First Dive of the season!

Flat seas, a cool breeze and the promise of 5 gallon bucketfuls of 6 inch Megalodon’s had everyone in a somewhat decent mood. You see, Captain Al just got finished talking about how the guys who dove with Spearit the day before had problems with too many teeth in the dive bag and that we were going to the same spot!

On board the boat called Littlefeet, you had a motley crew of teeth grubbing divers that often frequent the beautiful North Carolina reefs. Yes, I’m talking about Meghead and Wild Rick two modern day teeth pirates who stay down till the gauge is in the red. Bruce, Taylor, and myself rounded out the more mellow of the divers, who like to talk about the joy of diving but in reality are undercover teeth hoarders too.
(Wild Rick sleeping like a baby meghunter, and the sweet smile of success!)

There was some banter about Somali pirates, in fact I believe I heard Meghead and Wild Rick talking about the feasibility of forcibly boarding the big boat that comes out of the Outerbanks with spear guns in order to confiscate their teeth. These guys come with tons of divers and anchor overnight!

Brother…… the ships were out there on this beautiful spring day, with flat seas, and pods of dolphins frolicking in the sea, there was 4 or 5 other dive boats working the reef for Megs. Also of note, one of the outfits uses blowers to make the bottom look like Verdun in search of the big Megs so the possibility of actually being able to say that the ledge is hunted out may be valid sometime in the near future. The blowers allow the diver to go to hardpan scooping up the teeth as they are uncovered.

(Ring a ding ding -Meghead's 6.5 inch Meg! Fresh from mother earth!)


The diving conditions were excellent due to the flat seas and sun. We all did 3 dives at various spots and the winners of the day were Meghead pulling a 6.5 inch tooth from behind me, which is always a bummer for the other guy i.e. me, and Captain Al Highsmith (littlefeet charters) also finds a 6.5 inch tooth as he searched for Grouper and other tasty sea life with the spear gun.

(Captain Al with some throw backs! )


Cool stuff seen: A nice Mahi-mahi that WildRick hooked twice, then as the battle ensued for round three; the big fish took to flight as Meghead swam up alongside the boat ruining a fantastic dinnertime feast for Rick. Bruce and I also spotted a really big black triangular fin cruising in the water. I wasn’t too thrilled about watching this but Meg-fever will make a guy scuba in lava if there are teeth on the bottom. All in all can’t wait for the next time!

The Haunted Helmet

One day many years ago, back when I was a young collector I happened to stop at this North Georgia Flea Market in the middle of nowhere. Soon I spied on the table a WW1 doughboy helmet offered for sale by this overall wearing older country picker. I might have paid 10 bucks tops.
Anyway, I brought it to my new apartment (I just got out of the barracks cuz I was getting married) and hung it on the wall. A few weeks later, sleeping off some beer I awoke to a smoky apparition in the doorway of my room. I was sooooo scared I could not move while it was floating there. But, I chalked it up to the beer and early morning sleepiness. Then, I got married and the wife moved in. Strange things started to happen like doors slamming in the middle of the house, and mysterious knocks.
Then one night I was sleeping on the couch (because of a fight) when I awoke to some strange sounds in the hallway. As I listened as quick as a flash this beast of some sort stampeded down the hallway and spun around right where my face was. It seemed like a boar but with red eyes. It seemed like a eternity but then it was gone. I had trouble beliveing on just what happened. The next day I finally told the wife about it and she then told me how last night something was touching her legs in the bed.

Sooo what happened to the helmet? My buddy was having trouble with this Ahole in the unit. So he gave this helmet to the Marine as a peace offering to get back some revenge!
Mission Complete!

Ode to the teeth

Wild Rick

Ode to the Teeth

To God this morning I did beg

To let me find the biggest Meg.

For 40 miles we sailed about

To find the bottom hunted out.

We blew the sand all around

glancing at each other with a frown.

Finally, yes finally one turned up

a broken half with a shitty cusp.


Well it wasn’t that bad, Hell.. it was damn good. The sweet salty smell of the sea, the roar of the diesel and the bold flavor of a big ole Foster Lager at the end of the day. Many divers say the Meg Ledge here in North Carolina is hunted out, but it’s a big ocean and Wild Rick can sniff out teeth with the best.

A hand picked crew of 4 met up with Captain Highsmith in Surf city a few days back and... “By the looks of that flag it doesn’t look too good boys” said the Captain. “That wind is out of the Northeast and that means rough seas…… are you boys tough?”

Needless to say, like the Fabulous Thunderbirds we were Tuff Enough to go out in the choppy seas. Yours truly, Wild Rick, Bruce the Scientist, and Marine Taylor “Smells like a” Rose took some Dramamine and hopped aboard Littlefeet.

After 2 hours of spine shattering, bone jarring, teeth gnashing, surf splitting motoring, the seas calmed down a little for the final hour to Fry Pan. After 3 hours in the little boat I was ready to head down the anchor line and take a pee in the ocean. Upon jumping in the first thing to go wrong was my USMC Recon spare air let loose and dumped its air from the reg. Soon afterwards on the bottom at 100ft below the surface the expensive device was now somewhat buoyant it came out of its holster and is now lying on the bottom forever.....

Sweet Patho tooth is money in the bank!

However, the sea life as always was simply beautiful on the ledge with Lobster, colorful shrimps and the endless variety of small to large fish in the area. As you concentrate on fanning the bottom and throw around all the whale bones if you pause and look around the fish are all watching you to see “What’s up? & what he hell’s going on? Diving in this fishbowl takes your mind off your f’ups real quick.

Oh yeh, I forgot to mention that Wild Rick sent me to Beaufort to get his ass a Dive scooter for the trip and this mad scientist from Durham used it 3x and each time sucked up any and all dive lines and reels in his underwater location. It was unreal but he is now a certified Dive propulsion specialist and can be reached via email for any fix it jobs. Everyone had a successful trip except Sergeant Rose who after spearing a couple grouper was visited by a Tiger Shark. This undersea greeting prompted Sgt Rose to drop his junk and shoot a line to the top which screwed up his dive computer and put him out of commission on the 2nd dive.

Captain Highsmith

The Captain soon jumped in looking for our gear during our interval time and picked up 2 five inch Megs to show us how its done “Thar jus layin thar by the anchor line!” said the NorthCarolinian. My second dive netted a sweet 4+ pathological and 3 5inchers while Rick was on his way to and I’m guessing here 10 + 5 inch teeth and 10 or more smaller ones. The best tooth of the day seemed to belong to Bruce who was not getting much the first two dives but happened to spy a 6 inch tooth in nice shape under the unsuspecting Rick as his dive fin blew its sandy blanket away. - Good Times

Diving the River, Hazards extra!

Yeh, We’re still alive for anyone that gives a sh*t. But just barely… Yours truly, Meghead and Wild Rick hit the murky erMinreh River this weekend for a fossil hunt to remember. Oh yeh in case your wondering I’ve taken the liberty to letter scrabble the river name to comply with the FossilFinders Guild to keep exact information off the web. Yes my friend, you are extremely lucky that I was even able to keep a few photos of the hunt for you to eyeball as pictures of fossils and landmarks were erased by the secretive Guildmembers who met us at the dock before we left….






Canoeing down the river RalieghStyle!
(with tow-rope)


Now back to the story, Me and Meghead have been talking about doing this for the past few years, and after meeting Wild Rick (WR) thru www.blackriverfossils.org we came up with a plan which was executed on the 23rd of May.



Previously, Wild Rick did some reconnoitering and extensive research on where we need to go, and since he’s a for real deal scientist I didn’t disputed his information as he showed me the massive ******** in the bed of his pickup truck from his canoe trip upriver the evening before.

Fortified with a McDonald’s breakfast we headed to our entry point and paddled upriver against the tide. However, we soon had this figured out as Meghead’s 100hp Jetski towed our canoe caravan the miles we needed to cover in recorded time. Disembarking at WR‘s first site, soon had me donning my scuba gear in record time as the Chesapeake shell layer littered the high banks and crunched underfoot in the river.





JetSki SafetyDiverPatrol







WR and I went in first with Meghead providing over watch on the Jetski. The river dropped off steeply to the bottom where it was dark as sh*t. My new Intova dive light was doing it’s best to give me some vision in the murk.


Additionally, as you went out towards the middle of the river the current was pretty bad too. WR didn’t have much problem with this, but yours truly does not like freefall descending in a swift current in zero visibility. I mainly stuck to the bottom of the ledges and poked and fanned the fine slit which hid underneath countless shell remnants, bone and hopefully *********.


Nice layer of fossils right down to the river!




The scariest thing was all the trees & logs in the river. Near shore was the worst but even in the middle you’d be startled and your fear level jacked up to new levels by bumping into solid objects, i.e. entanglements as you fought to maintain your sanity on your quest for the Megalodon.

On our second dive, I did have a scary moment when I found I could not ascend towards the surface. With my mask a few inches from the shell bed I moved upwards, and something solid hits my scuba tank, “Thump, W.T.F? I move a little bit to the left, “Thump, Holy sh*t! I move a little bit more, “Thump”! Now due to the stress everything seems darker and your mind races “Which way outta here”!



Wild Rick circumventing the tree obstacle course.



I was able to find a gap between the two logs and swam thru it head first, bumping gear along the way. But even as I raced towards the safety of the reddish light above I was chastising myself for doing such a risky move as getting stuck that way was a surefire end of the dive trip… forever.


Meghead getting ready to go under after writing his last will and testament.


So to wrap it up.. Fossils = Good Camaraderie = Excellent Trees in water = Bad

Until next time, - Bob

Makoboy vs. the King of Fossils

The Radio blurts out the extremely unusual. A winter storm warning for 4 P.M. along the coast of North Carolina with 1-4 inches of off shore snow covering the coast from Savannah to the Outer Banks. That’s another bad omen as I tool down the road for my no tap out cage match with the “King of Fossils”. He’s travelling up from Myrtle Beach and bringing along Joe to referee the FossilFight.

A neutral arena was selected, one we’ve only been to a few times. The Rocky Point Mine! As I pull in (A little late) The King is there, he’s got his 4x4 all done in a new fossil sticker scheme. You know things like MegHunter and Meglomanic. He’s got waders. He’s got rakers, He’s got GPS, He’s got UV glasses. Me..? I even forgot to bring gloves and it’s not going to break 40 today.

“It’s jus you n me pal.” He sneers “Waah do y’all wan to do and wer you wanna go”. He drawls as the tobacco spit dribbles down his chin. “Man.. I am here for the teeth”. I reply and he smiles. The conditions for a FossilFight are simply gorgeous. Ton’s of rain recently and nobody has been hunting much. We didn’t see a footprint the whole day.

Taking a tip from Fossil fanatic Linda Wooten, we jump a major water obstacle and start on endless ridgelines. The erosion is fantastic and within a minute the King of Fossils has a small Ric in hand. I’m speechless because I haven’t found one in 6 months, but if you could have seen the King’s face this is a garbage tooth. I make a column right and head away from the King to stake my own claim down the line and a ridgeline over.


I’m walking around by myself scanning all the cubic yards of eroded dirt wondering if a big ric is going to appear and thinking maybe I would be better off looking for echnoids down on the bottom. Also I wonder just how bad the King of Fossils is going to pound me this time, you see I have never, ever come close to getting this guy. Sure I can bet up on easy marks like N.Y.Rob but the pro’s, well that’s another story.
I walk around on top of a ridgeline and see a cliff of red dirt up ahead tumbling down to the gully, as I peer over the side there she is just laying there in the sun . Yessir the ric I’ve been looking for to finish out a shadow box. I’m elated and know the King will have to work his royal ass off to bet this pristine 40 million year old relic.

Back at the vehicles the King pulls out his own ace of spades. A smaller ric… thin and rapier sharp. I’ve never seen one that thin before and for all I know it may be ultra rare! I got big and he got thin; Who won the fossilfight? I guess we both did!

Afterward, we headed out to a Civil War encampment which is in the area. This is Joe’s passion and we spent the afternoon talking about the fights around Wilmington. I did get a period pistol bullet and some odd silver plated lead box remnants which rounded out a great day to be goofing off rather than working for the man.

Ok. Allright… I haven’t posted in awhile but it doesn’t mean I haven’t been busy collecting relics. I’ve been out digging for fossils, diving for bottles, hitting civil war battle areas and even sites that were tussles between the Indians and the Europeans off the boat. But today I’m going to talk about stinking echinoids. I don’t really collect these things but some fossil collectors go gaga for em.


A year ago I secretly tailed a expert on the things during a club hunt wondering why he was going opposite everyone else. Then I finally saw him down in the gully in the deepest part of the mine, after working my way towards him from a ridgeline I confronted him on why the hell he’s over in this area. “Dude, the only place on earth you can find these baby’s are right here and at Castle Hayne. Just think what they’ll be worth when the mine shuts down. They’re a hundred bucks on ebay now sometimes”. Unfortunately for me that day he cleaned up and only left me a few little guys I really had to get muddy for.


Fast forward to now! It’s cold and nobody’s out there poking around. Just like this summer when I score when its freaking hot outside and everyone’s in the A/C. I get to the mine and it’s cold as Shet! Water is frozen on the sides of the ridges, it’s like Surviorman and the glacier episodes! But nobody has hit this area for awhile and sure nuff these noids start to fill my pocket! After I picked up everything I think I got me a 1000 dollar haul of fossilized orbs! Here’s some dude’s website for the two types I found, 56 complete in all.

http://www.marksfossils.com/Echinoids.html

Beer and Coke Please!

It’s that time of year for bottle prospect’in! Around these parts of the tidal rivers of the N.C. Coast you have about a month were the water clears up enough to actually see a few feet around on the bottom. Then around mid November the water at least for me gets too cold to jump in. If you have a old town in the area well…. it’s time to look for bottles, fishing rods, and the big ticket items are the old 1900’s turn of the century Cokes and Pepsi’s. There are also tons of old medicines’ , elixirs and if you’re really lucky maybe a 1700-1800’s whisky flask but,…. they are usually broken. After leaving work, I shot to my favorite spot were bottles litter the bottom. Conditions looked good as I drove the Buick Grand National down the Hwy staying off the turbo so the Sheriff doesn’t gun me down. The only thing that would ruin the dive would be fishermen or the tide ripping through the tidal river.

Running from the Sheriff!

As I got to the dock, the tide was slack. All conditions were go! Water was cool and the fishing pier was empty so, after deploying my diver down buoy I shoot down the 20 ft or so and found conditions on the bottom superb with 3 ft of vis. I starting running around piling up known crappy bottles in piles and putting in possibles in the bag. After three runs back to the breakwater to empty the bag I started to sort what I had and fortunately I had what I came for.

Pile of bottles

Sure enough after a little cleaning a mint 1900 PBR beer bottle and a bubble blown early 1900 Coca Cola were in the pile among a few other keepers. Coke and a Beer Please! What a way to end a day! Yowzaa!
Semper FI - Bob