Explore Oak Island Days 2008

On 20-22 June, Western Shore will once again play host to the Oak Island Tourism Society's annual Explore Oak Island Days.

This year, the event will be taking place at the Oak Island Resort, Spa and Convention Centre, with walking tours of the island. Normally closed to the public, this is the only opportunity you have to actually set foot on the island and hopefully see signs of the new excavations.

In the past, visitors have enjoyed guided walks around the island and seeing venerated points of interest, such as the original Money Pit, Borehole 10X and Smith's Cove.

The agenda, although tentative at this stage, is shaping up as follows:

Explore Oak Island Days Agenda - June 20 - 22 2008

- June 19 Thursday at 5:30 PM. Special "members only" tour of Oak Island.

- June 20 Friday. Enjoy a guided walking tour of Oak Island and learn about it’s 213 year old history. The tour starts at 6PM and lasts about 2 hours, be sure to register in advance by calling 902-275-3718 or e-mail the Society at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

- June 21 Saturday. The doors to Oak Island display, artifacts, movies and more open up at 10AM. Come and learn about the mystery at the Oak Island Resort in Western Shore.

- 12:30 Our first guest speaker of the day is Mr. Graham Harris.

The Oak Island Treasure - The prospect for recovery

The circumstances leading to the loss of the treasure will be reviewed, together with the military attempts at recovery during the seven year period following its loss. The peculiar underground hazards and perils that will have to be overcome in any future project are identified, with lessons drawn also from a more recent, but similar, disaster in the region. An alternate recovery scheme will be presented that is considered safe, practical and economic. An appropriate budget will be included.

Biography - Graham Harris has been an Oak Island watcher for many years having authored many books and articles about the history and his theory that William Phips buried a vast treasure there. Graham is a retired engineer and hails from Prince Edward Island, he has been great supporters of the Oak Island Tourism Society and we always enjoy his fascinating and enjoyable presentations.

- 2:30 Our second guest speaker of the day is Ms. Joanna Atherton

A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum

Jo Atherton hails from London England and she has been interested in Oak Island since she was a little girl. Even though she first stepped foot on the Island only a few years ago, she has been the host and owner of www.oakislandtreasure.co.uk for seven years and is widely recognized as having the world’ s premier Oak Island web site. Her web site is a virtual encyclopedia of information covering all aspects of Oak Island. Exclusive Photographs, theories, poems, rarely seen documents and a very active forum make her web site the one to go to.

Over the past seven years, Jo’s web site has hosted many people from many countries interested in Oak Island. From Brazil to New Zealand, Canada and the US to Belgium, there is hardly a country that has not been represented. Jo’s presentation will delight and inspire with her experiences with dealing with a subject of such fascination of so many people. From kooks to film producers, researchers to skeptics, Jo has seen it all. How does she handle it, what has she learned? Jo will share it all with you.

- Dinner and entertainment at the Oak Island Resort later on. Details to be announced.

June 22 Sunday

The doors to Oak Island displays, artifacts, movies and more open up at 10AM.  Come and learn about the mystery at the Oak Island Resort in Western Shore.

- First walking tour of the day starts at 10:30AM. and lasts about 2 hours, be sure to register in advance by calling 902-275-3718 or e-mail the Society at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

- 1:30 PM.  Bill Parkin Jr. from MIT in Cambridge Massachusetts will speak about his father’s work on Oak Island in the 1970's.  Bill was just a kid then, but his memories are fun and interesting.

Bill Parkin is a lifelong resident of Massachusetts and after graduating from Wentworth Institute of Technology (B.S.E.E.) became employed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in Cambridge where he designs electronics for three fusion reactors. He is a leader in his church youth group, a church elder and a former Cub Scout leader and current Father. He remains interested in the Oak Island treasure hunt.

Even before his graduation from school in 1979, Bill and his Dad Bill Parkin Sr., built sonar, saline meter, strobe light and light detector and other gadgets used on Oak Island in the mid 70's. His memories are full of those days, his initial meetings with treasure hunters like Dan Blankenship and the story of the Island. He and his Father gathered a lot of data and enjoyed a vacation unlike any most of us have ever encountered. Join me in hearing about those days and welcoming Mr. Parkin to Nova Scotia.

- 2:30 Last presentation of the festival is by Les MacPhie and promises to be very interesting.

Review of Geophysical Investigations at Oak Island, Nova Scotia

The results of several geophysical investigations carried out at Oak Island on different occasions, and with various objectives, will be presented. A geophysical investigation in 1988 was directed to identification of deep tunnels, cavities and metallic deposits over the east end of the Island. A geophysical investigation in 1993 focused on the identification of possible metallic objects and cavities deep in the Money Pit area. This study used state of the art techniques for that period of time. Magnetic and ground penetrating radar surveys have been carried out. The limitations of the previous investigations will be identified and the application of present day geophysical techniques in the context of current Oak Island theories will be discussed.

 - Second walking tour at 4 PM.

Danny Hennigar of the Oak Island Toursim Society had the following words to say:

Many of you who have attended our annual festival know what a great spot the Resort is and they are going to work with us to make EOID 2008 a very special event. The agenda is not ready to release but we have some super ideas that we are cooking up for you. Those of you who need to make travel and or vacation plans, you can do so with confidence. It would be wise to book your room early and make sure you advise the Resort you will be attending EOID 2008.

I join Danny in expressing my excitement for this forthcoming event and will be making the trip myself from the UK. With treasure hunting set to begin on Oak Island again very shortly, 2008 could very well be THE year for you to indulge your treasure hunting passions! I look forward to meeting website visitors and forum members from the Oak Island Treasure online community.

I wish Oak Island Tours Inc (Dan Blankenship and the Michigan Group) embarking on their excavations the very best of luck, and likewise, echo my enthusiasm for 2008's Explore Oak Island Days - it is sure to be a fantastic weekend!

Check out photos from past Explore Oak Island weekends.

To keep up to date with developments, check this website regularly, or why not sign up to our This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it ?

Jo Atherton

Manager - Oak Island Treasure