News
Divers Install Plaque to Mark 15th Anniversary of Spiegel Grove Artificial Reef
Divers have installed a bronze plaque identifying the final 250 of 1,000 contributors to a project that sank a former U.S. Naval ship 15 years ago to become an artificial reef in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.
The panel was attached to the side of the Spiegel Grove last Tuesday evening.
On May 17, 2002, as the 510-foot-long former landing ship dock was undergoing final preparations for a dramatic sinking that afternoon. The vessel began to rapidly take on water and rolled over, leaving its upside-down bow protruding above the Atlantic Ocean’s surface.
There were no injuries as workers calmly exited the ship, but the sinking-gone-bad garnered news coverage around the world.
“When the sinking went awry it was difficult for everyone to take, especially me,” remembered Rob Bleser, one of two volunteer project managers. “But we couldn’t have asked for anything more. We wanted it to be the most famous wreck in the world and here it is on every TV channel for weeks and weeks.
“We couldn’t have gotten it any better,” he said.
Three weeks later a salvage crew fully scuttled the ship, but it came to rest on its starboard side in 130 feet of water.
The wreck soon opened for diving but the Spiegel Grove story did not end.
In July 2005 wind and currents, emanating from Hurricane Dennis when it was southeast of the Keys, pushed the ship upright into the position originally intended.
About half of the project’s $1.5 million cost was paid for by the Monroe County (Florida Keys) Tourist Development Council, with the balance coming from private donations helped by a Key Largo Chamber of Commerce program that sold 1,000 lifetime dive medallions for $250 each.
The project required eight years of seeking federal, state and local permissions and inspections prior to the sinking.
Among federal requirements was a seven-year marine life survey project conducted by the Reef Environmental Education Foundation. REEF staff and volunteers have noted more than 200 different species of fish on the wreck.
Project officials believe that a bulkhead in the back engine room unexpectedly gave way, causing the ship to sink prematurely without enough buoyancy control to keep it level so that it would sit on the bottom of the ocean.
The ship had been decommissioned by the Navy in 1989 due to lack of structural integrity in its watertight bulkheads. It was mothballed in the James River Naval Reserve Fleet in Norfolk, Va., with other vessels for more than decade before being made available for the Keys artificial reef project.
In Islamorada, the History of Diving Museum has debuted a special exhibit commemorating the Spiegel Grove Project.
It is slated to continue through Labor Day.
Find out more about the wreck of the Spiegel Grove at www.fla-keys.com/diving/
For a week at the end of February I was invited to sample the diving with Orca Dive Club based at the Breakers Diving and Surfing Lodge by courtesy of SOMABAY.
Somabay covers an entire peninsula and is home to several resorts as well as residential compounds. Somabay caters for scuba diving as well as many other sports, including windsurfing, golf, sailing, go-carting, horse riding and many other activities.
All the activities are of a world-class standard and any or all of these can be booked directly from The Breakers.
I took Easyjet from Bristol (UK) to Hurghada. Easyjet are not by any means my favourite airline but the flight was cheap and direct (except for the surprise extra £48 I was charged at the gate for my carry-on bag).
I was met at Hurghada airport by a driver and car and taken to the Breakers 28 miles (45Kilomaters) south along the coast. Once at the hotel I was too late for an evening meal and so a basic meal was delivered to my room. That and a beer from the fridge and I was fast asleep.
Early the next morning after breakfast I arrived for my rep meeting at the Orca Dive Center for 8.00am. I was immediately made to feel welcome, and after brief introductions I got some dive gear from the store, had a chat with my dive guide Mohamed and got ready to try the house reef situated at the end of a very long wooded pier where all diving gear and divers are taken out by buggies.
Once at the end of the pier, a helping hand from staff makes sure your gear is set and then it’s a short walk to the very end where you can either climb down a ladder of simply jump in the water next to the reef. The house reef extends both north and south giving a very easy and safe dive with plenty to see. At this time of the year the water temperature was a constant 22 degrees Centigrade and there was little or no current, so there were no issues in swimming back to the pier.
Quite a few divers were in dry or semi-dry suits, but being from the UK and used to the cold I found a 3mm wetsuit with a 3mm neoprene vest quite comfortable. Even after 50 years of diving I still find that first dive of a trip slightly nerving until I am actually underwater and then all becomes relaxed and I ease into auto diving mode. There was plenty to see with many of the Red Sea favourites along the way.
After the dive and a buggy ride back to the hotel for a very good buffet lunch I was back in the water, once again on the house reef for an afternoon dive.
Check in for part 2 tomorrow when Jeff gets on a day boat and dives a few of the off-shore reefs.
Book your next Red Sea dive adventure with SOMABAY! For more information, visit www.somabay.com.
Stay at the Breakers Diving & Surfing Lodge when you visit! For more information, visit www.thebreakers-somabay.com.
Find out more about ORCA Dive Clubs at SOMABAY at www.orca-diveclubs.com/en/soma-bay-en.
In an interview recorded exclusively for Scubaverse.com, Jeff Goodman interviews Jeremy Higson from Sea to Sky about the itineraries the tour operator offers in Oman.
For more information about diving in Oman, contact Sea to Sky now:
Email: hello@mysetaosky.co.uk
WhatsApp: + 39 379 236 7138
Website: www.myseatosky.co.uk
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