The Daily Tar Heel

Issue date: 8/23/07 Section: State & National

Media Credit: Courtesy of N.C. Department of Cultural Resources A researcher examines an anchor at the wreck of the presumed Queen Anne's Revenge, Blackbeard's flagship, near Beaufort. The city's tourism witnessed an upward surge because of the discovery of the find.

State-sponsored divers kicked off an intensive underwater search for booty Wednesday, more than a decade after shipwreck researchers discovered the ruins of Blackbeard's flagship off the N.C. coast.

Mike Daniel, leader of the crew that found Queen Anne's Revenge, said the pace of the excavation is only now picking up despite his years of pressuring the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources to do what he called "serious expeditions."

"It's been 10 years since I've found it, and they've worked about a total of 50 days," he said. "For all the bruises I've taken for being their bad guy, it's finally taking off."

The divers hope to retrieve as much as 30 percent of the wreckage of the ship, said Jeffrey Crow, archives and history deputy secretary for the department of cultural resources.

"I don't think it would be possible to get the entire shipwreck up in one season," Crow said, referring to the period of optimal diving time between August and November.

"I know at the end of this month we're going to bring up a cannon."

The ship, which sunk in 1718, is one of the most significant historical finds in recent years, Crow said.

"It's the most important underwater archaeological site that we've found to date," he said. "It would be hard to find a more important one in N.C. waters."

The ship's discovery also highlighted several elements of Beaufort folklore, said Laura Windley, a third-year law student at UNC who grew up in Beaufort.

"The oldest house in Beaufort is the Hammock House, and it was Blackbeard's house," she said, adding that bloodstains remain on the stairs of the house from the time that Blackbeard - ne Edward Teach - killed a romantic rival during swordplay.

Tourism in Beaufort rose significantly due to the discovery, she said.

"I know that there was an influx of people, because my grandmother complained about the ditdots," she said. "My grandmother calls tourists ditdots."

Laura's grandmother, 81-year-old Alice Windley, said Blackbeard lore is intertwined in the history of the town.

"We have pictures all over everywhere with Blackbeard on them, with the long beard," she said.

"We really relate to Blackbeard."

Daniel suggested that his discovery - and Blackbeard's history in North Carolina, where he died after receiving 20 stab wounds and five gunshot wounds - could be a marketable state legacy.

"Blackbeard is one of the most famous men in the history of the world," he said. "Don't you think the state of North Carolina is missing the boat, here?"



Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.



Blackbeard's booty

A small dated bell, one of the first finds and used to verify the ship's identity

About 25 cannons, some weighing more than 2,000 pounds and some still loaded

Metal syringes most likely used to administer mercury to treat venereal disease

Wine bottles

Weapons

Gold flakes

Pottery

Parts of the ship itself

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