Bigcypresshunter
Gold Member
- Dec 15, 2004
- 27,000
- 3,339
- Detector(s) used
- 70's Whites TM Amphibian, HH Pulse, Ace 250
- Primary Interest:
- Beach & Shallow Water Hunting
Queen Anne's Revenge
Marine historian, treasure hunter preserves pieces of history
By KIT BRADSHAW
[email protected]
August 2, 2006
Jupiter's Mike Daniel has been immersed in treasure hunting since he was a young man, but almost nothing has brought him the notoriety of a pirate whose reign on the high seas off North Carolina lasted less than two years.
Edward Teach or Edward Thatch, or, as Daniel said, possibly another name that is unknown, was christened as Blackbeard by the English in North Carolina and Virginia whose vessels were the targets of his piracy.
"In 1996, Phil Masters got involved with finding Blackbeard's ship, Queen Anne's Revenge," said Daniel, "and was told by the state of North Carolina that unless he found it, he would lose his lease to hunt for the treasure.
"So Phil hired me and my crew and it took us 11 days — and five shipwrecks later — to find Queen Anne's Revenge."
Daniel, who is the director of the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum in Jupiter, told the tales of Blackbeard on Sunday during a special "Pirate Day," in which several "pirates" swaggered about the standing room only crowd and added an authentic flavor to the presentation.
His interest in diving for treasure of the many shipwrecked vessels along the Bahamas and the Carolinas began in the Virgin Islands, when he was involved with the Caribbean Research Institute. In 1972, he and Bob Marx from Satellite Beach hooked up. Together they found the Spanish galleon Nuesta de Senora de Maravilla, a 900-ton ship that sunk off the Little Bahama Bank.
"The majority of items on board the Marvilla was silver, gold and emeralds," he said, adding that he only received a bar of silver for his work, eventually trading it for a sailboat.
But, he added, it isn't the treasure that draws him underwater.
"Here's the difference," he said. "Most of the guys are obsessed with the treasure, they are crazy for gold. I decided that I wasn't really there for the gold; it was the adventure. And as long as I could have a good adventure, that was fine."
Next to the Maravilla, St. Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's flagship, is his greatest find.
During the slide/lecture show, Daniel said that it had taken them about 15 minutes to bring up some of the artifacts from Queen Anne's Revenge, the chief one being the ship's bell, that was dated and established this find as Blackbeard's flagship.
Unfortunately, he added, North Carolina will neither give him credit as the person who found the ship nor hire him to further gather the treasure that is in about 20 to 30 feet of water. Instead, he said, the state has hired archeologists, and they have spent 10 years circling the site, preferring to get their $250,000 yearly appropriation rather than finding the treasure and using it to create a major display.
This difficulty doesn't deter Daniel from telling the tale, however, since everything he found was donated to North Carolina.
"Queen Anne's Revenge was a French slave ship when Blackbeard captured it, with 530 people on board. Blackbeard kept some of the slaves and let others go. After, these slaves had nothing to lose to be pirates," he said. "The ship originally had 14 guns on board, and Blackbeard upped that to 40 guns. At about 300 tons, it was one of the largest pirate ships of all times."
Blackbeard gained much of his notoriety from his blockade of the Charleston Harbor, when he held the town hostage, demanding medicine.
"At that time, everyone viewed this as someone with great audacity, it was equivalent to the twin towers in our time," said Daniel. "But once he gets the medicine, he leaves, and as he approaches Beaufort, N.C.; the ship runs aground, and Blackbeard maroons 17 of his men."
Blackbeard heads towards Ocracoke, N.C., plundering local ships along the way. And in Ocracoke, he and other pirates party hearty for a week, angering both Virginia's and North Carolina's governors. Virginia Gov. Alexander Spotswood sends Lt. Robert Maynard to capture Blackbeard, and in a fight to the end, Blackbeard is shot five times and knifed 20 times, dying of loss of blood.
Daniel continues to tell the tale of Blackbeard, both in Florida and in North Carolina, primarily to encourage those involved with the treasure hunt to bring up the rest of the treasure — most of it artifacts, with a little bit of gold dust — before hurricanes and time sweep the shipwreck site out to sea.
Daniel is not only involved with North Carolina; but in Jupiter, he is known for: finding the site of the Battle of the Loxahatchee during the Seminole Indian War; being the marine coordinator for Burt Reynolds' television show B. L. Stryker, filmed in Jupiter; and being the person who named Abacoa.
He is fighting to preserve the history of one of its best- known individuals, Burt Reynolds, and finding a new home for the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum as the Town of Jupiter plans to sell its "home" in the near future.
Marine historian, treasure hunter preserves pieces of history
By KIT BRADSHAW
[email protected]
August 2, 2006
Jupiter's Mike Daniel has been immersed in treasure hunting since he was a young man, but almost nothing has brought him the notoriety of a pirate whose reign on the high seas off North Carolina lasted less than two years.
Edward Teach or Edward Thatch, or, as Daniel said, possibly another name that is unknown, was christened as Blackbeard by the English in North Carolina and Virginia whose vessels were the targets of his piracy.
"In 1996, Phil Masters got involved with finding Blackbeard's ship, Queen Anne's Revenge," said Daniel, "and was told by the state of North Carolina that unless he found it, he would lose his lease to hunt for the treasure.
"So Phil hired me and my crew and it took us 11 days — and five shipwrecks later — to find Queen Anne's Revenge."
Daniel, who is the director of the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum in Jupiter, told the tales of Blackbeard on Sunday during a special "Pirate Day," in which several "pirates" swaggered about the standing room only crowd and added an authentic flavor to the presentation.
His interest in diving for treasure of the many shipwrecked vessels along the Bahamas and the Carolinas began in the Virgin Islands, when he was involved with the Caribbean Research Institute. In 1972, he and Bob Marx from Satellite Beach hooked up. Together they found the Spanish galleon Nuesta de Senora de Maravilla, a 900-ton ship that sunk off the Little Bahama Bank.
"The majority of items on board the Marvilla was silver, gold and emeralds," he said, adding that he only received a bar of silver for his work, eventually trading it for a sailboat.
But, he added, it isn't the treasure that draws him underwater.
"Here's the difference," he said. "Most of the guys are obsessed with the treasure, they are crazy for gold. I decided that I wasn't really there for the gold; it was the adventure. And as long as I could have a good adventure, that was fine."
Next to the Maravilla, St. Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's flagship, is his greatest find.
During the slide/lecture show, Daniel said that it had taken them about 15 minutes to bring up some of the artifacts from Queen Anne's Revenge, the chief one being the ship's bell, that was dated and established this find as Blackbeard's flagship.
Unfortunately, he added, North Carolina will neither give him credit as the person who found the ship nor hire him to further gather the treasure that is in about 20 to 30 feet of water. Instead, he said, the state has hired archeologists, and they have spent 10 years circling the site, preferring to get their $250,000 yearly appropriation rather than finding the treasure and using it to create a major display.
This difficulty doesn't deter Daniel from telling the tale, however, since everything he found was donated to North Carolina.
"Queen Anne's Revenge was a French slave ship when Blackbeard captured it, with 530 people on board. Blackbeard kept some of the slaves and let others go. After, these slaves had nothing to lose to be pirates," he said. "The ship originally had 14 guns on board, and Blackbeard upped that to 40 guns. At about 300 tons, it was one of the largest pirate ships of all times."
Blackbeard gained much of his notoriety from his blockade of the Charleston Harbor, when he held the town hostage, demanding medicine.
"At that time, everyone viewed this as someone with great audacity, it was equivalent to the twin towers in our time," said Daniel. "But once he gets the medicine, he leaves, and as he approaches Beaufort, N.C.; the ship runs aground, and Blackbeard maroons 17 of his men."
Blackbeard heads towards Ocracoke, N.C., plundering local ships along the way. And in Ocracoke, he and other pirates party hearty for a week, angering both Virginia's and North Carolina's governors. Virginia Gov. Alexander Spotswood sends Lt. Robert Maynard to capture Blackbeard, and in a fight to the end, Blackbeard is shot five times and knifed 20 times, dying of loss of blood.
Daniel continues to tell the tale of Blackbeard, both in Florida and in North Carolina, primarily to encourage those involved with the treasure hunt to bring up the rest of the treasure — most of it artifacts, with a little bit of gold dust — before hurricanes and time sweep the shipwreck site out to sea.
Daniel is not only involved with North Carolina; but in Jupiter, he is known for: finding the site of the Battle of the Loxahatchee during the Seminole Indian War; being the marine coordinator for Burt Reynolds' television show B. L. Stryker, filmed in Jupiter; and being the person who named Abacoa.
He is fighting to preserve the history of one of its best- known individuals, Burt Reynolds, and finding a new home for the Burt Reynolds & Friends Museum as the Town of Jupiter plans to sell its "home" in the near future.
