  ooden Bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758” is the collective creation of three groups—Pepe Productions, Bateaux Below, Inc., and Whitesel Graphics. Pepe Productions, led by Joseph and Peter Pepe, is a Glens Falls, New York-based company with three decades of experience in the multi-media field. Bateaux Below, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation that studies historic shipwrecks in Lake George, New York. This underwater archaeology research team is composed of several people, each active in the team’s current scientific studies: underwater archaeologist Joseph W. Zarzynski, historian and author Dr. Russell P. Bellico, underwater photographer and videographer Bob Benway, sonar and remote sensing expert Vince Capone, former diver and underwater cinematographer Terry Crandall, science diver and ship modeler John Farrell, coastal resources specialist and science diver Steven C. Resler, and dive instructor Paul Cornell.
There are several other key people that are part of this documentary production. Whitesel Graphics is the one-man operation of talented animator J.R. Whitesel. His state-of-the-art animation has appeared in television commercials, network television, and in documentaries. Whitesel’s animation was one of the hallmarks of the award-winning documentary—“The Lost Radeau: North America’s Oldest Intact Warship.”
Narrator Kip Grant’s commanding voice provides the narration heard in the documentary "Wooden Bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758."
Ted Caldwell is an experienced educator in Warren County, New York. His cutting edge replica archaeology school projects in Lake George-area school districts led to the student-construction of several replica bateaux. The colonial bateaux were flat-bottomed double-ended wooden vessels, the utilitarian watercraft of the 18th century.
Jeff Sova, Preston Sweeney, and Karen Carotta, Technology teachers in Maple Avenue Middle School (Saratoga Springs City School District—Saratoga Springs, New York), helped their students build a full-scale replica of a colonial bateau shipwreck. With permission from the State of New York, the wooden replica was sunk in the shallows of the lake in June 2008. The replica shipwreck lies in four feet of water near a lakeside walkway for pedestrian viewing.
Bob Blais, the Mayor of Lake George, New York, is one of the longest tenured mayors in the country. Mayor Blais is a supporter of historic preservation and heritage tourism at “The Queen of American Lakes” (Lake George, New York) and is one of the people interviewed for the documentary.
Cell biologist Dr. Sam Bowser and science artist Elinor Mossop, two Albany, New York-area residents, worked with Bateaux Below, Inc. in an innovative endeavor, an art/science collaboration. Their unique program resulted in the creation of interpretive artwork that showcases the micro-world inhabiting historic shipwrecks at Lake George.
David J. Decker, P.E. is the Executive Director of the Lake George Watershed Coalition and is a natural resources manager. His environmental work also supports Lake George’s submerged cultural resources and he is one of a those experts interviewed for “Wooden Bones.”
Historian and author Dr. Russell P. Bellico helped with the exhaustive historical background research, the foundation for “Wooden Bones.” Bellico is the author of several excellent history books on Lake George and Lake Champlain including: Sails and Steam in the Mountains--A Maritime and Military History of Lake George and Lake Champlain, Chronicles of Lake George, and Chronicles of Lake Champlain.
Remote sensing expert Vince Capone (Barkentine, Inc., Black Laser Learning, and Bateaux Below) operated the Klein side scan sonar, the Benthos remotely-operated-vehicle (ROV), and the ground penetrating radar (GPR) for fieldwork conducted by Bateaux Below on projects associated with the submerged cultural resources study associated with the making of this documentary. Capone’s Black Laser Learning company has produced several popular DVD productions: Not in the Manual Guide® To
Side Scan Sonar Image Interpretation, Not in the Manual Guide® To Side Scan Sonar and Magnetometer Surveys, and Not in the Manual Guide® To Subbottom Profiler Surveys.
Bateaux Below’s Bob Benway was the pilot on the VideoRay remotely-operated-vehicle (ROV) project to acquire underwater video footage used in the credits section of the documentary film.
“Wooden Bones: The Sunken Fleet of 1758” was written by underwater archaeologist Joseph W. Zarzynski, the Executive Director of Bateaux Below.
Joseph Pepe did the digital transfers on slide images and also produced the website for this documentary film.
Finally, Peter Pepe directed “Wooden Bones” and spent hundreds of hours on the production editing that resulted in this noteworthy documentary film.
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