A pitcher recovered from the Monitor
A knob and hinge found near the pitcher
Terrence’s super truck loaded for home
Project Participants and Sponsors
Monitor National Marine Sancuary
Mariners’ Museum Monitor Center
The Mariners’ Museum
National Undersea Research Center
Maritime Studies Program, East Carolina University
R/V Cape Fear
Coast Guard Stations Hatteras Inlet and Ocracoke
Sartek Industries
Ocean Technology Systems
Maxtec, Inc.
Aqua Productions
Harvey’s Dive Suits
Our Final Day
Thursday, August 10, 2000 – Today’s participants:
- Team 1 – Kyle Creamer
- Team 1 – Terrence Tysall
- Team 2 – Tamara Ebert
- Team 2 – Bill Gambrill
- Team 3 – Gary Byrd (ECU)
- Team 3 – Doug Kesling (NURC)
- Support – Grant Graves
- Support – John Barone
- Standby Diver – Tane Casserley (ECU)
- Chase Boat Support – Andrew Donn
- Diving Supervisor – Ken Johns (NURC)
- DMT – Clyde Martin
- Photographer – Cindy Creamer
- Project Director and Chief Archeologist – Dr. John Broadwater
- MNMS Historian – Jeff Johnston
- Captain, R/V Cape Fear – Dan Aspenleiter
- The Mate – Mike Rodaway
We were concerned about the weather this morning. The winds were still blowing, but we decided to head out anyway, hoping that conditions would improve. When we got to the site, the seas were not bad (a little choppy). Dan estimated the surface current at about 2 knots. We had removed our safety cylinders and the downline yesterday in case the weather kept us on shore today. So, we planned to deploy all teams together on a 30 minute bottom time in a free descent.
At about 160 feet the visibility began to decrease, and by the time we hit the bottom (right next to the wreck – another perfect drop by Captain Dan), the visibility was only about 2 feet. Because of our assigned tasks, video and measurements inside the engine room, Team 1 and Team 2 made the decision to abort the dive at 5 minutes. Team 3 was sent to recover a small artifact and was able to complete that task despite the reduced visibility. This artifact was discovered early in the expedition by Michael Barnette and was believed to be a small bowl or plate. After excavating the artifact by fanning the sand, it was found to be a small pitcher.
After arriving back on shore today, we cleaned up our equipment and started packing for our individual journeys home. We would like to thank all the members that participated in this year’s expeditions as well as the other members of the team from NOAA, NURC, ECU and UNCW. We would also like to thank all of those who tuned in and tracked our progress on the site. Remember, if you have any suggestions, comments or questions, you can always ask the trilobite.
Send questions or comments to the trilobite.