Sea Reaper & Crew Return from Margarita Site
On Friday, Sea Reaper and crew returned to Key West from a 19-day trip to the famed shipwreck site of the 1622 Santa Margarita where they logged, tagged and recovered over three hundred artifacts.
Clockwise from top: Levin Shavers with his first silver coin from the Margarita site; Josh Fisher and Rob Hill on the ladder with silver coins stuck to an artifact; Kenton Dickerson with one of the silver coins recovered from the Margarita.
The artifacts include silvers coins, olive jar shreds with unique markings, a broken sword and what appears to be carpenters’ tools, among numerous other artifacts. The silver coins and carpenters’ tools were recovered in two separate areas that were previously not worked. Captain Dan Porter says both of these areas have the potential of developing into trails that could lead to future recoveries. Only hard work and determination, much like the that of the salvors in the year after the tragic sinking, will tell the story of what happened in the middle of a raging hurricane 394 years ago.
Small Margarita anchor
Maritime Research & Recovery, LLC, is now actively working the 1622 Spanish Galleon Santa Margarita under contract with Motivation, Inc., who owns the salvage rights to conduct recovery, and is operating under permit FKNMS-1998-110-A11. While Captain Dan Porter and crew are ashore, routine maintenance and resupply will be done and should have them back on site next week if hurricane Matthew permits.