New Jersey Scuba Diving

Type:

artificial reef, trawler

Specs:

( 70 ft )

Sponsor:

Axel Carlson Jr.

Sunk:

June 1973 - Sea Girt Artificial Reef

GPS:

40°06.805' -73°57.176'

Depth:

70 ft

If the date is correct, then this would be the earliest "modern" artificial reef sunk off New Jersey, sunk by the Artificial Reef Committee before the state's reef program began. I've never been able to find a newspaper record of the sinking.

While this vessel has always been referred to as a trawler, it looks a lot more like a tugboat to me. I don't see any deck space for fishing, and the large cutout in the roof is typical of a tugboat reef - to remove the engine. Nor do I see a cargo hold. It looks like maybe the pilothouse has been cut off and placed in the stern. The stubby hull and rounded stern also look a lot more like a tugboat than a fishing boat.

By now, all the upper works will be gone, the hull will be basically a bathtub. The towing bits will last a thousand years, and if I'm right, they're still there. If anyone ever dives this spot, please let me know. I really see a tugboat in this picture.

Carlson is almost certainly not the vessel's real name.