Looking for divers into shipwreck excavations

[TheMuseumGuy]

HI!
I accidently found a link to a post in one of your threads "treasure" I think about what have you found while diving? I read the replies for and hour and had a hoot! So many like-minded folks in one place! I originally was going to post there first but thought I should follow protocal and post here first.

My partner and I have searched for this wreck ever since we found a sword handle on a reef in 1985 while on vacation in the Caribbean that later turned out to be not only French, but from about 1802! We were hooked!

That was over 20 years ago and we have finally found Napoleon's lost payroll ship the "La Viete"! We are digging on it today under contract with the Government!

This ship was destined, we think, to occupy New Orleans when President Jefferson is quoted as saying: "If France ever occupies New Orleans, we will have to marry the British Navy and its country." Six months after the loss of the "La Viete" Napoleon sold the Louisiana Territory to the US, changing history just a bit I might dare to say.

Besides, there are 60 bronze cannons onboard and we have recovered two so far! The history of this wreck along with the 10,000 lbs of gold, silver and copper coins of which 25-35% are gold probably, will astound the archaealogy community along with adventurers, divers and similar people that I hope to meet here in this forum.

I'm new to this type of communication so be patient with me but we want to stream live video to the Internet daily as we excavate this incredibly interesting wreck. Is this a good idea?

I would also like to meet some like minded divers that might be interested in joining in with us on this excavation in some capacity. My partner and I have been doing this for over 20 years pretty much on our own, but if you read about the "La Viete" on our site and see how far we have come you should realize we need some new blood and some new ideas. We wear many hats and do you? Are you an accomplished diver and: An attorney? Stock Broker? SCUBA Instructor? Divemaster? Medic? Cop? Military? (ie: Disciplined) U/W Photographer? Video? Advertising Exec? Documentary Producer? Live Streaming Video Savy? Have an ROV? Mechanic? Chef? Gopher? ? ? Photo-Mosaics? Geologist? Biologist? Researcher? Graphic Designer? Other?

Do you have a couple of weeks or months or season? We get a small part of this that we could share for some assistance and cooperation. That is our motto BTW: "Discovery Through Cooperation" since 1985. Please let me hear your ideas and thoughts or am I in the wrong place? Flash Intro Page
Jack P.s I also have some video up on YouTube:
YouTube - amnimation
Look under my account: jacklrea to see other videos about the project by me.

 

[300bar]

Hi there,welcome to :sblogo:

Have fun.

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

WELCOME to the board! There are forums where you can hook up with other divers with the same interests. Your idea about the video is intriguing and I would love to see that.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/underwater-treasures/

Good luck!
Carolyn:sharks:

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Welcome to the board! What a fascinating story!
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[TheMuseumGuy]

Thank you! You guys really made me feel welcome! I just got an email from Yahoo! Live and they like the idea! I need to get qround using a cell card in my laptop because 8 hours a day on a cell is way expensive. I found some long-range routers to send signal back to our base so I can use our DSL line but it can only handle 32 degrees of motion and although I never measured the rocking of the boat, I bet it is more than that! Any suggestions?

 

[Archeodive]

Hi, I read your post here on Scubaboard.com and wonder where you found archival information on La Viète. Although I specialize in archival research, fieldwork, and material cultue identification and analysis, I have never come across this ship's name; naturally, I should mention, that practically all the research I have conducted in French archival repositories has focused on the 16th and 17th century mostly (I conducted all the archival research on La Belle for the Texas Historical Commission, among other projects). I did a quick search of my reference library and did not find any traces of La Viète in the listing of French naval warships of 74 to 120 cannon for the period covering 1650 to 1850; I should also mention that Viète or La Viète is not a common name for a ship; the only historical character worthy of having something named after him ws François Viète (1540-1603), but he was a mathematician, so I doubt a ship would have been named after him, and besides this particular family name, "viète" has no meaning in French. Anyway, just curious :14:. John (Archeodive)

 

[Bob Vincent]

Welcome to
:sblogo: please keep us informed

 

[TheMuseumGuy]

Hi, I read your post here on Scubaboard.com and wonder where you found archival information on La Viète. Although I specialize in archival research, fieldwork, and material cultue identification and analysis, I have never come across this ship's name; naturally, I should mention, that practically all the research I have conducted in French archival repositories has focused on the 16th and 17th century mostly (I conducted all the archival research on La Belle for the Texas Historical Commission, among other projects). I did a quick search of my reference library and did not find any traces of La Viète in the listing of French naval warships of 74 to 120 cannon for the period covering 1650 to 1850; I should also mention that Viète or La Viète is not a common name for a ship; the only historical character worthy of having something named after him ws François Viète (1540-1603), but he was a mathematician, so I doubt a ship would have been named after him, and besides this particular family name, "viète" has no meaning in French. Anyway, just curious :14:. John (Archeodive)

John, several places...this is the main one, she was a conscripted merchant vessel and may have a woman's first name as her name but is referred to as the "Conquerant":

From Nomenclature des navires francais, and Les vaisseaux 74 à 120 canons,
by Alain Demerliac:

Conquerant, (aka: 'La Viete'); x-Spanish "Conquistador", purchased from
Spain at Cartagena, Spain in January of 1801. Stricken from the Naval List
in 1804, (reported in des Colonies files as lost in 1802). Length Overall:
174.10', Length on keel: 156.', Breadth (Beam): 47.10', Depth-in-Hold:
24.1'. Armaments: 26-24pdrs. on main gun-deck, 28-12pdrs. on weather-deck,
12-6pdrs. on stern & bow decks, (66 guns reduced from 74). Copper-bottomed.
Homeported at Brest.

If you want more info let me know. Thank you for your interest. We just found her main anchor chain yesterday and followed it back to a huge conglomerate that makes the mag go wild!
Jack