A Captivating Account of the Golden Age of Piracy, the Search for Sunken Treasure, and the Business of Underwater Exploration
Bored by his successful life and obsessed with a boyhood dream of lost pirate treasure, Barry Clifford began a quest for legendary pirate Black Sam Bellamy's ship Whydah, which had supposedly wrecked off the coast of Cape Cod more than two centuries ago. Ignoring claims that he was a fool and a dreamer, Clifford pressed on, until he unbelievable found the Whydah...and then the real story begins in a spellbinding story that will capture your imagination.
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Bellamy crashed his pirate ship, the Whydah, on the sandy shores of Cape Cod in April of 1717. At least 146 pirates were killed in that crash, along with the booty from 50 ships.Such a crash would have been a heyday for the residents of the impoverished Cape had they been able to reach the capsized vessel. Unfortunately for them, the storm prevented anykind of salvage and they could only watch in frustration as the ship filled with treasure sank into the voracious sands of the Cape. Shortly it disappeared and people forgot exactly where it had sank. Eventually it became a legend, like so many other "lost gold" legends around the world. . . .
Enter Barry Clifford. It is 266 years later and he is telling Walter Cronkite the story of "Black" to Sam Bellamy at a Thanksgiving get together at writer William Styron's house."Why don't you look for the Whydah?" asks Cronkite. And Barry does. Through an exciting process of discovery, he finds the Whydah. Then the adventure begins, as modern day pirates try to jump his claim and jealous archaeologist try to keep him from bringing up artifacts and treasure.Barry is a human monument to perserverance. Over the years he and his colorful crew have brought up over 100,000 artifacts, including gold, silver and the ethereal jewelry of African tribesmen who were hauled as slaves to the New World by the former Captain of Whydah, a slave runner named "Prince."What will you get out of this book besides a good read? You'll get and understanding of what "obsession" and "pursuit of excellence" means.
The cost of finding this legendary pirate ship - the only one in the world to be excavated - has been a high one for Barry. But the reward has been a large one, too. He refuses to sell any of the thousands of artifacts that he has retrieved from this dangerous archaeological site. Instead he is keeping the collection together to contribute to our knowledge of a mysterious sub-culture, one that contributed to the formation of our nation.
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