Beth Dee Bob
- Type:
- shipwreck, clam dredge, USA
- Built:
- 1990, Bock Marine - Beaufort NC USA
- Specs:
- ( 84 ft ) 96 tons, 4 crew
- Sunk:
- Wednesday January 6, 1999
foundered in rough seas - no survivors - Depth:
- 120 ft
The Beth Dee Bob sits upright on a hard sandy bottom with a slight list to starboard. She is completely intact. although in 2004 the outriggers fell down into the sand. The vessel is much like a bigger, cleaner version of the Lana Carol. The wheelhouse is easily penetrated, although the rest of the interior is more difficult. The aft hold is still full of clam cages, while the hold covers are torn off and lie in the sand off the stern.
The exact cause and details of the sinking are not known, but it must have occurred very quickly, and only one of the four-man crew managed to escape. In 2000, divers from the Dina Dee cut off the six-foot propeller to donate it to the Fishermen's Memorial. Instead, it was confiscated by the insurance company.
In the time she has been down, the Beth Dee Bob has turned into a very productive dive site. Mussels are abundant and so clean that they hardly need to be dragged. Sea Bass and ling swarm around in the sand, and lobsters are common, if not very large.
From the Coast Guard Report:
(2) F/V Beth Dee Bob. Sinking, 6 January 1999, loss of four lives, no survivors.
The F/V Beth Dee Bob left Point Pleasant, NJ for a 24-hour trip to dredge for ocean quahogs. After an uneventful trip, the vessel was returning home when the seas grew rough and the 84-foot vessel foundered and sank approximately 13 miles off Manasquan, NJ. The Coast Guard received a distress call at around 0540 local time, saying the vessel was taking on water. The sister ship Danielle Maria, two Coast Guard vessels, and a USCG helicopter raced to the location pinpointed by satellite receivers. An hour later, a crew member was found by the helicopter floating in a life preserver, holding a strobe light and bobbing in a 39-degree heaving sea. He was airlifted to Jersey Medical where he died. Two empty rafts were found. The Beth Dee Bob sank before help could arrive.
Preliminary Finding:
A former Captain of the Beth Dee Bob stated he believed the vessel's stability letter did not serve its purpose. He knew the vessel had a stability letter, but never bothered to read it because he "knows better how the vessel should be loaded." He further stated "The more water in the hold, the better she rode - as long as you kept her on an even keel" and "The hatch covers were only to protect the clams from the sun and heat; after all, many boats have no hatches at all!" While the Beth Dee Bob's stability letter seems to be very clearly written, there are indications that the only information of concern to the crew was the maximum number of full cages of clams.
Courtesy of Dan Crowell
If the water was much clearer or much shallower, the Beth Dee Bob might look a lot like this - the Michelle K sunk in the Manasquan River, 2004.
Clam Dredges, Dive Sites, Lost At Sea, Manasquan Dive Sites, Mud Hole, New Jersey Dive Sites,
In January 1999, four clam boats were lost in separate incidents in the span of less than three weeks. First, on January 6, the Beth Dee Bob sank in rough weather with all hands. Two days later, the Cape Fear sank under similar circumstances. On January 18, the Adriatic went down with all hands, one day after the Ellie B ran up on the rocks at Manasquan Inlet. In total, 10 lives were lost, sparking a major Coast Guard investigation into safety practices on commercial fishing vessels.
- Coast Guard Report
More: Lost At Sea ...
Questions or Inquiries?
Just want to say Hello? Sign the .