Wreck Trek, Ft Lauderdale, May 31, 2016

The Fort Lauderdale Wreck Trek is a three wreck dive off of Ft Lauderdale from 50-78 feet. We were aboard Scubatyme and the conditions were incredible with clear blue water and excellent visibility. The Tracey is 131' long with a 32' beam. The bow is pointing north and is upright. The Tracey is connected with a chain to the Jay Scutti to the south, approximately 200'. The Merci Jesus lies to north. You can easily cover 2 wrecks and if the current is right you can do all 3.The Tracey was seized by U.S. Customs for drug trafficking and towed to the Miami River where it sat derelict. Eventually the wreck sailed to Ft. Lauderdale to become an artificial reef. The ship was deployed on March 2, 1999. There is a plaque on the ship in memory of a well known local diving instructor, Ken Vitale. The Merci Jesus is 90' long and 26' wide, bow pointing south and the hull is upright. Merci Jesus was seized by U.S. Customs Officials in April of 1998 for possession of drugs. The ship was then sank by the Broward County Artificial Reef Program on August 11, 1998. Jay Scutti is a 95 foot Aruba harbor tugboat was built in 1961 in the Netherlands. Her original name was Arikok after the first settlers of Aruba. The Arikok was caught while on a marijuana smuggling mission and confiscated. She was later purchased at auction by a local businessman and renamed Jay Scutti, in memory of his son. The wreck was sunk as an artificial reef on September 19, 1986.