Mardi Gras Shipwreck

Daily Log

May 31, 2007, Thursday

Update by Della Scott-Ireton, FPAN

The large red lift basket was brought to the surface today containing a variety of artifacts. The two compasses, recovered Monday, safely made the trip to the surface in their padded box. They appear to be in fair condition with some glass in place, the gimbals, and the remains of at least one card (where the directional markings, or compass rose, were printed). A stoneware jug, bigger than the one previously discovered, was found to have the numeral “4” inscribed on the side, possibly referring to the capacity; several large sea anemones are growing on its neck. Yet another small sandclock came up, as well as most of the ceramics from the feature excavated Tuesday. One of the most interesting artifacts brought up today is a wooden carpenter’s plane.

Having recovered all of the small artifacts from the surface of the wrecksite, the next step is to raise the large artifacts. The ROV crew currently is rigging lifting straps around the cannon in preparation for retrieval. The plan is to secure the cannon with the straps, then use Toisa Vigilant’s large deck winch to lift all the way to the deck. Following the cannon, we’ll concentrate on the stove.