Southern Sun Archaeology

(title unknown):

On my way to learn how to preserve Historical Wooden Ships and their Artifacts:

We, the Captain and I have found an English Cargo Ship at the bottom of the sea off Borneo. It was on its way from Singapore to Macao when it was blown off course, then becalmed, then ran onto the reef in the middle of the South China Sea on the 8th January 1842. She was carrying a cargo of Saltpeter, Rice & Cotton and had two passengers on board, a 22 year old woman Mrs Dare with her two children a 2 month old and 2 year old .........and a Colonel Campbell  who was being re-stationed from Madras to Macau a total of 72 persons on board.  We know this because the 16 year old apprentice on board at the time kept a log and that log was published in the Singapore Times one hundred years after the event and after 4 days of research in the Singapore National  Library we came across this article on microfilm.( I have since found out that the two month old Julius Dare went on to establish Rugby in Japan)

It is a remarkable story and one that will share with you at a later date ............... watch this space  :-) 

I am now on my way to the Netherlands to learn as much as I can from the "experts" about historical wooden ships and their artifacts. I have been looking after the artifacts form the Viscount Melbourne ( I am also salvaging them) and by a "chance meeting in Miri I met an Archaeologist who happened to be in Miri for ONE NIGHT!!!  As Joke waited for her beautiful 16year old daughter to have her nails painted I was having coffee at the shop near by. We acknowledged each other, then I asked her to join me, which she did. It took forever for those nails to be pained and so we girls managed to find out about each others life stories, and I was totally blown away that I should meet he on her on her one and only night Miri 

                                             Myself & Joke on our chance meeting in Miri

Believing as I do that there are no coincidences I understood that I had to whisk her off to "my" artifact room as I craved to have an "expert" guide me, and I also needed to know that I had preserved them correctly......oh by the way, our intention is to have these artifacts go into a museum, they are NOT for our own personal gain.......... So now here I am on my way to visit this very interesting woman, her co- workers and her family