The summer of 2024 brought to light an amazing find off the shore of Long Island. It has been downplayed in the press due to fears by the Institute of North American Maritime Archeology, based in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, that unscrupulous treasure hunters and novice historians would raid the site. I discovered it while working on another story about the conflict between ocean scallopers and windmill issues. The scallopers don’t miss a thing when they are out making their living on the sea and they talk. Rumors thrive, stories and suspicions arise and I had to get to the bottom of what was happening. I made straight for Woods Hole this past June (2025).
I was greeted by Dr. Sloan Finn, Director of the Institute. We had lunch at a local seafood joint named “The Empty Clam.” I had the New England clam chowder and instantly knew how the joint got its name.
Dr. Finn made me promise not to reveal any of what I have written here. I agreed, but had my fingers crossed behind my back, so it didn’t count. (Sucker!) He told me that when the windmill company, Break Wind Inc., was doing ground radar to position the windmills offshore, they came upon a cluster of hits they believed to possibly be unknown wrecks. They pulled up some planks of wood and had them carbon dated to the 14th century (1300-1400 CE) and were from a European source. They immediately alerted Dr. Finn at the institute. He readied the Institute’s newly christened sea exploration ship Nothing Found and made for the coordinates supplied by Break Wind Inc. I was privileged to accompany the adventure to do sketches if they should come across anything of historical value. (No photos were initially allowed)
We left Woods Hole, crossed Block Island Sound, then headed into the Atlantic, paralleling Long Island’s coast just over the horizon. At nightfall, I spotted the Fire Island Lighthouse’s flash, which is exactly one flash every 7 ½ seconds. I agreed to turn in my cell phone and any other devices to Dr. Finn so that no coordinates could be recorded by me since they were top secret. The divers and crew also complied. Unfortunately, Dr. Finn is a very trusting man, more absorbed with his work than the practicalities of life. I just handed in my ancient non- functioning Blackberry and kept my iPhone in my pocket with its Nautical Global Positioning app on. More about the specifics later. We anchored about 14 miles off Long Island. The water was not very deep, and as the sun came up full strength, the two divers, Ned and his twin brother Ned, suited up and readied to dive. They were using tanks with rebreather technology and had excellent communication abilities with Dr. Finn up top. I found it interesting that Dr. Finn displayed an odd color green complexion once we had left Woods Hole and my suspicions were confirmed as his breakfast went overboard. A nautical archeologist who gets seasick. Wonderful!
At 10:30 a.m., Ned and his twin Ned proceeded to the sea bottom following the anchor and a wreck marker line. They carried a mobile sand blower and two granola bars, which made me question how they would eat them with dive masks on. I never figured that out, yet they did not return with them. They also had a live camera feed to Dr. Finn’s computer so we could monitor them in real time. When they reached the bottom, the Neds found the visibility to be fairly clear. It was a sandy bottom with some plant life and occasional small rocks here and there. They swam cautiously away from the anchor line and came across a big cooler weighted down with an anchor and chain. Ned and Ned got excited and were going to open it when I strenuously advised them to just let it be. They noted my last name and decided I knew best. At first, nothing else seemed to catch their attention and they communicated topside that they felt they were on a fool’s errand. Since they were not in very deep water, they could remain down for quite a while. Neither “The Bends” nor decompression would be a factor. Topside told the Ned’s to give it a while longer as ground penetrating radar was showing some strange shapes just below the ocean floor about 35 ft. north of where they were. The Neds swam over to the area and used the blower to disturb the surface. It didn’t take long for them to find some of the anomalies about a foot below the sandy ocean floor.
Seeing an object appear, they used their hands to gently brush the sand away. Ned (Who knows which one?) picked up a 5 ft. heavily carbuncled object in his hands and made for the surface as the other Ned trailed behind. They boarded the research vessel and handed it to Dr. Finn, who immediately placed it in a tank of specially treated water to preserve the object. Then we all sat on the deck as Dr. Finn, his hands shaking nuttily, announced, “Do you recognize the shape of that object? Even with all the crust and carbuncles on it, I know what it is!!.” Frankly, he was getting a bit too hysterical for me. Then he jumped up and danced around like a little girl at her first recital, yelling, “It’s a 14th-century Templar Sword!!” I said nothing and downed another Corona Light, which is not really beer but more like a rather fizzy, bitter “Girly-man” soft drink!
We immediately made our way back to Dr. Finn’s Lab at Woods Hole. After hours of doodling with his fancy equipment, it turned out he was right. A Knight’s Templar sword. The once great guardians of the Holy Land, who were driven out by the Moslems at the end of the 13th century, but not before they removed years of accumulated treasure back to France. The French King and the Pope at that time were very greedy little puppies and they arrested and killed the Knights Templar leaders on a Friday the 13th in 1313 CE to take their treasure. That’s why Friday the 13th became known as a bad luck day. I recently tested this old wives’ tale by gambling my entire IRA on a Friday the 13th in stock of an upstart company developing a new brand of warm ice cream that plummeted and I lost it all. You can’t make this stuff up. In any event, many of the Knights escaped with the loot to their waiting fleet in Portugal. From their new base in Portugal and renaming themselves as the Knights of St. John, they cargoed the treasure of gold, silver, and jeweled artifacts from underneath the remains of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, the Chalice from the last supper and the famous “Ark of the Covenant’’ clad in gold, and alleged to hold Mose’s original Ten Commandments inside and sailed off to secretly stash all of it in what was to become called “The Americas”. Could this be one of the Templar ships laden with treasure?
As of this writing, Dr. Finn and the Neds have been back on site many times. They have pulled many treasures and implements from the site. So far, they are pretty sure that this is one vessel of the Templar Fleet that met its demise not far from our shore. I have accompanied them and have done drawings of what they have reclaimed so far, since they allow no photos other than what Dr. Finn takes and he has become a trite shady as things progress. He recently bought himself a new Rolls-Royce. Have you ever known a studious, introverted archaeologist to own anything new? Heck, before this, his pants were threadbare and the sole of one shoe flapped. Now he’s dressing like an overweight Brad Pitt. At this point, it’s only a suspicion. The Ned brothers don’t seem to be “none for the wear” either.
When this gets to National Geographic or The Explorers Club, it will rewrite the history of North America. Columbus Day will become Knights Templar Day. Italians like me will have to settle for a ‘National Pasta Day.” I am no longer associated with Dr. Finn, as we had a rather harsh falling out on board his vessel, Nothing Found, which involved a knife and the crew rescuing Dr. Finn from the water. That’s all I’m going to say about that! So, let me que you in on a deal for anyone adventurous. It just so happens that the wreck is still filled with a fortune of treasure to be recovered. Its debris field is over a mile long. It has also been noted that there seem to be an additional two ships within a quarter mile of the one being worked. Could this be an entire Templar fleet lost in a storm? Guess what? I have all the coordinates on my phone! All you New York amateur treasure divers out there! Forget the San Diego and the Coimbra wreck. We can make a sweet deal! I’ll give you the co-ordinates and we’ll split the treasure, 50% for you and 85% for me! You say it doesn’t add up? Does anything in life?
Copyright 2026 by Mark C. Nuccio. All rights reserved for both the story and the illustrations.
You can reach Mark with comments and a multitude of complaints at Marksea46@ gmail.com