Now having spent enough time on the wreck site to know the difference between a ballast stone and petrified Nike shoe... our motley crew had the daily routine down to a tee! Packing the vans, cleaning & organizing the scuba equipment, as well as filling the air in the tanks for the next day all were part of the daily routine we carried out as a team.
ADMAT team with the Explorer’s Club Flag
As a rule of thumb, there were never designated roles for us as students or volunteers. Every day we did something new - tasks were rotated, teams were changed, and missions were set. In this way, there seemed to be no shortage of fun and interesting things to do. But of course, the real adventure was when things didn’t go to plan... Those were the times that were really memorable. Whether it was trying to get rid of some planks that turned out to be the remnants of a wood barrel, or narrowly rescuing the van from a ditch when the road suddenly gave way… you always had to be prepared for the unexpected.
During our operation, we were honoured to host an exclusive Explorer’s Club Flag for the ADMAT team working on “Le Dragon”. The Explorer’s Club celebrates the accomplishment of scientific enterprises on land, in the sea, and in space.
Professor Simon Spooner
Despite being director of the “Le Dragon” wreck project, Prof. Simon Spooner was a wealth of knowledge in all things nautical, archaeological, and historical. Many a time, when we as volunteers were confused by a blob of metal or something bizarre we had seen… Simon was already ten steps ahead of us knowing the name and purpose of that something that was hardly protruding from the sand and wondering why it was located where it was. Simon constantly reminded us of the importance of context in any given matter, and encouraged us to look beyond the shallow surface to make accurate observations.