Herb Segars Photography Blog

On August 8, 2008, the New Jersey Department of Fish and Wildlife sunk the Smoke II on the Sea Girt Artificial Reef off Sea Girt, New Jersey. The site will be listed as the Ed Bogaert Memorial Reef. It is a tribute

Ed Bogaert

to a great guy. Ed was a former charter dive boat captain and a SCUBA instructor who introduced many, many people to the sport of SCUBA diving. Ed was a good friend and I miss him. His life partner, Trudy Stetter is also a great person and a good friend. She was the drving force behind the sinking of the Smoke II as a Memorial Reef for Ed. Ed left us in 2005 and he left behind a great legacy. You can read more about Ed at http://www.scubanj.org/EJB_Memorial_Reef.html.

The Ed Bogaert Memorial Reef is in 71′ of water about four miles offshore. It appears from the depth recorder readings that she landed upright on the ocean bottom. The vessel used for the reef has a great history.

 

Smoke II

The Smoke II, was a part of the Fire Department of New York for 50 years. The Smoke II was built in New Orleans, Louisiana, in 1958. It was 52 feet in length, pumped 2,000 gallons per minute and was equipped with two monitors (water nozzles). The fireboat was commissioned to be used as the chief’s tender for all marine operations and served as a command post. Later it was used as a backup for Marine Unit 6, the Kevin Kane. After September 11, 2001, the Smoke II pumped water to the World Trade Center site following the attacks. The boat also transported Fire Capt. Al Fuentes from the site to a trauma center in New Jersey after he was rescued from the rubble.

It was a great day on the ocean with very little wind and calm seas. The Smoke II took nearly two hours to sink and went to the bottom bow first. I was out on the Venture IV with Paul and Ruth Hepler. If you want a great day of diving in New Jersey, try them out. They are two great people and really know their way around New Jersey Reefs and Shipwrecks.

Smoke II Sinking

You can see a lot more photos of the sinking of the Ed Bogaert Memorial Reef on my web site at http://www.gotosnapshot.com/cgi-bin/ImageFolio4/imageFolio.cgi?direct=Artificial_Reefs-New_Jersey/Ed_Bogaert_Memorial_Reef.

I wanted to show one other item that you can see in the photo above. It is a plaque that Trudy had made for Ed and put on the front of the cabin on the Smoke II. The photo was taken by Captain Duane Clause who was at the helm of the Tow BoatUS, Budget Towing vessel that brought the Smoke II out to its final resting place.

Ed Bogaert Memorial Plaque © 2008 Duane Clause

I hope to get out and dive it soon. I will post underwater photos as soon as they become available.

© 2008, Herb Segars. All rights reserved.