Not possible digging that deep.

[Roadhse2]

If you are a nerd, like me, that likes to know the how and why of 'things', then this short article about salt and it's historical production, this link is for you.

It also just happens to reinforce the theory of salt production at Smith's Cove in many ways...among that being, and even in now modern times..

" Due to the high share of transport costs in production costs, markets are generally regionally limited to the area around the production centers."

Plus the facts of salt production from seawater and how many were 'small production' centers for local use..

All in all just more knowledge with a bit more info as to 'why' the Smith Cove salt works would be plausible...

Scroll down to "The history of salt extraction" if you only have a passing interest...

K+S Group - Global salt deposits

 

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[gazzahk]

For the sake of speculation.....

If those finger drains did lead to a flood tunnel entrance then the entrance should be very simple to find. It would simply be at the end of the drains. It would of been found the first time someone found the drains and followed them to see where they went to.

If there was a flood tunnel it would have to be at least as big as a small mine shaft in order for the treasure hiders to be able to dig it. They would of needed to dig up form a 100 feet inside the pit back to the coast so 70ft up on and angle (or straight across and then straight up). I cannot see digging from the coast down and hitting the 10ft wide pit.

The way I would do it (not being a person that knows any thing about digging drains, tunnels etc) would be to dig a shallow trench from the coast to the pit then dig a hole straight down when I got to the pit beside it then at 100 foot dig across to the pit. This seem much easier then digging a tunnel.

If there was a tunnel dropping 70ft plus to the pit and filled with water even blocking the drain entrance would not stop the pit flooding as there would be thousands of gallons of water in the cave/tunnel under huge / significant pressure. Even if the tunnel entrance was blocked this would not get rid of the water.

This would mean that the treasure recoverer would have to not set the trap off in order to get the treasure. If the trap was set off then the treasure recover would never be able to get to the treasure as there would be no way to get rid of the water which was already there.

I think there are at least two different sources of the water. The one that occurred at 100 ft and the water that exists in those caverns at the bottom 10x and the hole they have dug now. Those caverns seem to have some natural connection to the ocean and once they are breached this is when the water in the holes rises and falls with the tide.

Up till reading this article I thought the flood tunnels were just rubbish - Does science*support*a man-made flood tunnel on Oak Island? The Blockhouse Blog - The Oak Island Compendium This made me wonder in that this guy is a supposed expert and is claiming that he believes the only explanation for the water flooding at 100 ft is the tunnel theory (I still do not think anyone built flood tunnels but my belief was shaken by this guys arguments)

I just cannot see that the drains shown in the video were needed to bring water to a flood tunnel. There would be no need to have covered the whole beach with eel grass and coconut fibre to filter the drains for anything. At most just the area directly over the drains would need to be covered.

I hear peoples arguments re the wood being preserved under the ground (again I am no expert on this stuff) but that thin big flat bit of wood that Dunfield lifted and it bent under the mud on top does not appear hundreds of years old.

I still think the most plausible explanation for those shallow drains is something much more simple than a flood tunnel entrance. It seems like they were made to drain something away from a structure built on the beach.

That big square rock is also interesting it certainly does seem man worked.

The pictures from the video do seem to support someone going to significant effort to build a drainage system to take water away from the beach. They do not support a flood tunnel being built in my opinion..

 

[Roadhse2]

Not to quibble...

But they were found to be slanted to drain towards the island and not out to the cove....

The only evidence of a flood tunnel has been water filling whatever hole was dug....no one actually seeing a tunnel, that can be verified, so I think you are right in the rest of your post and the flood tunnels bit was just to get more interest, and more investors...

Blankenship and others thought the wood was 200 years plus old in 1970, saw marks may have been what he was going on as pit saws left certain marks that other types didn't...and circular saws were not in use that early, water powered reciprocal saws were, since the 1600's, left a different style cut mark, and generally not used except at wood processing plants that had access to a river, stream to power them...So...who knows?

 

[KandiKlover]

I have wondered the same thing...They never bring this up.. The show has been interesting but starting to think it's all a fairy tale anymore. Like you say how the hell would these people have dug down 100 or 200 feet or more back in the day when they are having a hell of a time even with modern high tech equipment? I am sure the topography probably was a bit different back then but I don't think 200 feet of topsoil would have been gained even after this many years..Be great if they could find something but starting to think it's a dead end...Makes for a good suspense thriller though. LOL

I watched a recent episode and some magazine man "investigative journalist" said he thought the same until he heard of some Tortuga thing or something like that. But other than the improbability of someone back than doing a massive dig like that (waste of time), the other thing I thought about is generally you're gonna go and dig that treasure back up later or plan on having someone else do it, I would never bury something like that where you can't get it back, kind of a waste.

 

[Robot]

For a Cornish Tin Miner...Tunneling was what he Lived or Died For!

For the sake of speculation.....

If those finger drains did lead to a flood tunnel entrance then the entrance should be very simple to find. It would simply be at the end of the drains. It would of been found the first time someone found the drains and followed them to see where they went to.

If there was a flood tunnel it would have to be at least as big as a small mine shaft in order for the treasure hiders to be able to dig it. They would of needed to dig up form a 100 feet inside the pit back to the coast so 70ft up on and angle (or straight across and then straight up). I cannot see digging from the coast down and hitting the 10ft wide pit.

The way I would do it (not being a person that knows any thing about digging drains, tunnels etc) would be to dig a shallow trench from the coast to the pit then dig a hole straight down when I got to the pit beside it then at 100 foot dig across to the pit. This seem much easier then digging a tunnel.

If there was a tunnel dropping 70ft plus to the pit and filled with water even blocking the drain entrance would not stop the pit flooding as there would be thousands of gallons of water in the cave/tunnel under huge / significant pressure. Even if the tunnel entrance was blocked this would not get rid of the water.

This would mean that the treasure recoverer would have to not set the trap off in order to get the treasure. If the trap was set off then the treasure recover would never be able to get to the treasure as there would be no way to get rid of the water which was already there.

I think there are at least two different sources of the water. The one that occurred at 100 ft and the water that exists in those caverns at the bottom 10x and the hole they have dug now. Those caverns seem to have some natural connection to the ocean and once they are breached this is when the water in the holes rises and falls with the tide.

Up till reading this article I thought the flood tunnels were just rubbish - Does science*support*a man-made flood tunnel on Oak Island? The Blockhouse Blog - The Oak Island Compendium This made me wonder in that this guy is a supposed expert and is claiming that he believes the only explanation for the water flooding at 100 ft is the tunnel theory (I still do not think anyone built flood tunnels but my belief was shaken by this guys arguments)

I just cannot see that the drains shown in the video were needed to bring water to a flood tunnel. There would be no need to have covered the whole beach with eel grass and coconut fibre to filter the drains for anything. At most just the area directly over the drains would need to be covered.

I hear peoples arguments re the wood being preserved under the ground (again I am no expert on this stuff) but that thin big flat bit of wood that Dunfield lifted and it bent under the mud on top does not appear hundreds of years old.

I still think the most plausible explanation for those shallow drains is something much more simple than a flood tunnel entrance. It seems like they were made to drain something away from a structure built on the beach.

That big square rock is also interesting it certainly does seem man worked.

The pictures from the video do seem to support someone going to significant effort to build a drainage system to take water away from the beach. They do not support a flood tunnel being built in my opinion..

The ingeniously engineered Flood tunnels and Treasure tunnels were added after the Money Pit Shaft had been built.

I believe these 5 tunnels funneling into 1 from Smith’s Cove were the design of Royal Society and Freemason member...James Brindley (1716-1772).

James Brindley was a Master Engineer in Britain who used the technique of “puddling” for the construction of canals and later for dams.

Puddling is the process of lining a channel with puddle clay to create a watertight barrier.

Puddle clay can be described as (blue clay) which was found in abundance within the Money Pit Shaft and these Tunnels.

Blue clay is not indigenous to Oak Island and no previous explanation as to its purpose for being there has been explained.

The unique ocean tide associated with Oak Island allowed the workers to build these 5 tunnels out into the bay while the tide was out with the aid and protection of the Coffer Dam.

In order that these tunnels did not fill up with debris with each tidal movement a filtering system was devised.

This consisted of Coconut Fibers along with Rocks, gravel and Eelgrass.

Eelgrass was used in Europe and especially in Holland to seal dykes.

Prussian Blue Clay was use to emit Cyanide to prevent any Marine growth within the tunnels.

Hemlock wood was used (documented)to prevent any Torpedo Worms eating the wood structures and collapsing these tunnels.

The construction of the main tunnel met up with the 5 feeder tunnels at a junction box just a short distance from the shore.



This tunnel built by Cornish Miners to standard size of 5 feet high and 3 feet wide, was started from the Money Pit Shaft at a set compass degree towards Smith Cove.




Using the mathematical formula for a Right Scalene Triangle, knowing 2 sides and the angle between, once the up slope was within 20 feet from the surface a metal rod was sent up through the surface for a sought bering from the tunnel running from Smith Cove.

Solve triangle...SAS
At low tide the 2 tunnels were connected.
The final construction of this booby trap prior to the back fill of the Money Pit Shaft was the placement of the air lock at level 8.

 

[Roadhse2]

Only thing is....

None of that has ever been found, not by man, not by camera down a hole or into an underground vault, not by digging...

Only water with no clear entry point...water with no marine life, even if chemicals had been used in the past, they would dissipate over time and marine life would take over...

No need for an air lock construction...water entering a closed off tunnel/shaft would create an air lock as it seeked it's own level and compressed the air before it

Your Master Engineer also would have to completed this work before he turned 37 years old as it is also documented that a fishing company was the first owner of the whole island in 1753...while not impossible, improbable, since long internships were the rule for those seeking to become Master's of anything...Usually 20 years or more, and then he had to do these other accomplishments you stated before coming to Oak Island to puddle clay there

I would also like to know how they dealt with groundwater as they dug this large of a tunnel, 560 foot long, when no one else has been able to dig a tunnel without encountering water that flooded the tunnel in less than a third of that length when not even in the proposed flood tunnel area?

Puddling clay would not work as they would hit groundwater before they could use it. Digging a tunnel is not like putting in a canal/dam/dyke, which are built first, and then water let into them. Not water already there and then trying to stop it's entry...we use bentonite clay to stop water leaving an area, a leaky pond for instance, because it expands when it hits water, but even it has to have a defined hole to plug, not just a coating to try to stop water once it is already coming in or going out.

While I do agree that Cornish Miners would be the go to guys for the job, if there ever was a Money Pit at all...I think it would be an exploratory hole looking for minerals to mine, found none and moved on...the rest just made up to entice investors.

 

[Roadhse2]

For those of you here not totally bored with the salt theory so far....which I understand since it has nothing to do with treasure...here are few more reasons why they would concentrate sea water before boiling off...yes, it involves math!

Sea water has 3.5% salt in solution on average...this works out to 1.2oz of dissolved salt per liter of water, about 33.81 ounces...a significant amount on it's own, but when concentrated, up to about 26% per liter, it has the potential to have 8.9oz per liter, or about 35.5 ounces per gallon (128 fluid ounces)...

About 2 pounds of salt per gallon of sea water!

When reduced down, concentrated, it also effects how much wood it takes to remove the remaining water. instead of 96% water to be evaporated at 3.5% salt density, you now only have to remove 74% at 26% salt density and get more salt in the process...a double win.

Less labor, less material, for more product...at way less dollars than buying salt, and more reliable

I believe that would be a good incentive to have my own salt works if I owned a fishing station a few thousand miles across the ocean from my nearest salt supplier. One that would take little in ongoing expenses once the basic infrastructure was in...couple of guys to cut and transport wood, couple of guys to open a few flood gates and burn off the water...and do other jobs while this process was going on, as we all know "a watched pot won't boil", so no need for them to tend anything but the fire a few times a day as part of their other daily duties. Empty the salt pans when done, repeat..

Still not trying to really convince anyone as 'this' being the right theory...only advancing 'why' it is a viable theory and should be considered...

Thanks!

 

[n2mini]

that piece of plywood in the pic/video on top of the finger drains was probably laid there by the Restalls. they found them before Dunfield by a couple years.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

I watched a recent episode and some magazine man "investigative journalist" said he thought the same until he heard of some Tortuga thing or something like that. But other than the improbability of someone back than doing a massive dig like that (waste of time), the other thing I thought about is generally you're gonna go and dig that treasure back up later or plan on having someone else do it, I would never bury something like that where you can't get it back, kind of a waste.

You and fishnnut are thinking with common sense logic. But alas, it will fall on deaf ears. The "faithful" will come up with all sorts of wild crazy ways in which the technological feat *could* have been done . Eg.: look at the pyramids of Egypt afterall. Or some wild crazy reason why anyone would go to crazy lengths (instead of just hiding it). Eg.: look at the extremes people will go to for purposes of religious zeal on a particular topic or notion ? or Eg.: so that the sailors who buried it, wouldn't come back on their own to dig it up, hence they made it super deep to dissuade such attempts by rank-&-file sailors in the know.

So you see kandiKlover, no matter how much you try to close those doors with common sense observations like that, they'll have an extreme reason of how/why it was possible. And in their mind's eyes, the fact that some wild crazy reason was hatched 200+ yrs. ago, and the fact that some wild crazy tech. feat *could* have been done, therefore means that .... Most certainly ... there is treasure there.

Well gee, you and I can hatch those same possibility scenarios for a 150 treasure under our own houses, right ?

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The ingeniously engineered Flood tunnels and Treasure tunnels were added after the Money Pit Shaft had been built.

I believe these 5 tunnels funneling into 1 from Smith’s Cove were the design of Royal Society and Freemason member...James Brindley (1716-1772)......

Coming up with fabulous scenarios of how something insanely technological *could* have been done. Eg.: Cornish miners, eel grass, prussian blue clay, engineers named such & such of that era, certain type woods, etc...

Ok, let's grant for a minute that all these fabulous components came together on some remote island, all could have occurred. But why oh why oh why would anyone go to all that trouble to bury a treasure ? It's no more "hidden" at 3 ft, than 300 ft. If the surface is returned to normal and fluffed back up, then the next passerby doesn't see it. Ie.: it doesn't make it any more "hidden" when you go deeper.

So all this debate of types cement, salt, engineering methods, grass, etc.... all sort of assumes something is even there to begin with. If nothing is there, then all the other debates of possibilities of technological feats becomes a moot point.

 

[Tom_in_CA]

....

Your Master Engineer also would have to completed this work before he turned 37 years old as it is also documented that a fishing company was the first owner of the whole island in 1753...while not impossible, improbable, .....

I'm sure someone will come up with a way it was possible. Ie.: that 36 yr. old guy conscripted 100 helpers, blah blah blah (to finish it in a mere year). So you see, no matter HOW much "improbabilities" you show to this, all they have to do is come up with possible way (no matter how unlikely and how remote), and .... presto, a certain treasure vault exists, right ?

 

[Roadhse2]

" all this debate of types cement, salt,...... assumes something is even there to begin with"

Exactly the point...on documented evidence and contributing factors inherent to the need alone...there was 'something there'

A fishing company owned all the rights to fishing those nearby waters

They had to process those fish to ship to Europe

They would need a processing 'plant' of some kind, Fishing stations were the norm for this

They bought all of oak island in 1753

They had to have salt to preserve the fish shipped, drying them was not an alternative all year around due to weather

Salt was only available, at high cost and high taxes, shipped in from Europe

They had the means to produce it themselves and there is/was precedence to do so by the methods they had available, at low cost as it was almost 'free' for the taking, once the infrastructure was in..

The finger drains do exist, a coffer dam would be needed to build them, they slant to a well towards shore, given the accumulated width of drains at about 5 foot where they entered the well...it would be 6 foot in diameter minimum and (documented) 24 foot deep, which would give a volume of 5036 gallons of water in the well, which could then contain up to 2 pounds per gallon of salt...10,072 pounds of almost free product that they must have, in one well full at it's full potential...which of course was not likely to be, but whatever the final tally was, it was a significant amount.

So yes, there was 'something there' just not treasure in my view...nothing else has been brought forward with as much supporting evidence or need as pertains to Smith's Cove, maybe all of Oak Island...only blue sky conjecture

Occam's Razor

 

[ILikeTreasureStories]

Only thing is....

None of that has ever been found, not by man, not by camera down a hole or into an underground vault, not by digging...

Only water with no clear entry point...water with no marine life, even if chemicals had been used in the past, they would dissipate over time and marine life would take over...

No need for an air lock construction...water entering a closed off tunnel/shaft would create an air lock as it seeked it's own level and compressed the air before it

Your Master Engineer also would have to completed this work before he turned 37 years old as it is also documented that a fishing company was the first owner of the whole island in 1753...while not impossible, improbable, since long internships were the rule for those seeking to become Master's of anything...Usually 20 years or more, and then he had to do these other accomplishments you stated before coming to Oak Island to puddle clay there

I would also like to know how they dealt with groundwater as they dug this large of a tunnel, 560 foot long, when no one else has been able to dig a tunnel without encountering water that flooded the tunnel in less than a third of that length when not even in the proposed flood tunnel area?

Puddling clay would not work as they would hit groundwater before they could use it. Digging a tunnel is not like putting in a canal/dam/dyke, which are built first, and then water let into them. Not water already there and then trying to stop it's entry...we use bentonite clay to stop water leaving an area, a leaky pond for instance, because it expands when it hits water, but even it has to have a defined hole to plug, not just a coating to try to stop water once it is already coming in or going out.

While I do agree that Cornish Miners would be the go to guys for the job, if there ever was a Money Pit at all...I think it would be an exploratory hole looking for minerals to mine, found none and moved on...the rest just made up to entice investors.

Touche to the salt mining. I haven't been able to find dates of the earliest eastern Canadian/US salt mines, and the more I look into the evolution of the process, it does appear costly pre-1850.

If I'm understanding the "salt factory" theory correctly (Feel free to correct anything.), salt water is contained in large, shallow reservoirs, and hot air is forced under the reservoirs to speed up the evaporation process. Salt is collected, repeat process. As for the "finger-drains" shown in the video, assuming the water is flowing inland, are you suggesting that they were essentially "water-taps" with hand-pumps to refill the reservoirs? I guess that is where I get confused on the theory. I was under the impression that the "salt factory" theory suggested the finger-drains themselves were made of stone or concrete and were used for the heating process. If they were "water-taps" I would have to admit plausible.

Still, there are a couple of remaining details that make me want to believe this was an extraordinary engineering accomplishment, instead of an ordinary one. 1. It definitely is possible to dig a shaft 100+ feet under sea-level, in glacial-till without flooding. All attempts at shafts not directly in the money-pit were successful. It was only when each company reached it's desired depth, and started cutting in towards the money-pit that they flooded. (Or collapsed.) Just recently on the show they hit Chappell's shaft at 140 feet. It was a wooden shaft that, theoretically would have been well within the technological boundaries of the last 5000 plus years. Dan Blankenship dug well over that depth in dry conditions. 2. The flood tunnel has been found on numerous occasions at depths below 75 feet. (Remember, evidence of tunnels in the bedrock at 200+ feet were not found until the 1960's. All attempts before that were aiming at around the 100-130 mark. Forty feet below...) In 1850, the Truro Company found the flood tunnel at 75 feet. At fist, they widened the hole, and tried to plug it with logs. The water-flow slowed in the money-pit, but still not dry. Later in the year they lowered 160 pounds of dynamite and forever screwed it up.

Honestly though, if Oak Island was a fish factory, and the "finger-drains" were "water taps" I would be as amazed at the 18th century workers as I would a booby-trapped treasure island. As for now though, I'm just interested in the story, and am glad that the Lagina's are dumping millions into figuring it out. I do realize that the people of Canada had to chip in 2 million, and I myself would be a bit upset at that. Anyway, I really enjoy all that you and others here contribute to the Oak Island story. It sure gives me plenty of new material to mull over.

One more quick thing about the non-presence of marine life in the caves. Marine life needs sunlight to survive. I know there are exceptions like the Marianas Trench, or isolated species here and there. And I bet there are species of worms in the Oak Island tunnels that the camera doesn't pick up. Think of how barren some of the underwater cavers in the Caribbean are. And they are in tropical waters, with sunlight exposed at the end of the tunnels. I have a well that the well-driller said hit an underground lake. He hit a cavity about 10 feet deep, and water started pouring out. Although my well is fresh water, and Oak Island is salt, it is essentially the same as assuming I should have found aquatic life in my well.

 

[Roadhse2]

"it is essentially the same as assuming I should have found aquatic life in my well. "

Let's look at this first...

Your underground lake did not have access to a clear path to open water, which is what the flood tunnels theory says...so in that marine life would be free to enter or leave at will...and even if now collapsed due to blasting, evidence would still be present from past intrusion by marine life, shells, crab bodies, urchins etc....at least since the trap was sprung to the shaft, and before that to the tunnel itself. Drilling a bore hole that encountered this flood tunnel should also bring up signs of this. There are many species that live with no light, but we won't consider that as being the case here.

The salt works plan is this...You build a coffer dam, pump it to lower than low tide, dig a well just above low tide mark, dig finger drains to that well, cover with filtering material to keep from back filling the well.....These things we know have had to have happened for the drains to be there at all...and the engineering isn't much so far.

In your coffer dam you have a sluice gate, nothing fancy needed, 4 posts driven in with a board that could slide up and down between the two on each side, doesn't need to be large even, foot or two wide. This lets you control the water coming in behind the coffer dam.

So now you let water in to a depth of about low tide, but below your well opening. The drains are now covered with water, so another sluice gate is needed where they all converge before going into the well, this time to keep the water from entering the well. You let this water sit so that the sun can evaporate it off and condense the salt content to a higher number in the water, you also let in more water when needed from the coffer dam sluice to provide more 'new' water to condense the salt out of, let that sit and evaporate. Repeat as often as you feel you need to.

When you are satisfied that your salt is condensed to what you want it to produce, you open the drains sluice gate and allow the water into the well. Close sluice gate. Now you can open coffer dam gate again and refill salt pond to height once again. The 'new' water can then be condensing down while you go on to the last step, boiling the water from your concentrated water now stored in the well.

Pump/bucket that well water to the fire pit area into kettle, pans, etc...heat until all water is boiled off, retrieve salt, put in a new batch of water from well....repeat process. Refill well as needed from salt pond and start all over again.

No engineering at all needed to do these steps, just common sense, so at least one man with that in the crew would be needed.

Flood tunnels...to many conflicting reports to consider them accurate, most influenced by needing more money from investors...so that is a problem...But here is a question

At least 2 treasure companies have built coffer dams outside of the finger drains, at that point all water to the flood tunnels should have been shut off, so why was there no reports of pumping water out of the Money Pit and checking it in the dry? Instead, the only reports were that there must be additional drains somewhere letting in the water...instead of just the finger drains...uh huh.

Another problem is, stand where the Money Pit is, look around, nearest water is 150 feet away, so for no understandable reason, let's dig a tunnel 560 feet instead, at three and a half times the cost and time to do...and let's do this extra work in secret. Just not buying it

 

[Robot]

I Thought You'd Never Ask!

But why oh why oh why would anyone go to all that trouble to bury a treasure ? It's no more "hidden" at 3 ft, than 300 ft. If the surface is returned to normal and fluffed back up, then the next passerby doesn't see it. Ie.: it doesn't make it any more "hidden" when you go deeper.

The (Untold) Story of The Oak Island Money Pit

The Oak Island Money Pit was constructed by the “Powers That Be” who were and still to this day, The Secret Force that controls the course of mankind on earth.

This organization is known as - The Freemasons.

The Story of The Oak Island Money Pit begins in the 1760’s

It was conceived by a number of Britain’s’ high ranking Naval Officers, who were Masonic Degree Members of the Freemasons and belonging to the Premier Grand Lodge of England.

These members were:

Washington Shirley, 5[SUP]th[/SUP] Earl Ferrers — Vice Admiral - Grand Master of the Masonic Lodge — Premier Grand Lodge of England

George Anson, Baron Anson — Admiral of the Fleet

George Keppel, 3[SUP]rd[/SUP] Earl of Albemarle - Commander-In-Chief

Augustus Keppel, 1[SUP]st[/SUP] Viscount Keppel — Rear Admiral — Brother to George Keppel

William Keppel — Lieutenant-General — Brother to George Keppel

George Pocock — Admiral — Commander of the Invasion of Havana

and

Benjamin Franklin — First Grand Master of Pennsylvania who met in 1760 with the Grand Master of England to discuss their plan.


These Masons were members of the Whig Party opposed to the next successor to the throne, the unstable King George III.

Their plot originated after King George III’s continued destruction of their Whig’s political power and his redirection of this power to the Tory Party.

These Freemason feared for the continuance of their organization during the Seven Years’ War, with the imminent invasion of England by the joint forces of France and Spain.

Spain outlawed all forms of secret organizations, including the Freemasons.

The Masons planned redirecting all their fortunes to the “New World” (North America), to enable the transfer of the Masonic organization, if and when these fears materialized.

Their military plan entailed the capture of Havana in 1762.

Havana’s Morro Castle and the Jesuit's Cathedral were the Fort Knox of Spain, holding the plunder of South and Central America’s treasure prior to its shipping to Spain.

The invasion of Havana was under the command of George Keppel, with Admiral George Pocock and Keppel’s two brothers Augustus and William Keppel, commanding the actual attack.

They were successful with the capture of Havana and Fort Morro and its unprecedented amount of treasure.

They also captured a number of the Spanish Fleet, which were needed to accomplish their plan.

Accordingly, Admiral Pocock returned to England with the main English fleet carrying a portion of the treasure, while Augustus and William Keppel along with their crew and Masonic engineers all sworn to secrecy, manned the Spanish Galleons and the British Man of War Vessels.

This treasure was diverted to a small island off the coast of New England and Nova Scotia, now called Oak Island.

At Oak Island, the treasure was buried based on the Masonic “Royal Arch” (Enoch’s Temple) doctrine, consisting of nine arches going down nine levels by way of the main shaft (The Money Pit) which was then dug further down to the bedrock.

From the ninth level another circular tunnel was constructed which ran back up to a point above the known water level, roughly 20 feet underground and then towards the North/West end of the island.

This tunnel stopped roughly 50 feet out under the ocean where an enormous cavern was built to hold the treasure.

The treasure was carted down the main shaft and placed up into this cavern.

To conceal their plot they had the Spanish ships and some of the British ships dismantled with all the wooden parts not used in the construction of the shaft, tunnels, and cavern, burnt and all the metal parts, canons, anchors, and bolts placed at the bottom of the main shaft.

A Flood Tunnel was built out to the ocean to booby trap any treasure seekers attempts to follow down the main shaft.

A large stone was placed above the air lock (8[SUP]th[/SUP] level) as bait to activate the flooding.
This stone had strange engravings on it to entice any unworthy treasure seekers to pause and take the bait (stone) away for deciphering, thus allowing time for the tunnels and main shaft to fill with water and be destroyed forever.

The Masons could access the Treasure Cavern under the ocean by digging down to its entrance from where they triangulated a set Marker on the shore to be.

Once the treasure was secured in the cavern and all the evidence was hidden from the island, it was documented that the Keppels sailed back to England with a few ships and a small portion of the treasure.
They claimed that the remainder of the fleet had sunk in a hurricane on route.

The Masons left several Marker Stones on the island to relocate the treasure.
1 large triangle or more precisely a crude Sextant
Many drilled holed Marker Stones
1 large Marker Stone Cross
These combined Marker Stones from the Freemason’s Star Map are used to cross triangulate to locate the entrances to where the Treasure Cavern and Sir Francis Bacon’s Tomb are located.

Is the treasure still in this cavern?

I believe it was removed shortly after the American Revolution.

One of the three original discoverers of the Money Pit was Daniel McGinnis, who stated he was drawn to the island when he noticed strange lights appearing on the island just prior to his discovery.

These lights were made by the Freemasons when they returned for their treasure.

This Masonic party was headed up by George Washington, President of the United States — acting Grand Master of the Washington DC Masons.

The Treasure’s vast fortune was used to further the power of the Freemasons in their New World and accomplishing Bacon’s dream of a New Acadia.

Sir Francis Bacon, along with his original and unpublished Manuscripts, are resting in his Tomb, located between Nolan’s Cross and the Money Pit, watched over by a statue of the Knights Templar.

 

[Roadhse2]

Ummmm...I believe if you will check they were already selling lots for settlers by 1762, with people on the island shortly after, and certainly before the long siege of Havana was accomplished.

" Land was made available to settlers in 1759 through the Shorham grant. Chester was officially founded that same year. A large part of Oak Island was granted to the Monro, Lynch, Seacombe and Young families around the same time as the establishment of Chester. The first major group of settlers arrived in the Chester area from Massachusetts in 1761. The following year, Oak Island was officially surveyed and divided into 32 four-acre lots. In the early days of British settlement, the Island was known locally as "Smith's Island," after an early settler of the area named Edward Smith"
Oak Island-Wiki

Plenty of other sources for people being on the island at that time period too, not part of the British Navy...

I can find no reference as to Washington ever being a Grand Master, he was however a Charter Master for the Alexandria, VA group....A much different classification

"George Washington
President 1789-1797 / Master Mason 1753

George Washington became a Mason at age 20 in 1753. It is suggested that he may have attended approximately nine Masonic lodge meetings during the remaining 46 years of his life, and probably never presided over any lodge."

http://www.washingtonlodge20.org/masonic-presidents

"The search for "Truth" and "Justice" is my "Prime Directive." Hey...Me too!

 

[Robot]

1762 Real Estate News Flyer...Lots Going on Oak Island...Going Fast!

Ummmm...I believe if you will check they were already selling lots for settlers by 1762, with people on the island shortly after, and certainly before the long siege of Havana was accomplished.

" Land was made available to settlers in 1759 through the Shorham grant. Chester was officially founded that same year. A large part of Oak Island was granted to the Monro, Lynch, Seacombe and Young families around the same time as the establishment of Chester. The first major group of settlers arrived in the Chester area from Massachusetts in 1761. The following year, Oak Island was officially surveyed and divided into 32 four-acre lots. In the early days of British settlement, the Island was known locally as "Smith's Island," after an early settler of the area named Edward Smith"
Oak Island-Wiki

Plenty of other sources for people being on the island at that time period too, not part of the British Navy...

I can find no reference as to Washington ever being a Grand Master, he was however a Charter Master for the Alexandria, VA group....A much different classification

"George Washington
President 1789-1797 / Master Mason 1753

George Washington became a Mason at age 20 in 1753. It is suggested that he may have attended approximately nine Masonic lodge meetings during the remaining 46 years of his life, and probably never presided over any lodge."

Washington Lodge No. 20

"The search for "Truth" and "Justice" is my "Prime Directive." Hey...Me too!

Yes, Oak Island was surveyed for lots in 1762 but, the Map shows that Samuel Ball was one of the first settlers on Oak Island and this would have been around 1791 long after The Freemasons had removed their Treasure.

The Siege on Havana was finished August 13th 1762

Ball made his way to New York serving with General Henry Clinton and then spent some time Major Ward in the Jersey’s where he served until the end of the war on January 14, 1784 with the signing of the Treaty of Paris. It was also reported that he served some time with Lord Cornwallis after the war. From here, Ball made his way to Shelburne Nova Scotia and lived there for two years. Not being at all happy with his treatment in Shelburne, he then pulled up stakes and moved to Chester where it is reported he lived for several years. He bought a piece of land on Oak Island and then was granted 4 acres more at lot number 32. As time went on, he eventually owned around 100 acres of land, and an island called Hook Island along with his farm on Oak Island consisting of around 36 acres.
The census of 1791 says he was a farmer on Oak Island at that time

In 1762 the British Army had no problems with settlers interfering with their endeavors!


George Washington became Grand Master in 1779
The records of the Lodge at Fredericksburg, Virginia, show that George Washington was initiated into that Lodge as an Entered Apprentice on Nov. 4th, 1752; that later he was duly passed and the Degree of Fellow-Craft was conferred upon him on March 3rd, 1753; and that on the 4th of August 1753 he was Raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason.
While the Continental Army for independence was encamped at winter quarters (1779) in Morristown, New Jersey, George Washington was unanimously elected the Grand Master of Masons of the American Colonies, but due to the war, and the upset conditions of the time, he never did serve. Yet in the hearts of American Masons he is considered the first and only Grand Master of American Freemasons, and was at that time considered the most eminent Mason of his time as evidenced by the unanimous vote cast for him to become Grand Master of the Grand Lodge of American Freemasons.
In 1788, the Lodge at Alexandria, Virginia, No. 39, elected him Worshipful Master, where he continued to serve most honorably until his death eleven years later.

By the Way:
How "Original" that you selected my Ad Tag "The search for "Truth" and "Justice" is my "Prime Directive" maybe we can start a Club or Better Yet...I can refer to you now as "Mini Me"!

 

[Tom_in_CA]

The (Untold) Story of The Oak Island Money Pit .... It was conceived by a number of Britain’s’ high ranking Naval Officers, who were Masonic Degree Members of the Freemasons and belonging to the Premier Grand Lodge of England.......

Robot, you will excuse our skepticism, right ? Anytime a story start with "... the 'untold' story of ..." it sorts of sounds like a National Enquirer rag lead in. Right ? And whenever the masonics and freemasons are involved, well of course it's true. Because they're always up to no good, and control the world afterall. Right ? And because of their secrecy, (they did a good job of covering all this up), well OF COURSE no one can disprove it. Pretty clever of their coverup attempts, eh ?

.....These lights were made by the Freemasons when they returned for their treasure.....

Well naturally. What else can we make of lights seen at odd places, than "pirates (excuse me, masonics) returning for their treasures". And they dug down 150 ft. to retrieve, and I'm sure you'll have the Egyptian pyramids mind-boggling tech. as proof for the possibility it *could* have occurred. Right ? (in a single week, if you add enough cornish workers, right ?)

 

[lokiblossom]

Louis and Clark boiled sea water on the Pacific Coast to get salt for use on their way back to what they called the United States between 1805 and the spring of 1806. They wrote in their journals that between 3 quarts and 1 gallon of salt was normal per day. That is more than I would have thought, but certainly a reliable number. Not sure how that fits into various theories but!
Cheers, Loki

 

[gazzahk]

that piece of plywood in the pic/video on top of the finger drains was probably laid there by the Restalls. they found them before Dunfield by a couple years.

Good point.. Thanks for that.. So ignoring that bit.. the other wood - has anyone ever dated it? Could they have been laid by the treasure hunters in the 1860s (did they find the drains). I suppose these photos suggest they did find the drains


If they did I imagine they traced them to the end. What did they find at the end? Is there a record?

It is so totally amazing the amount of effort, time and money that has been put into digging up a hole in the ground.....