A thought for Visual Searching...

[ScubaFinder]

In reading threads the other day, Tom (gdaddyflex) said something that sparked a thought. He had been cruising up and down the reef lines looking at the reef tops through polarized sunglasses and spotting some stuff just laying on top of the reef.

Well, I am big into captive coral propagation for the aquarium trade, and we use a simple tool that could modified for treasure hunting, and might be very valuable. We use a simple acryllic box (open on one side of the cube) and set the box down into the water a few inches so that you can see the corals clearly with all the glare and distortion from the top of the water.

I'm thinking make a larger cone shaped box, about 1 foot square at the bottom, coming up to about the size of a pair of binoculars at the top. Paint the sides black, leave the bottom clear, and maybe put some weather stripping or something around the top for comfort. If this thing was like 4 or 5 feet long (kinda clumsy maybe) you could hang it out over the side of the boat, and put the bottom plate in the water and see just as good as if you were snorkeling.

An industrious guy could mount it to the hull on a swivel and streamline it so it cuts through the water a little better too. Think about cruising the entire length of the reef at 3 knots and being able to see the reef top clearly without ever getting out of the boat. Not sure if this is useful information, but it might help someone. I suppose it could be used for a quick look at the bottom too in shallower water with good viz.

The most useful thing I can think of would be to put markers around your previous holes, and then actually watch where you were blowing the new hole (for a second or two until the water gets mucked up). Might help keep you on track when following debris trail or something...who knows.

Jason

 

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[JvilleHunter]

Anyone have a glass bottom boat?

 

[rgecy]

Jason,

Any kind of Visual search is an excellent idea when the vis is good. Teddy Tucker, Bob Marx and those guys used to fly around in hot air ballons and planes to help find wrecks in shallow water. The looking box is not a bad idea, but like you said may be a little cumbersome. I think I read somewhere that Kip Wagner put a glass port hole in surfboard and used it to paddle around the reefs to find the 1715 fleet wreckage. If you want to cover a large area without having to use scuba gear, this would be ideal. And if you didn't find anything you could always catch a wave or two!

I have heard of several guys who have put a thru-hull camera on the boat with a monitor to view whats going on. Good when divers are in the water or can be used while riding along the reefs as well.

Robert in SC

 

[Real de Tayopa Tropical Tramp]

HI, it is a good idea, and has been used in the past exactly as you have described, so it "WILL" work nicely, have fun and get rich. Incidentally, cograts on having a searching/constructive mind. The fact that you have thought of this independently is excellent.

Tropical Tramp

 

[ScubaFinder]

Teddy Tucker, Bob Marx and those guys used to fly around in hot air ballons and planes to help find wrecks in shallow water.

Hmm, so my large electric aircraft with onboard color video camera and transmitter might come in handy I've used it to locate old foundations and for some searching on the Red River, but it's range is less than 2 miles...it can fly for about 30 minutes at cruise. Maybe I'll bring it with me when I come out there, I can also strap my 5 megapixel Nikon to it and shoot high res stills on command.

Are there any areas close to shore that haven't already been searched though? I'm thinking in Florida this would be fairly useless as every inch has been dived on, mag'ed, Side scanned, etc. already. Would that be a true statement?

Jason

 

[mad4wrecks]

No Jason, there is still alot of areas in Florida that haven't been magged. Especially deeper areas (not necessarily deep water, as Cornelius noted correctly re the 1715 fleet) It's a big ocean!

Most of the nearshore areas, from about the beach to a mile out, 32' of water of less have been searched pretty well, but in certain areas only.

Also remember too, there is quite a difference in sensitivity in the mags being used. Proton versus cesium etc.. and the technology today is much better than it was just 10 or 20 years ago. And to a certain degree it depends on the apptitude of the mag operator, lane spacing, boat speed etc...

 

[ScubaFinder]

Well that is some excellent advice, thanks to both of you. I'm slowly but surely getting ready to take the plunge, I can't wait until I'm out there with you guys. I pick up my Pulse 8X this weekend and am waiting to hear back on my offer for the trailer I want. I'm going to work my butt of this winter and try to arrive in Florida with about 30K for a boat and lease. We'll see how everything pans out this winter, but that's the plan. Thanks to you guys, I will have SOME idea what I'm doing when I get there. TNET rocks!

I see exactly what both of you mean, I went directly to Google Earth and marked the locations I know of the 1715 fleet, and tried to see the breaks in the reef by overlaying a good coastal map onto the google image. As soon as I lined it all up, what you guys said became so obvious I felt silly.

On another thought, is there a way to translate LORAN numbers into GPS coordinates? Completely unrelated search, but I figure if anyone knows, you guys will.

Jason

 

[fldiver]

On another thought, is there a way to translate LORAN numbers into GPS coordinates? Completely unrelated search, but I figure if anyone knows, you guys will.

Jason

If you get a chart of the area you can find the spot in question by the Loran numbers on the chart then find the Lat/Lon and that's your GPS coordinates.

 

[gord]

On another thought, is there a way to translate LORAN numbers into GPS coordinates? Completely unrelated search, but I figure if anyone knows, you guys will.
Jason

If you get a chart of the area you can find the spot in question by the Loran numbers on the chart then find the Lat/Lon and that's your GPS coordinates.

May not be so simple, depending on the distances from the LORAN transmitters, the accuracy of the scalars of the chart and the dimensional stability of the chart material. Expert ability with 10-point dividers is an absolute must, and even then the accuracy can be out anywhere from 100' to 1/2 mile. If you have the LORAN #s, why not pick up a LORAN unit?
Gord

 

[riobravo]

good point gord,
its takes a lot of time to get loran coordinates converted by some one who practices in an area and is proficient at it, the push of a button has never been accurate. as i was running dive charters off south texas and when i went with friends to my old sites there gps conversion didnt put us on the wrecks, and the vis aint good enough to bounce dive all day. anyway, i can still fire up the lc-90 and grab the old numbers from my friends that fathers shrimped all their lifes and it still works.

 

[fldiver]

I didn't mean you can pinpoint dead on, just that it will get you in the neighborhood. I've still got old Loran numbers that I haven't converted to GPS, but I start with the chart and go from there. Even the Loran will be off depending on weather, I've got both on my boat.

 

[ScubaFinder]

Well, that tells me what I need to know. I was just going to put some dive locations that I'd been to into Google Earth so I could keep good records, no big deal. A Loran unit won't do me much good here in Texas right now

Thanks

 

[stevemc]

As they said, converting is not accurate. There is a program to do it, but still its not accurate. GPS is the way to go.. Have a LORAN unit just in case you have LORAN numbers. I have found someone elses LORAN #s wont be accurate on mine and vice versa. Plus LORAN is very slow. When you circle it and have both GPS and LORAN, the GPS alway points right at it, the LORAN lags real bad and it is real hard to get a certain fix. You have to stop and go real slow for it to keep up. For small stuff like a wreck. A depth finder with a good picture of the bottom is a must. If you have both units, when you go to the spot, enter it into your GPS. Keep a log with L and L numbers and description, aprox location etc. GPS is dead accurate year after year, and very fast, you just punch in L and L, the one to buy if you dont have either. I have both, but never use LORAN any more. Also Google earth is not accurate, someone put in numbers and it doesnt go there, its off by 1/4 mile or so, I was told. Use a GPS, at your house, look at the numbers and go to google earth and find your house and see. I havent, just told so.