Finally Unpacked!

So as we approach the end of our 3rd month we finally found time to finish unpacking. It hasn't been a priority since there has been so much socializing to do since arriving. I thought I would share a couple of pictures.

The picture above is of the living room (with Dyna included). I am standing in the front door looking inside.

The picture on the right is of the dining room, kitchen and office. This is to the left when you walk in the front door. There are 2 windows left of the dining room table that look out to the front porch and the far left corner is where I spend my days working.

There are also 3 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms.
One of the bathrooms has the washer and dryer in it along with storage and is where we dry the dive gear. One of the bedrooms has been turned into storage since there is limited space to put things, no walk in closets, pantry or linen closets so we have set up 4 sets of storage shelves in there.
The other bedroom and bathroom are being set up for guests and then the 3rd one is our bedroom and bathroom.

All cozy in 1,000 square feet. We really like it since it's easy to take care of and keep clean.
Our little piece of paradise!

Tom's Slavery Adventure

So I figure I needed to give the latest status on Tom's slavery adventure.

The last update was Tom being the KW version of Gilligan in helping take investors out to hunt emeralds during division week. This kept him busy after he was done working on the Dare in the boat yard.

Then after division Mel Fisher notified him that he hadn't completed all of the requirements for employment (they put him to work quickly to get the boat work done) and needed to finish the paperwork and take a drug test to continue. They did agree to keep him on until a diving position opens up.

They want to have him work on the Huntress which is the research boat. It goes out to the site and uses magnetometers to mark places in the sand where metal is detected. That is mapped and then the dive boats are sent out to those mapped sites to treasure hunt. One of the cool things about working the Huntress is that if there is a large hit found then they can dive right then and check it out to see if there is anything to find. Tom can't wait to get out and see how this all works since it's one of things he hasn't done before.

When the Huntress is not out mapping then they are going to have him work in the Restoration Area which is also another cool area at the Mel Fisher office. He will get to help move artifacts that are found from being 'unknown' to 'something'. It is a fascinating process that we have seen before and it is amazing since it can take from weeks, to months, to even a year to have artifacts restored.

All that being said there was the employment items to take care of so Tom had over a week off. Yes I said a over a WEEK OFF! It actually went into the next week before he was able to get back to work. Things take time here since no one is in a hurry and since he had worked over 50 days without a day off up until this time they thought he could use the time off.

The time he has had off has been both a blessing and curse!
He was around the house 24/7 and with me working from home it was a little to much 'togetherness'! At least he was able to get a lot of things done that we haven't had time to finish. We still aren't unpacked yet. There are 5 boxes left and many items to put away. Having fun and hanging out take precedence so eventually they will get emptied and things put away.

So Tues I sent him out of the house where he went off to the boat yard since we heard they had pulled the Dare back out of the water to finish work that didn't get done before investor week. That was all it took to put him back as manual labor! They needed help to get the boat finished and back in the water so he has been grinding, patching and painting. At least it has kept him busy for the week and maybe into next week. We never know.......

At this point Tom has learned a lot about boats and treasure hunting while enjoying it all even though it has been hard work. Summer has settled in here with 85 degree days with 75% humidity. The manual labor in the boat yard continues to be an experience.

So the Slavery Adventure continues and updates to follow!

Our Booty from 2007 Division!

The first item is a tool that Tom found when he was treasure diving down here last July. It is an Adze and is a tool that they used on the ship to shape lumber. In the picture it doesn't show it but the large end is still sharp and you can see where they forge 2 different pieces of metal together to create the sharp end for carving. The items you find when diving you get to keep for your booty. When the tool was found it didn't look anything like it looks now. It was encrusted and Tom wasn't even able to tell what it was (as you can tell in the picture on the right). It had to go through the restoration process where the item is moved through a series of tanks to move it from full salt water to fresh water so that it doesn't rust and deteriorate. Below is the picture of Tom when he found it and then how it looks today.
Very Cool!






















The next picture is our pearl! It is one of the better ones found. It is graded as 1AA and there were only 250 out of 16,000 of them found at this rating (there was a lead box recovered last year that was full of black and white pearls). It is gorgeous! We haven't decided what we want to do with it yet. We still have an emerald from last years booty that it may be partnered with....... so many options!


So now we are into 2008 and Tom hasn't found anything yet but the dive boats have so who knows what next year's division will bring.
Right now we are very happy with our booty!

Division Week

So here we are closing out Division Week and what a week it was (as you can tell from the lack of postings)!

We spent the week socializing with many Mel Fisher investor friends that we only get to see once a year. There was a get together every night at a different bar with friends arriving each day so it was like a continuous reunion. We also made friends with some new investors that have joined the treasure adventure. There was never a dull moment! This was the first division week where we weren't on vacation so we worked during the day and went drinking at night so it was a lot of fun and exhausting (yes I worked more than one morning hung over due to many mojitos the night before).

We haven't gotten our division yet since Tom was taking investors out to hunt emeralds each day. Based on what the other investors got we know there will be some pearls and the tool that Tom found diving last year but that is all we know so far. We still have to set up the time to get ours and I will be sure to let you know what that is.

Tom didn't get a chance to emerald hunt since he was busy helping others but had a great week on the water. We aren't sure what his next job will be so as soon as we know I will pass that along. At the Saturday night party the diving crew is always honored for their work. Tom was included in the honors as one of the crew due to the work he has done on the boat so it was great ending to the week (we were very excited to have him included)!

So now we are looking forward to a quiet, DRY week and will keep you posted on what the Adventure brings next.

Emerald hunting

This Saturday was supposed to be the day we went emerald hunting. Unfortunately the winds did not support that. We have had winds 15 - 20 knots a number of days last week and the boats can't work when it is 15 knots or greater. So to say the least I am disappointed. I do have a link to story about hunting Atocha emeralds that I thought you would enjoy.

http://www.madmariner.com/voyages/story/
DIVING_FOR_ATOCHA_EMERALDS_MEL_FISHER_041608_YX

So the Dare is back in the water and for the first time in months both boats are out. The winds finally died down this morning (of course after my scheduled day to hunt!). This is also Tom's latest work Adventure since the boat yard work is done..... Division Week (yes he is employed for another week)! The week when the Mel Fisher investors come to town to collect their booty and party every night. Another week of drinking!!!! Also during Division Week the investors come to hunt emeralds and dive the site. Tom will be helping to take them out to hunt emeralds. MF has a boat which they are using to shuttle them out each morning, then he gets to hang around and help hunt or he can dive (at least he gets to spend everyday this week on the water), and then bring them back to KW. He is the First Mate so I have nick named him Gilligan. Now all I have to do is find the right hat!

So we have another week of fun, friends and LOTS of drink as the Adventure continues!