# Dead eye



## seniorscuba1 (Mar 11, 2020)

Howdy, I found this  dead eye  on the back of an old brig that wrecked in a storm while trying to seek shelter behind a large island  unfortunately the ship    ran up on a reef and was completely destroyed . It happened in 1911 the ship was named the Petra


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## nhpharm (Mar 11, 2020)

Love this stuff!


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## PorkDaSnork (Sep 6, 2020)

Cool now put it back for other divers to enjoy.


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## nhpharm (Sep 10, 2020)

That same argument could be made for the bottles we dig...noting that the bottles we dig would survive for hundreds or thousands more years in the ground but the ocean will destroy most shallow wrecks very quickly.  I know this is a sensitive topic, but removal of a wooden deadeye from a coastal wreck preserves that artifact and certainly won't decrease the enjoyment of the likely very few divers who visit this wreck.


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## sandchip (Sep 10, 2020)

Very cool find.  This landlubber had to look it up.  I'd keep it painted with a 50/50 mixture of raw linseed oil and turpentine to keep it from coming apart as it dries out.


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## PorkDaSnork (Sep 12, 2020)

nhpharm said:


> That same argument could be made for the bottles we dig...noting that the bottles we dig would survive for hundreds or thousands more years in the ground but the ocean will destroy most shallow wrecks very quickly.  I know this is a sensitive topic, but removal of a wooden deadeye from a coastal wreck preserves that artifact and certainly won't decrease the enjoyment of the likely very few divers who visit this wreck.


Bottles are dumped away... they were  garbage. Shipwrecks are technically still property of the shipping company, and the “very few” divers who visit it will be certainly disappointed that the wreck will soon be stripped to some planking of the hull.


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## Drift (Sep 12, 2020)

Is it better for a deadeye to rot in the ocean, or to be lovingly preserved and admired for a long time? We never would have seen this if OP didn't dive for it. I'm not trying to pick a fight! I definitely see the value on both sides of the debate.


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## PorkDaSnork (Sep 12, 2020)

Drift said:


> Is it better for a deadeye to rot in the ocean, or to be lovingly preserved and admired for a long time? We never would have seen this if OP didn't dive for it. I'm not trying to pick a fight! I definitely see the value on both sides of the debate.


If a wreck is a century old and the deadeye still looks like that, I’m sure it’s fine just where it is. They also will dry out quickly and rot on land... unless you brush it with water and such every week.


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## Drift (Sep 12, 2020)

What about access...very few people (relatively) are able, willing, and equipped to dive, but most people can admire images or visit a museum or somebody's collection. Could a civilian taking an object from a wreck occasionally be the best thing for the public, by making it more available to them?

Thanks for the reasoned response. I'll fully admit I'm going into this biased as a bottle digger, and I'm interested to learn more about shipwreck and artifact ethics. I tried selling a native celt recently. I need the money but it gave me the willies, so I took the ad down.


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## hemihampton (Sep 12, 2020)

Display it in the bottom of a Fish tank, that should keep it from drying out?


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## sandchip (Sep 13, 2020)

Brush it with 50/50 raw linseed oil and turpentine every day for a week, every week for a month, every month for a year, every year forever.  It'll smell good, too.


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## nhpharm (Sep 14, 2020)

Deadeyes are generally made of lignum vitae.  I have one I found as a kid on the beach in New Brunswick and it looks the same as it did when I picked it up.  I haven't done anything to it.


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## sandchip (Sep 14, 2020)

nhpharm said:


> Deadeyes are generally made of lignum vitae.  I have one I found as a kid on the beach in New Brunswick and it looks the same as it did when I picked it up.  I haven't done anything to it.



You need to take it and put it back on the beach where you found it.


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## PorkDaSnork (Sep 15, 2020)

Drift said:


> What about access...very few people (relatively) are able, willing, and equipped to dive, but most people can admire images or visit a museum or somebody's collection. Could a civilian taking an object from a wreck occasionally be the best thing for the public, by making it more available to them?
> 
> Thanks for the reasoned response. I'll fully admit I'm going into this biased as a bottle digger, and I'm interested to learn more about shipwreck and artifact ethics. I tried selling a native celt recently. I need the money but it gave me the willies, so I took the ad down.


Donating it to a museum is perfect. Leave it in the water for divers to enjoy, or donate it to a museum for everyone to enjoy. Don’t take things that aren’t rightfully yours for your own personal gain... they’re not even worth anything. You can make them with a woodworking kit.


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## NC btl-dvr (Sep 15, 2020)

I have one too I found in a zero visibility river where few if any divers go, should I of left it? All wrecks in salt water are in a constant state of degradation and in a lifetime will be literally nothing but rust and brass and glass. Storms will then toss that around. People have always salvaged wrecks whether on shore or underwater.


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## sandchip (Sep 16, 2020)

Take it home and enjoy it.  90% of the stuff donated to museums is relegated to storage, never to be seen by visitors, IF they even accept the donation.  In fact, many of the items in storage are kept in unfavorable conditions that actually contribute to the deterioration of the artifacts.  I've seen many superb collections turned down by museums because they either don't have the room or because the items were not found in a controlled environment by a registered archeaologist.  No one will care more for an artifact than the collector who truly loves the stuff.

Pork, I have to ask, do you actually collect, or are you just here to stir the pot?  If you collect, exactly what do you find that passes your standard of acceptability?


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## sandchip (Sep 16, 2020)

PorkDaSnork said:


> ... they’re not even worth anything...



Not worth anything?  I have items that wouldn't sell for a dime, yet I wouldn't take a million dollars for them.  Value, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.


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## embe (Sep 16, 2020)

Wow, learning something new here. I'm with sandchip on this one


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## PorkDaSnork (Sep 18, 2020)

sandchip said:


> Not worth anything?  I have items that wouldn't sell for a dime, yet I wouldn't take a million dollars for them.  Value, like beauty, is in the eyes of the beholder.


exactly why you shouldn’t take them for yourself.


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## seniorscuba1 (Sep 20, 2020)

Hello everyone I agree this is a touchy subject I dove  this wreck  at least 15 years ago  maybe 20 the shipwreck in question was the iron hull  brig  called Petra. it is on a  shallow exposed Reef just piles of scrap metal ' what the ocean didn't destroy  professional salvagers over the last century certainly did. every few years I take it down and put a couple of coats of clear lacquer on it. as for collecting bottles I've drove in a lot of places along the coast found a few nice keepers I' have  about three hundred bottles total  most places are popular picnic and swimming places where people toss cans and bottles now they were doing it a hundred+ years ago,  now I've not dug for  bottles very much but if you come upon a nice crock or   where are torpedo bottle wander digging do you stop an excavate around to make sure in historic context ? Or like me coming up on this in the sand  I see   the edge of a bottle sticking out of the sand I dig it up see that it's a good one and put in my bag like you should I leave it there , I agree over the last 40 years attitudes are changing there is now a lot more emphasis on wreck preservation as we  old guys gradually hang up the flippers the new generation of divers coming along are from a different school of thought it should be like hold on a bottle dig I'm coming up on the burnt remains of an   old  house while picking through it you find some real nice keepers you're not on private property there are no signs saying not to dig do you put the bottles all back or take them home display them as I said it is a touchy subject ok


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## greendirt330 (Sep 20, 2020)

sandchip said:


> Take it home and enjoy it.  90% of the stuff donated to museums is relegated to storage, never to be seen by visitors, IF they even accept the donation.  In fact, many of the items in storage are kept in unfavorable conditions that actually contribute to the deterioration of the artifacts.  I've seen many superb collections turned down by museums because they either don't have the room or because the items were not found in a controlled environment by a registered archeaologist.  No one will care more for an artifact than the collector who truly loves the stuff.
> 
> Pork, I have to ask, do you actually collect, or are you just here to stir the pot?  If you collect, exactly what do you find that passes your standard of acceptability?


Amen brother


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## NC btl-dvr (Sep 22, 2020)

I believe he is from the, "take only pictures, leave only bubbles" camp....


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## seniorscuba1 (Sep 24, 2020)

Hi that's ok I've heard both sides several times over the years and you're right about museums I've donated things to a local Museum as had several of the divers my generation the museum in question is a  local Museum commemoration the  wreck  of the steamship SS Atlantic which wrecked near Terence Bay Nova Scotia on April 1st 1873. She was built in the same yard as the Titanic, she was also the second ship of that design constructed both were lost generally off of our Coast, both ships we're wrecked in April, the captain wasn't on duty either time 1500 we lost the Titanic and over 500 Lost on the SS Atlantic. I had found 2 brass candlestick holders and the bent dessert spoon I kept them for about 30 years  and a good friend of mine who was working at securing artifacts for the museum when I got ahold of him and donated them to the museum  where  they have been displayed .


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## Warf rat (Sep 27, 2020)

What is a dead eye?


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