AD 2016 Q1
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survey would take us to the<br />
Fourni archipelago, a group of<br />
13 small islands in the eastern<br />
Aegean Sea just off the coast<br />
of Asia Minor. It has long been<br />
thought that these islands,<br />
right in the middle of ancient<br />
maritime trade routes, could be<br />
very fertile ground for ancient<br />
shipwrecks. It will be quite an<br />
undertaking, and the pressure<br />
on the team is enormous.<br />
I got word from Koutsouflakis<br />
that the mission was on. The<br />
team would be mobilizing in<br />
Athens on Monday, Sept. 14,<br />
2015. The support vessel would<br />
leave Athens that night and<br />
meet the team early Tuesday<br />
morning on the island of Fourni<br />
Korseon.<br />
Eight of us in the Greek<br />
dive team boarded the 4 p.m.<br />
Mykonos Ferry for the 11.5-<br />
hour ride from the port in<br />
Piraeus (Athens) to the Fourni<br />
Islands. The team had packed<br />
dozens of tanks, a rigid inflatable<br />
boat, two vehicles, provisions,<br />
water and a compressor for the<br />
long ride to the islands.<br />
We would meet the rest of<br />
the team on the island. Team<br />
members from the RPM Nautical<br />
Foundation, including survey<br />
co-director Peter Campbell,<br />
would join us that morning.<br />
After a briefing and some firstday<br />
site planning, we readied our<br />
gear for the next morning’s dives.<br />
I think we all knew it would be a<br />
very difficult mission. Mounting<br />
an underwater ancient-wreck<br />
survey from a remote island is<br />
a challenge for any dive team.<br />
The island terrain is difficult<br />
to traverse, and 78 miles of<br />
coastline is mostly accessible<br />
only by water. We established<br />
a base camp on the west side<br />
of the island and a secondary<br />
camp on the east to enhance<br />
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