 . Treasure Seekers
In 1955, Jimmy Blackburne visited English Harbour in his 1904 Colin
Archer,
ROBANNE, a treasure seeker, bound for the Silver Shoals off Santo Domingo.
A very mysterious individual was aboard we called Mr. X. He could tell where treasure lay
by swinging a pendulum over a chart. In the meantime, ROBANNE had lent a member of her
crew, Arthur Watkin, to assist Evan Atkinson of the 28 ft. cutter ERATO in bringing his
ship from the Canary Islands, as his wife was expecting and about to deliver. Meeting
little wind, the ERATO became overdue, so Mr. X dowsed over a chart with his pendulum in
the peace and quiet of the vacant, cobweb laden Admiral's House. The resulting prediction
was for an arrival in 36 hours. We organised an evening rum punch at Shirley Heights at
the expected time of arrival - and there she was!
A little later, the black schooner "HOME SWEET HOME", with Bert
Darrell
aboard, became overdue from Bermuda, so Mr. X was called for. By this time the U.S. Coast
Guard had begun an air search. After much persuasion over English Harbour Radio to use a
dowser, the Coast Guard reluctantly decided to take Mr. X's advice, even though the
position given was well off the probable track of the missing yacht. The pilot, John
Phillips, found the black schooner Mr. X had divined for, but it turned out to be an
oceanographic vessel. The "Home Sweet Home" was never seen again.
As for the treasure expedition to the Silver Shoals, this failed due to
the violent sea-sickness of Mr. X and the Cousteau trained divers aboard. Not as many
yachts visited in the early days as now, but they seem to have been more colourful in
their history and in their voyages. Do visiting yachts still have such stories to tell, or
did they only happen in the "good old days"?
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