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August
17, 1998
The
Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society
FOR
RELEASE ON OR PRIOR TO: Thursday, August 20, 1998
MFMHS
Presents “The Atocha
Odyssey”
Find out what it was like to be part of the team that
discovered the treasure of the shipwrecked Spanish
galleon Nuestra Señora
de Atocha—from a man who has been one of Atocha salvor Mel Fisher’s closest associates for more than 25
years.
Pat Clyne, the vice president and public relations
director for Salvors, Inc., will present “The Atocha
Odyssey,” an insider’s look at Fisher’s 16-year
search for the galleon’s riches, at 7 p.m. on
Thursday, August 20. The presentation, which is free to
the public, will take place in the theatre of the Mel
Fisher Maritime Museum at 200 Greene Street.
The 600-ton triple-masted Atocha
sank in a hurricane shortly after leaving Havana in
September of 1622 bound for Spain. On July 20, 1985, Mel
Fisher and his Treasure Salvors crew found the remains
of the galleon lying in 54 feet of water 41 miles off
the coast of Key West.
Clyne, a talented photographer and videographer who
documented the search for and recovery of the Atocha
and her sister ship, the Santa
Margarita, also assisted Fisher as a diver and
captain of a salvage vessel. His photos have appeared in
National
Geographic and other prominent national and
international publications; his video footage has been
seen on many television documentaries including two National Geographic specials and programs on A&E, The Learning
Channel, and the History Channel.
Clyne’s Atocha
presentation will focus not just on the search for the
galleon, but also on the discovery of the mother lode by
Fisher’s crew and the historic significance of the
wreck. His intimate knowledge of the daily trials,
triumphs, and tragedies encountered during the search
and recovery will give his narrative a powerful
immediacy.
Founded in 1982, the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage
Society is an independent not-for-profit organization
dedicated to exhibition, education, archaeology,
preservation, and research into New World maritime
activity. Everyone interested in the Keys’ unique
maritime heritage, shipwreck archaeology, and a
fascinating tale of human perseverance and triumph is
invited to attend the August 20 presentation.
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