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Capt.Billy
MUST READ Dpbe PERSPECTIVE
"what bold statement?
The stock is trading at 0.0002 of a penny
That’s understandable considering the breach of contract and no division going on five years.
Th SCC is/has convicted Blum of a crime its in RED read all about it as you scroll down here.
That may be true but nothing about DBM in that conviction
We have no management.
I manage this end every day. Meet with my crew on a daily basis.
The company has no money that is obvious
They will as soon as the division is released
our equipment has been sitting on the salt water in the Caribbean for almost two years.
Do you know what happens to unused and unmaintained boats and tools in a Caribbean salt water environment?
Its not below the water its above and is maintained as needed by my crew and myself.
Our lease expired.
Expired but still in negotiations
The host country has a moratorium on issuing new leases- we all know that we have no lease.
still in negotiations
But they know that the company is run and administered by criminals.- The Dominicans that I have met know how to read!
The DR government awarded DBM a lease even after Blums problems with the SEC. He didn’t get convicted of murder Lol. Only raising money for another company.
Our crew cut a wide drunken swath of questionable activity through Samana.-
The Captain and crews boughts with drinking were well known.
My crew don’t drink. If they did they sure handle it well as there have never been one mishap going on eight years now. Including myself. No proof of that accusation, anybody could write such hogwash. Please provide one iota of proof.
I think Captain Billy should stay on his shrimp boat
Hahahaha well I probalay would be if we still had it. Unfortunately because the expense of keeping such a large ship in a marine environment outweighs the revenue of the non-division. I think an eighth grade education could figure that out.
It is endemic of DPBM management to bring a guy with no treasure hunting experience and very limited people skills down to run the operations.
So forty three years of being a certified diver, 37 years as a boat Captain, Ten years working with the Kirby group treasure hunters and even Francis Soto says I have excellent people skills. Hmmm? That doesn't count?
At what cost was the learning curve?
Two weeks into receiving a contract I discovered a multi-million dollar wreck. Oldest treasure carrying ship on this island, and possibly in this hemisphere, Is that the learning curve were talking about?
[
i]How much could he know after two years?
You mean before I turned three years old?
There were people available that had been finding shipwrecks for lifetimes?
Like 75 years old. Yeah that’s like giving Dan Marino another contract Lol.
I am a big investor in this miss managed and miss-run company,
I have made two trips to Samana as a guest of DPBM and visited the lab in Santo Domingo with Mr. Soto.
Only one of many, no one else has these same sentiments??? Wonder why its only you?
For the money I sunk in this company, I could have bought a house.
Some people know how to invest some don’t.
Wilf actually called me his friend- what a joke as he had his hand in my pocket
Does any correct thinking investor believe that the Dominican Government will even speak to Deep Blue again?
They speak to me every day. Except Sundays and holidays.
[why the accusations of government officials?]
xxxx Why [think] that a few silver coins are worth millions of dollars is ridiculous
A thousand coins times a thousand dollars equals $1,000,000.00. Some coins were valued at $25,000.00. The Mayan statues may have sold for $100,000.00 a piece. One gold coin recovered from the Galliffet shipwreck was valued at $42,000.00.
Why xxx we investors would ever see profits from coins is also ridiculous
Your right about that because we never received what was contracted obligated.
we have never seen any form of financial relief from divisions in the past.
No because operational costs needed to be covered and were for three year after the first division. We were looking for the Mother Lode and expenses needed to be covered. I cant believe i even responded to that ridiculous statement.
Now there is an internal document in the DR government of Deep Blue desecrating a historic site of irreplaceable cultural importance. I don't know if this is true, but I will contact Mr Soto and verify"
How did that work out for you. Can you imagine if that was true how we were allowed to continue working? I was constantly praised by ONPCS for our professional work. Even invited to their private Christmas parties. LMAO
SITE DESECRATIONS IS NOTHING NEW WITH WILF BLUM AND DPBE.
ASK FORMER DPBE OPS MGR ED KRAJEWSKI - BUT BE CAREFUL AS ED IS A CONVICTED FELON ,
Yes ask a disgruntled ex-employee, a great source of info. Lol
BUT THEN HELL WILLIAM RAWSON WAS A DRUG RUNNER FOR GOODNESS SAKES LOL
Believe everything you read? My criminal record consists of two traffic violations my entire adult life. One was speeding the other was for passing on the right. Lol. If there was a criminal record we would sure be hearing about it. Not even a DUI for all them drunken swaths. LMFAO
ROFL AS A MATTER OF FACT ED KRAJEWSKI TOLD ME BILLY RAWSON DIDNT KNOW JACK ABOUT WORKING A SITE AND KNEW EVEN LESS ABOUT COINS AND THEIR VALUATIONS. ROFLMAO A VERY COMMON THEME HERE
Really? then I wonder why Ed hired me. More Hog-wash.
All the spaghetti models sure point it right here. One good thing is they are calling for it to weaken as it enters the Caribbean. I see another possible system pulling off of Africa on the same course. We could use the rain but not the strong winds. Its that time of the year.
I do not have the PM option. I believe on Fridays its free so will have to wait until then. From what i understood it was the last President (Leonel Fernández) who gave the Punta Cana foundation their permit to conduct salvage on wrecks in their area so he was well aware of the importance of saving the Patrimony. I also remember the present president (Danilo Medina) coming to Playa Grande where they set up a viewing center for the artifacts we recovered from that area. You would think after that he would have also understood the importance as well.
What is also ironic is the photos in Pedro Borrels book could have not been possible without companies like ours. But again Pedro Borrel is well aware of the dire situation.
I live in Samana where i built a home. I had thought we would be working for at least a few more years. That didnt work out so good. But at least my wife and child will have a home no matter what happens to me. So something good has come from my participation in the salvage business.
These are Sr. Borrels photos of some of our recovered artifacts. I am sad that i had a folder of many photos by him but was lost when my last computer died.
Nope I don't purchase anything anymore. None of my business. This country doesn't care to help itself then why should I. One problem though these people of these small and poor communities don't believe they are doing anything wrong. Guilt by association would fit perfect if they were robbing banks. But hardly when talking to fishermen about fishing.
Compiling data on all these shipwrecks will benefit many of us one day and possibly secure me a future in this business.
Plus its a great hobby.
AND I LOVE THE HISTORY
CB
Sommy thats right, and too funny. The other day i was in Rio San Juan hangin with a few of the local fishermen that i knew from the days of working there. One guy with a silly little smirk on his face couldn't hold back and said i want to show you something. We went behind his house and he had a cavemen style airlift he had built. They already have these little sears and robucks air compressors on their little fishing boats to breath with, now he takes two compressors, one to use for breathing and now another to run the airlift. It was small compared to what we use but said it works great. Everybody in that town knew what we were finding and now that we are gone they have taken over where we left off. I asked what he was finding and he just smiled.
Zdiver,
It is great to see all the posters of old. To bad we cant be discussing ongoing operations. Seeing all this dis-information being spewed by someone claiming to be a DR official i had to break ihub silence. Pretty sure we got that solved.
Still here, still have my boat, crew and equipment. I am also still in touch with the same people in the government that i have always worked with. They have never said its over, just waiting.
Trying to raise my child and still with my same Dominican wife of seven years, so yes it is very important to me to know whats happening. The real truth not just some fabricated nonsense.
Hasn't been easy for me my family or the crew. However not much choice but to stick it out.
We shall see
CB&family
[quote:
While the division of artifacts was an incentive to commercial companies, it was not always handled
wisely by those companies and unfortunately DBM was a prime example of questionable business dealings from the CEO down. Just the presence of so many disgruntled investors for so long is indicative of these problems. This started long before the contract expired.]
This would be of no concern to ONPCS as the contract was awarded to a person not a company. All contracts were awarded to individuals not companies. The ability to raise funds would be the companies burden and DBM is not a subject of any "questionable business dealings" or any criminal investigation that I am aware of. Please provide proof.
quote:
Any company that worked here should have been forthcoming with information to investors.
This is not my area of law, but I believe a US public company has the fiduciary responsibility of transparency in its financial dealings, and DBM is clouded in confusion]
Again this would not be the concern of ONPCS. The contract was awarded to DBM while they were a public trading company. There were no criteria then for “fiduciary responsibility of transparency in its financial dealings” why would that have changed. Again the contract was under an individual name not any company.
quote:
the days of it being divided up on a table are past forever.]
Jeimy would know as she was the last one to sit at that table.
Here is a photo of my expert Dominican diver holding up yet another questionable recovered artifact.
Ok one more thing I feel the need to share. Nobody has ever invited me to any discussion on how to handle future contracts. Sure you could say why? Who are you to think you should be involved. Let me try to explain, then I need to give my two typing fingers a much deserved break. No company or investor is coming here to do this work for free. Even volunteers will jump ship once they know of the hardship of living here. There has to be an incentive. And the lure of treasure is always an incentive. Lets look back at Burt Webbers discovery. He found thousands of coins.( I don’t want to guess at how many because he gets a little on edge when I don’t get it right). But say he found twenty thousand coins. He takes half. His investors are happy the company is happy and they can continue to fund activities and attract investors. Now though the DR government has ten thousand coins, and guess what, they still have their share thirty years later nicely packed away in a safe. Do they need more? Are they displaying them in a national museum, NO. So how many more coins do they need? Apparently they have enough. I am pretty sure the government chooses what they want in divisions, like all one of kind items. So to make a proper division take the one of a kind item and make up for it with coins. Why not you got thousands. Every artifact if done correctly is logged recorded and photographed. I myself am happy with just the photographs and my personal satisfaction of making the discovery/recovery. But companies have to pay for operations and qualified personnel and need to continue to attract investors. So you pay with what you really don’t need. Everybody is happy. To think anybody is going to race down here and dump tons of money into these projects and receive what the DR government feels is a justifiable payoff of the artifacts then no one will be interested. This process of a division with artifacts of many of the same types would take all of about an hour to draw up. EVEN right now as it is it is a win win for this government. They get paid for the contract of $3000.00us A pretty nice sum especially if you had a half a dozen companies. They already require a professional archaeologist to be present. For sakes of today’s argument, run the archaeologist through a rigorous process of qualification. This is also paid by the contractors, So a sound report is always sitting on the desk of ONPCS. If there is a violation then punish the company six months of not giving an inspector, no more diving until the situation has been rectified or some form of punishment to make sure all rules are adhered to.
What is happening now is NOT working. Waiting several more years to come up with a new plan is ridiculous. Do something now. Stop the bleeding. Fine tune it as time allows. Get these folks back on the water and at least police these areas.
Oh and I could use a hug.
Yes and thats is the only thing saving it. But i have also been in this business long enough to know all the surface artifacts are taken and any indication there is a wreck below is gone forever. And something as simple as the ships bell being recovered by a fisherman could cause the identity of the ship to be lost forever. Sorry but that has happened on many occasions. I am full aware of a few instances this has happened.
I am from the USA, Key West Fl. to be exact. We laugh because when someone says i will be there in ten minutes, you add an hour. We call it Island Time, here when they say ten minutes, you add a day or two. Time is not on your side.
Like i said special permits could be issued. While business as usual carries on, the laws or methods could be fined tuned as time allows, But who now is better qualified to do thee digs than that of the experienced people that have been here as long as i have. No need for a learning curve. Put qualified personnel to do the archeology reporting and leave the heavy work and to those who have the most experience. Something tells me this has not been addressed. Not doing nothing while your own Dominican people are robbing the heritage of many nations while we sit waiting for something to happen is disheartening.
Island Time. I am sure the local fishermen are very happy at the speed of this process.
Quote
[Cultura is working with respected consultants to attempt to find a better more regulated way of
saving our lost patrimony. The days of splitting finds with commercial companies are a thing of the pas]
You see i actually agree with this statement, so how do you bring in companies to fund such a massive expenditure and hire qualified personnel? Who is going to pay for the expenses to run such an operation? There has to be incentive. I understand it is a very fine line. I am in the field, I do not sit behind a desk. I see what is happening daily. If these sites are to have anything worth the spending of major amounts of funds on, or to attract investors, it needs to happen like yesterday. The three fishermen who were at my house two days ago are taking me to there site tomorrow. Just curious if any on site or data is being collected like i am doing from the governments side. The day after tomorrow i will have pictures and coordinates of yet another historical site. What i will have tomorrow is a record of another shipwreck. Spending my own money and time to accumulate this info. No laws against diving that i am aware of. But then like the Playa Grande site I or we (being patromonio) will be able to reference these site as a -before and after- before meaning whats there now followed by the after, after the looting. With a boat and equipment and a experienced crew READY TO GO why wouldn't this government entertain the thought to have some special permission to at least save what is left on some of thee more significant sites (and three come to mind immediately). Bring on a qualified archaeologist, foot the bill and pay to have these sites excavated. I truly am sadden by whats taking place. And one day in the not so distant future i will be able to prove there was an action to be taken and it wasn't. Again there has to be incentive. No one is going to spend thirty thousand American dollars a month just to recover artifacts for the government, like just what happened to our company the last three years prior to the end of our contract. And what bad publicity that is as no one will entertain the thought coming here with that looming.
I also see a different perspective, Having a company like ours in one designated area you gain trust with the locals, as I have. I wish i had a dime for every time someone rang my door bell to ask me if i wanted to see a new wreck they recently discovered. How many years or decades does that save to learn about each and every wreck site? That info is invaluable. I have lived here long enough to know that trust is earned not jut handed to you.
So yes wait a few more years figuring this all out and nothing will be left to save. Its not like a hundred contracts need to be handed out. Just renew the few and keep them working until a better plan is put into place. And by all ethical standards companies like ours that was so dedicated so entrenched here sure should have been given a year or two warning that all work was going to come to a halt. At least we could have buried these sites we could have prepared ourselves for future project in other countries. The Dominican crew could have prepared their selves for returning to poverty. Nothing about how this ended was fair in the least bit. Other companies sued this government not ours. Because we hope one day to still be a part of recovering and saving not only the Dominicans heritage but the heritage of every nationality of this planet that had the unfortunate experience of losing a ship on this coast. Which should be another priority of this country to save the patrimony of other nations while there is still something worth saving, Just like the letter i posted earlier, an urgent request to stop the looting. Seven years ago and still it continues. How can the officials of this nation live with themselves knowing this is happening. Especially when there is a ship and crew who has many years experience just sitting at the dock. No man, no excuse in the world can justify this. ITs wrong, dead wrong.
You are making statements without any knowledge on this subject. DBM never even knew Alejandro Selmi until he was highly recommended to us by ONPCS.
And only because of this recommendation we hired him. And i am very content with that decision. By far one of the best decision as a company we ever made. Because our host country was a Spanish speaking nation we brought him on. Our company like most needed investors. Bringing on a Spanish speaking Archeologist's was not exactly in the best interest for an English speaking investor base. But because of the recommendation by this government and his Spanish speaking skills we hired him. Until you or anyone else can prove he was not qualified or he didnt meet the required criteria, then please give it up up already. Bring on some new material, quite honestly its getting old. Every Marine archeology dig is different from the rest. Each one requires a learning curve. One wreck could be laying in sand one deep an never touched by the ocean elements another buried deep in coral and smashed up against a rocky shore. Any archaeologist will tell you this. EVERY WRECK IS DIFFERENT FROM THE REST, EVERY ONE!
Even the very first ever marine archeologist's had to work out these unforeseen problems. And even now, I have plenty of experience in this field solely from my years working on these sites that has far better insight than that of what you seem to understand. Call ONPCS and you can verify what i am saying. Unlike your statements mine can be backed up.
Have a nice day
This is the saddest account of looting that I am aware of. If when after anybody with a brain reads this and still believes a moratorium or a lengthy delay on issuing permits is the RIGHT THING TO DO then you do not have the best interest of the Dominicans heritage (or the worlds for that matter) in your heart.
The care taker of the property adjacent to this wreck had worked here for ten years. He had never seen this wreck until a passing storm uncovered it. Immediately this wreck was the subject of looting. He pleaded with the government officials to get some security on this site. Because our company was already in place and just wrapping up a stint with Mr Bowden we were called in to have a look and possibly start the excavation to save what hadn’t already been looted. I was asked to come dive the site to see if we could safely do the excavation. I took photos of this site and our company had ongoing negotiation with these folks. We were to do some joint venture on the costs and the percentage of artifacts was discussed. Because they knew the importance of having a qualified archeologist that was to be part of the negotiation. Our company searched several different universities for a possible candidate to do this excavation. We were immediately given a name by this government of an archeologist that they highly recommended. He had been chief archeologist for Burt Webber but that company had recently became solvent. We hired Mr. Selmi at the request of cultural. The property owners had a lot on their plate as they were beginning a full scale development on their property so thy dragged their feet for six months to obtain the necessary permits to go forward on the excavation. Meanwhile our company had hired Mr. Selmi. He was being paid and we didn’t even need him until the work began but he stayed on DBM’s payroll. The government became outraged as the locals were continuing to loot this wreck. They also knew we had Alejandro on the payroll at their request and they knew our company spent a large amount of additional money to prepare for this job and we just sat. The decision was made to give our company the rights to this area of the north coast. A stipulation in the contract stated that we could work this wreck but not to move any of the cannons or any structure. When I was initially brought in to access this wreck I took photos. By the time we finally had permission to work this wreck it was very apparent this wreck had been the subject of a mass free-for-all salvage by novices. Nothing remained as I had remembered it. With photos I had proof this wreck had been looted so much so it was almost un-recognizable. I had proposed to the property owner and this government and our company that because now we would be in the area we could build a sand bag moat around the wreck and with our equipment rom time to time as needed keep it cleaned to make an underwater museum after we recovered the important artifacts that could easily be stolen by fishermen and beach goers. Everyone seemed interested but nothing was done to get this process moving forward. Because the wreck lies under the breaking waves of the beach it was only a few weeks a year we could actually work this wreck. When in a five day period of good weather we did manage to dig here and it was very sad to see what destruction and looting had taken place here from the first day I seen it till the time we had the chance to work it. We were able to completely uncover the wreck map it photograph it and at least we were able to make a report. We proved that this was indeed a wreck because up until then there was other archeologist who without any salvage attempts had declared this was a barge that sank after recovering cannon from a wreck near-by. Actually we proved this was a French warship and my personal opinion it is the 64 gun French ship “Dragon. “(Only my personal opinion because of the location). Also after the two years excavating the Le Scipion I had now much knowledge of French ship construction so with that experience I could conclusively say this was a French ship. Just recently I was informed by one of our Dominican divers the ship had uncovered during a recent cold front. I made my way back there in April and did a dive. There was not one cannon ball left on the site. Hundreds of cup shaped concretions where cannon balls once were now gone. In the two years we were not allowed to police our area the looting looked to have been on going. Unbelievable destruction. And even more recently because I still pay for an apartment in this area I was at a local scrap yard looking for a piece of iron to make a TV stand I couldn’t believe my eyes. Sitting in the corner of the building was a pile of maybe 30 cannon balls. Rusting away sold to the yard as scrap iron. Had our company still been in the area no way this could have taken place without me getting word of it. It was like that TV commercial years ago an American Indian staring down at a bustling town where they once roamed freely but now he stands with a tear in his eye. That is exactly the way I felt. Again anybody who thinks they are doing the right things that are causing these delays Is dead wrong. And obviously doesn’t have his or her heart in the right place. So sad, so very sad. And it continues. That is just one instance I could write a book on this subject.
And what do we hear nothing like thank You DBM and Capt Billy for your dedication and commitment and hard work and your discoveries, thank you DBM for hiring a dozen Dominican’s and streaming revenue into these poor towns, thank you Capt Billy for taking your time and monies to investigate and retrieve thee significant artifacts, Thank you for working with the local fishermen to get their knowledge of all these historical sites Thank you DBM for trying to have a museum to display the Dominican heritages without any financial assistance from the very government who thinks these issues are so very important. NO all we hear is your archeologist was a land based unqualified person. You know what I don’t care if he was a moon based archeologist. I have worked in this industry going on twenty years now. Worked alongside side the best marine archeologist in the world and Alejandro is and will always be one of the most professional archeologists I have ever had the pleasure to work with. To judge that man on his credentials without viewing his work tells me a lot about the person who questions his abilities.
Our two year lay-off has been very difficult for my family and the Dominican families all wondering what went wrong, all wondering why we had to leave these sites behind and open to looting. (And no matter what is posted here we have financial backing the second we receive a new permit). We hear every day about what is going on with these sites. But one thing I haven’t done is sit idle. As difficult as it has been financially and as bitter as I feel about this delay I continue to chase down info to wreck sites, I have complied unbelievable amount of info about many more sites in and out of our area. I still pour over info about the identities of these wrecks. I self-educate myself in the field of marine archeology, I haven’t stopped. And mostly why is because my heart is into this field. Not for monetary gains but because the love of history and there is no better way of getting my fill of history than the investigation of shipwrecks. And there is nothing sadder to sit here with perfect weather knowing damn well these sites are being looted on a grand scale. VERY SAD.
But your archeologist is land based. Yeah keep believing that while history and heritage is being pillaged and sold to the tourist. Shew man what a sorry excuse to let the looting to continue.
Here some just like to talk without proof of their accusations. Here is proof of my statements. I will put the translation under the letter. This request was obviously with good intentions but from the ongoing looting of this wreck shows the lack of law enforcement resources to police these sites. Absolute positive evidence that companies like DBM need to be stationed and policing these areas. At no cost to the DR government.
Here is the machine translation of this very urgent request.
Subject: Review of research of shipwreck on San Juan river trip<br> <br>Distinguished gentlemen:<br> <br>Hereby I have good informal that on January 5 of the year I moved to San Juan River in the company of the security official of this office to inquire about the finding of several relics in the area of Playa Grande, in Rio San Juan.<br> <br>As communicate you by telephone, information about this wreck was ceded by Mr. Rolando Fernández, General Manager of the Playa Grande Golf resort.<br> <br>I also inform you that this wreck is located right on the shore of Playa Grande shallow and this situation encourages looting of the property of this shipwreck by desaprensivas people, why what they ask to be sent a communication to the head of State more of the Navy, so instruct the departments of area safety to be prohibited in the immediate looting of this shipwreck.<br> <br>The management of the Playa Grande Golf Resort I call having program maintain a monitoring team in the area of the wreck since it is within the area of the complex, but need the support of the Navy.<br> <br>According to the characteristics of the assets recovered must speculate that it is a wreck of great interest for archaeology underwater in our country that these goods have characteristics similar to the recovered the wreck of the count of Tolosa and our Lady of Guadalupe.<br> <br>During the investigation, it was possible to recover the pieces listed in the schedule annexed.<br> <br> <br>For purposes of knowledge,<br> <br> <br>Kind regards
These are artifacts recovered by local authorities. I have no way of knowing the exact percentage but my guess these recovered artifacts represent less than five percent of the looted material. I am sure there are tourist around the world who have a very nice collection of artifacts from this site. I have already posted photos the Popes enema.
[/chart
]
And here is what happens when cannon andanchors are dragged from these sites. No proper conservation just put in front of homes to rust into a pile of dust. But our archaeologist is land based. What a joke. With companies like DBM with financing and a skilled crew and equiptment sitting while thee atrocities continue. There is no logical justification in this delay. You have to be brain dead or just stupid not to see this.
This anchor with a Gothic design. Taken out of the sea by fishermen. Our company with the permission of the government purchased this anchor to put in front of our museum. To me the anchor wasn't as important as the position in which it came from. Of course anchors could be lost in many ways but when in shallow water is a good indication of a shipwreck near-by. So I, not IU or Unesco paid out of my pocket to get the potions from where they had taken it from. I still have that position and would be a great area to do a mag survey. Sorry IU and UNESCO you will never know. But because i am aware of the importance of these things i took it on my own to learn where it had been recovered. Possibly early 17th century.
More to come
These coins are dug up in the shallow water and sold to tourist, I bought these two and turned them over to the government. They had a hand full and had no qualms whatsoever that they had these coins in their possession. Just another day to them. Whatever it takes to provide for their families. Very rare colonial coins. Pillaged on a daily basis. No law enforcement to be seen. I have also this wrecks position as part of the bargain. Maybe UNESO could purchase a few coins and get the position of this wreck? I doubt it though as most Dominicans are very cautious about new comers.But they sure trust their Capt Billy and are always very happy to help. A trust that can only be had when someone is well known to the area and to the locals.
More to come.
Pretty much this photos is self explanatory. Here they are dragging cannons up on the beach to take home to decorate their front yard.
Now thats blatant. You see any cops in this photo stopping this action? Neither do I, do you see UNESCO stopping this or any one from the academic community? Nope neither do I.
More to come.
A bronze cannon i rescued from fishermen, i also seen that this piece made its way to the governments conservatory. They still have it and have not reimbursed my for my efforts. Not a problem just thought i was doing a good deed. Again where would this be if i wasn't in the area to get wind of this artifact and make all the connections to get it back to the government? I also have the position of the site because i made that part of the bargain. Because of my quick actions this piece one day could be reunited with the wreck. And not adorn someones living room.
More to come
Here i received an anonymous email form someone in Santo Domingo looking to sell these coins. There is no other wreck on this island that are producing these types of coins except ours. These coins may very well have came from our site before we arrived. More reason to have companies policing these sites. Notice the eight reales. Only three of these are known to exist. Now four.
The price of that coin varies on the condition but starts at $250,000.00usd.
Looted from Dominican waters.
I made an offer with every dime i had at the time but they laughed, they knew what they had. Never heard from them again.
Wonder what country and who's collection they are in now?
More to come.
Proof of my statements. These artifacts i ran down the culprits/fishermen and rescued them, paid the fishermen for them and handed it over to the government. I receive a nice letter of thanks but no one offered to replace my money and time for rescuing these artifacts. Let me know if anybody thinks if i should have rescue these pieces or let them be sold to tourist on the streets?
Check out the first picture upper left. This is a silver enema. Then check out the insignia on the artifact and then what insignia it is.
The Popes. Just a little important. Where would this be if i didn't rescue this item? Right? in some tourist suitcase headed back to France or who knows where? But because this happened in our area and my Dominican crew got wind of it we were at least able to rescue it AND the wrecks position of where it was looted.
More to come.
I dont know if this video i made ever got posted here. Being bored to death while we have great weather and the local fishermen are raping and pillaging our sites i put this video together and dedicated it to Alejandro. This is why IU is so frustrated as they swim around taking photos of each other on wrecks others have discovered while DBM a real outfit at work on wrecks they discovered. Again Alejandro is one of the most dedicated professional people i have ever had the chance to work with.
Not full of himself like some others in his same profession.
Quote>
"With the expansion of leases issued in 2010 and 2011 the quality of the work and the
results diminished with no accountability."
-------------------------------------------------------
These were the first leases ever issued by the Dominican Republic EVER that required professional archeologist's to be on board, The quality of the leases increase three-fold compared to the free for all that took place for several decades prior. You are guessing with very few facts to back up your statements. Have you even viewed DBM's archeology reports. Probably not as they are all done in Spanish.As the host country speaks that language. And are very professionally done.
Paid for by DBM.
Maybe so, i still live here and though it is getting harder to believe we will ever return to work no one in this government has given me a conclusive no. Quite the contrary. Regardless of these new accusations i am being told we will get a new contract. And for anybody who has ever lived here they will tell you nothing happens here on a timely manner. Its not rocket science that a country without the resources to protect their heritage should make it mandatory to have companies like ours to excavate and police these sites before they are completely looted. And they are well aware of this problem.
If anybody is interested. Look up the Padre Island shipwrecks. These ships were in route from Vera Cruz Mexico to Havana. After that they would make the trip back to Spain. Three of these four ships ran into a late winter cold front. The NE winds drove these ship ashore on Padre Island. One ship made it back to Havana.
The excavation of these shipwrecks yielded almost exactly what we recovered on our wreck. The rigging, iron fittings, silver splash discs, coins. Only difference was the silver discs recovered from the Padre Is. wrecks which had several different tax stamps. But everything else including the aboriginal mirrors. Everything we found was eerily similar to the Padre Is. wrecks. The mint marks on the coins same as ours. It was like these two ships were twins. Only difference was the silver splash discs.
Because I discovered this wreck I feel an obligation to knowing what ship I discovered. And we were working to accomplishing that feat when in the middle of a full scale excavation and an intensive research we were cut off by this government. With no contract came no funding. No funding became no more research. Just like that all aspects of this very important shipwreck came to a halt. The saddest part we left a very shallow water wreck site wide open to the local divers. Everyone in the town adjacent to our site knew we were finding valuable artifacts. With zero policing of this area it is still being plundered to this day.
I continue to research what ship we discovered. There was a new law by Spain to rectify these shipping issues. Because many ships were lost returning to Spain the king ordered a new law called the ordencia of 1552. This was to insure each ship had a qualified navigator, arms sufficient to defend its cargo against the French privateers, Anchors, no more overloading of ships with un essential personal so soldiers could fight off privateers. Many laws were put into place to protect these ships for the return trip to Spain. Some of these laws had new stamps placed on the precious metals. The kings stamp was to insure the taxes were paid, (averia) but now with the new ordencia of 1552 came new marks to show the purity of the silver, ownership marks, weight and whether it was the owner or a company shipping the precious metals. So after 1552 the silver carried multiple tax stamps. The Padre Is silver splash discs were covered with these marks. Not ours. Only the one tax stamp and one or two discs has the Shell of St, James. So our wreck was very similar of that of the Padre Is. Wreck s less the exception of all the owner and purity marks. So what does that tell you? That our wreck came before the Ordencia of 1552. But not much earlier because the mint marks on the coins. So then what treasure ships were lost before 1552 and no earlier than 1550?
In 1551 a terra firma fleet sailed into Peurto Plata to rendezvous with the fleet from Vera Cruz. From here they would fill the cargo holds of the ships heading back to Spain. The ships that carried the most weapon’s for defense carried the Kings treasure. Most all ships returning carried treasure but only a few ships were selected or qualified for carrying the king’s treasure. So these selected ships carried the bulk of the treasure while the rest carried cargo like sugar and cochineal wood and other sought after commodities. So the story goes after these ships left Puerto Plata they ran into a storm and were driven back 30 leagues. One of the treasure laden ships broke its rudder. It drifted ashore and was later almost completely salvage. The documents show that only the Kings treasure was recovered. And most historians believe there is still treasure on this wreck. The ship was the San Miguel. Even the Dominican government believes we discovered the San Miguel. But because we never found conclusive evidence like the name on a bell the company and our archaeologist have been very cautious to name the ship. But it fits. Personally I believe we discovered the San Miguel. Treasure hunters searching for the San Miguel will tell you "nope didn't happen". Why is because they want to be the discoverers, Our company doesn’t want it to be the San Miguel because it had been mostly salvaged. But what a discovery if it is. DBM within a few weeks of obtaining a contract discovers the San Miguel. It will be the San Miguel to me until someone can prove otherwise.
There are older wrecks discovered in the Americas but only the Padre Island wrecks and DBM's wreck are conclusively ships carrying the King's treasure back to Spain. Making our ship the oldest known treasure ship in this hemisphere. An absolute incredible discovery. And DBM should be able to complete the excavation of what we discovered.Once a contract is re-issued the funds return and so does the research. All the jealousy in the world will not change the fact that we/I discovered this wreck. And I will vehemently contest any bogus accusation to the end of my days that say we didn't. Go find your own wrecks. This one belongs to DBM. With over 17,000 photos of excavation and artifacts and site plans to prove it.
When DBM was sub-contracting under Mr. Bowden’s DR Contract there was no requirement for an archeologists. I put myself in charge of that endeavor. We mapped and measured the entire wreck as we excavated. Then to keep Sub-Autico in the loop we donated a laptop computer with the same three-d program that we had on the ship. Data of excavation and photos of recovered artifacts while in situ and after recovery was also mailed to Sub-Autico on a daily basis. Though I had no qualifications in underwater archeology but skills in drawing and GPS positioning and three-d computer programs made for a very impressive site plan. So much so that the work we completed on the Scipion site was rewarded by this government. After our sub-contract ran its course with Mr. Bowden our company was awarded a contract of our own. Also during those early days our official Navy inspector was a diver. Everything we did was closely monitored. It is a well-known fact that after DBM finished its excavation of the Scipion site that another company did several dive trips to that site. And if any damage was done by DBM other than what is needed to extract historically significant artifacts concreted in hundreds of years of a naturally occurring process may be attributed to local fishermen. In this country they steal man hole covers to sell for scrap iron. So a pile of cannon and cannon balls sure would be very enticing. More reason to keep qualified on going salvage operations on these historical sites especially when it cost the DR government absolutely nothing. And they actually receive payments from these salvage companies. Which helps in the DR’s conservation process of these artifacts.
No French dive team ever dove that site while we were there or anytime thereafter. To do so would require a Navy “despacio” and with our cooperation with this government we gained some great friends in the Navy. And because there are no secrets on this island and anybody who has lived here understands this that any joint dive by Dominican officials and French archeologists would have been very hard to hide. So I very much doubt that. Also each trip when we returned to the site Mother Nature recovered the site. So each time we had to uncover the site using very large and sophisticated dredging equipment and techniques, hardly anything that a French dive team would have brought with them in there suitcases. So I am not buying that story. Nice try though.
DBM was paid in full right up till the contract expired. If some outside entity was to try and make problems for DBM at least get your facts straight.
The Marquis de Gallifett was shown to DBM by local fishermen. This wreck was initially discovered by one of our divers thirty years prior to him working for us. He showed Burt Webber. Webber donated a ships bell to the DR government with the name of the ship inscribed on the bell. DBM worked that wreck for three years. With a very qualified archeologists recommended to us by Sub-Autico. And he wasn’t cheap and DBM picked up that tab. The artifacts recovered from that site well most certainly adorn a museum for many more years to come and thanks to DBM was not pillaged by the local fishermen and sold on the streets to tourist or scrapped for metal.
The Preciosa site or Rawson’s site was discovered after I purchased a coin from a very old local fisherman. We ran down all the leads that pinpointed where he had found that coin. Then that excavation was also overseen by the same archeologist Sr. Alejandro Selmi.
That site will go down as one of Dominican Republic’s most significant historical sites. And that site and its contents will be viewed from here to the end of time. Thanks to DBM. But because of some government glitches the site remains open and I hear each day the fishermen are looting this site. Nebula in this business there is much jealousy. Some university wished they could have played a role in the discovery and excavation of these sites. Because they were not involved their only recourse is to stop these companies like DBM from more discoveries that they themselves one day hope to make on their own.
In the seven years we have been here there has never been any accusation by this government of DBM stealing cheating or any of these new accusations that we are reading here. Not even a diving accident or ship grounding NOTHING. What is happening is these sites are being looted and nine of my favorite dedicated Dominicans are without jobs. And that is very sad.
Come on down Linda we would love to have you. Shouldn't be no storms in may.
Sorry gulf i had meant my post to you as a private one i pushed the wrong button. I didnt know i was being monitored by the Forign Corruption Act Agency Police and the Ethnical Practice Commision Against Mad Mothers Act. This has been an experience here that would for sure root out the men from the boys. Gulf if you PM your email i would love to relay to you so many of the experiences of living here. Good and Bad. I know you would get a kick out of it.
Well back when i was living my harbored little life in the land of the free i might have had a different way of looking at that too. But when my first traffic stop down here i seen everything i owned strewn across the shoulder of the road including my computer sitting on the rocks. The problem was i didnt know that all they wanted was a few extra dollars to feed their families. So to some it may be corrupt to me its a gift to so many that have so little. And its a way of life here. To the people who think thats wrong do yourself a favor and never visit here cause you wouldnt last a day!
Thanks Gulf,
Hard to believe we have been here almost a year now. This morning i was pulled over by the police for just a routine traffic stop. They start asking for papers drivers license ins. papers they look like there just about to shoot you. Thats when i put 200 pesos behind my drivers lic. and hand that to them then all of a sudden the bigest smile on there face and a thumbs up then they stopped all the traffic to let me back on the road. 200 pesos 5 dollars american. What a country.
The Capn Tracy's hull was completly painted today with anti-fouling paint. Yesterday we had 27 zincs replaced (old ones removed new ones welded on) All the materials are on site for the construction of the prop-washer. The drawings and plans have all been done up. We were told by the very professional shipyard today that they believe they will be finished with the job in 7 to 10 days. I myself think it will take a bit longer. I want a sturdy and safe working blower when we leave the shipyard. And if anyone is watching the weather down here you would know this is perfect timing to be getting this done. Half of the money is being wired down here tomorrow and the rest when the project is finished. My crew have been painting and repairing all the wear and tear of working for a full year including climbing into the fuel tanks to get rid of all the sludge that has accumelated there since 1977.
I have not really seen jazz69 down here anywhere. Not sure where he gets his info?
See capt.al just like i was saying this business reminds so much of fishing, I would be leaving the dock and headed to sea $2000.oo in the hole. Bait,ice,tackle,groceries,fuel that means i would have to catch 2000.00 worth of product before anybody made a cent. And in the fishing business i seen so many people come and go and lose their ass. Because they didnt have the patience to make it work.
Rooster, I gotcha, In the commercial fishing business you hardly knew what day it was or month for that matter. Some days were better than others but it seemed Christmas'es were always a good fish day. We would usally fish a half day and head in to the fort for a bar-b-q and invite as many of the sail boat folks along and sit and tell fishing stories and cook shrimp and fish and have a few cocktails. What fun. I have allways said the attitude on the boat made all of the difference in the world. Good attitude the fish would bite, bad attitude you might as well go home. I see alot of this business is like fishing and right now this crew could use a much needed break. And as allways my friend tight lines, Gotta go i see my bobber going down.
Ah shucks golly gee Tina thanks same back at ya!
Faison, I am not possitive when we will be headed back. I know that between now and the end of march is not a good time to be heading that way. With cold fronts every three days it makes for a interesting ride. Pretty much headwinds the whole way and seas to twenty feet. I am sure the boat could handle it. But i am not sure the artifacts would enjoy the ride as the same for me. I am the one who catalogs and photographs all the artifacts so i know what we have. But i have never been part of a division and am not sure how they work that so there is no way of me knowing what will be comming back.
And Capt. we worked through the holidays last year and even worked Christmas day to get this boat ready. The rest of deep Blue had vacations. We didnt! So when i heard we were being paid half wages for our month off did not sit well with me. But im sure some inconsiderate mf'ers out there believe we should work on Christmas day again.
Gulf, lets see if i have answers to all your questions, The Capn Tracy is truly the best thing we have ever done. The boat has been easily maintained and i was just commenting yesterday on how we never had to reconfigure anything we came down here and just went to work. Of course Tracy made it a lot easier with all his years of expertise. We lucked out on that. We havent had to put any fuel in her. And that means we made it through the highest fuel prices in history w/out having to purchase any.
Weather, well i have seen better. Our problem is mostly the distant storms that send in large swells and just creates a terrible surge on the bottom and drops the viz to zero.
Gulf the question on how long we stay on the Scipion is not really mine to answer i know to finish it completely could take years. I am not a stock price guru but i can see for myself that we dont have years to put into this. And that is to bad because this wreck deserves the best.
Visitors, They have tapered off, I have been accuesed of not catering to them to the best of my ability. I know that i can be one of the funnest people you have ever sat down and BSed with but i came down here on a more serious note. And i do appologize. To me everybody is welcomed especially investors but i hope that they come in twos any more than that we have to stop our normal production and we become more of a tourist dive boat.
Holidays, We plan on taking off from dec.15 to jan. 15 i plan on flying home for two weeks. Dave Joe and I did not get time off last year we were busy putting this boat together and we need time off and time apart. Thats for sure.
Hotels for sale? I havnt been looking but here in Samana construction and realestate seems to be booming. I encourage anybody that has not been here and has the time to come see one of the most prettiest places That i have ever been to.
And i do still love it here. Its not as easy as living in the states but i guess you sacrafise some things to have others. I am getting more and more adapted. And Gulf or anybody else i dont mind one bit answering sincere questions.
Remember im the getaway driver,but also the only one who has a chance of recovering your losses. So hide me out man.
Damn rooster im sorry you think that was bogus it was i who found the coins that day and actually i recieved a lot of grief for posting that info. And i think there is photos that have been posted too. We were on Tracy's boat at the time and were not allowed to open any of them but i do remember posting that some were heavier than others and never did i mentioned what i thought the metal was. It was someone elses post that said they knew what kind of metal they were but at that time nobody knew so i knew they had no idea so i deffended that. But i have plenty of pictures that i would gladly send you but you know with photo shop and all that i could have easily faked those to. Send me a pm w/your e-mail i will send some photos of things im allowed to send and some every day stuff im sure you would get a kick out of. Damn man my fishing bud saying i lied about that, Im hurt.
Deep see are you asking for me to give out inside info? shame on you. And im glad you brought up the pay thing. I am a Captian of a ship in a forign country i also am a commercial diver and also deal hand and hand with this third world goverment. I run a crew of seven people and trying my best to learn their culture and their language. I have several bosses to answer for. I dont THINK the money you invested would help get my raise so...
You know what i think is pretty cool, we will be anchored on top of the Scipion this saturday 226 years to the day that it sank. The other day i got a chance to read the Captains account of the running battle with the English and the final minutes of the ships demise. I think i will have to open a bottle of French wine saturday. Ok wait i think i will pretend to open a bottle of French wine. Ok how about Crepes i think we have that?