UPDATE: August 8, 2008
Folks,
Great news! On Friday, August 8, 2008, we were able to deploy Smoke II/Ed Bogaert Memorial Reef on the Sea Girt Reef about 4 miles from Manasquan Inlet. The weather was bright and sunny and we had about 1 foot seas. After some preparation on the vessel from the tow boat team including marking the site selected by the reef commissioner, the sea cocks were opened and she very slowly started to take on water. The winds
were probably 5-10 knots blowing Smoke II off the buoy. She had to be towed back a few times and finally sank bow first, about an hour and a half later. The dive boat Venture III brought many people out to witness this awesome event.
We were very pleased to have members of the FDNY, the matching grant Ann E. Clark Foundation and the artificial reef department on hand in addition to many friends of Ed's. Deep Six was also on site! Red roses were dropped and the fog horns sounded.
Thank you very much for your support to make this project to honor and remember Ed Bogaert a reality. Without you this would not have been possible.
Trudy
Here are some links to photos, videos and blogs. Enjoy!
Our friend and Porthole dive boat captain Duane Clause captained the tow boat and took the following photos including the plaque we placed on the vessel.
http://members3.
Outstanding photographer both above and below the water, good friend Herb Segars took many photos of the sinking and made an entry on his blog. On Sunday he returned to dive and his underwater photos are included. http://www.gotosnap
Brian Nunes-Vais, a trustee of the Ann E, Clark Foundation joined us on Venture III and shared some photos and a video. The last blast through the fire nozzle is awesome!
Photos:
http://s148.
http://s148.
http://s148.
Video:
http://s148.
Smoke II was retired as a 51' pump vessel from the Fire Department of New York City.
The retirement ceremony for Smoke II was a spectacular sendoff as she was released to us for towing to Point Pleasant for preparation for reefing:
http://www.nyc.
We hope we will have more photographs including a video and a collage.
Should you care to make a donation to the Ed Bogaert Memorial Reef project, your donation is tax deductible and will be matched by the Ann E. Clark Foundation. 100% of your donation goes to the sinking of a vessel off the New Jersey Coast.
Make checks payable to: The Sportfishing Fund
MAIL TO: Trudy Stetter
On memo line, please write:
Ed Bogaert Memorial Reef
C/O New Jersey Skin Diving Club
P.O. Box 1583
West Caldwell, NJ 07007-1583
Sink a Vessel to
Celebrate the Life of
Ed Bogaert
1938-2005
A good man lives a life of energy; a great man uses that energy to serve others. Ed Bogaert was a great man who had so much energy, few people knew the scope of his accomplishments. The scuba world certainly remembers Ed as a forty-seven year instructor of scuba, thirty-eight of which were spent at his beloved Montclair YMCA where he had earned medals swimming as a youth. Ed’s ten years as East Field Scuba Commissioner enabled him to skillfully transform divers into safety-oriented scuba instructors. Later, he helped create material for use in Scuba Life Saving and Accident Management (SLAM). The American Heart Association and The American Red Cross both benefited from Ed’s services at a CPR instructor. As a true people’s leader, Ed saw needs and filled them through a life of service.
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Make checks payable to: The Sportfishing
Fund MAIL TO: Trudy Stetter
On memo line, please write: Ed Bogaert Memorial Reef C/O
By
filling out the following information, we will keep you advised on the progress of
the project
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