Tickets for the 2022 Conference in Vero Beach (October 30th — November 1st) will go on sale to the general public on Monday, August 8 at 8:00 am EST. The link to purchase tickets will be available on the homepage and a news announcement will also be made containing the link to purchase.
Seating is limited to 75. The number of remaining seats available will be shown on the purchase page above where you can select the number of tickets you wish to purchase. So, if you are interested in attending the conference, act fast! We are expecting some brisk sales.
The ticket price is $225 and includes a Continental Breakfast each day of the Conference. Please note that 50% ($112.50) is NON-REFUNDABLE. The 1715 Fleet Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Much of our work is done by volunteers but there are still expenses that come up from outside vendors that have to be met. Many of our expenses for the conference are based on the number of attendees. We believe that this is a reasonable policy so our basic expenses can be met and enough will be left over to make our efforts profitable if cancellations are made.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS:
Sunday, October 30, 2022, Meet and Greet and Book Signing: The three-day program will open on Sunday, October 30 at noon in the Windward Room with a Meet and Greet along with authors who will be present to sign and sell books. The authors attending will be Terry Armstrong, Allen Balogh, Randy Lathrop, Steve Singer, Dave Crooks, Alex Kuze, and Margaret Weller. This is open to all members as well as the public, compliments of the 1715 Fleet Society.
Monday, October 31, 2022, Day 1 Program:
- 8:15 a.m. Continental Breakfast
- 8:45 a.m. Welcome — Ben Costello
- 9:00 a.m. Presentation by Charlie Winn, Advisory Board member. Charlie devotes his time to researching Fleet cobs and tracing their pedigrees often using auction catalogs and books as resources.
- 10:00 – 11:00 a.m. From the archives of Art McKee and Carl Clauson, Karen McKee will talk about “Mysteries of the Fleet” in a two-part presentation. The first part will focus on the early salvage of the Sandy Point wreck and the second half will target the 1715 -16 raids of Henry Jennings and the Cayman Island connection to those raids. Both are fascinating topics.
- 11:15 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Rounding out the morning presentations will be Margaret Weller who will share with us some of her personal reminisces of her time exploring the wreck sites of the 1715 Fleet.
- 12:00 – 1:30 p.m. Lunch Break (on your own)
- 1:30 p.m. Presentation by Terry Armstrong who will summarize current salvor technology as it applies to 1715 Fleet recovery. Terry has been very involved in this technology and will provide information that is sure to be very well received.
- 2:30 p.m. Terry’s presentation will be followed by Steve Workman, a retired U.S. Navy Commander whose Ph.D. dissertation focused on a topic of major importance. To complete his thesis he interviewed a number of salvage and archaeological professionals, including Bob Marx and John de Bry, to name a few. Steve’s findings will be discussed.
- 3:45 p.m. To round out the day, Tom and Terry Neiman will talk about their father Don Neiman. Don Neiman played a key role in a very important and little-known story in the early days of Fleet recovery.
- 4:30 p.m. Closing Comments — Ben Costello
Tuesday, November 1, 2022, Day 2 Program:
- 8:15 a.m. Continental Breakfast
- 8:45 a.m. Welcome — Ben Costello
- 9:00 – 10:00 a.m. Presentation by John de Bry, Advisory Board member. John will talk about the “Mysteries of the Griffon”, the only ship to survive the hurricane that swallowed up the other eleven ships of the 1715 Fleet.
- 10:15 – 11:15 a.m. John will be followed by Vero Beach attorney Ford J. Fegert, who will give us his insight on legal issues pertaining to the finding and recovery of treasures. He will attempt to answer the age-old question — “Can I keep it?”
- 11:15 – 1:00 p.m. Lunch Break (on your own)
- 1:00 – 2:30 p.m. Roundtable discussion regarding new1715 Fleet archival research with a focus on the locations of 1715 Fleet wrecks. Joining in the discussion will be Jorge Proctor, John de Bry, Karen McKee, and others. The roundtable will be moderated by Ben Costello.
- 2:45 p.m. – 4:15 Concluding the day’s events will be a program by Bob Evans who is the Chief Scientist and Historian of the S.S. Central America project. The focus of his presentation will be “Shipwrecks as Time Capsules”.
- 4:15 – 4:45 p.m. Conference Conclusion — Ben Costello
Program times are subject to change.
We look forward to seeing as many attendees as possible at our conference!
