2 Tank Wreck Dives: The Tracey & Okinawa!
July 23th @ 8:00am
Scubatyme Charters, Pompano
2 tank trip, $60.00
Tracey’s Wheelhouse
The Tracey is 131' long with a 32' beam. The bow is pointing north and is upright. She is connected with a chain to the Jay Scutti to the south, approximately 200'. The Merci Jesus lies to north. You can easily cover 2 wrecks and if the current is right you can do all 3, This area is a great dive, along with all the marine life you get to test your navigational skills. The Tracey was seized by U.S. Customs for drug trafficking and towed to the Miami River where it sat derelict. Eventually the wreck sailed to Ft. Lauderdale to become an artificial reef. The ship was deployed on March 2, 1999. There is a plaque on the ship in memory of a well-known local diving instructor, Ken Vitale.
The Okinawa is a 107' x 26' 6" Army Tug. Displacement loaded is 350 tons. Okinawa was equipped with a 40,000 lb Fairbanks Morse engine. The propeller is 8' in diameter and weighs over 2,000 lbs. The Okinawa was sunk by Shipwreck Park Inc. and is the 18th wreck in Shipwreck Park Pompano Beach. Renowned artist Dennis McDonald created whimsical dive bar called the Midnight Sun. The name was chosen by Finlandia Vodka the sinking project's largest sponsor. The dive bar includes sea creatures and a magical mermaid. You can actually penetrate the opening in front of the wheelhouse and swim into the engine room and up and out through the dive bar! Just keep an eye out for the new Captain of the ship: a barracuda with a hook in its mouth now calls the wheelhouse its home! When she was sunk in 2017, the bow pointed to the south and she sat perfectly upright in 69'. The Hurricanes of 2017 spun the Okinawa 180 degrees and also pushed her 200 feet to the east. She came to rest in 75’ with list to starboard. The storm also ripped the globe out of the hands of the prominent mermaid.
Originally named LT 1970, the Okinawa was manufactured by Higgins Ind. for the U.S. Army and was completed in October of 1953. LT 1970 was renamed Okinawa, after the battle of Okinawa. The U.S. Army sold the Okinawa in 2003.
Okinawa Video