PENOBSCOT

General information

Course/Position

Latest news

Tug scuttled as artificial reef

The "Penobscot" was scuttled in Martin County on Aug 24 to help protect the shoreline and become a new habitat for marine life. Ted and Lynne Glasrud were the primary donors, for the project and named the reef the Brause Girls Reef for their three granddaughters Jessica, Madison, and Allison Brause. A plaque honoring the late diver Kerry Dillon will be mounted on the lower bridge by the MCAC Reef Fund which is behind the project. Dillon played a role in the deployment of many artificial reefs along the Treasure Coast. The tug was placed in about 187 feet of water in the Sirotkin Reef Permit site off Martin County’s coast. Reports with photo and video: http://www.wflx.com/story/38957732/tugboat-new-artificial-reef-in-martin-county https://www.wptv.com/news/region-martin-county/brause-girls-reef-scuttled-tugboat-is-the-newest-artificial-reef-in-martin-county

Tug becoming artificial reef

By the end of next week, the "Penobscot" will be sunk and become a home for fish such as grouper, snapper, hogfish, amberjack and lobsters- On Aug 15, 2018, officials with Martin County-based MCAC Reef Fund announced the artificial reef construction foundation had taken possession of the tug which was presently docked at the Port of Fort Pierce. The vessel will become an artificial reef offshore of Martin County as Brause Girls Reef. It has been named after the three granddaughters of Stuart and Roseville, Minn. residents Ted and Lynne Glasrud. Madison, Allison and Jessica Brause reside in Colorado with the Glasrud's daughter and son-in-law. Ted Glasrud is the president and chief operating officer of Ted Glasrud Associates, a commercial and industrial real estate development and property management firm. This will be the third project which the Glasrud family has been benefactor. Glasrud partnered with MCAC Reef construction projects to sink the Hailey Glasrud Reef in 2014 and the Ted Glasrud Reef in 2010. The tug was brought to the Port of Fort Pierce from Port Canaveral in May by McCulley Marine Services of Fort Pierce. It was originally in the hands of the Sea-Life Habitat Improvement Project, Inc., a St. Lucie County-based not-for-profit artificial reef construction foundation. At the time SHIP's executive director April Price announced it would be named the Kerry Dillon Reef in honor of longtime artificial reef consultant and commercial diver Kerry Dillon who passed away at his home in June 2017. He was 58. Dillon was also a board member of both artificial reef foundations. The Port of Fort Pierce has been in a revitalization mode and our terms at the port were about to expire. The funds needed to finish the project could not be secured in time. SHIP, Coastal Conservation Association Florida, Building Conservation Trust and our supporters are grateful that Martin County can accept this vessel as a reef and that MCAC Reef Fund has a donor who is willing complete the project. a plaque honoring the Dillon will be mounted on the lower bridge of the vessel. Weather permitting, the vessel is scheduled to be deployed Aug. 24 in approximately 180 feet of water at the Sirotkin Reef Permit site about 10 miles northeast of St. Lucie Inlet, or 20 miles southeast of Fort Pierce Inlet, off the coast of Martin County. tHE MCAC Reef Fund has been working with the Dillon family to ensure that Kerry Dillon is still honored. The foundation has assisted Martin County with the deployment of a concrete rubble reef in shallower water to make it more accessible to recreational divers, as Dillon would have fully supported. When the deployment of both the concrete rubble reef and the Brause Girls Reef are completed, the exact coordinates will be published by Martin County's Artificial Reef Program. Since the early 1970s, there have been dozens of artificial reef projects deployed in Martin County offshore waters. Since acquiring the tug from Port Canaveral, where it became a derelict vessel following Hurricane Matthew in 2016, SHIP and MCAC Reef have been working with CRB Geological & Environmental Services, Inc., and Artificial Reefs International, Inc. The contractors are best known for artificial reef deployments such as the U.S.S. Vandenberg Reef off Key West and the U.S.Coast Guard Cutter Mohawk off Lee County. They have been cleaning the vessel, removing windows, hatches, portholes, holding tanks, wiring and anything containing oil or diesel fuel according to permit requirements by the U.S. Coast Guard, Environmental Protection Agency and other government agencies. Only after all final inspections are approved can the tug be towed to sea where it will be sent to its final resting place. The vessel now was nearly ready for deployment and, weather permitting, she will be sunk on Aug. 24: The public can view the sinking from their own boats or by calling the "Safari I" party boat moored at Pirates Cove Resort and Marina in Port Salerno. Later this year, or possibly next year, the "Voici Bernadette", a 180-foot long cargo ship project being managed by St. Lucie County, was expected to be deployed in waters offshore of St. Lucie County. Report with photo: https://eu.tcpalm.com/story/sports/2018/08/16/tug-changed-ownership-recently-but-soon-become-fish-habitat/1006357002/

Tug to be sunk as artificial reef two years after accident

On May 10, 2018, officials with St. Lucie County-based Sea-Life Habitat Improvement Project, Inc. (SHIP), took possession of the "Penobscot". After cleaning the vessel, which was in service as a tug for more than 50 years, SHIP will convert the "Penobscot" into the Kerry Dillon Tugboat Reef offshore of St. Lucie and Martin counties. The process will take at minimum a month. The sinking of the tug boat as an artificial reef will be SHIP's first official reef creation. The tug was donated by the Sophlex Enterprises of Port Canaveral. The dive wreck will honour Kerry Dillon who did much for the artificial reef building community on the Treasure Coast and in Florida. Dillon, 58, died unexpectedly in June 2017 at his home in Stuart. A 1986 graduate of Florida Institute of Technology, he owned Sea Rover Services and performed design, construction and monitoring of artificial reefs in Florida and the Caribbean Sea. His work assisted numerous agencies as well including National Oceanographic Atmospheric Administration, Florida Department of Environmental Protection, Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Florida Institute of Technology’s Ocean Engineering Department and more. Once the tug has reached the sea floor, will provide some 60 estimated feet of relief off the bottom. It's steel superstructure with bridge and pilot house should provide ample habitat for marine organisms and will last underwater for decades. Windows, hatches, portholes, holding tanks, wiring and anything containing oil or diesel fuel will be removed or cleaned according to permit requirements by the U.S. Coast Guard and other government agencies. Only after all final inspections are approved can the tug boat be towed to sea where it will be sent to its final resting place. SHIP have partnered with CRB Geological & Environmental Services, Inc., and Artificial Reefs International, Inc., who are known for building the U.S.S. Vandenberg Reef in Key West, U.S.C.G.C. Mohawk off Lee County and the soon to be Clamagore Reef off the coast of Palm Beach, among others. They will oversee the cleaning and deployment of this vessel. Before being towed from Port Canaveral to the Port of Fort Pierce by McCulley Marine Services in Fort Pierce, the "Penobscot" had an auspicious recent past. In Port Canaveral the tug broke free during Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and caused some damage to piers and vessels in the port as it was blown by the winds. Port officials attempted to file liens of more than $140,000 on the owner of the vessel, Victor Jattan, but were unable to reach him. In June 2017, the Port filed a lawsuit and acquired the tug . It's ownership was acquired at auction by Sophlex Enterprises which donated it to SHIP. The tug is scheduled to be sunken at a site in about 110 feet of water 12 miles southeast of Fort Pierce Inlet and 13 miles northeast of St. Lucie Inlet. Report with photo and video: https://www.tcpalm.com/story/sports/2018/05/12/tug-boat-moved-port-canaveral-fort-pierce-thursday/601452002/