Today’s the day
In 1622, the Nuestra Senora de Atocha was headed from Havana back to Spain full of valuable gems and metals from South America; so much precious cargo that it took two months to load and record the inventory. Unfortunately for those on board, a hurricane blew the ship into the reef near the Dry Tortugas, sinking the vessel thirty-five miles west of Key West. More than 350 years later, Mel Fisher discovered the wreck and all the goodies that came with it. Today, you can see the salvage at his Maritime Museum.
Fisher was an Indiana-born hydroelectric engineer turned California-based chicken farmer turned Florida Keys treasure hunter. He made his fortune unearthing underwater valuables and today he is considered to be worth hundreds of millions. A brilliant cross-section of Fisher’s career hauls is displayed on two floors of the old Key West Naval Station building, tucked away on the northwest corner of the island. World-class emeralds extracted from the Muzo mines in Colombia and salvaged from the famous Atocha wreck glimmer under the lights in the showcase. A small sampling of the 24 tons of silver from the same ship also sparkles on display. Iron shackles from the Henrietta Marie, a sunken English merchant-slaver, are exhibited alongside the ship’s grand bronze bell – a haunting reminder of the epidemic global slave trade during the 17th and 18th centuries.
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Address 200 Greene Street, Key West, FL 33040, +1 305.294.2633, www.melfisher.org | Hours Mon–Fri 8:30am–5pm, Sat–Sun 9:30am–5pm | Tip The Fisher family owns another museum in Sebastian, on the aptly named Treasure Coast of Florida. Two and a half hours north of Miami, the Mel Fisher’s Sebastian Museum houses yet more items salvaged from the Atocha.
For 16 years, Fisher went in nearly daily search – weather permitting – of sunken treasure. Before every venture out to sea, he would exclaim, “Today’s the day!” On July 20, 1985, after a relentless search for the Atocha, a radio signal to Fisher came in: "Put away the charts. We’ve got the mother lode!" In an instant, Fisher’s childhood dreams – born out of reading Stevenson’s Treasure Island – came true. His legacy as a modern-day Jim Hawkins lives on.
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