Institute of Maritime History

Goal:  The course will acquaint students with basic issues and skills in underwater reconnaissance with sidescan sonar, site mapping, and common diagnostic features on shipwrecks, for the purpose of locating submerged sites and reporting them to State Historic Preservation Officers for inventory, management, and further investigation if desired.

Duration:  The course will take four days.  Tentative dates are given below, subject to weather.  Other dates will be arranged if people want them or if we need to reschedule for bad weather.

Structure:  The course includes one and a half days of classroom discussion and dry-land practice, a half day of searching with sidescan sonar, two days of site assessment by divers, and completion of a Maryland site report.

Diving:      Dive depths will be 28 feet or less, but these are serious dives in low visibility with currents, sharp objects, and entanglement hazards.  Anyone who chooses not to dive is welcome to attend the ashore sessions.

SYLLABUS —              ("Ch." references are to the training manual).
Day, date                  place and time

1    SEARCH PLANNING
Sat., 15 August         Tall Timbers Marina, ashore, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Ch. 1.    Purposes of reconnaissance: Find, assess, and report.  Detailed analysis can follow later.
Ch. 2.    Search Planning
Ch. 3.    Boat Safety and Boat Diving        Gear, configuration, buoyancy, attitude, entry, site protection, ascent
Ch. 6.    Site diagnostics (for self study and for discussion and use on days 2 through 4).

2    SEARCH EXECUTION
Sun., 16 August        Tall Timbers Marina, afloat, 9 – 4
Ch. 4.    Search execution: sidescan deployment, steering a lane (cross-track error less than 10% of lane width)
             Target detection and recognition: protrusion, reflectivity, texture, angularity.
             Target location: how to get precise lat / lon numbers
Ch. 5.    Checkout dives for comfort and control in low-visibility water.

3    SITE ASSESSMENT
Sat., 22 August         Tall Timbers Marina, ashore, 9 – 12
Ch. 7, 8  Site Assessment and Mapping 
             Dry land practice in perpendicular offsets, trilateration, and Direct Survey Method
             In-water work on a small site:    afloat, 1 –  5 (the Lunchbucket wreck)

4    SITE ASSESSMENT
Sun., 23 August         St. George Island bridge    afloat, 9 – 5
Ch. 7, 8  Site Assessment and Mapping 
              In-water work on a small site (St.Mary's River sailboat)
Ch. 9.     Project records and reports (MHT forms)

After    At home: Complete a Maryland site form for the wreck you mapped on Day 4.  A course certificate will be awarded upon submission of a good site form.

5    (Optional) SITE ASSESSMENT    Dates to be arranged.
      In-water work on Charlotte, a 200-foot wooden schooner wreck in 61 feet of water.

PREREQUISITES —

Day 1:
Read Underwater Archaeology: The NAS Guide to Principles and Practice, 2nd edition (Portsmouth, UK, 2009),
available at Barnes & Noble, Borders Books, or amazon.com for about $45.  You might need to order it in advance.
Read IMH booklet Underwater Archaeological Reconnaissance in Low Visibility.  Free to students. We will mail it to you when you sign up..

Day 2:
Attend Day 1.
Boat shoes or sneakers.
IMH membership, or a signed agreement not to disturb the sites or disclose their locations.
Liability waiver.

Days 3 and 4:
Attend Days 1 and 2.
IMH membership, or a signed agreement not to disturb the sites or disclose their locations.
Divers:    IMH dive forms
              diving certification (AOW or better)
              DAN or other dive insurance
              dive gear, abrasion proptection
              12" slate or clipboard
              one tank for Day 2, two tanks each for Days 3 and 4.  Don't rent -- if you need tanks, IMH will provide AL 80s with air.