Original subtitles

narrator: Tonight on "The Bermuda Triangle:

Into Cursed Waters"...

- This is maybe one of the most tragic stories

we've come across in the Bermuda Triangle.

[dramatic music]

- To the yachting world, my grandfather was a giant.

narrator: A racing yacht helmed by a champion skipper

never arrives in port.

- We have a highly experienced skipper,

and yet they disappeared.

narrator: Did a freak anomaly send her to her doom?

- I actually study the Bermuda Triangle of space.

- So the compass could have been affected?

- Absolutely.

narrator: The team looks for the wreck.

- This might be our target.

This wreck looks like a sailboat.

narrator: And answers for two sisters

orphaned by the Bermuda Triangle.

- Everything in my world vanished.

♪ ♪

narrator: There is a place

that evokes fear and fascination.

Bounded by Florida, Bermuda, and Puerto Rico,

the Bermuda Triangle has swallowed countless ships,

planes, and people.

♪ ♪

Now an elite team is on the hunt...

- Dive, dive, dive.

narrator: And making big finds.

- We've discovered "Challenger."

narrator: Their secret weapon,

a wreck map, decades in the making.

- These are dangerous dives.

- Ahh!

- Any sane person would not be doing this.

narrator: Their mission, solve the mystery

of the Bermuda Triangle one wreck at a time.

- Dude, are you seeing this?

- Mother Nature is going to take these wrecks away.

The clock is ticking.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- What drives us is just the sense of exploration.

It's that thrill of discovery,

to lay eyes on something that no one's seen

for sometimes hundreds of years.

It's a challenge.

Can we find it? Where is it?

Why hasn't anyone else found it?

It's exhilarating.

♪ ♪

narrator: It's another sun-drenched morning

in Miami, Florida.

Most of the city's residents

are still sleeping off the night before.

♪ ♪

But wreck divers Mike Barnette and Jimmy Gadomski

are already on the move in their ongoing mission

to solve the mysteries of the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

Today, they're headed to a pair of dive targets

just off the Miami coast,

hoping to solve a 60-year-old Bermuda Triangle tragedy,

the disappearance of a racing yacht named "Revonoc."

- What we know is, she departed Key West.

She headed up here to Miami.

We're basically towards the northern end of that journey.

- We have a couple targets right here and here.

- This is maybe one of the most tragic stories

we've come across in all of our Bermuda Triangle,

you know, lost ships.

It's because it was only five people on board,

but four of them were all from one family.

♪ ♪

narrator: New Year's Day, 1958,

"Revonoc" is a brand-new Sparkman-Stephens

43-foot-long racing yacht

owned by champion ocean racer Harvey Conover.

- My grandfather was a big man with a very big life.

Harvey Conover Sr. was one of the most trophied yachtsmen

in the world.

He had sailed in many ocean races and won many of them.

♪ ♪

"Revonoc" is Conover backwards.

I think my grandfather loved his name.

[chuckles]

narrator: Conover's latest boat is a custom design

he's been sailing up the Florida coast

with his wife Dorothy,

their son and former Coast Guard officer Larry,

daughter-in-law Lori,

and family friend Bill Fluegelman.

- I don't think you could have picked a more experienced

and better crew than the people that were

aboard the "Revonoc" that day.

narrator: The 110-mile trip from the Florida Keys to Miami

should be an easy two-day sale.

[thunder rumbles]

But on January 2nd, out of nowhere,

a storm catches the entire region by surprise.

- This is the kind of weather that you see

in the Bermuda Triangle.

It was just unexpected. Nobody predicted it.

- 70-mile-an-hour winds.

30-foot swells.

I mean, you're going to be bouncing around

out there, to say the least.

I mean, it's a nightmare.

♪ ♪

narrator: The Coast Guard tows dozens

of vessels back to port,

but there's no sign of "Revonoc."

♪ ♪

- So you have a highly experienced skipper

who has won many trophies.

You have a member of the Coast Guard on board.

And yet they disappear without a trace.

♪ ♪

- To the yachting world, my grandfather was a giant.

And Harvey Conover would not fail ever.

narrator: The disappearance stuns the boating community

and makes national headlines.

- There were something like 30 ships involved

in the search and rescue effort.

Not only the United States Coast Guard,

but believe it or not, also the Cuban Navy as well.

There were many other ships that were caught in this storm,

and of all of them, it is the "Revonoc" that goes missing.

- There was just one piece of debris

that washed up on shore,

the small dinghy that was on board.

And that came up about 80 miles north of Miami.

narrator: That leaves a massive search area,

roughly 15,000 square miles,

starting from the location of the dinghy

and stretching into the Triangle.

The two dive targets are near where the dinghy was found,

and preliminary scans suggest

a match for the "Revonoc."

[upbeat music]

Target one is 80 miles north of Miami.

- Dive, dive, dive.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- You good?

- I'm OK.

narrator: Conditions are perfect.

♪ ♪

But something's not right.

♪ ♪

Sonar showed a target here.

But so far, there's nothing but sand in every direction.

♪ ♪

Then, suddenly, they spot something ahead.

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

Up top, safety diver Kiki Dee has been watching

over the divers like a hawk.

- Bag up.

narrator: She's surprised to see them surface so soon.

- So what did you guys see?

- It had all the makings of a great dive.

Great visibility. Warm water.

Just no wreck.

♪ ♪

narrator: After a disappointing first dive,

the team pushes on to target number two.

- Picking up something.

A little bit.

- Now circle around the starboard and same thing.

♪ ♪

- Huh? - Ah...

- Huh? - Huh?

- Huh? - A little something there.

narrator: But Barnette isn't so sure.

- You're not seeing any connectivity to the bottom?

You're seeing... you see underneath it?

- Yep.

- So it's probably another line of lobster traps again.

- Yeah. - We're not reading wreckage.

- Yeah, that's not what we're looking for.

- Yeah.

narrator: Another miss.

♪ ♪

After a frustrating day, they head back to port.

♪ ♪

- It's not always Mai Tais and Yahtzee.

♪ ♪

There are times you go out, and you're culling

through all your targets, and you find nothing.

- It takes us a while to do this.

We're out there day in and day out,

and when we have one of those big discoveries, it's great.

That feeling is amazing.

♪ ♪

I mean, we found a piece of the "Challenger."

We've made six new discoveries

in and outside of the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

But when we go out and we're searching

and searching, and nothing's turning up

day after day, it's discouraging.

- Not getting that adrenaline rush

can be really demoralizing.

You have periods of just... where you just

almost want to give up.

♪ ♪

narrator: But to Mike and Jimmy,

the mission is too important.

- Each wreck is telling us a story,

a story of why it went down.

A lot of times, we're dealing with casualties on the wrecks.

And we're able to link some of these stories

together for their families even

and bring the families closure.

♪ ♪

narrator: As a new day dawns over Miami,

Mike, Jimmy, and Kiki put the frustration of yesterday

behind them and set out once again in search of "Revonoc."

♪ ♪

They're heading to a backup target called Joe's Wreck.

Like yesterday's targets,

Joe's Wreck lies north of Miami

within the search area in which

they think "Revonoc" sank.

- This is a site that first came to our attention

to myself and to a good friend of mine, Joe Citelli,

and we always wanted to get out here.

It was on our radar, but time and circumstances

always prevented us from doing a more thorough investigation

of the site.

♪ ♪

- We should be coming up on it right here.

- Starting to mark more. Yeah, there we go.

- There it is. - There, OK.

- That structure. - Yup.

- Yes.

- You want to set up a drift,

and then we'll drop the camera in?

narrator: The depth finder shows a significant structure

nearly 300 feet down on the ocean floor,

more than twice as deep

as yesterday's disappointing targets.

At this depth, after just 20 minutes on the bottom,

the divers will need two hours of decompression time

before they can resurface.

Another miss would mean another day wasted.

- Dropping!

narrator: So before diving in, the team pulls out a trick

of the wreck hunter's trade.

They call it wreck fishing.

- How far?

- About 20 seconds.

♪ ♪

- It's almost 300 feet.

If we're doing this dive and not finding the wreck,

we have to scrub the day.

So this is a way to get basically intel

on what's on the bottom to see if it's worth actually

suiting up and doing the dive.

♪ ♪

narrator: As Barnette lowers an underwater camera

from a fishing line, Jimmy positions the boat,

hoping to capture the first images of Joe's Wreck.

- We are pinging the target on the depth finder!

♪ ♪

narrator: With wreck fishing, there's no live feed.

Barnette must reel in the camera

to see what lies below.

- All right, let's see what we got this time.

♪ ♪

Oh, there's some wreck, something on the bottom.

Oh, there it is. Ahh!

I just hit it.

Oh, man.

- Oh, there it is. There it is.

Oh, yeah. - That's a lot of wreckage.

[dramatic music]

narrator: Just north of Miami, the dive team

is on the hunt for "Revonoc," a legendary sailing yacht

that disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle

65 years ago.

♪ ♪

They're probing an unidentified wreck

nicknamed Joe's Wreck,

which lies in the area they believe "Revonoc" sank.

- [grunts] Man.

narrator: Their wreck fishing expedition

has landed them a major catch.

- This looks promising.

I mean, this looks like wreckage on the bottom.

It's not a barge, that's for sure.

- No. And you've seen the beams.

It's old too.

You can see it's... you see the outline of it.

It's sanded over a little bit.

- This one was of great interest

because we're looking for the "Revonoc,"

and we could see kind of a mast sticking up.

It definitely caught my attention.

- This is the first stage of basically recon.

So we are planning to head back to the dock,

regroup, and dive this at the next opportunity.

narrator: Back on land, Mike and Jimmy meet up

with fellow team member, historian David O'Keefe,

to review their footage of Joe's Wreck.

- We have this debris that's coming across here.

- Yeah, look at it.

- Now we can see we're coming up on this wooden structure.

And then, right as we come to the one side,

we have this, like, beam sticking up.

I'm not sure what it could be.

Like, maybe a potential mast.

- So what kind of vessel?

I mean, what could this be?

- It's really hard to pinpoint the vessel,

but it's definitely something small and wooden.

Looks roughly 50 feet long.

- I think we need to dive this.

- OK.

I'm going to get in touch with the land team,

and we're going to see if we can maybe

get in touch with the family.

- It'd be great for some insider intel on this.

narrator: The team splits up to follow the trail.

As Mike and Jimmy plan for a full dive on Joe's Wreck,

Dave joins Wayne Abbott in Puget Sound, Washington,

to follow up a crucial lead in the "Revonoc's"

mysterious disappearance.

- I made contact with the granddaughter

of Harvey Conover.

This could be key because, you know,

sometimes the families hold on to a lot of stuff

that just isn't available elsewhere.

[projector whirring]

♪ ♪

- We found it a few months ago.

- You only found this a few months ago?

- Yeah. - Really?

Where did you find it? - Well, it was in a box.

[laughs]

There was a box of a lot of footage.

- Yeah.

narrator: Sarah and Aileen Conover

were 18 months and three years old

when their parents and grandparents

disappeared on "Revonoc."

- Our adopted mother had a lot of these boxes,

which she could never open.

It was too...she said it felt like it happened yesterday.

She could not open these boxes.

So we finally did.

- There it is. - There it is.

- Wow, look at it.

It's beautiful. - Isn't that a beautiful boat?

- Now, this is really interesting,

to see the actual bottom of the...

- I know. - Look at the name on it.

- Look at that. - You can see the keel.

- Oh, this is fantastic. The dive team will love this.

- Oh, it's so much better than just seeing it

in black-and-white photos.

narrator: Captured in the reel are important clues

that could help the dive team ID

the shipwreck they have found...

- Guys, look at that right there.

narrator: The design of the ship's keel...

- This is excellent. - There's the compass.

narrator: And the navigational equipment

Harvey Conover had on board.

- That's my grandfather. - Wow.

- That's Harvey. - Yeah, that's Harvey.

And there's our father. - Where?

Which one? - Second to the right.

♪ ♪

- What's it like to watch this footage after so many years?

- It's sort of a dream

because we didn't know them hardly at all.

So it's pretty amazing to see this

and just follow them.

I mean, it certainly makes it more real.

♪ ♪

narrator: Today, Sarah and Aileen know their parents

disappeared but little else.

♪ ♪

It is a mystery that has shaped their whole lives.

♪ ♪

How could their grandfather, an experienced skipper

at the helm of a state-of-the-art yacht,

fail to return to port when so many others did?

It was hardly his first encounter with a storm.

- My adoptive mother, Fran, was with Harvey

during a horrendous storm with, she says, mountainous seas.

So what Harvey did was go before the wind,

which means you just set out sea anchors behind you

to slow things down.

And you just go the way the wind is pushing you.

And he knew those waters so well.

He knew his navigation.

- Yeah, that's the other question we have,

actually, is what kind of communication

and what kind of navigation systems did they have?

- Compass, also, they had a receiver,

but not a transmitter.

- A receiver, but not a transmitter.

- Yeah.

- So he couldn't radio anyone when they got in trouble?

- Distress, no, he couldn't.

He had said, oh, the lines are always busy anyway.

So a little bit of hubris, perhaps.

- Really? - Mm.

- Not cavalier, but just like,

he's been through almost everything.

♪ ♪

narrator: Armed with only a compass and his wits,

Harvey Conover would have contended

with 70-mile-per-hour winds and 30-foot swells.

- Based on your research, how do you think

his personality went up against the storm?

♪ ♪

- I think they would have done what

he did with Fran, which is turn the boat

and go with the wind.

♪ ♪

And we have some evidence of that because

they'd been seen by a shrimp boat.

- There was an eyewitness account

of seeing the "Revonoc"?

- Yeah.

- This would have been the last thing they sent out

before they sailed.

narrator: Team members David O'Keefe

and Wayne Abbott are on the trail

of the racing yacht "Revonoc,"

which disappeared in the Bermuda Triangle.

[dramatic music]

Now there's an important new clue,

a potential eyewitness sighting

from "Revonoc's" final hours.

- This wasn't reported in any newspapers.

I found it in the deposition in the court later.

Turns out there was a in-person sighting of my family's boat

by a shrimp boat called the "Surf."

narrator: January 3, 1958,

the "Surf," a shrimp boat, has also been caught in the storm.

Its motor is out.

As it awaits rescue, it catches sight

of a sailing boat in an even more dire situation.

- How far away were they?

- Not very far.

They could see them pretty well.

♪ ♪

It was a white boat, almost capsized.

♪ ♪

The captain said there were four people

hanging on lines behind the boat,

waving frantically.

But the crew member... there was one crew member...

said, no, there were five people.

So that matches.

♪ ♪

That's a horrible vision

of how it must have been for them.

Although, I do picture my grandfather

being kind of mad at everyone.

You know... [laughs]

He was that kind of guy, shaking his fist.

- Do you know where the location of the sighting was?

- The shrimp boat was fishing

off the southeast corner of Miami.

The "Surf" said they went faster

than they were drifting

right by in a southeasterly direction.

narrator: It's a compelling clue.

If the shrimp boat sighting is accurate,

it means "Revonoc" sank south of Miami.

Joe's Wreck is still a suspect

because it's near the washed-up dinghy.

But the team needs to consider new targets in the area

of the shrimp boat sighting.

♪ ♪

Back in Florida, Dave shares the new intel

with the dive team.

- That was the "Revonoc"? - Yeah.

- It's amazing you got this footage.

♪ ♪

- So she had a little diesel engine.

She doesn't have a very deep keel at all.

I wouldn't want to be on her in 20-foot seas.

But yeah, this is very useful because we're seeing

the layout of the vessel.

Oh, you see the skiff there?

That's what washed up in Jupiter, right?

- Yeah, exactly, it ended up in Jupiter

roughly about three to four days after.

But then...and this could be a curveball for you guys...

the family mentioned there was a potential sighting

of "Revonoc" in trouble.

And this was from a shrimp boat.

They saw a sailboat come by.

It was in complete distress.

And this was somewhere in the general area

south, southeast of Miami.

♪ ♪

narrator: Mike and Jimmy know of another target nearer

to the shrimp boat sighting in their expanded search area.

♪ ♪

- We do have a target in the northern Keys.

It's a small wreck, thought to be a sailboat

by some spearfisherman.

♪ ♪

narrator: As Mike and Jimmy

prepare to dive this new target,

as well as Joe's Wreck...

♪ ♪

Dave and Wayne are still pursuing the mystery

of how an experienced captain could have disappeared.

One theory is that there was a flaw in "Revonoc's" design.

♪ ♪

The investigation takes them to Northern Maine

to meet with Phil LaFrance, an expert

on Sparkman-Stephens' yachts with 40 years of experience.

Few skippers know these yachts better than Phil.

- So this is your baby. - This is my baby.

- So what we're looking at then is pretty much

an identical replica of the "Revonoc"?

- Yes, exactly.

Same boat, I think, to every dimension.

- So we know that Conover and his family

were stuck in 70-mile-an-hour winds.

- Right.

- How does this vessel hold up in that?

- This boat has actually been in that scenario.

♪ ♪

My brother took this boat to Bermuda in 1980.

It was a famous storm that actually a lot of people

died in that storm.

♪ ♪

A lot of the wood on the outside of the boat

got damaged.

Think about all the drawers are flying open.

♪ ♪

Screws were propelled and sticking into the wall

on the other side.

But this was the only boat that showed up

in Bermuda with a mast up.

- That's just amazing to hear.

- The whole key of it is, if you can get her in the wind

and keep it in the wind, you'll probably survive it.

♪ ♪

- So it really sounds like this is

an incredibly sturdy vessel.

- They're still making boats like this.

If any boat's going to survive something like that,

this design would be a perfect choice.

♪ ♪

- So who's to blame?

- Nobody.

You got a very experienced captain and crew,

a family that probably have sailed together

for years and years.

They had a new boat.

I think the boat could take it.

♪ ♪

But you know, it's just...it's all

the draw of the cards.

♪ ♪

narrator: The land team leaves the shipyard,

confident there is no flaw in "Revonoc's" design

that could explain her disappearance.

♪ ♪

Meanwhile, Mike and Jimmy are ready to make another dive.

♪ ♪

They're hitting the new target near where a shrimp boat

reported a vessel in distress that may have been "Revonoc."

♪ ♪

- We're still trying to ping more structure on the bottom.

We're getting more fish than anything.

But as we know, wrecks hold fish,

and the fish lead us to the wreck on the bottom.

And that's a wreck right there.

That is 100% a wreck.

Sweet.

[dramatic music]

narrator: Mike Barnette and Jimmy Gadomski

are diving a new target in search

of an iconic racing yacht, "Revonoc," which vanished

in the Bermuda Triangle.

- Set us up, Frank.

Just get us over that target.

narrator: It's one of two leads they're

investigating based on a promising but unconfirmed

eyewitness report.

- Dive, dive, dive.

♪ ♪

narrator: Smalltooth sawfish are

an unusual deep sea sighting.

But it is what lies behind the fish that they came for.

♪ ♪

Oh! [laughs]

Ha-ha!

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

♪ ♪

narrator: There are no identifiable markings.

But suddenly, a telltale clue.

The divers take a closer look at the vessel's hull,

and they may have their answer.

♪ ♪

narrator: Meanwhile, 3,000 miles away,

David and Wayne arrive in Los Angeles, California,

to investigate another theory on why "Revonoc" sank

in spite of the sailing prowess of its skipper,

Harvey Conover.

Their investigation has revealed that "Revonoc"

was a tough boat, more than capable

of withstanding the storm.

But was there something about the gear

she was carrying that spelled her doom?

In particular, her compass.

- So, Dave, I came across this cool research.

At the time the "Revonoc" went missing,

there was a spike in solar activity.

- Solar activity? - Yeah.

- That could take a yacht out?

- Well, don't know for sure, but we're going

to go meet an expert who's been studying

this phenomena for years.

And get this, she goes by the handle Space Weather Woman.

- That's outside the box.

narrator: Tamitha Skov is a scientist who specializes

in solar activity and its effects on the Earth.

♪ ♪

- When the Sun has a sunspot or a sunspot cluster

that merges on the Sun's surface,

kind of like a submarine, if you think

of the Sun's surface as like an ocean,

it'll fire off solar flares, solar storms,

and the solar radiation storms, sometimes all at the same time.

♪ ♪

- What is it like when it arrives on Earth,

and how does it impact directly ships at sea?

- It takes about two to four days to reach Earth.

♪ ♪

It slams into the Earth's big magnetic shield,

and that causes it to rock and roll,

which then causes compasses to kind of wiggle

and do all sorts of strange things.

♪ ♪

narrator: Since the days of Christopher Columbus,

mariners have described strange compass anomalies

in the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

The team has even heard about this firsthand

while investigating another Bermuda Triangle mystery

in the Bahamas.

- At one point, it just started spinning.

- The compass started spinning?

- The compass started spinning.

It was the strangest thing I've ever seen.

♪ ♪

narrator: Tamitha thinks space weather could explain

these compass anomalies.

- You all have been looking at the Bermuda Triangle,

but I actually studied the Bermuda Triangle of space.

narrator: This Bermuda Triangle of space

is officially named the South Atlantic Anomaly.

It's an area just above the Earth known to wreak havoc

on spacecraft that enter it.

- It's a weakness in our Earth's magnetic field

near Brazil and Chile.

It causes issues for satellites and for airlines.

♪ ♪

narrator: In 2008, a solar storm was the leading suspect

in an onboard computer malfunction

that suddenly sent a Qantas A330 Airbus

into an uncontrolled nosedive.

♪ ♪

The pilot managed to make an emergency landing,

but not before 100 of the terrified passengers

sustained broken bones and lacerations

from being thrown about the plummeting aircraft.

- Does the South Atlantic Anomaly...

does it stretch into what we call the Bermuda Triangle?

- It absolutely does.

The northern tip of it actually stretches

clear up into the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

narrator: Tamitha's research reveals an uncanny coincidence

in the case of "Revonoc."

Her disappearance coincides exactly

with a massive solar storm.

- So you're saying that on January 1st,

there was a solar storm?

- Yes, and it didn't really calm down until about the 3rd.

- So possibly the "Revonoc's" compass could have been

affected by this solar storm?

- It is absolutely likely.

♪ ♪

narrator: A violent storm at sea

and on the surface of the Sun.

♪ ♪

Was Harvey Conover fighting not just 30-foot swells,

but a compass spinning out of control

right when he needed it most?

♪ ♪

What happened in those final hours?

The only way to find out is to find the wreck.

narrator: In Florida, Mike and Jimmy are back

from diving one of two potential targets

for the legendary racing yacht "Revonoc."

- OK, I'm going to start playing it for you.

[dramatic music]

We found a sailboat.

- Really?

- Fit all the dimensions,

everything that we're looking for.

- Same size? Same...

- Same size. Same everything.

But the "Revonoc" was a wooden wreck.

- Yeah.

- The hull of the sailboat that we found

was fiberglass.

♪ ♪

So we were able to rule out the "Revonoc."

♪ ♪

- Were you able to make an ID on this one?

- Unfortunately not. I mean, these are very common.

I mean, the coast of Florida is littered with small vessels,

sailboats, powerboats.

This is just one of those.

It could have been towed out, disposed of.

Could have been sunk during a hurricane.

- So what do you suggest we do now?

- Well, we still have Joe's Wreck,

that one site off Miami that is a wooden-hulled wreck.

It is really broken down, which you'd expect

for a wooden-hulled vessel from almost 60 years ago.

So I think we need to get eyes on that and do a dive on it

and see what we come up with.

- OK.

narrator: The divers head back to Joe's Wreck,

a battered, wooden-hulled vessel 300 feet down

and the team's best shot at finding "Revonoc."

- Throwing!

♪ ♪

- This is the site we did the drop camera.

Now we have a chance to actually dive on Joe's Wreck

and find out what it is.

♪ ♪

- It looked like there was a lot of debris on the bottom.

We could see kind of a mast sticking up.

♪ ♪

We don't know till we get in the water,

but this looks like a potential candidate

for the "Revonoc."

- Hey, Frank, walk to the back.

- Dive, dive, dive.

♪ ♪

narrator: The divers approach the ocean floor,

300 feet down.

[equipment beeps]

♪ ♪

narrator: At this depth, the team have just 15 minutes

to find anything that could tie this wreck to "Revonoc."

♪ ♪

- [laughing] - Whoo-hoo!

- I dropped in.

I was probably about 50-foot north of the wreck.

I saw some fish come out.

I saw the dark spot there, and then came right

on the stern of the wreck.

♪ ♪

We had a lot of wood that was buried under the sand.

There was still some intact wood.

♪ ♪

We were looking for any kind of artifact that would

be able to identify the wreck.

- Sometimes we could find something with a date on it,

or a stamp on it, or, in best cases,

we'll have something that has the name of the wreck on it.

♪ ♪

narrator: They measure the wreck,

search for artifacts...

♪ ♪

And take a closer look at the mast-like object

they discovered with their dropcam.

♪ ♪

All too soon, time's up.

[alarm beeping]

narrator: Mike and Jimmy head to the surface

to share their findings with the land team.

[dramatic music]

♪ ♪

- This is a huge Bermuda Triangle mystery.

The family does not know what has happened.

It would be great to identify the "Revonoc"

and provide them with the grave site

of their loved ones.

♪ ♪

narrator: In Miami, Florida, Mike and Jimmy

have completed their dive on a broken down wooden vessel

they call "Joe's Wreck."

- So what do you got?

narrator: Is it the legendary racing yacht "Revonoc"?

- It's a wooden wreck, low lying,

kind of what you expect for a wreck that's

been down 60-plus years.

- As you can see, lots of debris.

- Yeah.

- As we started sifting through things,

we found what we would expect on a sailboat.

- Wow.

- We definitely had a wooden vessel here.

A single-screw engine.

We found kitchenwares

and spare parts, it looked like.

And then, as we came around the stern,

remember we saw that...

what we thought may have been a mast?

- Yeah, yeah.

♪ ♪

- It was camouflaged with encrustation,

so it looked dark, like wood or metal.

♪ ♪

But once you wipe it away, you could see

it was clearly white PVC pipe.

- PVC?

How long have we been using PVC for?

- Probably dates to the early '60s or so.

Not only that, we started seeing pieces

of flat plexiglass, probably for the cabin wheelhouse.

This was not a well-appointed vessel.

It was more of a work boat.

We're finding more utilitarian fittings.

We saw tires that are typically used

as fenders on fishing boats.

- So in other words, not the kind of stuff

that you would find on a finely crafted vessel like "Revonoc."

- Definitely, it's one of those wrecks

that it's good from far, but far from good.

♪ ♪

narrator: PVC pipe, plexiglass,

thick tires for fenders,

and at 74 feet, too long.

- This is probably a fishing vessel.

We weren't able to give a positive identification,

but obviously it wasn't what we're looking for.

It wasn't the "Revonoc."

♪ ♪

narrator: Two promising targets for "Revonoc"

have turned out to be two new discoveries

whose journeys also ended in the Bermuda Triangle.

- We know "Revonoc's" out there.

Now we can cross these off the list

and find hopefully some more valuable targets.

- It's the process of elimination.

So we know where the wreck isn't.

Now we just need to find where the wreck is.

narrator: At the same time, the land team

has uncovered a new theory that could

be key in solving the bigger mystery

of the Bermuda Triangle,

the destructive power of solar storms.

- We never really expected to see this kind of hard data.

There are forces up there that do play

with the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

narrator: Following the tragedy,

Sarah and Aileen Conover were adopted by their aunt.

Nobody spoke to them about the loss of their parents

and grandparents on "Revonoc."

- Back then, children can't understand these things,

and you don't tell them those things.

But my body knew at 18 months old what had happened,

that everything in my world vanished.

[somber music]

If the boat is found, there will be some questions

that are answered.

But I think for me, if there's a silver lining

to any of this, it's that I have something

to say about how grief and tragedy doesn't go away.

You actually have to face it in one way or another.

The more I found out about my own story,

the more I thought this story can

be important for other people.

- It is such a tragic story because, as Sarah told us,

I mean, she was orphaned by the Bermuda Triangle.

♪ ♪

- No matter what the reason is,

there's always going to be that human impact

and that human story behind it.

And that's something we can never forget.

♪ ♪

- I would love to continue searching for it.

We have tomorrow, the next day, and the next day.

Don't get discouraged.

Tomorrow's another day.

♪ ♪

narrator: For the team, and more importantly,

the loved ones left behind by the "Revonoc" tragedy,

the search has narrowed and will continue

one wreck at a time.

♪ ♪