Re: fla state archies types finally going to talk with me--about my "find" at long
Ivan,
You seem determined to ignore the facts of life and listen only to ideas that suit you, but I will try once again, and deal with your latest comments.
The definitive agreement between the United States and Spain on shipwrecks in US waters is the 1902 Treaty between Spain and the US, which coming after 1819, supercedes it. The meaning of this Treaty was interprated by the Court of Appeals in the SeaHunt Case. The US and Spain both told that Court that Spanish shipwrecks in US waters are not abandoned unless they have been specifically and expressly abandoned. If Spain has not specifically and expressly abandoned them, then these wrecks are not abandoned, do not come under the terms of the 1987 Abandoned Shipwrecks Act, and title and management of them are not delegated to the coastal state, in this case Florida.
The one chink in that armor, it seems to me, was the letter that the then Spanish Ambassador sent to Mel Fisher, but as far as the law is concerned, I think the SeaHunt case, which did not consider that letter, supercedes that argument.
You have been working under a series of false assurances, including that concerning the nonexistent side agreement about wrecks dating frombefore 1750. Time to wake up, stop listening to the people who are feeding you BS, and reassess your position. And remember this. You have publicly declared your views on this ship, on this forum and probably elsewhere. Now if you come up with a ship in the same area with the bell removed and salted with a few later coins as suggested by scottone 928, you are more likely to end up the subject of a criminal investigation. My advice remains to keep the exact location and go talk to Spain, unless you embrace the criminal tendencies of some others on this forum, whose attitudes explain why THers are so often treated like potential outlaws.
Mariner