Kathryn (KT) BUDDE-JONES  << MEL & ME << HOME

Capt. Kathryn (KT) Budde-Jones

KT's first open water dive was under the M/V Swordfish's mailboxes on the Margarita site in April of 19981. After finding her first silver piece of eight on that dive she took the summer off from her teaching position in Milwaukee, Wisconsin to join Mel Fisher's "Golden Crew." When summer was over KT stayed on to be Mel's only female diver at the time. Over the years, KT accumulated over 7000 hours of bottom time working on the Santa Margarita, Atocha, 1715 Fleet, as well as dozens of other Caribbean shipwreck sites. KT earned her USCG Captain's license and was promoted to first mate, ships' engineer and captain on several of the salvage vessels. KT was on the Swordfish the day the "main Pile" was found and swan the first silver bar to the surface on shear adrenaline alone. After the first rush of excitement, she along with her husband Syd Jones and Tom Ford, collected and recorded the major portion of the archaeological data retrieved from the Atocha site. KT actively worked on the wreck sites for over 10 years when she moved inshore to teach maritime archaeological methods at the college as well as develop and execute education programs for the MFMHS. KT assisted in the documentation and research of many of the artifacts as well as writing a book on the coins found on the wrecks she worked, Coins of the Lost Galleons. KT and her husband Syd Jones left Salvors and the MFMHS in 1998 to work for the Flying Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum in Kissimmee, Florida where they both restore and fly WWII bomber and fighters.

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