Martin, our cameraman from The Discovery Channel

It didn’t take long for Martin (cameraman from Discovery) to fit in and get to know each crew member. I was a bit worried that he would be appalled or offended by the talk amongst the crew, but that wasn’t the case. He seemed comfortable and had a knack for getting you to talk to the camera. At the end of the first week, the second cameraman arrived. His name was Toryn, and he too was from London. Toryn was young, tall and good looking. As like Martin, it didn’t take him long to get into the knack of things and be comfortable with the crew.
Martin and Toryn bunked in the same room on the Sea Hunter. The rooms were small and their personal things took up most of the space. So we set up a place in the lounge area for them to store their equipment and edit the footage each night. They were up early with the crew and ready to begin filming each workday. You never knew where one of them would be at any given time. Some of the crew was comfortable in front of the camera and others (like me) were not. I am not a bashful person, but once a camera is on me, I get all tongue tied. (There went my chances of being in the movies). Greg, on the other hand was a natural. He had been interviewed throughout the years on numerous news channels so was completely comfortable in front of the camera. He could joke around or be totally serious, and forget it was even there.
It was the third straight week of rain and cold and we still hadn’t left the dock. This was wearing on everyone’s nerves. Work was still getting done, but tempers were rising slowly with each day. There were a couple crew members that didn’t always see eye to eye and this caused some heated discussions. Neither one of them would back down when they thought they were right. Just like in any house, the kitchen is the heart of the home. The galley was the place to dry off, get a cup of coffee and eat your meals. It was also the place most arguments or disagreements started. Once the voices were raised, either Martin or Toryn would be there in a flash getting it all on film. It was uncomfortable for me to witness many of these exchanges, but the galley is where I spent the majority of my day. I was praying for good weather.

One of security guards

Now it was time to meet the guards. I didn’t understand why we needed guards as we had some big guns aboard and guys that weren’t afraid to use them. Greg explained that since our story was known worldwide and this would be the biggest find to date, he wasn’t taken any chances. So, four ex marines were hired to watch over both ships, M/V Sea Hunter and Son Worshipper. These guys were all ex marines and squared away. Two of the four guards fit in fairly well with the rest of the crew. The other two were a bit boastful and arrogant. But what I appreciated most from them was how clean they were. You didn’t have to ask them once to pick up after themselves, it was automatic. Everything had a place and everything in its place. I came into the galley one day with one of them in the middle of completely scouring it from top to bottom. My kind of guys!
For those of you who are counting, yes, that was 19 people that I was responsible for cooking and cleaning up after. Breakfast was my favorite meal to cook as it didn’t take a lot of planning. Lunch and dinner was a different matter. Greg would help out when possible, but breakfast was his favorite to cook also. We would both try to take control of the galley and brag about who was the better cook. Greg came up with an idea about us doing a reality show. It would be a cooking show that featured us, brother and sister, in the galley, playfully bantering, all while putting out a hearty meal. We would pretend this was the case and off we would go, explaining how and why this was the proper way to cut something up or cook something. If you walked in on the middle of it, you weren’t sure if we were arguing or playing. It got loud at times but a lot of fun. For instance, Greg liked to make his self-proclaimed famous “Greg Burgers.” Each burger was about ¾ to 1 lb. of meat. They were almost impossible to cook on the grill and would usually be raw in the middle. By the time you added the bun and some condiments, the burger was 6” high. You’d think they would be impossible to eat, but not for our crew. These guys loved to eat! Of course, my burgers were normal size and very tasty. Greg would laugh at my burgers and ask the guys for their opinion. Of course they would suck up to the boss and say his was the best, but I knew better. However, I hate to admit, there was one thing that Greg made better, and that is biscuits. His were always perfectly done; flaky, lightly browned and about 2” tall. No matter what I did, mine were like small hockey pucks (color included). The guys always knew who made the biscuits and were ready with the jokes. They could be merciless, however, I took it all in stride on the outside, but swore I would learn to make the best biscuit ever and show them all.