GRAND BAHAMA
(Bahamas)
Grand Bahama is conveniently located 60 miles from the Florida coast
and
is the fourth largest island in the Bahamas. The island is about 90
miles
long and ranges in width from two to eight miles. The Underwater
Explorers
Society (UNEXSO) which is based in Lucaya is a great attraction for
divers
as well as non divers. Besides being a full service dive facility,
there is a
library and the Museum of Diving History.
Marine life abounds in the waters of Grand Bahama, and night diving
is
quite popular here. There are a large variety of coral reefs, walls,
blue holes,
caves, and of course wrecks.
For more information about the Bahamas visit the Bahamas Board of
Tourism’s official website –
www.bahamas.com
JOSE
This steel hulled workboat named Jose is also known as the Jose. The
vessel had been abandoned and left tied to a bulkhead behind a
closed
hotel. When the hotel was renovated in order to be reopened, the
owners
called Ollie Ferguson, a dive master at UNEXSO, (Underwater
Explorers
Society) to get rid of the vessel. She was 45 feet long by 20 feet
wide and
had once been used as a dive boat for an English commercial diving
company.
On June 19, 1986, UNEXSO towed the vessel from her mooring in the
Lucayan Marina to her present location. With the help of their crew
consisting of Warren Manning, Glen Terquest, Steve Watson and Ollie
Ferguson, UNEXSO pumped water into her hull until she was completely
full. It took only 22 seconds for the Jose to reach the ocean floor.
The
Jose is now an artificial reef, and sits upright and intact on a
slight starboard
tilt in 65 feet of water. This is an excellent beginner wreck drive.
SUGAR WRECK
This unidentified shipwreck lies in about 15 to 20 feet of water,
north of
Memory Rock. She is totally out of sight from land, so local dive
operators
must rely on Loran in order to locate the wreck. The wreckage of
this ship
is scattered but mostly clustered into three main piles of debris on
a sand
bottom.
Thought by many to be a sunken barge, this steel wreck is home to
some
large great barracuda (Sphyraena Barracuda) ranging from four to six
feet
in length.
THEO'S WRECK
Stern of
Theo's Wreck, sunk in 1982. Courtesy UNEXSO.
Originally named the M.V. Logna, this ship was built in Norway in
1954 as
a cargo vessel. She was 228 feet long and had a 35 foot beam. In
1969
she was purchased by the Bahama Cement Company, her name was
changed to M/V Island Cement. She was then used to transport gravel
and
cement. In 1981, the vessel was on her last legs and ready to be
scrapped.
Fortunately for the
diving community, Theopolis Galanoupoulos, who was
an engineer working for the cement company, came up with the idea of
creating an artificial reef for all to enjoy instead of scrapping
the vessel.
In 1982, after extensive preparations which included cutting large
holes in
her deck and hull to allow divers to safely explore the ship's
interior, the
vessel was taken out of port and sunk off Silver Beach Inlet, Grand
Bahama
Island. The sinking, which was a joint effort of UNEXSO and the
Bahama
Cement Co., took only four hours.
Today, Theo's Wreck, which has been once again renamed after the
engineer
who thought of sinking her, rests on her port side in 95 to I l0
feet of water.
The wreck is massive, completely intact and very photogenic. Her
stern is
actually perched on the edge of the famous Grand Bahama Ledge, where
the continental shelf drops abruptly to a depth of 5000 feet. There
is easy
access into her pilot house and her cargo hold. Wide angle
photographs or
video of her bow or stern will definitely be the highlight of any
wreck diver's
vacation to Freeport.
Basic shipwreck
information and images for the Bahamas section of this site was
taken with permission from the book Tropical Shipwrecks by Daniel
and Denise Berg. You are invited to submit your shipwreck related
articles, images and information. As long as the text, photographs,
sketches etc are of professional quality we will showcase them. Full
credit will be provide and a same page link to your web site can be
arranged.
|
This
downloadable PDF e-book is packed with information and heavily
illustrated with over 80 sensational color photographs. Daniel
Berg, a noted wreck diver, instructor and author of ten
shipwrecks related books, describes all the basics of wreck
diving. Topics include everything from equipment
modifications, communication, and wreck penetration to
artifact preservation. Dan also tells how to navigate on a
wreck and be able to return to the anchor line after the dive.
Why some divers find more artifacts and explains how to catch
lobsters. Shipwreck Diving also covers such diverse topics as
shipwreck research, photography, spear fishing and how to use
an underwater metal detector. This exciting book tells all the
tricks of the trade that until now have only been learned
through years of experience. Shipwreck divers of all caliber
will find Shipwreck Diving informative, rewarding and
entertaining
