R/V Jane Yarn
 Photo Credit: Greg McFall - NOAA
This ship was acquired by NOAA in 1998 from the Navy and was used as the sanctuaries research vessel until it was decommissioned and assigned to it's permanent mission as an artificial reef in 2007. The ship is located near the "J" buoy. Each year more and more fish gather on this wreck as the surface becomes more encrusted with reef animals. You can often find large schools of Spadefish and Amberjack. Loggerhead sea turtles often rest under the stern.
Prior Service
The R/V "Nancy Foster", one of 84 "T-Boats" built for the US Army. She was delivered to NOAA sometime between 1996 and 1998. Her service before NOAA was Command Sub Group (COMSUBGRU) Six of the US Navy Reserve out of Charleston, SC. as T-460 "Donald P. Hall". She was built by Missouri Valley Steel in Leavenworth, KS in 1953.
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S/S A.B. Daniels
| Built by Southeastern Shipbuilding in Savannah, GA. She was finished in October 1944 only a month and a half after her keel was laid. She was scrapped of everything except her hull and main deck. In 1978 she was sunk as an artificial reef, and is located near the "J" buoy. In 1979, the wreck was torn in half by Hurricane David, each piece now lies about 100 yards from the other. This is a very large wreck, even though you can only visit half of it per dive. The deck is almost completely covered by corals and sponges and it quite colorful. You will see many Oyster Toadfish on her. The cargo compartments are wide open, with a few cool swim-throughs that go between them. I have been told it is a good wreck for penetration, however I have not ventured into it. The photo to the left is actually of the "Betsy Ross" just prior to sinking, but the Daniels was in approximately the same condition when she was sunk.
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USCGC Sagebrush
| Commissioned on April, 1 1944, the Sagebrush served as a buoy tender for the US Coast Guard until she was decommissioned in 1988 and sunk shortly after. It's a large wreck especially since most of the superstructure is still intact. You will see large schools of Amberjack, Spadefish and tons of Barracuda in the summer. This is a great dive for groups of varying experience levels.
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Anchor Ledge
This is a pretty neat ledge located about 35 miles offshore. It's between 80'-90' deep. It's named because there is a very large anchor wedged into a crack. It is believed to be from a Spanish ship. You can often times find a good number of Grouper here, as well as Cobia and Amberjack. Due to the depth and potential for strong currents, it's definitely an advanced dive.
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Gray's Reef National Marine Sanctuary
Located about 16 miles off of Sapelo Island, and encompasses about 22 square miles of ocean. There are some great high profile ledges, some almost 10' high with substantial undercut, as well as many small ledges. Between these ledges are vast expanses of sand. This is a great location to view many different kinds of sea life. Grouper, Red Snapper, Amberjack and Loggerheads are commonly seen. Occasionally Tiger Sharks are reported. The sanctuary is a known calving ground for the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. During the summer months, a large variety of tropical fish move in, such as Butterfly Fish, Damselfish, Blennies and large Angelfish. Do your research on the regulations before venturing to the sanctuary. There is no anchoring permitted, and currently that seems to include diving marker buoys. Due to this, diving here should be limited to experienced divers as well as an experienced boat captain as it is a live boat drift dive. Also note that spearfishing is NOT permitted inside the sanctuary. You cannot have spearfishing gear on the vessel (stowed or not). There are a handful of public numbers available on the internet for some of the ledges, but there are a bunch of unmarked ones as well, if you have some time, try trolling around and watching your bottom machine, you may come across one of these gems. As with almost all of the coast, the conditions can vary dramatically. If you are comfortable diving in about 10' viz and some decent current, then you should be good for about 80% of the time. If you require better conditions, you may want to try and get a recent dive report before heading out.
| Gray's Reef NMS Homepage
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M-60 "Patton" Battle Tanks
| Several dozen of these tanks have been deposited around a few of the artificial reef locations. They are usually clumped together in groups of three, however there are only a few groups that ended up close enough to one another that you can see them enough to go from one to the other. Most of them air fairly intact, while others landed upside-down. The engines have been removed so there is usually a large hole to view the interior through (if the cover was removed as well). I recommend not trying to go inside of them, as there are many sharp metal edges and snags, not to mention the extremely tight space. They are very well overgrown with many different types of soft corals, sponges and tunicates. If the larger wrecks are loaded with barracuda and making you feel a little nervous, the tanks tend not to attract them as much. |
