Closure of the Oak Island Tourism Society

For the past eight years, the Oak Island Tourism Society has been pursuing its mandate of "tours of Oak Island and a world class interpretive center" and "reinvigorating the interest in Oak Island". The most popular element of their work has been working with the Island landowners to provide annual tours of the island during one weekend over the summer which has become known as Explore Oak Island Days.

Last week the Oak Island Tourism Society announced that they had taken the decision to close down. The reasons given for this were as follows:

* Lack of clear direction from majority land owners and treasure hunters Oak Island Tours Inc. on whether or not we stand any reasonable chance at fulfilling our full mandate.
* We are unable to secure a fixed date for Explore Oak Island Days each year at a facility we feel fits the character, progress and development of the event which has grown each year.

This is indeed a shame, as many of the members of this group will have attended the annual event, which has provided a great opportunity for us to learn more about Oak Island, and meet other enthusiasts from all over the world.

Did you attend Explore Oak Island Days? What memories do you have of the event?

At this stage, it's unclear what the future of the Society may be, or if this poses the opportunity for the emergence of a new group. We must remember that the landowners are by no means obliged to grant access to their property for tours, but in terms of Nova Scotian tourism, how important do you feel access to Oak Island is?

New material in the Oak Island treasure hunt comes to light

Here's a message which appeared on the Oak Island Treasure Forum yesterday from Robert Dunfield's son. (For those who don't know, Dunfield took over excavating Oak Island after the Restall Tragedy in the 1960's.)

It's unusual for new Oak Island material to come to light, given the classified nature of excavation attempts in the past, but this is exciting news.

Robert Jr mentions finding some new material of his father's, including film, photographs and hand drawn sketches. He is currently in touch with Oak Island Tours Inc (the current owners of Oak Island) and is sharing his father's wealth of information which I hope will contribute to a successful dig for the new guys.

It's marvellous that this material has been so well looked after, and as Robert suggests, if it helps with just one simple clue to point people in the right direction, then it would be truly great.

Here's his post from the Forum:


Hi folks:

I hope that all is well with everyone. Much has happened in the past 9 months and I have found some new photographs, reel film and sketches made by my dad, as well as whole new box of correspondence, including several from my dad to the ever knowledgeable and keen eyed treasure hunter D'Arcy.

Anyway, I have sent an email with a picture to Jo to share with the group. Some of you may have seen it and many of you may not have. I also will be making still images available from some of the reel film taken in 1965 that would make for some great individual 8x10 stills framed of various parts of the island and our early heroes (and villains).

I have had the great pleasure of having a wonderful long term correspondence with one of the members of the Michigan group and finally one of the pieces of porcelain that was recovered from the 298' level in the money pit by my dad in 1965 was sent to Oxford University for Thermo-Luminescent Glow Curve Testing. Unfortunately though, it does not date prior to 1800, so I am trying to have a different sample tested - this one with some blue glaze that was recovered from a different level, as well as a small sherd that was brought up in a junk basket from one of the test holes at about the same level in a completely different location. I will share the results as I am able.

There is a whole bunch of other things going on and if possible, I will ask Rick Lagina if I might be able to share some of the things that I have been working on to help in the current venture, to the extent that I am able and always with the hope that any information, new or old, artifacts that have been in the family since the 1960's, reel film, and boxes of paperwork and notes, diaries, etc, etc, and other stuff might in some way add just one simple clue to help point in the right direction. Anything and everything helps, I have learned and fortunately I have saved everything that has been held in my family with the exception of a few gifts of coconut fiber that I used to give as gifts and maybe a few small pieces of wood from deep in the MP.

I have waffled back and forth for the last 5+ years about this treasure on Oak Island versus the geological features and anomalies and I would have to say that I have now swung to about the 90% positive side that a treasure exists on this magnificent island and I am pretty sure that it will be recovered reasonably soon (considering the amount of time already spent in this search...) and will make history that will have people talking for centuries to come.

Talk with you again soon,
Best regards, Robert

Oak Island Treasure Trove Licence update

For those who have been asking 'why is nothing happening?' with the Oak Island treasure hunt, it comes down to Oak Island Tours Inc obtaining the correct paperwork to allow them to dig. Yes, despite actually owning the land, the treasure hunters still need permission from the Nova Scotian government to to look for treasure in their own back yard.

D'Arcy O'Connor, author of The Secret Treasure of Oak Island and The Big Dig kindly provided us with this update yesterday:

"As of today (Sept.17, 2009) Oak Island Tours Inc. (comprising the Michigan Group and Dan Blankenship) still have not received a Treasure Trove License to proceed with work on Oak Island. John MacNeill, who replaced Rick Ratcliffe as Nova Scotia's Registrar of of Mineral and Petroleum Titles this past May, says their application is "still in the conduit", and that he is "hoping it will move soon".

"As you know, OIT Inc. passed the first hurdle last April by getting the necessary Heritage Research Permit from the Nova Scotia Museum, and then was cleared by the Registrar for a TTL. But it first had to be approved by the NS Cabinet and then be given "Royal Assent" by the province's Governor General before being blue-skyed for a final go-ahead. But before that happened, came a change in government, with the NDP now in power, and with new department ministers having to re-read and vote on all pending legislation.

"Another thing MacNeill told me is that the TTL, once issued, will be for a two-year period, unlike the five-year licenses that were issued in the past. However, the permission to dig will begin at the time of issuance, and not date back to when OIT Inc.'s last license expired on June 30, 2008. He has no idea when the application will get through these final hoops, since "as with all things political, one can never tell".

"As for Fred Nolan and Robert Young, their Oak Island TTL applications haven't even passed the HRP stage yet.

"So I doubt that we will see any actual drilling or digging happening on the island during the balance of this year. Bummer!"

So this is frustrating news for all of us, desperate to see the treasure hunt begin on Oak Island again.

How do you feel about this news?

Do you think the need for a Heritage Research Permit from the Nova Scotia Museum is a good idea?

Or do you feel additional government involvement is getting in the way of recovering the treasure?

Oak Island Treasure UK meeting - exclusive video

At the weekend, my website, Oak Island Treasure, was eight years old!

To celebrate this anniversary, I arranged to meet with friends and members of our online community in London, UK.

What better place to meet than the Captain Kidd pub - a wonderful spot on the River Thames built on the site where Kidd was hanged for piracy.

Despite being thousands of miles from Oak Island, we were able to rouse a loose connection to our favourite little island.

I had received requests from quite a few people who expressed sadness that they would miss out on this get together. Some asked if a podcast or video could be made available so you could at least have a flavour of the afternoon.

I managed to make this very short film showing London and the district of Wapping where we met. You'll see from the video that it's an area still dominated by old wharves and docks with many nautical connections still evident in the buildings and place names.

I was unable to capture our actual discussions on film but I hope this will give you an opportunity to see an interesting area of London, some of the UK Oak Island contingent and the chance to giggle at my British accent.

Today's the day for skullduggery, swashbuckling and Oak Island!

It's a beautiful, sunny day in London and I'm getting ready to head out to The Captain Kidd pub in Wapping for the UK Oak Island meeting. I'm hoping other fans of the world's greatest treasure hunt will be joining me for a spot of lunch and plenty of discussion over our favourite hole in the ground!

For those who don't know, Captain Kidd was a privateer during the late 1600's who was famously hanged for piracy at the site where the pub stands today. For many fans of the Oak Island mystery, he's the favourite originator of the Money Pit.

I'll be keeping you up to date on Twitter with how the day progresses, so if you're interested, no matter how far away from London you may be, you can stay tuned: http://www.twitter.com/OakIsland

Oak Island fans unite in New England!

Do you live in New England, USA?

Are you a self confessed Oak Island fan?

Then get Monday October 5th in your diary!

I'll be visiting the area on vacation and a few Oak Island friends have suggested getting together for something to eat and a couple of beers. If we concentrate, there's no reason why we can't have the Money Pit mystery solved by 8pm!

We hope to be there from 5pm, so if you fancy joining us for what I'm assured will be tasty pub grub in Maine's first brew pub, it would be wonderful to meet you.

I've been assured Gritty McDuff's in Portland is the perfect place for us to solve the Oak Island mystery, on a full stomach, of course - http://www.grittys.com/portland.php

Any questions, please drop me an email (oakislandtreasure@gmail.com).

Looking forward to meeting some of you soon!

Jo - http://www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk

Oak Island Treasure UK meeting

It's getting to that time of year again - the annual meeting of UK Oak Island fans!

The event will be taking place on Saturday 22nd August, the date closest to Oak Island Treasure's eighth birthday. Do come and celebrate with us if you can.

This will be our fourth meeting at The Captain Kidd - a pub built on the site of the pirate's final moments before he was hanged.

Last year, we made good progress and felt we were close to solving something - what it was, I'm not sure, but the clues were coming thick and fast.

We'll be talking treasure and piracy over a cheeky pint or two, and aim to have the mystery solved by 4pm.

Here are the details:

When: Saturday 22nd August 2009 from midday

Where: The Captain Kidd Pub, Wapping, London, E1W 2NE

Map: view here