His Wonders In The Deep: Treasures from the Sea #1

When Trevor was young he had a treasure box.It had all kinds of little trinkets in it that he had found. One trinket that I remember was a little melted army man that he found outside of our apartment building in Guam. He named it Army Flash. He treasured all of his little mementos.

Over the years I have also collected little treasures. I acquired most of the items while diving. I realize that these trinkets are not the type of treasures that we should be acquiring in this life . . . . . . but it sure is fun. Of course, my most valued collection is my nautical poetry. Most of these mementos taught me a lesson in the midst of acquiring them.

One day while guiding some Japanese divers on a World War I shipwreck, (SMS Cormoran in Apra Harbor) I came upon a long pipe that someone had pulled out of the bowels of the ship. The wreck sat on its starboard side at about 80 feet. (see description below, courtesy of MDA, Guam)

Because I was guiding recreational divers, it wasn't prudent to penetrate the wreck. We were slowly gliding down the hull of the vessel when I saw this long rusty pipe. The pipe was covered with encrustations that had been growing on the pipe since the ship was scuttled at the beginning of WW I. I noticed a bulbous mass at one end of the pipe so I unsheathed my dive knife and gave the bulb a whack with my knife. Why did I do that, you say? Because I knew from experience that sea growth can hide treasures. As my knife passed through the sea growth, a beautiful brass covered interior was exposed. I knew that there was something brass in the mass.

When I got home I continued to clean up the brass object and found out that it was a valve handle. The Cormorant was be re-fitted in Guam and that is the reason why you can see the words "open" on the picture where the valve is upside down.