A spearfishing friend of ours who works for FWC was among the first to dive the Vandenberg, the day after the sinking. He took some amazing pictures, so here they are. The satellite dish did come loose in the sinking process, but not totally loose. It’s still attached via a huge cable, and sits on the deck of the ship, where it will remain. Thanks for the awesome pics, Mike!
Just after the explosions
Well, it’s over…the Vandenberg is sunk and today crews are out putting mooring balls on it and checking it. We saw a crew of Navy guys loading up one of the party fishing boats at Garrison Bight, which they must have chartered to take them out to the site. They had brand new shiny moorings with them.
The morning of the sinking, so many boats were heading out at 9am the seas were choppy all the way out to the site, from so many wakes crashing into each other. What a ride. One guy took out a jet ski! There were little boats, too, so they must have been totally covered in salt water by the time they got out there. We heard you would have to stay a mile away, but seems like we were a lot closer than that. Most of the boats came from east of Key West, from up the Keys or from Stock Island, looked like. There were some VIP boats allowed to go closer, most infamously the Key West Express. This behemoth ferry holding VIPS blocked the view of dozens of boats, according to the radio. Salty language filled the airwaves on Channel 16, minutes before the detonation. After it was all over, a very disappointed captain got on the horn and gave his feelings, “Key West Express, you pieceof s*%t”.
After the flare warning, there were some loud explosive noises, then dark gray smoke poured out of the ship. The smoke obscured the ship, and suddenly there was no ship. The sinking took less than two minutes. It was more like a magic trick, where something large disappears in a cloud of smoke, and less like the slow sinking of large ships you see in movies. Usually, sinking isn’t intentional. It happens when the hull is breached in one or several spots, but those holes are smaller than the ones caused by explosives. Intentional sinkings go fast and the ship stays upright.
The warm water here, and Key West snorkeling is really taking off. No longer do you need a wetsuit, the water is so warm. Just a stylish rashguard and shorts or bikini bottom will do…with lots of sunscreen on those uncovered parts! The water is finally calmer, and some days the ocean around Key West is like a lake. Don’t get me wrong- the winter cooling breezes are always a welcome part of any Key West snorkeling trip. But smooth water is excellent for snorkeling.
These pictures were taken today, and although conditions were excellent for snorkelers, the water was a bit green, making the vis a little bit compromised. But as you can see in the barracuda picture, taken at about 20 or 25 feet, you can still see bottom. This barracuda was following us, lurking, as it seems lots of barracuda do. They think all boats are fishing boats, which means wonderful bits of chum showering down for them to eat. Not this time! They get close, making picture taking fun and easy. But don’t worry, they are afraid of people, they won’t harm you.
This is big, really big. A 528 foot ship will be sunk south of the Cayman Wreck this month, to become the world’s second largest artificial reef. It’s the former troup transport ship from World War II, the USS Vandenberg. Everyone is excited, and here are some pictures of the ship, which is now docked at Truman Waterfront while workers clean out debris and make it ready for sinking.
The Vandenberg Sink Date has been Set!
