On Saturday August 4th 2012, the dive vessel: "Depth Charge" drove out 80 miles miles in search of a set of GPS numbers on an exploratory venture. After a five hour run in great weather, we arrived on site and began a search pattern. Quickly a profile emerged from the bottom, and it didn't appear to be a barge. Sherwood and I were tapped to investigate, if we deemed it worthwhile, tie in and send up a styrofoam cup as a signal, if not, simply come back up the anchor line. When we dropped down the line, the water temps dropped to mid forties, and it was dark, but clear. Vis was actually very good at depth and no current. The wreck sat upright and the anchor line shot weight (cinderblock) was plunked off the port side about 15' off the wreck. After initially tieing in off a rail, Sherwood and I moved the line higher on top of the wheelhouse, scrambled around a bit, never finding anything more secure to tie off to, so I ended up right back at the first position, dealing with lots of nets and monofilament lines. My buddy and I then took a tour around the wreck, and I found something in the debris field right away off of starboard. As you can see in the video, it had the classic look of a ship's bell half sunk in the sand. It turned out to be a loudspeaker horn, and I knew right away it wasn't the bell, because of the thin walls and being chromed. It served a purpose, we named the wreck after it!
Anyway, Captain Cleary believes the wreck has been visited before, as most of the bridge equipment is missing. He describes it as a trawler with a raised focsle and well deck with a wheel house just aft of the amidship and a covered deck aft. The stern was round backed. The wreck should have had outriggers but we all saw none There were several turns of a 6" or 8" clam hose aft of the starboard side heading into the sand. This hose is used to agitate the sand for clams, but there were no clam cages nor a clam dredge or a ramp for a clam dredge. It was a strange sight, and if anyone knows of such a wreck from looking at the footage or our description, let us know!
Sherwood and I did 40 minutes on the bottom at just over 200', we were followed by Ken and Tony and finally Captain Cleary brought up the rear.
Several bugs were brought back up, but again, this exploration wasn't about grabbing lobster or gathering scallops.
Not satisfied with re visiting well known wrecks, this vessel is attempting to find and document new wreck sites. If we come back with a porthole (or bell), that is nice, but it's the adventure and seeking out new wrecks which drive us.
Be safe out there above all...
-Dan