Bad Bob's Big Boat

Bob's Big Boat reef
Type:
artificial reef, trawler, USA
Built:
1947, Bath Iron Works, Bath Maine USA
Specs:
( 144x27 ft ) 393 tons
Sunk:
Wednesday April 17, 2002 - Moriches Artificial Reef
Depth:
GPS:
40°43.402' -72°46.659

This trawler had a long and interesting career. She was built in 1947 as the MFV Fortis by Bath Iron Works in Maine and was one of five sisters that went to France to replace vessels lost in the war. The boat fished from Boulogne Sur Mer, France, from 1948 to 1966.

Later it was purchased by an American company and returned to Portland, Maine as the MFV Philip J. During this time she had three fishing owners. Eventually, she was renamed Newport and served as a floating restaurant. Finally renamed Bad Bob's Big Boat and sunk as part of the Moriches artificial reef on April 17, 2002. ( The New York reef program lists it as Bob's Big Boat or just The Boat, but that is not the whole name. )

Bob's Big Boat reef


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lanyard

Chances are your light or other piece of gear came with a wrist lanyard. This item is probably ok for diving in the tropics where you shouldn't be doing anything with your hands anyway, but around here it is lousy. Wrist lanyards are a pain to put on and a pain to get off, and in the case of a light, if you let go of it to do something with both hands, it will invariably get in the way and bob around until it shines in your eyes and blinds you. When you finally get fed up with it, you will take it off, and in a careless moment, your equipment will be lost. Here is a much better rig, commonly known as a "hi-lo" lanyard:

Take the wrist lanyard off, and throw it away. Get two brass snaps and a piece of rope. Braided 1/2 " nylon is what I used because it is supple, won't rot, won't unravel, and doesn't float. Attach a brass snap to each end. You can just tie them on, or get fancy like me and make streamlined loops. The end-to-end length of mine is about four feet, including the snaps, but you can experiment. Attach the base ring of one of the brass snaps directly to your gear where the lanyard was.