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TThe Condor is a treat for divers.
The blockade runner is virtually
intact. Morris has measured 218 feet
from stem to stern, just a couple
of feet short of her original length
of 220 feet. (Some well-regarded
sources put it at 270, but Morris
says that was because of a crease in
an original document that made the
two look like a seven.)
“The actual wreck itself is awe-some,”
Stratton says. “You can see
how much is still there. The engines
are still connected to the pistons.
And it’s big enough that someone
Billy Ray’s and my size can swim
through without hitting anything
with our gear on. That’s how pre-served
it is.”
The heritage dive site came about
due to Morris’ efforts.
Billy Ray is large — at least 6 feet,
4 inches — and larger than life.
He’s part folksy storyteller and part
scientist, mixing in the occasional
granule of salty language with terms
like “spatial analysis” and “vector
points.”
He grew up in Wilmington, div-ing
and surfing. His mom read him
history books, and he watched “Sea
Hunt” with his dad. When Gordon
Watts, the state’s first director of the
UAB, came to Hoggard High School
to discuss finding the USS Monitor,
Morris knew what he wanted to do
with his life.
After getting his undergrad
at University of North Carolina
Wilmington and his master’s at
East Carolina, Morris worked for
Virginia’s Department of Historic
Resources and Florida’s Bureau of
Archaeological Research. He has
worked historic dive sites all over the
world, including the recovery of the
CSS Alabama off the coast of France.
He and his wife, also an underwa-ter
archaeologist, established two
research institutions in Florida.
Then, five years ago, he had the
opportunity to come home.