Did you miss me? Check this out!

heartofgold · Post by **heartofgold** » Wed May 17, 2006 10:26 pm

Sorry I have been out of the loop for so long, my friends, but sometimes life gets in the way of the important things (like sailboats). Anyway, this is off topic, but I really wanted to share it with the group.

I had the opportunity today to go 22 miles off shore to witness the sinking of a Korean War era aircraft carrier, the USS Oriskany. We were required to stay a mile way, but a boat that size (888 feet long) is hard to miss. Over 500 pounds of C4 took out all the old thru-hull fittings, and she sank in 36 minutes to 200' of water. The main purpose is as an artificial reef. The flight deck is at a depth of 130' and the conning tower is 60' down, all within reach of divers. The event was quite spectacular to witness. Within a week, I hope to have more photos (from my boss on a a different boat) and some video footage (it really finished up quick enough to put it on a 5 minute vid clip...we'll see).

Enjoy! I hope everyone in the north is fairing well.

Regards,

Post by **Tim** » Thu May 18, 2006 6:20 am

Hi Doug--welcome back! I thought you'd deserted us...

Very cool pictures of the AC sinking. Here's a direct link for everybody:

Oriskany Sinks

Post by **dasein668** » Thu May 18, 2006 8:04 am

I caught that on the news last night. Very cool!

heartofgold · Post by **heartofgold** » Thu May 18, 2006 9:52 pm

OOPS! Thanks Tim for that link, I guess I forgot to add that for everyone! It was quite a site to see in person. I have some more detailed photos from my boss, who thinks of himself as a pretty smart photographer. I will post them to the site the first chance I get.

And no, I haven't abandoned the group. Like so many people, I have just been extremely busy. I pop in every so often to try to catch up on my reading, but it is not as often as I would like. I will try to keep up from now on, but first I have 6 months of logs to post for my own website.

CharlieJ · Post by **CharlieJ** » Thu May 18, 2006 11:42 pm

Doug-are you still at PMSC? We'll be there aboard Tehani first weekend in June- sailing that way on Sat. Maybe we can arrange to meet and say hello.

grampianman · Post by **grampianman** » Fri May 19, 2006 8:10 am

Hello Doug,
I can appreciate how life happens. I've had the whole juggling bit with job, family, house, boat, dog, etc. since I took on my restoration project almost two years ago. So, I look forward to your postings both here and on your site. I enjoyed the photos of the sinking of the Oriskany. I had witnessed the sinking of a 230 footer off the west coast of Barbados quite a few years ago and that was pretty cool. 800 plus feet going down would have been extraordinary.
Cheers,
Ian

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Did you miss me? Check this out!

Did you miss me? Check this out!

Six month breaks, hey, we all need 'em.