New Jersey Scuba Diving

Malta

Shipwreck Malta
As Queen of the South, with a steam engine
Type:
iron-hulled steamer, converted to sail
Built:
1852
Specs:
( 244 x 40 ft ) 1600 displacement tons, 24 crew
Sunk:
Saturday November 24, 1885
ran aground in bad weather - 1 casualty
Depth:
20 ft
Shipwreck Malta
The whole aft part of the ship was demolished by the waves,
leaving just the stern post ( see below. )

The remains of the Malta are low scattered debris, 100 yards offshore in Belmar. Given the amount of beach replenishment that has taken place and the fact that the remains of this wreck are pretty small, I would not expect to find much.

Shipwreck Malta stern post

The sternpost of the Malta juts from the surf at low tide off 9th Avenue. There is more small wreckage below, but hardly worth a dive. Note surfer for scale.

Shipwreck Malta mast
Probably the largest remaining piece of the Malta is her iron foremast, planted in the sidewalk near the 7-11 at 8th Avenue. Hidden in plain sight. The old mast is actually a standpipe for the sewage system!

* I hope it is buried, the government sure spends enough of our taxes on this!

Tides

Dive Sites, Manasquan Dive Sites, New Jersey Dive Sites, Sandy Hook Dive Sites,

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Scallop Dredges

scallop dredge
Scallop

Scallop dredging is similar to clam dredging in that large metal rakes are dragged across the bottom. However, that is where the resemblance ends. Since scallops live on the surface, unlike buried clams, they can be harvested with much lighter-weight gear. A scallop rake is typically much smaller than a clam rake, consisting of a triangular frame with a chain-link catch-bag. No hydraulics are necessary. Such gear does not require as much towing power as for clamming. Since scallops are cleaned at sea as they are caught, and all the heavy shells discarded, there is also much less on-board storage requirement. Scallop boats can therefore be smaller than clam boats, and some are quite small indeed. In fact, the entire business model seems to be different, and it appears that a few small privately-owned operations persist to this day, in contrast to clamming, which is now dominated by a few corporate fleets.

More: Scallop Dredges ...

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