“It’s not just about money,” he says. “You see part of a boot lying there.
Whose boot was that? What was their name? What did they do? What
whappened to them? I get chills. There’s a story to be told. You think
about the travels these coins have made. How did they get here? What
was the road traveled?”
The Blue Water Rose is in port. The entire crew is on deck while
Murphy and Darville catalog items. Flitcroft points to a couple of
objects on the desk where they are working.
“What are these things? I think they are wall sconces, or candle sconces,”
he says. “This hanging fixture, in my mind’s eye, I see that entire fixture
hanging from a ceiling on the ship. Was it in the first class dining hall?
Was it in the captain’s cabin? Where did it come from? What’s the story?
Pun intended, I’d love to shed some light on it.”
Rodney Grambo is the grizzled veteran of the crew, the experienced
gold finder. But even he still gets excited.
“There’s a passion about it,” he says. “You’re touching something that
hasn’t been touched in hundreds of years. And you’re the first one to bring
it to the surface. Then you get to show it to somebody and say this is what
I do. I’m 57. I’m the oldest guy on the boat. I couldn’t imagine doing anything else.”
It’s not all treasure and glamour. There are long days and bad weather. And months away
from home.
“It’s the most horrible job to have if you have a relationship with anyone,” Grambo says.
This operation has unique challenges.
“We generally hunt within sight of land,” Grambo says. “When you’re out there and you have no reference,
it’s a little unnerving sometimes. We’re 40 miles offshore. We’re really, really exposed out there. We’ve
had our butts handed to us, too, when the weather kicked up on us. We’re only a couple of miles from the
Gulf Stream, and that creates its own weather.”
As long as there are coins and artifacts to be found, the Blue Water Rose will stay. They’ll be working
until winter weather sends them back to Florida. Webb says the recovery operation could take a few years.
And that’s OK with the treasure hunters.
“There’s nothing in the world like this,” Grambo says. “I can’t imagine another job that could be as
rewarding. It’s always nice to be able to say you love what you do.”
Above: Coins and
candlestick holders
recovered from
the Pulaski. Divers
bring small artifacts
including gold, silver,
and jewelry from the
wreck to the surface in
well-used Crown Royal
Canadian whisky bags
clipped to their dive
suits.
ALLISON POTTER
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ALLISON POTTER
www.wrightsvillebeachmagazine.com WBM