Chris Macort

Chris Macort is living every young boy’s dream.  He spends his days bringing up the treasure of one of the world’s richest pirates.  When swashbuckling Sam Bellamy’s ship The Whydah sank under the stormy waves off the coast of Cape Cod in 1717, she was carrying the loot from 54 successfully pirated vessels in her hull – a total of one 50-pound sack of gold and silver for each of the 146-man crew.

As underwater field archeologist, Chris Macort has spent the last two decades working with explorer Barry Clifford, discovering, unearthing, and displaying the artifacts that shine light on the golden age of piracy.

When good weather permits Chris spends three days out of 10, aboard the team’s excavating vessel, which hovers above the wrecked Whydah, just 1500 feet off shore in the swift ocean currents near Wellfleet, Mass.   On board, Chris handles the propeller-powered excavators, and makes a continual series of scuba dives to sift through the centuries of sand and retrieve countless artifacts from this historic trove of archeological treasure.

Back onshore, Chris acts as Exhibits Director for The Whydah Pirate museums located in West Yarmouth, Provincetown, and the traveling exhibit sponsored by, among others, The National Geographic Society.  Unlike most archeologists who come to their trade by via  traditional academic routes, Chris launched into archeology field first, working on The Whydah.  But there is no lack of his scholarship in his background.  In the course of working on Sam Bellamy’s and the Whydah’s history, Chris spent over a year in London buried deep in the English National Archives studying historic primary sources revealing the real truth of this unique example of piracy’s Golden age.

To learn more about Chris and The Whydah, visit www.discoverpirates.com.