Pirate Hunters: Treasure, Obsession, and the Search for a Legendary Pirate Ship by Robert Kurson Page B
Authors: Robert Kurson
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Mattera said. “But what does that have to do with the
Golden Fleece
? The
Concepción
sank fifty years before Bannister’s time.”
That much was true, Bowden explained. But for decades after her sinking, no one could find the
Concepción
or the staggering treasure she carried. That changed in 1686, when a barely educated boat captain and former shepherd from Maine, William Phips, struck an unlikely deal with the king of England, and was granted permission to look for the wreck. During his journey, Phips put in at Samaná Bay, where he hoped to trade with the natives. There, his crew came upon the wreck of the
Golden Fleece.
“They saw it?” Chatterton asked.
“Not only did they see it,” Bowden said. “They saw it up close.”
He reached into the oversized pocket of his Bimini Bay shirt, pulledout a folded sheet of paper and his eyeglasses, and began reading from the log of the
Henry
, one of Phips’s ships.
At three in the afternoon Capt. Phips sent his long boat and pinnace well manned and armed to cruise along shore and see if they could find any conveniency of careening. About two miles from the ship they found a wreck in four fathom water and burnt down to her gundeck, judging her to be a ship about four hundred tons, likewise found two or three iron shot which had ye broad arrow upon them, and several firelocks….By all circumstances the wreck is judged to be Bannister the pirate who was careening her and surprised by some of our English frigates.
Chatterton and Mattera were impressed by the amount of information in this simple log entry. Here was an eyewitness sighting of the wreck of the
Golden Fleece
, made just a few months after her sinking, and in detail. A fathom equaled six feet, so the wreck would indeed be lying at a depth of twenty-four feet. There would be cannonballs aboard, some marked by an arrow, a symbol used by the Royal Navy. The ship would show evidence of having burned, and might still contain muskets used by the pirates to fire on the English force.
Every one of these details fascinated the men. Still, not one of them told where the wreck might be found. To that end, they asked Bowden perhaps the most important question of all: Why did he seem so convinced that the
Golden Fleece
had sunk at Cayo Levantado?
Bowden had an answer for that, too. Salvors had been looking there for decades, probably centuries; in the treasure business, that kind of generational constancy often was an excellent indicator. Also, the island’s name, which meant levitate, suggested the place had long been used to careen ships. And then there was Miss Universe.
In the 1980s, a film crew had come to the Dominican Republic toshoot an episode of a television documentary series called
Oceanquest.
The host, twenty-five-year-old Shawn Weatherly, had recently been crowned Miss Universe, and would go on to appear on
Baywatch
and other television programs. For now, however, her job was to pull on scuba gear (and a tight-fitting suit) and “confront her deepest fears” by exploring some of the world’s most dangerous underwater environments. It was Bowden’s job, during the shoot, to help show her around.
He took Weatherly to Cayo Levantado. There, while exploring the western end of the island, she discovered a large ceramic jar on the ocean bottom, buried in mud but intact. Bowden had seen similar examples in books and auction catalogs. To his eye, the jar was European and dated to the late seventeenth century, just the kind of piece the
Golden Fleece
might have carried. He had searched the area many times since then, but had never recovered another artifact like it.
Mattera scribbled notes on the back of a placemat.
People looking at Levantado for centuries. “Levantado” means “levitate.” Miss Universe.
Chatterton didn’t write down a word.
“Are you going to remember this?” Bowden asked Chatterton.
“Don’t need to. I don’t think your evidence cuts it.”
Just because people had always
Golden Fleece
? The
Concepción
sank fifty years before Bannister’s time.”
That much was true, Bowden explained. But for decades after her sinking, no one could find the
Concepción
or the staggering treasure she carried. That changed in 1686, when a barely educated boat captain and former shepherd from Maine, William Phips, struck an unlikely deal with the king of England, and was granted permission to look for the wreck. During his journey, Phips put in at Samaná Bay, where he hoped to trade with the natives. There, his crew came upon the wreck of the
Golden Fleece.
“They saw it?” Chatterton asked.
“Not only did they see it,” Bowden said. “They saw it up close.”
He reached into the oversized pocket of his Bimini Bay shirt, pulledout a folded sheet of paper and his eyeglasses, and began reading from the log of the
Henry
, one of Phips’s ships.
At three in the afternoon Capt. Phips sent his long boat and pinnace well manned and armed to cruise along shore and see if they could find any conveniency of careening. About two miles from the ship they found a wreck in four fathom water and burnt down to her gundeck, judging her to be a ship about four hundred tons, likewise found two or three iron shot which had ye broad arrow upon them, and several firelocks….By all circumstances the wreck is judged to be Bannister the pirate who was careening her and surprised by some of our English frigates.
Chatterton and Mattera were impressed by the amount of information in this simple log entry. Here was an eyewitness sighting of the wreck of the
Golden Fleece
, made just a few months after her sinking, and in detail. A fathom equaled six feet, so the wreck would indeed be lying at a depth of twenty-four feet. There would be cannonballs aboard, some marked by an arrow, a symbol used by the Royal Navy. The ship would show evidence of having burned, and might still contain muskets used by the pirates to fire on the English force.
Every one of these details fascinated the men. Still, not one of them told where the wreck might be found. To that end, they asked Bowden perhaps the most important question of all: Why did he seem so convinced that the
Golden Fleece
had sunk at Cayo Levantado?
Bowden had an answer for that, too. Salvors had been looking there for decades, probably centuries; in the treasure business, that kind of generational constancy often was an excellent indicator. Also, the island’s name, which meant levitate, suggested the place had long been used to careen ships. And then there was Miss Universe.
In the 1980s, a film crew had come to the Dominican Republic toshoot an episode of a television documentary series called
Oceanquest.
The host, twenty-five-year-old Shawn Weatherly, had recently been crowned Miss Universe, and would go on to appear on
Baywatch
and other television programs. For now, however, her job was to pull on scuba gear (and a tight-fitting suit) and “confront her deepest fears” by exploring some of the world’s most dangerous underwater environments. It was Bowden’s job, during the shoot, to help show her around.
He took Weatherly to Cayo Levantado. There, while exploring the western end of the island, she discovered a large ceramic jar on the ocean bottom, buried in mud but intact. Bowden had seen similar examples in books and auction catalogs. To his eye, the jar was European and dated to the late seventeenth century, just the kind of piece the
Golden Fleece
might have carried. He had searched the area many times since then, but had never recovered another artifact like it.
Mattera scribbled notes on the back of a placemat.
People looking at Levantado for centuries. “Levantado” means “levitate.” Miss Universe.
Chatterton didn’t write down a word.
“Are you going to remember this?” Bowden asked Chatterton.
“Don’t need to. I don’t think your evidence cuts it.”
Just because people had always
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