The Bent Page

The Red Oak was a United States Coast Guard buoy tender. As mentioned in previous posts, I used to build artificial reefs by sinking ships and other materials off the coast of New Jersey and Delaware, USA. The Red Oak was stripped of all re-usable equipment, including her engines, generators, and other machinery. All fuel, oil, and floatables were also removed. In the end, she was a steel hulk that looked like this:

We towed her from Baltimore to a spot just off Cape May, New Jersey. Once anchored, I went below and cut several holes at the waterline using a standard cutting torch. Water lapped into these holes and to accelerate the process, I removed two covers from the stern tubes that were well below the waterline. It took about half an hour until the hull heeled and took solid water over the deck like this:

It was strange how this vessel sank. The holes were in the stern, but it went down bow first. There was less space forward and thus less water was required for the area to lose buoyancy. However, the stern was definitely heavier and should have pulled itself down first. No matter, soon the scene looked like this:

I’ve heard that the wreck is an excellent dive and fishing spot. Given that it is close to Cape May, I’m not surprised. There are any number of good charter operators who take people fishing from the various marinas most every day the weather is good enough. The artificial reef program in the United States has done wonders for the sport fishing community and the environment. It is an effort that deserves continued support. Please enjoy our marine resources responsibly.

Now, if I could only get my friends in Aruba to do this. Aruba has ideal conditions to sink wrecks for both diving and marine habitat enhancement. One more thing I have to work on there.