Check out the First Coast News Report by Clicking the Video Above or click here to go directly to the story and video

Yesterday we received a call from Jessica Clark, First Coast News TV reporter, asking us how we felt about the recent court ruling regarding the treasure hunting company, Odyssey Marine, who had salvaged some 17 tons of silver coins from the 1804 wreck of the Spanish frigate Nuestra Señora de las Mercedes. This was a controversial action, as Odyssey is a commercial treasure hunting company who does not operate to internationally accepted archaeological standards. Spain had pressed in U.S. courts for the return of all recovered objects, insisting that as a Spanish military vessel a salvor had no legal right to take anything from the Mercedes without prior approval from the Spanish government, and a Federal Judge agreed with them. What's more, the U.S. Supreme Court has declined to hear Odyssey's appeal, so the ruling is final, and Spain's cultural property must be returned to them, where it will not be sold but will go on display in one or more museums. As I write this, Spain is preparing to send a fleet of military aircraft to Tampa to repatriate the coins.

Click on the above video embed to see the First Coast News story, or click here to read the written version and check out a slideshow of artifacts recovered from our ongoing excavation of the Storm Wreck.

Continue reading "LAMP Reacts to Odyssey Treasure Hunting Ruling" »

The Apple Jack is one of the last wooden-hulled shrimp boats to have been built here in St. Augustine, by the famous DESCO shipyard. Until recently, Apple Jack could be seen out shrimping local waters, but circumstances have lead to the end of its shrimping career. Normally this would mean her equipment would be stripped and sold off, and her hull broken up. As a representative of the thriving shrimp trawler-building industry that was so important to St. Augustine during much of the 20th century, and one of the last working St. Augustine-built boats to ply St. Augustine waters, this is a historical vessel and one that is well worth preserving.

On 30 January the St. Augustine Record reported that a local group wanted to convert the hull of the Apple Jack into a replica of a 16th century caravel to commemorate the 500th anniversary of Ponce de Leon's landing on the Florida coast (just a little to the north of us here in St. Augustine). It has been reported that a 20th century trawler hull is virtually identical to that of a 16th century caravel; nautical archaeologists specializing in 16th century Iberian ship construction would certainly disagree, given the evolution of the caravel form and rig in the 15th and 16th centuries and the ancestry of the St. Augustine trawler which can be traced to Greek boatbuilders emigrated to Florida in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. That debate is academic, of course, and what may be true is that any effort to prevent the immediate destruction of the Apple Jack may provide a respite necessary to eventually restore her. Original equipment from the Apple Jack is already being removed and auctioned off, diluting her historical integrity, so the window of saving her is limited. Conversion of the Apple Jack into a modern interpretation of a caravel would entail some significant structural changes, further diluting her original historical integrity, but the group spearheading this effort hopes to eventually convert the hull back and fully restore the historic shrimp boat after the 500th anniversary celebration. A more recent story, in the 20 February edition of the Record, has followed up on this project, and stated that plans are for the fully restored Apple Jack to "be on display at the St. Augustine Lighthouse."

This was an inaccurate statement. It is not that we are not interested in seeing the Apple Jack fully restored and on display to the public, but this kind of commitment is a serious undertaking that requires significant resources to do properly, and we can't responsibly agree to such a commitment without ensuring we are able to follow through.

Below the fold is a statement from our Executive Director, recently sent to the St. Augustine Record, to clarify our position on the proposed restoration of the Apple Jack, and its proposed temporary conversion to a caravel.

Continue reading "The Apple Jack and the Caravel (and a Clarification)" »

Dr. David C. Switzer, 1934-2012

Dr. David Switzer, professor emeritus at Plymouth State University, passed away this past weekend at his home in Plymouth, New Hampshire. Dr. Switzer was, and will always be, a true friend of each one of us here at LAMP. His warm smile and energy made his students and peers feel at ease during field work, lab work, or in the classroom. At the same time, he was constantly teaching, handing down knowledge in the manner of a true scholar. From his native Maine to the Falkland Islands, and even the Mediterranean, Dr. Switzer led expeditions that trained generations of today's maritime archaeologists. He was a research associate/instructor here at LAMP but moreover a good friend and fellow scholar.

Continue reading "LAMP Mourns the Passing of a Friend" »

Jacksonville.com published a nice piece about our behind the scenes tours here at the Museum. If you haven't take one of the tours, they are well worth it. See how the museum works, how we are learning about our past from artifacts buried in the seafloor, and learn about the many things which go on behind the veil to keep our history alive and exciting. Even if you have visited the lighthouse before, or recently, come back for this experience. Visit our webpage too, for more information on how to get involved, for more on our other tours and opportunities, and learn how to contribute to our museum. Read on for more information!

CLICK HERE for the link.

Many thanks to Dan Scanlan for this nice article!

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The HMS Bounty, soon to be seen in our Nation's Oldest Port.

As usual, lots has been going on around the boatworks. Here's a quick update as to the most recent events...click to read on...

Continue reading "LAMP Boatworks Update" »

LAMP Boatworks chief boatbuilder Maury Keiser (right) and St. Augustine resident Roy Jaeger pose in front of the Galveztown's erect frames in Malaga, Spain.

From the Houston Chronicle:

GALVESTON - A visit from a replica of an 18th-century brig built from oak trees felled by Hurricane Ike is being delayed more than a year because of a complete redesign based on newly discovered documents.

Construction of the Galveztown in the Nereo Shipyard on the Spanish coast was halted because the architect found more details about the original design of the ship sailed by the Spanish governor of colonial Louisiana, Bernardo de Galvez, who mapped Galveston Bay and became the namesake of the island.

A keel designed for a 68-foot on-deck length had already been laid last year when naval architect Francisco Fernandez announced that he had learned that the original on-deck length was 56 feet, a full 12-feet shorter than originally thought.

Fernandez, reached by phone in Madrid, said he discovered the original dimensions by piecing together information from documents in the United States, Spain and Great Britain.

Continue reading "Galveztown replica ship in the news!" »

The pennant of the USLHS aboard Roper as we passed by the USS Constellation in Baltimore's Inner Harbor.

Read along here for an account of our recent trip to Baltimore to participate in the annual conference for the Society for Historic Archaeology. The conference theme was "By The Dawn's Early Light: Forging Identity, Securing Freedom, and Overcoming Conflict" As usual, LAMP brought all of its resources to bear and had a grand time presenting to, and learning from, other professionals in the field.

Continue reading "LAMP Heads Out to SHA 2012!" »

As people who live on the water for a chunk of the year, LAMP and the Lighthouse Staff spend a lot of time listening to "The Voice of the NOAA Weather Radio". This monodigital robotic drone accompanies many of my pre-dawn ministrations on the banks of Salt Run to get each day started during our field season. Similarly, while at sea we often catch an update to listen for encroaching storm fronts. I have listened with baited breath in the middle of the night to the scratchy voice piped in over 162.400mHz as seas increased or the weather seemed to grow filthy. Anchors get pulled, dock lines doubled, and hatches battened-down as a result of this electronic voice. For once, presented to you here, we can enjoy the mellifluous intonation of our government's weather apparatus sing us a holiday carol 'Deck the Halls'. Enjoy!! CLICK HERE FOR NOAA'S CHRISTMAS CAROL

After a year of excitement and anticipation, the winning ticket was finally chosen on December 7th, during our annual Luminary Night holiday celebration.

Mr. Zachary Diaz of Miami, Florida, is the proud new owner of this lovely, tradtional wooden boat, handcrafted by our volunteers at the LAMP Boatworks. The winning ticket, No. 1201, was drawn at 8:30 pm and the phone call to Mr. Diaz was broadcast over the microphone to the assembled crowd. Mr. Diaz was so excited that he was jumping up and down!

Congratulations to Mr. Diaz. He will be picking up his new boat in the next three weeks. Looks like Christmas came a little early to the Diaz household!

Things are happening around the yard here at the LAMP Boatworks. Yesterday Jim Gaskins and Maury Keiser attached another strake to the 1760s yawlboat. This boat is being built as a ship's boat for the GalveZtown, a ship that will be built in Malaga, Spain and arrive here in St. Augustine in 2013. The project is a reminder, or an education for many of us, that Spain played an important role in the American Revolution, similar to that played by France.

Click HERE to see a video of the strake being put on. Its not the clearest video but gives you an idea of what goes into just the laying of every one of the dozens of planks on this traditionalboat.

Click here for more information about the 1760s yawlboat.