Vandenberg Sinks in Key West

The Vandenberg is finally on its way to becoming an artificial reef. It now lies in about 150 feet down, having sunk about ten feet into the sand. The satellite dishes actually broke off during the sinking, but they are trying to re-attach them or secure them somehow.

The actual day of the Vandenberg sinking, dozens, maybe hundreds of boats made the six mile trip out (5.8 miles from Stock Island). There were so many boats headed out, it made the seas choppy! Even tiny boats and a few jet skis made the trip out for the Great Vandenberg Sinking Event. We all had to keep about a mile away, although some VIP boats got to get in a little closer. This included Key West Express, a ferry boat that makes trips between Key West and Fort Meyers (also Miami Beach in Summertime). It blocked views of a bunch of boats, and boy were those boats mad!

The scheduled detonation of explosives was for ten am, and it actually took place around 10:20, and then everything happened so fast it was over before we knew it. It took just under two minutes after the explosions, for the Vandenberg to sink all the way under the surface of the water.

There was a lot of smoke, as you can tell by this picture. The picture was taken just seconds after the detonations began, and this was only the beginning of the smoke. After another thirty seconds, the Vandenberg was completely obscured by the smoke and we didn’t really see it sink all the way, there was such thick smoke. But it was still exciting and we were proud to be a part of Key West history.