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Jun 22, 2011
M/V Endeavor recovered a historically significant gold ring from one of the shipwrecks of the 1715 fleet
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The Treasure Coast, June 22, 2011 -- Team members aboard Blue Water Ventures salvage vessel the M/V Endeavor recovered a historically significant gold ring from one of the shipwrecks of the 1715 fleet today. Working under a contract with Brent Brisben's 1715 Fleet-Queens Jewels, LLC which holds the exclusive state and federal salvage rights to the 1715 fleet wreck sites, Captain John Brandon and first mate Kenton Dickerson were carrying out excavations and recoveries on a wreck site known as the "Sandy Point Wreck." After dusting away the sand and shell overburden in a small pocket on the bottom, a number of ballast stones were revealed. Further investigations of the excavation with a hand held underwater metal detector resulted in the discovery of the gold ring. Also recovered were 21 silver coins, a piece of a bronze sword hilt, several fragments of pewter plate, several musket balls and some encrusted iron objects.
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May 2, 2011
Centuries-Old Gold and Emerald Ring Discovered by Divers on Historic Shipwreck Site
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Key West, Florida Keys – Only a few days into launching their 2011 search and recovery season, divers for Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures of Key West have discovered an elegant gold and emerald ring, along with a gold “flake,” a piece of ornate silver, a silver “piece of eight” treasure coin, and numerous pieces of scattered shipwreck material in an area of the Florida Straits where the treasure galleon Santa Margarita was destroyed in 1622.
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July 09, 2010
Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary Permits Extension of Exploration Boundary
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Key West, Florida Keys – With a simmering energy of expectant anticipation, the underwater exploration team of W. Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures Key West headed back to sea yesterday, to continue their pursuit of the rich 1622 shipwreck Santa Margarita. Last year, a promising trail of scattered artifacts led the team directly to an invisible barrier they could not cross—a protective boundry line for the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The team could explore the trail no further without Sanctuary permission.
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July 09, 2010
Encrusted Conglomeration Yields Artifacts of Wealth and War
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Key West, Florida Keys -- The five pound encrusted conglomeration of Santa Margarita shipwreck artifacts discovered in the Florida Straits in May by W. Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures, though still in conservation, has thus far yielded two prime examples of 17th century Spanish presence in the America’s—money and weaponry. The money appears in the form of seven silver “pieces of eight” treasure coins; the weaponry are ten "gunner's dice." John Corcoran, chief conservator for Mel Fisher’s Treasures explained that gunner's dice are approximately 1"x1" bits of square-cut iron that were wrapped into a bundle—sometimes mixed with pieces of broken spike—and fired from cannon.
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May 21, 2010
Silver “Pieces of Eight” Discovery on 1622 Fleet galleon Santa Margarita Kicks Off 2010 Search and Recovery Season
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Key West, Florida Keys – Kicking off the 2010 search and recovery season, underwater exploration divers for Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures
Key West discovered a five-pound fused conglomeration of artifacts Wednesday afternoon, among which a number of sea-blackened silver “pieces of
eight” treasure coins are clearly identifiable.
Returning to port from sea late Friday night, Captain Dan Porter, Operations Manager for BWV, said that it won’t be known exactly how many of
the hundreds-of-years-old coins—or other types of treasure—are in the calcareous concretion until the mass has undergone conservation.
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May 11, 2010
From the Depths to the Shallows: Deep Water Shipwreck Explorer Trades Sub’s for Tanks on the Santa Margarita Site
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Mark Gordon, President of Odyssey Marine Exploration, the leading deep-water marine exploration company in the world, celebrated the
anniversary of his birth by crossing two items off of his "bucket list" -- diving the Santa Margarita and the Atocha shipwrecks, which
he said fulfilled a life-long dream.
The festivities kicked off Thursday evening with a Wind and Wine Sail on Danger Charters that included marine exploration industry
colleagues from Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures (BWV), Mel Fishers Treasures (MFT), Historic Research and Certification, Inc., Diveguru.net,
Florida Straits Diving, and Artificial Reefs of the Keys as well as local and international media professionals.
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April 25, 2010
Greenstone Amulet Found on Santa Margarita Shipwreck Trail Points to 17th Century Salvage Attempts
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Nearly 400 years before Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures, began searching for the remains of the
1622 fleet shipwreck Santa Margarita in the Florida Straits, two 17th century salvors, Captain Gaspar de Vargas and Havana businessman Francisco
Núñez Melián, used Florida "Indians" and pearl divers from the Caribbean island of Margarita to recover treasure from the sunken galleon. On
April 21, 2010, BWV diver Gavin Rall surfaced with this carved, polished greenstone artifact.
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July 13, 2009
Santa Margarita Shipwreck “Ghost Trail” Reveals New Clues
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For the past four years, Keith Webb’s Blue Water Ventures Key West, has been searching for – and discovering – sunken treasures of silver, gold, and pearls in the waters near the Marquesas Keys in the Florida Straits. This is where the rich 600-ton Spanish galleon Santa Margarita was destroyed in the hurricane of 1622.
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