Mel Fisher Days, an annual tribute to the rum-and-coke drinking, gold-chain-adorned character remembered as “the world’s greatest treasure hunter” took place July 19-21 in Sebastian, FL, with multiple events held at Mel Fisher’s Treasure Museum and other venues along Indian River Drive.
Fisher, whose life and motto “Today’s the Day” inspired people worldwide to follow their dreams, launched his historical shipwreck salvage career on the Treasure Coast in the early 1960s with his wife, Deo.
Later Fisher achieved worldwide fame and glory with discoveries of the 1622 fleet shipwrecks Santa Margarita (in 1980), followed by the Nuestra Señora de Atocha in July of 1985.
This year’s Mel Fisher Days events celebrated the 39th anniversary of the discovery of the primary cultural deposit – or “motherlode” of the Atocha.
Each year Mel Fisher Days events include an online auction with proceeds benefitting the Michael J. Abt Have a Heart Foundation of Indian River County, whose mission is to ensure that all schools are equipped with Automatic External Defibrillators and that school staff and students are trained in their use in the event of a cardiac emergency, and Wesley House Family Services, a not-for-profit organization whose programs provide crucial support to child welfare and family preservation throughout the Florida Keys.
Both charities are expected to collect over $10,000 from the proceeds of the events.
