PLANE DIVE SITE/SUCCESS AT ITS' FINEST

It was a success! After hours of hard work from Richard, Beto, Tony, Don,and Ollie, we were able to move the wrecked plane that had landed in our salinas about a year ago to its new resting place.
I was able to negotiate with the owner, Paul Gardiner,if he would give us the plane to create an artificial reef, we would be responsible to move it.Thanks so much Paul.
The plane had to have its wings filpped up as the narrow streets of Salt Cay would not allow it to "fit" through the streets. Once that was done, Don brought his back hoe and trailer to the site to sit the plane on to carry it to the dock.
Don was masterful in his manuvering under the power and phone lines to get the plane through the maze.Fortunately Beto and Richard used a kayak paddle to push the telephone lines out of the way.
We parked the plane on the ramp at Deane's dock until morning when the officers from Department of Environmental and Coastal Resources from Grand Turk came over to examine the plane.
They needed to insure it was safe to sink. This meant cutting all the cables out, remove the engine, all oils and gas, nothing hazardous to contaminate the ocean or could hurt anyone once it was sunk.Officer Fernado said we did a great job and approved it to sink.
Ollie took the Salt Cay Divers Big Boat and pulled the plane off the trailer and to the new dive site located about 1/4 mile from Lucky Lady, the boat we just sank last week.
This site was selected as it is in about 45 ft of water, lots of sand and the bigger fish come around the end of the reef at that location.
Donna did an excellent job at capturing the shots of the plane moving through the streets and then through the water until till it reached its new resting place.
We were fortunate enough to have three guests on board who were extremely helpful in the actual sinking of the boat. Geoffrey, Jilian and Pierre scuba dived or free dived the plane while it was sinking.
Geoffrey and Jilian also "had" to free dive down to sit in the one seat we left there, just so they could say they did! Thanks so much to all for their contrubutions to this new artificial reef in Salt Cay.
Now we just need you divers to come experience the plane. In keeping with Salt Cay tradition,another naming contest. Please submit your name of the new dive site to scdivers@tciway.tc. When you arrive you will receive a free dive on the site you named.
Also a very happy happy birthday to Ollie. We wanted to sink this plane on his birthday to make it a memorable occasion. See you all soon. Debbie