Results of Underwater Search and Discovery
Near Dataw Island, Morgan River
Final Report for the Dataw
Historic Foundation, April 7, 2008
All information contained herein is hereby considered the sole property of the Dataw Historic Foundation and its subsequent parties. Deep South Divers, a South Carolina company, would like to express its gratitude in being selected by the Dataw Historic Foundation to perform the Search and Discovery dives mentioned herein. Deep South Divers recognizes that the information mentioned in this report is not considered the property of Deep South Divers, and is exclusively the property of Dataw Historic Foundation. Furthermore, Deep South Divers recognizes that this information may or may not be used by the Dataw Historic Foundation for any purpose without consulting Deep South Divers. Deep South Divers hereby relinquishes any use or right to this information, and releases any right of this information to the Dataw Historic Foundation.
If any additional information should be required by the Dataw Historic Foundation, or if information should be deemed necessary about any other site unaffiliated or affiliated with this particular site, Deep South Divers encourages the Dataw Historic Foundation to request additional underwater surveys and discovery dives by contacting us. Our information is:
Deep South Divers
16 Walnut Hill Street
Beaufort, SC 29907
(843) 252-4500
http://www.DeepSouthDivers.org
Owners: Lew “SeaJay” Bayne & Kym Harrington
Again, thank you for your time. It was a sincere pleasure working for the Dataw Historic Foundation.
Abstract: On February 4th, 2008, Deep South Divers presented to the Dataw Historic Foundation a proposal for a series of underwater Search and Discovery dives on the site known as “The Chimney,” adjacent to the 14th hole of Dataw’s golf course. This ruin is believed to have been a part of a structure built by the Sams family before the outbreak of the Civil War, and similar in construction to the B.B. Sams plantation archeological site currently in a state of preservation on Dataw Island. Records indicate that the structure was destroyed and fell into the Morgan River during the Hurricane of 1893, and thus could contain artifacts that the State of South Carolina could consider “historically significant.” The Dataw Historic Foundation was interested in any information regarding the type and layout of the structure, forensic investigation of life and the destruction of the structure, and any artifacts relating to the structure. Deep South Divers presented an amicable solution for Discovery without salvage; Deep South Divers was simply to find out if the site was worth further investigation and if future artifact recovery dives should be performed. Additionally, Deep South Divers was to return to the Dataw Historic Foundation any information regarding submerged structure and/or the possibility of forensic study which would provide additional information of historical significance. On acceptance of the proposal, Deep South Divers performed a series of dives using their boats, life support and underwater scanning equipment to search the area in question, with few items found of interest. As per the proposal and subsequent contract (dated 2/5/2008), Deep South Divers performed a total of 12 hours of submerged, hands-on searching, but also exceeded the contract’s requirements by completing two additional hours, for a total of 14 hours of searching. Additionally, Deep South Divers also utilized side scan sonar technology to create images contained in this report, and to ensure that nothing was “missed” at the dive site. The Dataw Historic Foundation has not been charged for this additional service – Deep South Divers added the service when the dives became unfruitful, as an “ensuring” technique that the searches had been done to the best of its ability. After reviewing this information, it is the opinion of Deep South Divers that the site contains almost no additional structure like “The Chimney,” and that historically significant artifacts are either already recovered, washed away, buried in the sand below the seabed floor, or nonexistent altogether. Deep South Divers does not recommend further Search and Discovery dives on this site.
Location: As per the contract/invoice provided by Deep South Divers on February 5th, 2008, the location was in the water, next to what has been called “The Chimney” near the 14th hole of the golf course on Dataw Island. Specifically, this location has a GPS coordinate of 32 27.115N, 80 34.455W. The search area included 300 feet up river and 300 feet down river from this point and from the mean low water mark (nothing was searched above MLW, since that could be done by volunteers) to 500 feet into the Morgan River. This area was first inspected by hand, and then later inspected by side scan sonar. Much of the inspection included both a visual inspection (cold, clear, shallow water enabled the divers to search without lights easily) and using gloved hands to dig into the top 6 inches or so into the soil. Other areas were inspected by hand as well – especially areas along the perimeter of the search area, for clues as to fall direction of the structure. Inspection by side scan sonar included an even larger area, stretching from the Dataw Marina’s easternmost dock to the mouth of Jenkin’s Creek, the easternmost point of Dataw Island. The side scan search’s northernmost point was more than halfway across the Morgan River, and included an area that came within 200 feet of the private dock on the north side of the Morgan, opposite of Dataw Island.
Techniques: Deep South Divers used its own 19-foot boat to provide transportation for the divers to and from the dive site, which was kept for three weeks at the Dataw Marina for easy access. At times, only one diver was in the water; other times, there were two in the water, each doing searches with hands and eyes. Once the boat came onto location, a bottom anomaly was specified and relocated using a bottom profiler. Anomalies were chosen based on location and degree of anomaly – larger, more likely anomalies close to “The Chimney” were given precedent over smaller, more remote anomalies. Additional anomalies of interest were often marked with a buoy on an anchor for future reference.
Once the boat was located over the anomaly of interest, the boat’s anchor was set on the spot, and a diver descended onto the anchor. A spool with 100 feet of “cave line” was then tied to the anchor, and, using current as an indicator of location, the diver would swim in concentric circles, feeding out exactly one armspan of line each time a circle was completed. While swimming in the circle, the diver would use his eyes and his hands to inspect the bottom for the cause of the anomaly and look for hints of artifacts and structure. Once the line was completely fed out, the diver had covered a circle exactly 100 feet in radius from the anchor point or 200 feet in diameter. This covered a large section of bottom with minimum effort, minimum time, and maximum effectiveness. Each dive took approximately 45 minutes to one hour and ten minutes, depending on how long each tank lasted each diver.
At times, the spool would be set and left on the bottom, and the diver would glide up the cave line (without disturbing it), then up the anchor line. This allowed divers to take breaks or refill their gas supplies without losing track of where they were. It also allowed them to accomplish this task in relatively high current without the risk of becoming separated from the boat. In some cases, the boat was simply untied from the anchor line (the line was buoyed) and the entire system left in place until they could return the next day. This allowed them to be able to leave at any time and return at any time, which was critical due to weather-related issues.
Secondary divers were used to widen the concentric circle’s path (divers were then linked side-by-side, doubling the size of each concentric circle, and thus doubling the amount of ground covered in a given amount of time), given their own area to search in a similar fashion (using a separate anchor and buoy system), or given a straight line to search using a constant depth, direction (indicated by current) and time, which equated roughly into distance.
More than the entire dive site (600 feet long by 500 feet wide) was dived on and viewed by at least one diver one time. Some areas were consequently seen more than once, and some areas were seen that lay outside of the search area.
Equipment: Two boats were used in this Search and Discovery dive – one Sea Hunt 186 Triton (used for diver transportation, equipped with a bottom profiler for locating anomalies), and a 24-foot Sea Pro Cuddy Cabin, equipped with two side scan sonar units made by Humminbird. Each boat was equipped with two anchors, both buoyed, so that they could be left in the water and returned to at will, and used to mark interesting anomalies while still providing an anchorage for the boats. All associated divers were also equipped with life support, SCUBA gear, spools with double-end, stainless steel bolt snaps, lights, cameras, underwater notes, and knives for cutting possible tangles out of cave line and anchor rode. No safety-related issues were experienced from any of the divers; every dive was conducted professionally without issue. Every diver left the boat and returned to the boat without incident and on time.
Side Scan Sonar: The two side scan sonar units on the 24-foot Sea Pro differed in model number and year of manufacture – one was manufactured in 2007, the other in 2008. Aside from the more recent model having a larger screen for viewing, the only difference was the frequency that the units use. The older unit uses a lower frequency in its sonar, allowing a larger scan area, and some (up to 8 inches) penetration into the bottom. The newer unit provided a more focused view, with more detail – the result of using a higher sonar frequency. Both units were used extensively with the results shown below.
Side scan image looking down to the bottom, directly off of “The Chimney” on right side if picture. Top of picture is in the direction of the ocean, bottom is towards the marina. Line down middle is boat path. Illuminated area reaches out 175 feet on each side of boat. Dark marks are anomalies the divers investigated.
Results: Deep South Divers found that each anomaly was the result of marine growth – that is, the bottom of the area in question was completely covered by smooth, coarse, beach-like sand, with the occasional outcropping of Gargonia, sponge, coral, barnacles, and oyster. Many of these outcroppings were dissected to find out what was at the heart of the outcropping, in hopes that it would be an item of historical significance. Most of the outcroppings had no obvious sign of what created the outcropping in the first place – in most cases, the growth was simply attached to other growth with no core of any other substance. In some cases, the central core of the outcropping was a rock or a shell that was present at one point in time and had given marine life something on which to hold. Some of these outcroppings were two or three feet in height and sometimes four or five feet in diameter, explaining our bottom profiler’s anomalies. Other than these anomalies, the bottom was covered completely in sand with the occasional shellfish, oyster, and crab, much like a beach. This was surprising, since the divers know that most of the Morgan River is covered either in mud or a gravelly outcropping which is the Hawthorne Formation layer underneath of the topsoil.
Directly adjacent to “The Chimney,” the divers found large, man-made clusters of oysters, obvious due to mechanical structure of wire and plastic netting holding the oyster bed together. These clusters consisted of several parts, scattered in front and to the west of “The Chimney.” During high tide, this area was inspected thoroughly so that historically significant structures would not be mistaken for man-made oyster beds, and vice-versa.
A small chunk of tabby was found directly in front of the northeastern most corner of “The Chimney” while inspecting the man-made oyster beds. It was covered in live oyster and had the distinct lack of plastic netting and wire noted in the man-made oyster beds. Having the dimensions 12 inches wide by 19 inches long and eight inches high (and covered in live oyster growth), it was the only piece of tabby - structure - found submerged on the dive site.
Additionally, there was one artifact found on the dive site – one quarter of a broken dinner plate, pie-shaped. As per Deep South Divers’ legal responsibility, it was left at the dive site, but its location was noted for future recovery. This location was upriver (to the west) of “The Chimney,” about 100 feet, and towards the opposite bank (north) about 100 feet. This proved to be the only non-structure man-made artifact found on the site, but there is no assurance that the item is historically significant. This item could have been recently thrown from a passing boat or from someone on the shoreline.
Exhausting the possibilities of finding historically significant artifacts and/or structure, Deep South Divers decided to expand the search area and enlist the side scanners. Searching to the east and setting the limits of the search at the mouth of Jenkin’s Creek, the divers were astounded to find a large, box-like structure on the bottom, near the mouth of the creek. They were excited about the possibility of it being associated with the dive site (perhaps remaining structure, roof parts, wall parts, etc.) Deep South Divers scanned it several times and coordinated dives for the following day. That night, the divers spent time with several experts who all agreed that the structure appeared to be metallic and barge-like, not wooden, tabby, roof or structure-like; thus, probably unaffiliated with the Sams structure or “The Chimney.”