It was a calm and sunny morning on October 3rd, as the lines were slipped loose that secured the "Mary N." to the docks of the old Bluepoints Company in West Sayville. This practice was commonplace for so many years before, but today the "Mary N" was off on a one way journey compared to her typical daily trips to Great South Bay and back. Today she was being towed to her final resting place on the sea bottom that she had worked on for so many years. The one way voyage started at 9:20 a.m. taking the boat past the Fire Island Lighthouse, under the single Captree Bridge span and out the Fire Island Inlet into the Atlantic Ocean.

The boat rode high in the water at the end of the tow rope fastened to the center bit of the Suffolk County Department of Public Works tugboat "Mattituck." The "Mattituck" was piloted by Captain Kevin O'Brien with First Mate Tim Knutson on deck to assist in the two and half hour tow to the Fire Island Reef site and the vessel's final deployment. A compass heading of 12 degrees (southeast) was taken from the Fire Island Inlet on the four nautical mile venture to reach the NYSDEC Fire Island Artificial Reef Site. The reef site is located in the Atlantic Ocean approximatly two miles southeast of the Fire Island Lighthouse.

The Sinking Begins

Once on site, the target coordinates designated for her final resting place were entered into the tow boat's Global Positioning System (GPS). A marker buoy was tossed over the side, to make the location easily visible. The tug was anchored in place near the marker bouy and the "Mary N" was prepared for her final journey.

This is where she will be slowly flooded with seawater by pums and allowed to settle quietly below the calm seas to the bottom that she had so often explored for shellfish. The "Mary N" would become the latest "patch reef" on the Fire Island Artificial Reef site. A "patchreef" can e made of an acceptable stable and durable material such as a steel vessel, barge or concrete. These materials are deployed on a designated artificial reef site to provide angling and scuba diving opportunities for the public. This is what the "Mary N" ill do for the remainder of her days on the sea floor.

Clams Were Her Life

The former life of the "Mary N" was to harvest clams from the bottom of the Great South Bay. For six years she probed the bay bottom in search of hard clams under the watchful eye of her owner Paul Guihan. Through the use of a mechanical conveyor dredge system the prized quahogs (a.k.a. hard clams or Mercenaria) were disturbed from their resting places by a jet water and then transported up the revolving conveyor belt to the culling table of the Mary N. There the quahogs were sorted for market or returned to the bay bottom. On a good day the boat would labor under the weight of 100 bushels of hard clams harvested from Great South Bay. Unfortunately those days are gone and after 50 years of service the "Mary N" will start a new life in the marine environment as an artificial reef.

Want My Boat

In August, Mr. Guihan contacted the NYSDEC Artificial Reef Program (Reef Program) to donate the 50 foot steel hull vessel. Before the "Mary N" could become an artificial reef she had to be prepared under the permit guidelines of the Reef Program and also be inspected by the local United States Coast Guard (USCG) Marine Safety Office (MSO). Personnel from the Reef Program and the USCG MSO inspect a candidate vessel thoroughly to first determine that it is seaworthy and can be towed from its current location to the reef coordinates where it will be sunk. After the structural portion of the inspection is completed the vessel must be cleaned of all material that would pollute the environment such as engine fuel, lubricants, and hydraulic fluid. Materials that may break free and float when the vessel is being deployed, such as all panes of glass, loose wood and plastic, must also be removed.

The work involved is quite costly, and is made possible through donations to The Fisherman's Building A-Reef Program. In the case of these two vessels, the donations were made on behalf of Thomas and Dorothy Collins, Julia Collins, Colleen and Brian Campbell, Jennifer and Matt Hamel, Cindy and Tim Collins, in memory of Thomas J. Collins, who was lost in the September 11 tragedy.

The Prep Begins

The entire engine is removed from some vessels as was the case with the "Mary N." Her deck engine, used for the conveyor clam dredge, was also removed. All fuel, hydraulic and lubricating fluids and any oil residue remaining in the vessel bilge must be removed. The majority of the boat's wheelhouse was made of wood with the exception of the metal framework the wood was attached to. The wheelhouse was stripped from the metal frame and the framework left as a place of attachment for the marine organisms that will anchor themselves to the vessel after she comes to rest on the bottom.

These marine organisms could be sponges, bryozoans, hydroids, blue mussels or anemones. These "pioneers" will be followed by migratory species such as tautog, black sea bass, scup and lobsters who will take up residence in this haven from the otherwise open surrounding sands. The newresidents on the boat will find a place to live, feed and even be eaten in the complex community that will be formed on this artificial reef.

Ultimately the "Mary N" and "Alec N" will become as encrusted by marine organisms that their once distinct shape will become nearly undistinguishable from any other overgrown structure in the adjacent waters. This reef project will yield countless hours of angling and diving enjoyment in the years to come.

The "Alec N" Too

The "Alec N," a 45-foot steel hull clam conveyor dredge that also worked for the Bluepoint Company shared the same fate as the "Mary N." Owner Paul Martin donated the "Alec N" to the reef Program and she was deployed five days later on the Fire Island Reef approximately one half nautical mile southwest of the "Mary N."

This article was published in "The Fisherman / November 20, 2003.

For more information on the NYSDEC Artificial Reef Program and sponsorship please contact Chris LaPorta at the Bureau of Marine Resources (631) 444-0438 or on line at http://www.dec.state.ny.us/website/dfwmr/marine/reefs1.htm

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