HowardE and John Chatterton on Curse of Oak Island

[HowardE]

My mom (many times) expressed an old Ukranian saying "Wish in one hand and pi$$ in the other, and see which fills up first. Methinks they are wishing and their treasure is the "reality" show. Or else they have way too much money and time on their hands.

Howard & John - great on you for doing a difficult/dangerous dive and giving an honest report - not playing into the (bogus) "oh dear, we have something significant", e.g. some wood splinters, a microscopic piece of metal, etc. etc. etc. - thanks for not buying into that bushwah.

Hi.

Thanks for your kind words about me and John. We did what they hired us to do.

I wanted to respond to some of your comments about the partners and the show though...

1. The "reality" show is real. It's unscripted, and what happens happens. Does the show itself (by use of the narrator) make some things more important than they need to be? Maybe. That's drama and TV. As for Rick and Marty. They were there on Oak Island before the show existed. If the show doesn't get renewed... They will still be on Oak Island looking for the treasure. Rick Lagina is a true believer. He believes the treasure exists, and is determined to find it, and is truly a bright side seer in everything. The show came about when Executive Producer, Kevin Burns approached the Laginas and asked if they could develop the show and follow them around. From what I understand from Rick... it took them a long time to be wooed into doing the show in the first place. I think people like Dave Blankenship who has lived on Oak Island his whole live because of his dad could "give a rats a.. about the show"

2. The Oak Island story is over 200 years old. People like Franklin D Roosevelt, John Wayne, and other famous people had at one time in their lives been involved in looking for the treasure. For me and John, we're pretty proud to be a part of the search, and that we helped solve part of a 40 year mystery of 10-X.

I seriously doubt that they (the Laginas) are making more money from the TV show than they are spending looking for the treasure. The pay scale for History is not the same as NBC.

Once again... I'm glad you enjoyed it. We did have a blast doing our part. But then again... John and I try to have fun with whatever we do.

 

[JohnnyC]

Saw the show. Pretty awesome. I like that there was no sugar coating.

Just read Kurson's book on finding the Golden Fleece. Any updated info on the San Miguel? That looks like it could be a fun gig!

 

[HowardE]

Saw the show. Pretty awesome. I like that there was no sugar coating.

Just read Kurson's book on finding the Golden Fleece. Any updated info on the San Miguel? That looks like it could be a fun gig!

Nothing that I can talk about right now.

 

[JohnnyC]

Nothing that I can talk about right now.

Best of luck with it! Robert Kurson made it sound potentially very exciting!

 

[HowardE]

Best of luck with it! Robert Kurson made it sound potentially very exciting!

The San Miguel would be the oldest "known" shipwreck in the Americas. Definitely exciting... And valuable.

By known, I mean wreck whose name is known. There is one that is older in the waters near the Bahamas, but it's identity is unknown.

 

[oldschoolto]

Great job... The only trouble is my wife thinks John is really handsome and wants to send him a photo of her just wearing a snorkel.... Maybe I can get a free Tri-Mix course out of it....

Jim...

 

[HowardE]

Great job... The only trouble is my wife thinks John is really handsome and wants to send him a photo of her just wearing a snorkel.... Maybe I can get a free Tri-Mix course out of it....

Jim...

Send it to John's Fiancee?

 

[oldschoolto]

Send it to John's Fiancee?

Somehow I don't think that would go over to well, And my Tri-mix course would never happen...

jim...

 

[JohnnyC]

I read John's project file on his website. Curious why the decision to go with EANx70 as a lone deco gas instead of a combination like EANx50 and O2? I would have thought with the potential for HWS failure in a rather austere environment, you'd want to minimize the time that the divers were in-water. Running EANx50 and O2 looks like it would have cut a decent amount of time of the total runtime. About 20 minutes for the mix dives.

Initially I thought simple logistics, but then I saw the part about having 3k cuft. in emergency air on-site. OxTox prevention? The exposure is pretty low in terms of CNS percentage. Just didn't want to dela with a gas switch for 20 minutes saved? Also, any particular reason you went with 18/40 instead of 18/50 to get END above 100ft? Seems like cost isn't really a factor. I know John has lots of experience on deep air, just curious what the reasoning was.

Lastly, I know John's estimation was that the chamber was a natural formation and that it wasn't a viable lead anymore, but the Lagina's seem to want to continue pursuing it at least a bit longer. Any reason they're leaving the drill pipe and the drill head in the way? Seems like getting rid of it would help them with their access to the chamber, even if it's just to suck up clay....

 

[oldschoolto]

If you read the dive plan.. The drill pipe was not dropped down the 27" drill hole... They were drilling a second 4" or 6" borehole along side the 27" hole when the drill drifted into the shaft crossing the hole and being un-recoverable... that is why there is little chance of the shaft coming loose...

Jim...