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The general area where the wallet had sunk was pointed out, and Shea volunteered to go in. Everyone thought it was a lost cause, but in less than three minutes Shea broke the surface with his hand raised in the air, clutching the wallet. The boater had tears in his eyes as he showed everyone the medal. Then he gave Shea two soggy fifty-dollar bills. Shea tried to refuse, but the man would not take no for an answer. That night, Shea treated Ralph and the Hitchcocks to di
Ralph covered the entire lake from shore to shore, even dragging the sensor through the growth along the banks. Over two hundred lanes were searched, with no solid results. Ralph and I strongly believe that Morey’s boat was never scuttled in the lake. Its most likely demise probably involved being broken up either for firewood or lumber.
The real pity is that Morey’s ingenious power plant, possibly the first internal combustion engine in the world, was lost to the engineers of the future, who would have given their eye-teeth to study it.
The residents around the lake believe that Morey’s wonderful boat is still out there, waiting to be discovered. But in our minds, the mystery has been solved. Aunt Sally is not in Morey Lake. The brilliant inventor most likely scrapped her.
As the man suggested, “No Vermont Yankee would throw away a good boat and engine.”
POSTSCRIPT FROM THE AUTHOR
The National Underwater & Marine Agency (NUMA) has a proud record of achievement. Never has so much been accomplished with so few people with so little financial or technical help.
We’re not a giant corporation — an oil company or university with large grant funding — nor are we a department of the government with a billion-dollar budget. We have very few donations of consequence. Douglas Wheeler, a Chicago businessman and NUMA trustee, has been a generous contributor, as has ECO-NOVA Productions of Nova Scotia, which has engaged me to narrate a series of Sea Hunters documentaries on famous shipwrecks. And, except for Schonstedt Instruments, we have rarely been offered equipment without paying the going rental price.
NUMA is a nonprofit, volunteer foundation dedicated to preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey, and conservation of historic shipwrecks and their artifacts. Our purpose is also to reinforce public appreciation for our maritime past, present, and future by initiating and supporting projects designed to uncover and explore historically significant underwater sites before they are lost and gone forever.
Our goals include the protection of these historic sites through public information programs and to make available our archaeological reports and data on technical progress while perpetuating the names and legends of the sea-loving men and women who came before us.
I used to beg for funding, but because we search for history with no monetary return, few are willing to step forward and contribute. If I were to say we were searching for treasure, with our track record donors would probably line up for a city block. I wish I had a nickel for every person who has offered to help with funding, a boat, or equipment and then never called again.
Perhaps it’s all for the best that NUMA is primarily funded through my book royalties.
Why do I do it? Why do I initiate so many expeditions that are often an exercise in futility? One reason is that if it’s lost, I’ll look for it.
Why do I pour my money into the sea?
The answer probably lies in how I explain my philosophy to people who think I belong in a rubber room under restraint:
When the time comes and I am lying in a hospital bed two gasps away from the great beyond, I’d like the phone to ring. Then as a beautiful, young, buxom blond nurse leans over me and holds the receiver to my ear, the last words I hear before I drift off are those of my banker telling me my account is $10.00 overdrawn.
That’s the way to go.
Or, as I tell the audience when closing the Sea Hunters documentaries:
Now it’s your turn to get up off of the couch and go into the deserts, go into the mountains, go under the lakes, the rivers and the seas, and search for history.
You’ll never have a more rewarding adventure.
CURRENT LIST OF NUMA SEARCH SURVEYS AND DISCOVERIES
1. ACETON (H.M.S.)
British fifty-gun frigate that stranded and burned during the Revolutionary War battle off Fort Moultrie, South Carolina, in 1776.
2. ALEXANDER NEVSKI
Russian steam frigate that grounded on the east coast of Denmark in 1868 with the Russian crown prince aboard. All aboard were rescued.
3. AMERICAN DIVER
Pre-Hunley Confederate submarine that foundered under tow off Fort Morgan, Alabama.
4. ARCTIC
British steamship that grounded on the east coast of Denmark in 1868.
5. ARKANSAS (C.S.S.)
Confederate ironclad that battled the entire Mississippi River fleet and won. Burned by her crew above Baton Rouge, Louisiana, to avoid capture in 1862.
6. BLUCHER
German heavy cruiser sunk during the Battle of Dogger Bank in 1916.
7. CARPATHIA
Ship that rescued the survivors of Titanic. Torpedoed by U-55 in 1915.
8. CARONDELET (U.S.S.)
Venerable Union navy ironclad that fought in more battles in the Civil War than any other warship. Built by genius inventor James Eads. Sank in the Ohio River in 1873.
9. CHARING CROSS
British freighter torpedoed by German U-boat off Flamborough Head, England, in 1916.
10. CHICAGO
Ten-thousand-ton British freighter torpedoed by German U-boat off Flamborough Head, England, in 1918.
11. COLONEL LOVELL (C.S.S.)
Cotton-clad Confederate ram. Rammed and sunk during the battle for Memphis in 1862.
12. COMMODORE JONES (U.S.S.)
Former New York ferryboat that became a Union gunboat. Destroyed by sophisticated Confederate electrical mine in the James River in 1864.
13. COMMONWEALTH
British freighter sunk by German U-boat off Flamborough Head, England, in 1915.
14. CUMBERLAND (U.S.S.)
Union navy frigate. First vessel to be defeated and sunk by armored vessel. Rammed by the Confederate ironclad Merrimack at Newport News, Virginia, in 1862. More than 120 of her crew killed.
15. DEFENCE (H.M.S.)
British heavy cruiser sunk during Battle of Jutland in 1916.
16. DREWRY (C.S.S.)
Confederate gunboat that fought for three years on the James River before being sunk by Union artillery fire in Trent’s Reach in 1865.
17. FLORIDA (C.S.S.)
Famous Confederate sea raider that captured and sank nearly fifty U.S. merchant ships during the Civil War. Captured at Bahia, Brazil, and scuttled near Newport News, Virginia, in 1864.
18. FREDERICKSBURG (C.S.S.)
Confederate ironclad of the James River fleet. Blown up by her crew at Drewry’s Bluff in 1865.
19. GAINES (C.S.S.)
Confederate gunboat in the battle of Mobile Bay. Run aground at Fort Morgan and burned in 1865.