Hunting for liquid assets

In downturn, treasure divers stay afloat

BY KEYONNA SUMMERS • FLORIDA TODAY • JUNE 27, 2009

For more than 17 years, Greg Bounds has made a pretty decent living scouring the ocean off the Brevard County shoreline for trinkets and treasures left by ships that sailed hundreds of years ago.

But with the recent economic downturn -- and fewer investors chipping in or not contributing as much as before -- Bounds said he is among a growing number of treasure hunters who will have to come up with creative ways to offset costs until they score their next big find.

For Bounds, that includes hiring out himself and his crew to curious divers for all-day treasure-seeking excursions off Sebastian Inlet -- lunch and equipment included -- for $300 per person.

Funding a treasure-hunting boat and equipment for surveying and mapping shipwrecks can add between $50,000 and $60,000 -- a low budget compared with some large operations, which might have costs of up to $1 million, he said.

"The thing is you're 'treasure hunting,' not 'treasure finding' all the time. It takes the same amount of money whether you're finding things or not," said Bounds, captain of the Gold Hound and a subcontractor with Mel Fisher Treasure, a hunting company with operations on the Treasure Coast and in Key West.

"I take people out for the day to go diving, and even that's a little bit slow because people don't seem to have the money to put into something like this," he said. "I'm hoping that will change soon."

The Brevard shoreline -- from Melbourne Beach to Sebastian Inlet -- is a section of beach that is popular this time of year among treasure hunters hoping to score booty from a 1715 shipwreck off the coast of Indian River County.

Hundreds of years after a dozen ships bound for Spain with treasures from Mexico and South America sank, chests of jewelry, coins, ceramic pottery and cannons remain unaccounted for, said Taffi Fisher-Abt, who started running Mel Fisher Treasures after the death of her famous father.

The treasure-hunting season typically lasts from April or May until mid-September, with the less-windy summer months being the best time to search, hunters said.

"After all these years, we're still finding things, so I don't think we'll ever get it all," Fisher-Abt said.

Fisher-Abt said her subcontractors get their own investors, but she expects increased gas prices have hit them hard.
However, Sharon Wiley, a spokeswoman for Mel Fisher Treasure's Key West operation, said the economy actually appears to have had a positive impact on her operation.

In Key West, the Fisher family -- with the help of financial investors -- owns and operates two 90-foot salvage vessels, which search for the remaining cargo of the Atocha, a Spanish galleon that sank in 1622. The family also owns the Santa Margarita, which sank in that same hurricane, with joint partner Blue Water Ventures, she said.

At first, the economy appeared to turn investors away from the company, Wiley said.

But a plummeting stock market -- along with a new program that allows the general public to search for treasures with the company's diving crew as part of a seven-day Key West vacation for $2,500 per person -- appears to have attracted more investors, she said.

Among the riches sought by divers are 36 boxes of church gold and 64 pounds of emeralds worth $1 billion, Wiley said.
"People are just fed up with putting their money into the stock market and not getting anything out of it except frustration," she said. "So we've actually seen people turn to invest with us because not only do they get to do something fun and participate in the treasure hunts, they're guaranteed to get their money back in treasure in the form of silver coins, musket balls, gold bars, whatever it is we're finding."

Despite the economy, Bounds said he already has found several silver and ceramic trinkets and is excited for what the rest of the season will bring.

In 2007, he said he found $12.9 million worth of gold chains, pearls, coins, swords and other artifacts from the 400-year-old Santa Margarita site in the Keys. Last year, it was the top-grossing boat in the 1715 fleet, he said.

"I'm predicting a good season this year," Bounds said. "It's just a matter of time, a process of elimination. Eventually, we're going to come across some new cannons, and we're going to find big treasure.”

Greg Bounds shows artifacts found off Brevard. Bounds, a professional treasure hunter, says the recession has affected the number of investors pitching in. (Craig Bailey, FLORIDA TODAY)

Hunting for liquid assets

In downturn, treasure divers stay afloat

BY KEYONNA SUMMERS • FLORIDA TODAY • JUNE 27, 2009

For more than 17 years, Greg Bounds has made a pretty decent living scouring the ocean off the Brevard County shoreline for trinkets and treasures left by ships that sailed hundreds of years ago.

But with the recent economic downturn -- and fewer investors chipping in or not contributing as much as before -- Bounds said he is among a growing number of treasure hunters who will have to come up with creative ways to offset costs until they score their next big find.

For Bounds, that includes hiring out himself and his crew to curious divers for all-day treasure-seeking excursions off Sebastian Inlet -- lunch and equipment included -- for $300 per person.

Funding a treasure-hunting boat and equipment for surveying and mapping shipwrecks can add between $50,000 and $60,000 -- a low budget compared with some large operations, which might have costs of up to $1 million, he said.

"I take people out for the day to go diving, and even that's a little bit slow because people don't seem to have the money to put into something like this," he said. "I'm hoping that will change soon."

The Brevard shoreline -- from Melbourne Beach to Sebastian Inlet -- is a section of beach that is popular this time of year among treasure hunters hoping to score booty from a 1715 shipwreck off the coast of Indian River County.

Hundreds of years after a dozen ships bound for Spain with treasures from Mexico and South America sank, chests of jewelry, coins, ceramic pottery and cannons remain unaccounted for, said Taffi Fisher-Abt, who started running Mel Fisher Treasures after the death of her famous father.

The treasure-hunting season typically lasts from April or May until mid-September, with the less-windy summer months being the best time to search, hunters said.

"After all these years, we're still finding things, so I don't think we'll ever get it all," Fisher-Abt said.

Fisher-Abt said her subcontractors get their own investors, but she expects increased gas prices have hit them hard. However, Sharon Wiley, a spokeswoman for Mel Fisher Treasure's Key West operation, said the economy actually appears to have had a positive impact on her operation.

At first, the economy appeared to turn investors away from the company, Wiley said.

But a plummeting stock market -- along with a new program that allows the general public to search for treasures with the company's diving crew as part of a seven-day Key West vacation for $2,500 per person -- appears to have attracted more investors, she said.

Despite the economy, Bounds said he already has found several silver and ceramic trinkets and is excited for what the rest of the season will bring.

In 2007, he said he found $12.9 million worth of gold chains, pearls, coins, swords and other artifacts from the 400-year-old Santa Margarita site in the Keys. Last year, it was the top-grossing boat in the 1715 fleet, he said.

"I'm predicting a good season this year," Bounds said. "It's just a matter of time, a process of elimination. Eventually, we're going to come across some new cannons, and we're going to find big treasure.”

Fisher-Abt said her subcontractors get their own investors, but she expects increased gas prices have hit them hard.
However, Sharon Wiley, a spokeswoman for Mel Fisher Treasure's Key West operation, said the economy actually appears to have had a positive impact on her operation.