Overview
A 100' x 32' kelp-harvesting vessel turned artificial reef. Her wooden hull and superstructure have collapsed over the decades but she now hosts dense marine growth.
What to See
Strawberry anemones, metridiums, gorgonians, sea stars, nudibranchs, and reef fish.
Typical Conditions
Open Water+ friendly. Water 50-52F; visibility and current vary.
History
100' x 32' wooden-hulled Kelco kelp harvester, 133 tons. Harvested the top three feet of the kelp canopy from Point Conception to Mexico; carried up to 300 tons of kelp amidships, six ballast tanks for trim. Over roughly 35 years of service (one source says 41 - not resolved) she also assisted vessels in distress, supported marine-life study, and was occasionally used in body recovery, sailing an estimated 3,600 voyages and ~810,000 miles (per a dive-magazine feature, X-Ray Mag - not independently verified). Slated for scrapping as early as 1981 but not sunk until 1987. Sunk 2 April 1987 by a U.S. Navy demolition team using explosives - the first vessel placed in Wreck Alley (confirmed, CDFW artificial reef guide). STILL UNCONFIRMED after this pass: builder and exact build year. Given ~35 years of service ending in 1987, she would have been built in the early-to-mid 1950s, but no source states this directly - do not publish an inferred build year as fact.