http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/images/...htPainting.jpg
An artists advanced concept of the artificial reef
From: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/

The following is a video shot while scooter free diving along much of the length of the newly sunk Vandenberg Artificial Reef. It was placed about 7 miles south of Key West in 140 ft. of water. It landed on even keel and provides a pretty amazing dive in the often clear blue waters of the Florida Current. Viz. was limited at about 50 to 60 ft. during the dive and there was a strong current running north. Still some interesting images came out of the dive. The video was shot with a Canon G9 digital camera in their housing with stills being shot every 2 seconds with a Go Pro 170 degree field of view camera in a chest harness.





Scooter free diving can be hazardous. Don't try it without complete and proper training first.

Historical and some contemporary pre-sinking photos from: http://www.navsource.org/archives/09/22/22145.htm

http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/images/...berg_libLg.gif
From: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/

Fast Buck Freddie's at Duval and Fleming did a great window display for the sinking of the Vandenberg. A few shots follow which really don't do it justice but they convey an idea. I've also thrown in some other UW stills.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/fbf_0.sized.jpg
The included not only photos of the Vandenberg on tow for sinking but also during active service. A general scattering of salvage from the wreck was also included in the display.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/fbf_9_IMG_1823.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/UW_1_IMG_1786.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/fbf_1.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/fbf_2.jpg
Nice summary of the history


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/UW_3_IMG_1790.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/fbf_4.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/paper_s.sized.jpg
The sinking in the Key West Citizen


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/fbf_3.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/UW_2_IMG_1786.jpg


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album416/fbf_11_IMG_1822.jpg



** and the free diving video, you can sure cover a lot of ground on a scooter!


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http://www.fksa.org/albums/album520/vandenberg.jpg
Kirk Krack surveys his domain mounted on a radar dish on the wreck of the Vandenberg seven miles south of Key West, FL.


http://www.fksa.org/albums/album520/Erin.jpg
Erin Mcgee spies an interloper and moves to chase him off her wreck!




Check it out, the deck starts at about 70 ft., a lot of the sequences were deeper than that. Also, the two divers were moving pretty fast (burning extra air) for dramatic effect. No fins either so even more exertion. It looks easy but in fact the sequences demanded a lot of free diving prowess and athleticism. You usually do the exact opposite in normal free diving focusing on slow relaxed movements. They used high speed sit on dive scooters to transport the free divers to the surface for breathup. It is Kirk Krack and Erin Magee of http://www.performancefreediving.com/ in the piece all captured with just one videographer on the first day and two on the second. Both Kirk and Erin have great camera presence too, holding their breath working way too hard down to 110 ft.! The scooter free divers had to stay off camera and submerged for the entire time the actors were under. To try to manage DCS issues, they did O2 safety stops. The video was captured in two, two hour shoots over a two day period. They show aspects of how the film was created in the video. Well conceived, shot and dove, impressive video!

A real intriguing TV episode on the life and times of the Vandenberg including the sinking is on tomorrow night, June 22, 2010 @ 7:30 pm on WPBT2 "Channel 2". The videography looks real good, here's a chance to get a good look at the wreck in some nice conditions.

Here is a trailer for the program:



I understand the show in its entirety will be available at the program's Facebook page at:
http://www.facebook.com/changingseas...ingseas?ref=ts


More about this episode and still others at:
http://changingseas.tv/episode_guide.html

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Art on the Vandenberg for the next year.

http://www.sportdiver.com/files/imag...1108/vandy.jpg
http://www.sportdiver.com/article/ne...nberg-key-west


"Art exhibit attached to Vandenberg
Divers can see 12 oversized images from outside the ship at 93-foot depth

BY MANDY MILES Citizen Staff
mmiles@keysnews.com

The Vandenberg shipwreck off Key West has long been billed as an underwater classroom for the wealth of marine educational lessons to be learned from its placement on the ocean floor. As of Wednesday, the 522-foot former military ship also became an underwater art gallery, as divers finished installing 12 oversized artistic images to the starboard side at a depth of 93 feet.

The digitally layered photographs by Austrian artist Andreas Franke are attached to the ship's weather deck with strong magnets. They are not permanent and do not damage the ship or any marine life, said Capt. Chris Norwood of Florida Straits Diving, who coordinated and oversaw the installation of Franke's "Vandenberg: Life Below the Surface."

Franke, an avid diver and professional photographer, explored the Vandenberg last year and took several photos of the wreck, which rests in 120 feet of water and rises to 55 feet below the surface.

When he returned to Austria and examined his photos, Franke wanted to add life to what he saw as a dead ship, which was sunk as an artificial reef.

"Even though there is so much life, marine life, all over and around it, the shipwreck itself, to me, is a dead thing," Franke said. "But I thought that if I put people on it, then there would again be life on that ship."

His ethereal images contrast the industrial metal of a shipwreck, with flowing human figures performing human activities. A little girl is shown on the weather deck, holding a butterfly net, as if trying to capture some of the fish that are shown in the actual underwater image of the wreck. In another shot, a couple is waltzing inside the ship, and a bartender is pouring a drink for a supposed passenger.

"Fortunately, no one died tragically in this shipwreck," Franke said. "Anyone can interpret the images how they want, but I like to think of the shipwreck as a theater or a stage, with people acting on it."

Once Franke created the composite images, he started thinking how fascinating it would be if they could be displayed on the ship, said Donna Belej, his New York producer who was the project liaison during the planning."

CONTINUED AT:
http://keysnews.com/node/33686


You can see the entire exhibit on the wreck, with a couple of tanks, or you can visit:

http://www.thesinkingworld.com/img/vp/slide_01.jpg
(CLICK on image to go to exhibit website)

Some samples from the website appear below:

http://www.thesinkingworld.com/img/vp/slide_02.jpg


http://www.thesinkingworld.com/img/vp/slide_06.jpg

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Clinton Bolton posted a nice free diving video from the Vandenberg. Great place to relax and check things out, if the current is light and viz. is good.