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 Taffi
Fisher-Abt
Treasurer
When Taffi Fisher-Abt was two years old, her parents, Mel and Deo, loaded the family into a station wagon in California and drove
across country to become full-time treasure hunters. "Mel's Aqua Shop" in Redondo Beach and the dive trips Mel and Deo led all over the world held their enthusiasm for a while, but ultimately, it was wreck diving that captured their imaginations. This adventure had both the romance of history along with the possibility of finding sunken treasure!
For seven years, Mel and Deo successfully salvaged the 1715 Plate Fleet, which sank during a hurricane near Vero Beach, Florida. By the time Taffi was nine, Mel had figured out that the remains of the
Nuestra Señora de Atocha were located in the waters near Key West and the whole family moved down the Keys. Mel was already famous in the diving world, but that didn't mean that the money was flowing. Taffi recounts, "I had the most unusual childhood of anyone I ever met. It wasn't like being a movie star's kid and it wasn't like being a regular pauper's kid. We never had any money, but there were always boats to play on and really unusual things to take to ‘Show and Tell.’ My chores were to paint the galleon and polish the wooden rails in the galleon gift shop." The galleon was a boat Mel had refitted as a replica of a seventeenth century vessel
and it was his first attempt at a museum, showing all
his finds to tourists visiting Key West. "My friends and
I used to dress up in pirate garb and pretend to be mannequins to scare the tourists - I don't think we scared anyone too badly, though…," she recalls.
Taffi grew up around the thrill of the hunt and the lure of the treasure, but for her the best part of it all was the people - the camaraderie of the family and the crew.
It has been the friendships that she has developed out of the business that have really stuck with her.
Taffi joined the board of the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society in 1992. At that time the family and the Society's founders had life terms. In 2002, Taffi was one of those who volunteered immediately to give up life terms to aid MFMHS in its goal of achieving national accreditation. "I think we were doing a good job before we went into accreditation," she says, "But
it's important that the museum and the treasure be
recognized nationally."
Among the things of which she is most proud, Taffi
lists the Society's purchase of its building, which has given it a sense of permanence. She is also delighted
by the growth of the educational programs and the impact they have had on the community, saying, "I don't think the community knew we had it in us at first, and I am not sure we knew either, but it has grown
dramatically over the years."
Part of why Taffi enjoys being on the board is that
she likes to stay involved with something that was so important to her father. She wants to make sure that his name lives on, both as a pioneer of diving and an enthusiastic and encouraging entrepreneur. Of the many goals she has for the Society's future, the
development of a traveling exhibition for the Nuestra Señora de Atocha and the publication of the much
discussed "Monograph Series" focusing on the Spanish Plate Fleet of 1622 are among the top. She would like to see the Society’s goals reflect not only the glories of the collection but the story as a whole, the loss and the
find, together with all the people who worked on
Mel's salvage team.
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