The day NAS came to visit by Cathy de Lara

Two wonderful ladies from the Nautical Archaeology Society (NAS) came to the club last week. They talked to us about the NAS, who they are, what they do, and some of the projects they have worked on. Sara and Karen then told us a bit about their own experiences with Nautical Archaeology.

After this they showed us how they survey a site with tape measures, that was the theory, then it time for the practical…. First there was a datum line (tape measure between two lumps of lead) then spread out was the “treasure” ok, a block of lead, a bone shaped block of lead, and a gold painted block of lead labelled “gold bar” and in pairs all we had to do was measure the various distances from the treasure to the datum, easier said than done, in the pool the tape measures gained a life of their own! It was great fun, then it was on to the second task, there was more treasure under a grid all ready to be drawn.

Unfortunately, I have zero ability to draw and underwater it’s even less, but it was fun to compare each other’s efforts. Thanks to Johno for organising and thanks to the NAS for coming out to educate us and giving us a very enjoyable evening in the process. Now at least I will know what to do should I ever find one of those elusive gold bars!

For more information about the work that Nautical Archaeology Society do, go to: https://www.nauticalarchaeologysociety.org/