Product Description

The author describes his lifelong fascination with discovering the wreckage of the Whydah, a ship that sank off of Cape Cod in 1717, and his ultimate discovery of the ship's treasure, estimated at $400 million. 40,000 first printing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1821276 in Books
• Published on: 1993-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 222 pages

From Publishers Weekly
As a child, Clifford listened to his uncle's stories about pirates and dreamed of treasure; his favorite was that of Black Sam Bellamy and Whydah, sunk off Cape Cod in 1717. Clifford, grown and working in marine salvage on Martha's Vineyard, obtained a permit in 1982 to begin his search for the Whydah that would ultimately involve a $6 million investment, lawsuits and the break-up of his marriage. The story alternates between events of 1717 and those of the 1980s, which included finding the first gold doubloon in 1985. Clifford, writing with freelancer Turchi, describes modern salvage diving and the techniques of restoring artifacts, more than 100,000 of which have been recovered from the wreck. Although there are plans for a Whydah Museum to open in 1995, Clifford does not explain about disposal of the treasure, or whether he has recovered any of his investment. Unexpectedly, his account lacks excitement. Photos.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Kirkus Reviews
The adventures of ``piratologist'' Clifford--told with the help of Turchi (Magician, 1991)--as he tracks down the wreck of the legendary Whydah, the largest pirate ship of all. Clifford first heard of the mother ship of Black Sam Bellamy's outlaw fleet while listening as a child to his Uncle Bill's tales of 18th-century buccaneers. Everyone knew where the Whydah sank in 1717--in the Wellfleet surf off Cape Cod--and rumor had it that the treasure had never been recovered. What could be more inviting to a sea-bitten boy? As an adult, working the Cape as a nautical trouble-shooter, Clifford delved into the records of the wreck. Convinced that the treasure remained buried in the sands, he corralled investors with an irresistible sales pitch (``this is the beginning of a whole new high-tech treasure-hunting industry'') and assembled a colorful team of workers--including the Aspen, Colorado, police chief; a 6'10'' mariner; and John F. Kennedy, Jr. Through dogged analysis of old journals--especially that of Cyprian Southack, the 18th-century on-site investigator--Clifford pinpointed the location of the treasure trove, but two years of high-tech digging ensued before the first Whydah cannonball was brought up, in 1984. Along the way, Clifford battled reams of governmental red tape, terrible weather, and rival claim jumpers. But he got his reward, in the form of over 100,000 retrieved items, including thousands of coins and a pirate leg bone (a complete inventory is provided in an appendix). The search has been suspended, but Clifford indicates that the bulk of the treasure remains in the briny deep, for future salvagers to raise. The real coin--filled with the thrills and tedium of treasure hunting; sweaty at times, as Clifford recounts his marital woes, but otherwise the clear winner of this year's Pegleg and Patch Award. (Sixteen pages of color & b&w photographs--not seen) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Customer Reviews

Interesting but Somewhat Flawed!
I have many pirate reference books, and this was added to my collection. I found the diving materials and photos very interesting, but I was less interested in Barry Clifford's autobiography. He was a former high school teacher who was interested in history, especially about pirates who sailed off the Massachusetts coast. Once I called his museum to find out more information about "Black Sam" Bellamy, but others in another museum told me it had been a vacant lot for several years. They didn't know when Mr. Clifford was going to build his pirate museum. I then hoped that no school buses on field trips had brought a bunch of youngsters only to severely disappoint them.