Wreck or Rock - Round 2!

[MaxBottomtime]

I plugged the coordinates into Google Earth. They are next to train tracks, but nearby is a shape in twenty feet of water that could be a wreck or shallow reef. If it is a wreck, it may not be in great shape, being so shallow.

 

[ofg-1]

Shazbot! You found the mother ship!

 

[Jared0425]

I was out today scouting some possible shore diving spots on the bay, and when I got home I decided I would fire up the NOAA bathymetry site and see if there was anything down there worth looking for. The answer appears to be "yes".

View attachment 783783

I haven't done a full import into Google Earth to be able to measure it yet, but it looks to be about 30-35 feet long and maybe 10-12 foot beam.

So place your bets, is it a wreck or is it a rock?

With a little luck I will have an answer maybe Friday.

Wreck. Looks to be a tug or trawler with no deck. Possibly scuttled.

 

[Ghost95]

Did you ever dive the Wreck or Rock #1?

I was looking over some old charts tonight and came across a notation of a wreck nearby. The chart had it on a submerged rock and out of boredom I pulled up the NOAA bathymetry site to see if there was anything visible there.

Nope.

But nearby, I found the attached.

I imported it into Google Earth and did a little orthorectification (I love that word) and it looks like an object 97 feet long by 47 feet wide with a maximum height off the bottom of about 6-7 feet in 75 feet of water. It seems to be the only object on an otherwise flat, featureless bottom.

So, place your bets, wreck or rock?

And does anyone want to go find out?

 

[Cthippo]

Did you ever dive the Wreck or Rock #1?

Not yet.

I had plans with some folks on here but life happened and they had maintenance issues with the boat, then I was in California for most of a month etc etc. It's still on the list and hopefully this year we will make it happen.

 

[Ghost95]

Not yet.

I had plans with some folks on here but life happened and they had maintenance issues with the boat, then I was in California for most of a month etc etc. It's still on the list and hopefully this year we will make it happen.

Understood. Looking forward to the ground truth of that spot.

Good luck.

 

[Cthippo]

So I'm going to have to call today "Inconclusive".

Started in the kayak and dropped a marker buoy on the GPS coordinates, but even that was a challenge with 10+ knot winds and 2' of chop. Because of that, the drop was not as precise as I might have liked, but after an hour of bouncing up and down, I was going with it.

Came back to shore, changed into my dive gear and swam out to the buoy and dropped down the line. Bottom visability was 18 inches at best and there were times where my slung pony was dragging in mud I couldn't even see. spent maybe 20 minutes randomly searching and saw nothing more than some burnt wood. Problem is, I could have missed it by 3 feet and never have known it, so I am far from willing to call it disproven.

Net step is to get the RIB running and a sonar mounted on it and go back and try again. If I run some lanes and the bottom is just flat I will call it disproven, and otherwise I will dive on it. Hopefully life cooperates and I can do that in the next month or so.

 

[RedSeaDiver2]

So I'm going to have to call today "Inconclusive".

Started in the kayak and dropped a marker buoy on the GPS coordinates, but even that was a challenge with 10+ knot winds and 2' of chop. Because of that, the drop was not as precise as I might have liked, but after an hour of bouncing up and down, I was going with it.

Came back to shore, changed into my dive gear and swam out to the buoy and dropped down the line. Bottom visability was 18 inches at best and there were times where my slung pony was dragging in mud I couldn't even see. spent maybe 20 minutes randomly searching and saw nothing more than some burnt wood. Problem is, I could have missed it by 3 feet and never have known it, so I am far from willing to call it disproven.

Net step is to get the RIB running and a sonar mounted on it and go back and try again. If I run some lanes and the bottom is just flat I will call it disproven, and otherwise I will dive on it. Hopefully life cooperates and I can do that in the next month or so.

Could the burnt wood be the wreck? As in boat caught fire and sunk?

 

[Cthippo]

Could the burnt wood be the wreck? As in boat caught fire and sunk?

Very possible. The bathymetry data seems to show a shape with very little height to it, which could indicate a boat where the superstructure burned off. If it burned to the waterline and sank, then a flattish remainder on the bottom makes sense.

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

Next month? Are you mad? We can't wait that long!