Sinking of USAFS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg

[HappyFunBoater]

Does the Scubaboard community support the sinking of the Vandenberg and will you come to the Keys to dive, if the Vandenberg is sunk?

Let me think about that for a minute ... HELL YES!!!

 

[DandyDon]

The Air Force had a ship, and The Keys needs another one to dive?

Well - okay. I hope they leave all the cool stuff on it, and weld the bolts so that *******s can't take them off. If it's 100 ft tall, and sinks upright , then they need to sink it in 130+ ft deep water, right? Even in 150 ft water, the part below 100 ft won't attract newbies, I don't think.

I do not see a need to raise $3 million for another wreck, as they Bibb, Eagle and Bush are not dived much now. But good luck to all of you who do support this...

 

[Fry21]

Try to get down to the Keys every year so I would definitely come down to dive it.

 

[gpatton]

The Sinking of USAFS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg is at the final decision and funding phase. The Monroe County Commission has a possible opportunity to help fund the sinking of the Vandenberg coming up at the budget hearings Sept 13.

For more information about USAFS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg go to
http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/

FYI, Glenn Patton

http://www.keysnews.com/297444799992395.bsp.htm

County allocates millions for ship

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BY TIMOTHY O'HARA
Citizen Staff
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The Monroe County Commission approved taking $2 million out of infrastructure funds to put toward the Vandenberg artificial reef project.
The commission voted 3-1, with Commissioner George Neugent dissenting, at a budget hearing Wednesday to use money from the county infrastructure fund to sink the USS Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg six miles off Key West. Monroe County Administrator Tom Willi told commissioners that they could go to the Monroe Tourist Development Council in the next several years for more funding to restore the $2 million to the county infrastructure fund.
The TDC, which is overseen by the County Commission, already is giving the project $1 million through its competitive process for capital improvement funds, which come from bed taxes levied at hotels.
Supporters of the project say the Vandenberg will generate millions of dollars in sales and bed taxes for the county for decades as divers from around the world come to Key West to dive the wreck. The county will also receive thousands of dollars in free advertising when the ship is sunk, they say, as it will be featured in many dive and travel magazines and in newspapers and television shows.
Neugent said the money to sink the ship is coming from wastewater programs and other much-needed projects in the Keys.
The total cost to sink the former military ship is $5.7 million. Artificial Reefs of the Keys, the project organizer, still must find $2 million more. The group plans to go to the Florida Development Council for some of that money, said Key West City Commissioner Bill Verge, a supporter of the project.
tohara@keysnews.com
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[FONT=Arial, Time New Roman]Keysnews.com Published on Thursday, September 21, 2006[/FONT]
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[cudachaser]

Back in the 70's, I taught several crew members of the Vandy to dive when she was dacked at Port Canaveral. I've stayed in contact with a few of them and we plan to be one of the first to dive it when she goes down

 

[mdmbike to scuba]

Im down with it!!!!

 

[archman]

Huh, if they sink it off of Key West, the city will actually have a decent dive site.

 

[tee_jay]

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The total cost to sink the former military ship is $5.7 million.[/FONT]

Hell, give me 1 million and a couple of sticks of dynamite and I'll do it for them! Please excuse my ignorance, but why does it cost so much to sink a ship? Is that how much they will actually have to pay to sink the ship, or is that how much money they are losing by having to buy another one?

 

[meesier42]

put it on her side!!!!!!!! at least on a good angle. Keep the whole thing shallower that way

 

[1_T_Submariner]

I'm for it! Yes I would travel to Key West to dive it.