Merchant Royal (Part 2.)
In 2022 I was asked by team leader Nigel Hodge to join the latest team to look for the wreck of the Merchant Royal. Looking for this wreck has always been top of the list around here so, naturally, I accepted. Time I have; the wherewithall I also feel I have- (after finding 18 new sites of my own on a small budget so far) - but with this wreck its always been about the finances that stops any search from going ahead. And even if you do get the backing the weather is the next obstacle- so for a loner like me the Merchant Royal has really only ever been a pipe dream. In 2023 Nigel and one of his investors came to my home in Scilly for a meeting. Subsequently, as I write, other investors are gathering and meetings are being held with Nigel to get his project fully off the ground. I can only hope they will be successful. My skill set will be shipwreck historian/researcher and wreck material identification. I also have good experience in interpreting sonar data and shipwreck artefact identification and dating. I also own the biggest digitised database of shipwrecks in over a 100 mile radius of this area that has ever been assembled and it grows daily- it could prove a very useful tool in a search such as this- as we should encounter many targets out there.
There were two big factors that I feel certain Oddessy Marine missed in their search for this wreck. Two facts that also played a part in wrecking 4 British Warships here in 1707 among many, many, others before them. I prefer to keep these two factors off facebook and between myself and the team at present but these things place Odessey's search a minimum of 15 miles out. I have plotted all my findings onto a chart and came up with a viable target area and how I would go about the search. Maybe it will be used by the team, maybe it wont, but the insightful input can not be ignored. This is not an easy wreck to find. It is a small target in a very large area of sea. Chances to get out there each year are few and far between - but with a team like the one Nigel has assembled- there is a chance of finding her. I'm looking forward to the day when we set sail from Scilly to help Nigel look for the Merchant Royal. Someones gotta do it!
Heres a link to the project: https://www.facebook.com/nigel.hodge.54/videos/957957382197786
