It’s been a busy and exhausting week around here ~ just 10 days since this happened. A week of insurance adjusters, contractors, driving back and forth ~ oh, and the regular work and life stuff, too. 🙂
Even though there’s been no time for projects or cooking or trip planning this week, there’s always a little time for escaping with a book. SHADOW DIVERS by Robert Kurson has always been a favorite bluwaterread, so when I saw PIRATE HUNTERS by the same author it was an immediate add to my library. Both are non-fiction accounts of diving adventures that are more exciting than fiction novels!
John Chatterton is back from SHADOW DIVERS, this time diving in the Dominican Republic with John Mattera looking for Spanish treasure. When they learn about infamous pirate Joseph Bannister and his ship the Golden Fleece, lost in the 17th century during the Golden Age of Piracy, there’s a change in mission. Finding an actual 17th pirate ship is an irresistible prize.
Between visits with treasure hunting experts and travels around the world to research original archival documents, there is a lot of diving. There’s also a lot of technology with the diving. The Golden Fleece was thought to be lost in shallow water near a beach, though accounts differ as to which island and which beach. Using side-scan sonar and other bottom mapping technology, the divers map every tin can and lost anchor in each sq.yard of sandy bottom.
For me, side trips into Caribbean island politics, and personal dynamics that result during expensive and tedious search efforts, were secondary to actual time in the water and learning more about pirates! Though pirates were the terrorists of their time, they were motivated by greed and adventure rather than religion or ideology. Here’s another good bluwaterrread with more pirate history.
Books have been my sort of treasure my entire life. Every month is some eclectic mix of fiction and non-fiction, like this stack. This book was a great way to grab a few minutes of escape before bedtime this week. With book club next week, I’ll be leaving the 17th century behind for more recent fiction. And this is my month to bring dessert, so there will be a new bluwatereat to share here on the blog next week!
I have some projects complete, just waiting to photograph. There are drinks to make and recipes to try ~ oh, and trips to plan. Things will slowly get back to normal here. And until they do, I’ll keep reading at bedtime ~ and hoping to dream about pirates, diving and Caribbean islands. Now that’s an escape!
