For nearly 200 years, Key West has been a haven for larger-than-life characters — but few are as notable as legendary shipwreck salvor Mel Fisher.
The venerable Magruder is still used by the Fisher family to seek Atocha artifacts and treasures. (Photo courtesy of Mel Fisher’s Treasures)
Mel appeared in the Florida Keys in 1968 and shortly afterward settled in Key West. His goal? To find the sunken treasure galleon Nuestra Señora de Atocha, shipwrecked in a 1622 hurricane somewhere in Keys waters.
The Atocha’s cargo, according to its manifest, included a quarter of a million silver pieces of eight, some 30 tons of silver bars, and other riches destined for the coffers of Spain. It was a worthy prize for any man.
Some people never really “fit” into the offbeat atmosphere Key West, but Mel did. With his drawling speech and seemingly limitless capacity for rum and Coke, he became a familiar figure on the island.
During the long years of searching for the shipwrecked galleon, there was little money to support Mel and his crew — which included his wife Deo and, eventually, children Dirk, Taffi, Kim and Kane. But enough treasure trickled in to keep their enthusiasm alive.
After all, almost any day could herald the discovery of the Atocha’s main body of riches. “Today’s the day,” Mel’s well-known phrase of encouragement to his divers, began to appear on T-shirts all over Key West.
At long last, in July of 1985, “the day” arrived.
Artifacts and treasures from the Atocha and fleetmate Santa Margarita are displayed at the Mel Fisher Maritime Museum in Key West. (Photo courtesy of the Mel Fisher Maritime Heritage Society)
On July 18, Mel’s son Kane, then captain of the salvage boat Dauntless, discovered a 60-pound ballast stone, barrel hoops, copper ingots and almost 1,000 silver coins in a deep-water area called Hawks Channel.
Two days later, divers Andy Matroci and Greg Wareham dove down to investigate a promising area of the seabed. Facing them was a reef of what looked like stones. The duo went back up for a metal detector and dove down again. The metal detector went wild: it was a reef of silver bars.
Andy reached the surface first and yelled to the salvage boat, “It’s the ‘mother lode’! We’re sitting on silver bars!”
Kane Fisher radioed back to Key West, “Put away the charts. We’ve found the main pile.”
They had found 1,041 silver bars and boxes of coins — 3,000 to a box. Almost immediately, shippers’ marks on the silver bars were matched to the Atocha’s cargo manifest, confirming the identification.
“It was surreal. I had spent most of my life looking for it, and all of a sudden there it was — all these silver bars piled up and sticking up out of the mud,” said Kim Fisher, who had begun tracking the Atocha with his family when he was 12 years old.
The excavation of what media dubbed “the shipwreck of the century” began. Divers and archeologists eventually recovered about $450 million in gold and silver coins and bars, breathtaking religious artifacts, jewelry, weapons, pottery, navigational instruments, contraband emeralds and other incredible items.
Now, 33 years after the discovery of that “main pile,” people flock to Key West’s Mel Fisher Maritime Museum to view the Atocha treasure and artifacts housed there — and marvel at the triumph of the human spirit that their recovery represents.
Mel Fisher Days attendees can tour the famed Magruder and meet the crew. (Photo by Nick Doll for Mel Fisher Days)
Yet according to the vessel’s cargo manifest, much more remains beneath the waves. After Mel’s death in 1998, his son Kim took over the family enterprise. The search continues for the significant portion of the legendary shipwreck that still lies undiscovered.
“We’re looking for the sterncastle of the Atocha,” explained Kim, who looks (and sounds) a lot like Mel. “There’s a lot of treasure still out there … 100,000 coins, 300 80-pound silver bars …”
Adventure lovers can celebrate Mel and his legacy during Mel Fisher Days, set for July 12-14 in his longtime “home port” of Key West.
Festival attendees can explore the Fisher family’s 90-foot working salvage boat J.B. Magruder, take behind-the-scenes tours of the family’s private artifact conservation lab, meet some of the crew that found the Atocha’s riches, and rock at a waterfront party that recalls Mel’s exuberant spirit.
The Atocha’s story — and the quest — continue.
