 1715 Fleet, that still has hundreds of millions in treasure prospects! Coins regularly wash in to the beaches up and down “The Treasure Coast,” as this area is now officially known. The wrecks reach from Sebastian Inlet down just past Ft. Pierce Inlet. Over thirty miles to hide treasure! Mel came off as an old “Happy go Lucky” chicken farmer from Indiana...he was anything but that. A highly intelligent man who got things done....there was —always— a solution.
So standing in front of Kip’s original cabin and looking out to sea is and always will be a great treat for me. I moved my young family from the snow of Wisconsin in 1987, just to be here! And what a beautiful unspoiled area Indian River County still is. I was blessed. Anybody can detect there, public beach access is less than a mile away... Most of the 1715 wrecksites just by luck...have public beach access. The walk is getting tough for me now...as I am legally handicapped and have damaged nerves in my feet and lower legs. Maybe it will be time soon for someone else to take up this torch! Come to Sebastian with a kind heart and I will take you there.
But wait! This is about the ANFIBIO MULTI in these conditions. And I am proud to say... I was very impressed. I knew that with such a powerful detector, that before reaching the wet, salt sand...I had better be locked and loaded in BEACH MODE. The machine came close to “purring like a kitten.” I knew I did not have to try to press the highest gain out of her...because I had replaced my sweet, everyday 9” Concentric Coil...(The Iron Buster!) with the huge KR-40 Coil, 15”x14”. I ran 5 KHZ, gain @ 70-75. (Discrim automatically sets to 15 in beach mode). I backed her down to 8. I like to keep a STABLE SIGNAL by scrubbing the coil shoe on the hardpacked firm sand. You of course most importantly relieve easily half the stress and strain of the weight, but also trying to hold a big coil like this up in the air, especially with a strong wind blowing. The bonus is stready, even readings, with your best depth possible! As you shoe gradually wears down, I use the liquid spray rubber in a commercial “rattle can”. I do the same whenever possible on a lawn area, by “scrubbing” the grass by sliding the coil along, maintaining control by bearing up about half the weight.
All in all I worked my way down to right in front of “The Capitana’s” final resting place. I smiled as I stopped and looked out to sea just a little farther before heading home.. For here in just 30 feet deep of water was a pair of cannon that to this day...now over 300 years later...guard the main ballast stone pile from the inside of the lower hull. A huge, huge pile of smooth river rock, about the size of basketballs, some a little smaller, some much bigger...that Spaniards dragged in horse & wagon from the river down to the ship, and up the gang plank in wheelbarrows and then down into the hull. Now that was some kinda work!
To sum this report up... the ANFIBIO MULTI worked extremely well on the salt ocean beach. “Ubilla” the Admiral of the Fleet was not ready to give up any of her treasure today. But thinking back decades ago, when I recovered my first Spanish “Piece of Eight” from this exact same site (but in the water, 15’ down) was truly beyond words. I hope you found this report both helpful, informative, and most of all entertaining.
God Bless You with a Happy, Healthy New Year.
