California Treasure Hunting - The Dream

[Customx_12]

My dream is to one day own my own boat (at least a 40-50 footer) that I can take people out fishing, diving, and whale watching on. During my spare time, I would use the proceeds from the business to use a nice ROV to explore potential wreck sites and find me some treasure!

A few questions for those with more experience with this:

1. How sketchy is wreck diving new sites in murky California water potentially swarming with great whites? I'm a wuss and that's why I want the ROV and/or to have a couple diving buddies to go in while I stay topside.

2. Is it financially feasible to do what I'm thinking?

3. Does it make sense to do this in California or would Florida be the only place to try to make a run at this idea?

4. Do they sell ROVs with mechanical claws to laypeople or is that only a researcher type thing?

5. Has anybody here tried to do this or something similar?


Thanks for any and all information about this! Probably a pipe dream that will never happen but hey, we wouldn't be treasure hunters if we weren't dreamers.

 

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[Darren in NC]

Dreams keep us alive. While you may be waiting awhile on purchasing a charter boat, research costs you very little. California is a great location, as there are so many in Florida looking offshore. Read everything you can in libraries, archives (state and universities), and private collections. Learn how to find legitimate accounts versus tales found in treasure books. Once you get started, you'll find some shipwreck accounts that will stick with you. Those that have small amounts will be the best ones to pursue. Many of the "big ones" off California have already been found or are off limits. All the best to you on your ventures.

 

[gollum]

Customx_12,

Don't ever let your dreams die!

Anything you want to know about wreck diving in California, you can contact........................... wait for iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit .............................:

CALIFORNIA WRECK DIVERS (its a link to their website)


Best of Luck With Your Dreams!

Mike

 

[gollum]

Dreams keep us alive. While you may be waiting awhile on purchasing a charter boat, research costs you very little. California is a great location, as there are so many in Florida looking offshore. Read everything you can in libraries, archives (state and universities), and private collections. Learn how to find legitimate accounts versus tales found in treasure books. Once you get started, you'll find some shipwreck accounts that will stick with you. Those that have small amounts will be the best ones to pursue. Many of the "big ones" off California have already been found or are off limits. All the best to you on your ventures.

There are two (maybe three) big ones that have never been recovered (that I know of):

1. Is just South of Dana Harbor. They found what they think is a ballast pile.

2. Is right near Trestles. There was a Colonial Spanish Wagon Spill on the South Side of the brushy canyon off Christianitos (next to the path that leads to the beach). A guy walking his dog kept bringing old Spanish coins, buttons, and artifacts he found to a docent at a local museum. The beach at Trestles was a known spot for Spanish Ships to put ashore. On the bluffs on the North and South Sides of the Canyon, Spanish Sites have been found (buttons, buckles, flint chips, etc). They were lookout posts. Lots of game and fresh water.

3. North San Diego. One beach there always has Spanish Coins wash ashore when the waves are heavy. I met a guy that back in the eighties was wading in the surf, and stubbed his toe on something which turned out to be a solid gold crucifix about three inches tall that had wedged itself into a crack in the rock.

There is also a Cessna with a large load of plastic wrapped pot. A few people know where this wreck is, but until pot is completely legalized in California, they aren't going to try and recover it. It was found by accident.

The tough thing about hunting the South Side of the canyon is that it is on Camp Pendleton Marine Base. The North Side and Trestles is open to hunt.

Mike

 

[Customx_12]

There are two (maybe three) big ones that have never been recovered (that I know of):

1. Is just South of Dana Harbor. They found what they think is a ballast pile.

2. Is right near Trestles. There was a Colonial Spanish Wagon Spill on the South Side of the brushy canyon off Christianitos (next to the path that leads to the beach). A guy walking his dog kept bringing old Spanish coins, buttons, and artifacts he found to a docent at a local museum. The beach at Trestles was a known spot for Spanish Ships to put ashore. On the bluffs on the North and South Sides of the Canyon, Spanish Sites have been found (buttons, buckles, flint chips, etc). They were lookout posts. Lots of game and fresh water.

3. North San Diego. One beach there always has Spanish Coins wash ashore when the waves are heavy. I met a guy that back in the eighties was wading in the surf, and stubbed his toe on something which turned out to be a solid gold crucifix about three inches tall that had wedged itself into a crack in the rock.

There is also a Cessna with a large load of plastic wrapped pot. A few people know where this wreck is, but until pot is completely legalized in California, they aren't going to try and recover it. It was found by accident.

The tough thing about hunting the South Side of the canyon is that it is on Camp Pendleton Marine Base. The North Side and Trestles is open to hunt.

Mike

What beach in San Diego are you referring to on #3?

 

[SADS 669]

Customx,

Reading all of the books by the Fishers, Wagners, Parkers, Marx, Meylachs etc in this business, they all had one thing in common and you have to ask yourself a very personal question ( and answer it with brutal honesty)

" Do you have the drive ( which is all you really need) to get up off the canvas every time someone knocks you down" All of these guys without exception nearly went broke lots and lots of times......

Where you choose to do this just has to have something people desire, diving, fishing, whales or whatever.

Then.......you just have to be better than the other guys every day and wait for "THEM" to go bust....

Best of luck, if you need any dive help, guidance or just abuse to make you laugh drop me a line.

 

[seekerGH]

Before you get too excited, read all about the Brother Jonathan and the State of California, all the way to the US Supreme Court.

California puts any shipwreck on a historic list, negating any attempt to salvage.

"Any shipwreck sunk more than 50 years is presumed to be of archaeological or historical significance and is protected under State law."


California Shipwrecks

 

[TommyB]

Also, you may want to check on what it takes to get a captains license for your 40 - 50 ft boat. I believe you need some sort of certificate or license to charge folks
for taking them out on a boat. If you get stopped by the harbor patrol or DFG they sometimes ask the passengers ( even if they chip in for gas) if they paid to go
out. Could be a ticket. Good Luck. It sounds like fun to me.

 

[Klems]

Customx_12,

It seems we have had the same dreams. I operate out of Dana Point Harbor and my range is from LA to San Diego and out to San Clemente Island. I have use of my family boat and I have my 100 Gross Ton Captain's License. I've spent the past 6 years modifying my boat and getting my gear ready. I operate my own ROV, and a have a towed side scan, but I'm working on getting a better one. I have basically picked up where the UB88 Team left off in the early 2000's.

My work to date can be found here:
https://openexplorer.com/expedition/southerncalifornia (OpenExplorer Blog)
https://www.facebook.com/EnduranceMarineExploration/ (Facebook Page)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoSonjodV9s27txHumiARpg/ (Youtube Page)

Here are my recommendations for your questions based on my experience:

1. How sketchy is wreck diving new sites in murky California water potentially swarming with great whites? I'm a wuss and that's why I want the ROV and/or to have a couple diving buddies to go in while I stay topside.

Haha! I haven't seen any Great White sharks yet, some smaller ones, but the visibility here is pretty poor. 15-20ft on a good day. Less than 5 on a bad one. it has us seriously considering positioning systems and scanning sonar for the ROVs.

2. Is it financially feasible to do what I'm thinking?

Honestly, no. The cost of living here is pretty high. Its about $300 a month just in slip fees, and then you tack on fuel, maintenance, etc and it adds up. Let alone living here. I have 1-2 research groups that I do charters for, but it doesn't pay the bills. We have a 30ft boat, I can't imagine the costs associated with a 40-50ft boat, let alone finding a slip.

3. Does it make sense to do this in California or would Florida be the only place to try to make a run at this idea?

Florida would be the best place in my opinion to search for old treasure wrecks and still have a chance at a business. You might also want to look into Northern California, like San Francisco. Bunch of uncharted, but deep, wrecks up there.

4. Do they sell ROVs with mechanical claws to laypeople or is that only a researcher type thing?

You're looking at about $40-50,000 for a small commercial ROV for your requirements, unless you want to build your own.

5. Has anybody here tried to do this or something similar?

It's taken me about 6 years for me to get where I am, but it has been a difficult and expensive ride. So far we have explored 4 shipwrecks, two of those (019-A and 020-A) completely unknown. I've reported my finds to NOAA and the USCG for charting purposes. The water here is deep, cold and will have a tendency to kick your butt.

As for treasure ships in SoCal...I heard the rumors and stories, but after 50-60 years of people looking, nobody has found anything significant besides the YANKEE BLADE, which is near impossible to get to. I don't expect to find anything significant, but I enjoy looking on the weekends and taking my friends out. It's fun for us and I am a big nautical historian. That's my real treasure, the history and the publications i'll be working on.

Mike,

Do you have a reference for that possible ballast pile off Dana Point Harbor? Love to go side scan it if there is a general area. I'm already looking for a WWII dive bomber in the area.

Kevin

 

[Customx_12]

Customx_12,

It seems we have had the same dreams. I operate out of Dana Point Harbor and my range is from LA to San Diego and out to San Clemente Island. I have use of my family boat and I have my 100 Gross Ton Captain's License. I've spent the past 6 years modifying my boat and getting my gear ready. I operate my own ROV, and a have a towed side scan, but I'm working on getting a better one. I have basically picked up where the UB88 Team left off in the early 2000's.

My work to date can be found here:
https://openexplorer.com/expedition/southerncalifornia (OpenExplorer Blog)
https://www.facebook.com/EnduranceMarineExploration/ (Facebook Page)
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCoSonjodV9s27txHumiARpg/ (Youtube Page)

Here are my recommendations for your questions based on my experience:



Haha! I haven't seen any Great White sharks yet, some smaller ones, but the visibility here is pretty poor. 15-20ft on a good day. Less than 5 on a bad one. it has us seriously considering positioning systems and scanning sonar for the ROVs.



Honestly, no. The cost of living here is pretty high. Its about $300 a month just in slip fees, and then you tack on fuel, maintenance, etc and it adds up. Let alone living here. I have 1-2 research groups that I do charters for, but it doesn't pay the bills. We have a 30ft boat, I can't imagine the costs associated with a 40-50ft boat, let alone finding a slip.



Florida would be the best place in my opinion to search for old treasure wrecks and still have a chance at a business. You might also want to look into Northern California, like San Francisco. Bunch of uncharted, but deep, wrecks up there.



You're looking at about $40-50,000 for a small commercial ROV for your requirements, unless you want to build your own.



It's taken me about 6 years for me to get where I am, but it has been a difficult and expensive ride. So far we have explored 4 shipwrecks, two of those (019-A and 020-A) completely unknown. I've reported my finds to NOAA and the USCG for charting purposes. The water here is deep, cold and will have a tendency to kick your butt.

As for treasure ships in SoCal...I heard the rumors and stories, but after 50-60 years of people looking, nobody has found anything significant besides the YANKEE BLADE, which is near impossible to get to. I don't expect to find anything significant, but I enjoy looking on the weekends and taking my friends out. It's fun for us and I am a big nautical historian. That's my real treasure, the history and the publications i'll be working on.

Mike,

Do you have a reference for that possible ballast pile off Dana Point Harbor? Love to go side scan it if there is a general area. I'm already looking for a WWII dive bomber in the area.

Kevin

Great reply! Thanks a lot! Glad someone is living the dream albeit an expensive one!