VIDEO - Free Dive the Vandenberg!

[ricki]

The wreck in place, soon.
From: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/

A massive naval vessel is to be sunk as an artificial reef off Key West on May 15, 2008. Complete with radar antennae this wreck promises to be a unique dive and in clear blue Key West deep water.

"
The keel and screw will rest at 140' The tops of the bridge, com rooms, crow's nest and the vast dish antennas will be only 40' below the surface in normally clear gulf stream waters. Lying outside the reef line, about 6 miles offshore, the wreck will often be visible even to snorkelers and glass bottom boats. This site will be the signature dive of Key West and the Florida Keys, and will become one of the most famous warm-water wrecks in the world. All 4 upper decks will be opened to divers, with access vertically through the 18 stair towers, elevator shafts, and cargo holds. The spaces will also be accessible horizontally through 7x10' holes in the hull. The fuel tanks, tank-top, and first platform will be sealed and ballasted to insure upright positioning."
From: http://forum.scubatoys.com/wreck-div...announced.html


From: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/

You can checkout a video of the ship above water as it undergoes preparation for sinking at:

http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/


To put things in perspective
From: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/



It is to be sunk south of Key West in about 140 ft. of water beyond the Sambos

If you want to help the effort, they're accepting donations at:
http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/ARKdonation.htm

[ricki]

I remember how unique the Duane and other white painted wrecks looked shortly after sinking but before the algae fowling rapidly followed. Hope to do a scooter dive shooting video and stills on the wreck shortly after sinking. Should be an incredible composition.


Just add water ...
From: http://www.wrecksite.eu/imgBrowser.aspx?1921

[ricki]

It is finally going to happen! It is supposed to be sunk as the latest Artificial Reef on Wednesday, May 27, 2009. Live video of the event is supposed to carried at: http://www.sinkthevandenberg.com/index.html

More info at: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/

Hope to get down there and shoot some video of the wreck on the bottom scooter free diving in coming weeks.

[500EPILOT]

Rick, she is supposed to go down tomorrow morning at 10 am, we filmed the arrival in Key West from Virginia a few weeks ago and the tow out to the reef this morning, they had trouble getting the four anchors positioned but it appears she is ready to go down tomorrow. We'll be back up tomorrow for the sinking shooting more still and video.

JP

[ricki]

Originally Posted by 500EPILOT

Rick, she is supposed to go down tomorrow morning at 10 am, we filmed the arrival in Key West from Virginia a few weeks ago and the tow out to the reef this morning, they had trouble getting the four anchors positioned but it appears she is ready to go down tomorrow. We'll be back up tomorrow for the sinking shooting more still and video.

JP

Wow, have a blast JP. You are shooting footage from a helicopter? Should get some nice stuff. I hope to do a quick and dirty video clip using a scooter free diving along it before the white paint gets much covered up by algae. The white massive hull really shows up well in clear Florida Current water. Have fun and let us know how it goes.

Say, a favor, could you grab the GPS numbers for the location of the wreck after she settles? I would like to rent a boat and go out and shoot it soon. Having confirmed numbers ahead of time would be an advantage.

Thanks!

[500EPILOT]

Rick, yes I am taking two photogs up in a helicoper, we are providing HD video for the TV networks as well as shooting stills, it is going to be a media frenzy down here the next few days including a media dive on Thursday. There are even 4 cameras going down with the ship. I have a media package and some pins for you. Send me your address again please. It has a locator map for the wrecks location, the coordinates are 24*27N 81* 44W.
You can see more photos at www.fla-keys.com/media and I can probably get some hd video for you as well from digitalislandmedia.com the HD video people.

JP

[ricki]

Great JP and thanks for all the additional info. Looks like the server is swamped and can't handle the load for the live feed. Too bad, hope someone captures it. It will be neat to see what the cameras come up with that will shoot through the blasts and ride to the bottom. Keep your distance up there JP! How far do they want you to standoff when they shoot the charges? Have fun, hope to check it out this weekend if things workout.

This image Stephen Frink shot of the USCG Duane just after sinking stuck with me all these years. The white hull shows up so well in the blue water. Great images, hope to get some good viz. down there.


http://www.florida-keys.fl.us

[ricki]

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


From: http://www.bigshipwrecks.com/

[ricki]

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.



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.












Nice summary of the history









The sinking in the Key West Citizen












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


.

[ricki]

Kirk Krack surveys his domain mounted on a radar dish on the wreck of the Vandenberg seven miles south of Key West, FL.



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!