New Google Satellite photos are up

[Ted in Tallahassee]

The last time Google Maps - Satellite View images of the St. Marks area were up, they were MUCH better than the previous images that were up, and I posted about it. The previous ones must have been taken early in the morning when there was a lot of reflection on the water and it was high tide, so you couldn't see much in the way of oyster bars or anything on the bottom. When they were updated about a year ago, there was no reflection on the water and the images were taken at a super-low tide, and you could see ALL of the oyster bars, and tons of individual rocks and rock piles.

THIS time, there's no surface reflection as before, and it's low tide as before, but the water is CLEAR! You can see all manner of bottom features, channels, and depths. The most dramatic thing that caught my eye though was the clear ship's outline of the Dispatch, the "hazard" straight off the St. Marks lighthouse boat channel that sticks out a bit at real low tides. Go look at it and zoom in on it--it's amazing!

For those who don't know the history of the Dispatch, here it is:

The Dispatch was first built as a pleasure yacht, which was later donated to the U.S. Navy in WWI as a submarine chaser. After the war, it was given to the Florida Shellfish Commission. Later, it was dedicated for use by State employees as a pleasure craft. Then, in 1928, it was at anchor at or near Spanish Hole just off the end of Long Bar and it caught fire. The lighthouse tender ran his boat out to it, unmoored it, and towed it out of the channel and ran it aground so it wouldn't sink in the channel. It sank there, where it is now. In WWII a lot of its iron was removed for scrap.

[Salty Gator]

Your right. And a lot of hulls and lower units know the Dispatch. Including some on this forum

[GaryDroze]

Oh, crap. The half dozen beater kayaks I have hidden in the St Marks Refuge marsh are now likely visible on Google maps. Finders keepers!

[Ted in Tallahassee]

I've found most of those abandoned kayaks and melted them down for scrap plastic. There's a war on in Afghanistan, you know!

[procraftwes]

Looked for my boat in my slip thinking what the hell is this nonsense..

Found it underway not far away from the slip

[AugustusMccrae]

I tried just attaching the photo, but couldn't. This is a link to an article about the Dispatch's sinking. Included is a photo taken from Light House dock, showing it on fire. Pretty cool.


http://www.thewakullanews.com/content/wreck-dispatch

[Juan]

That is really cool! I didn't know it was there and left a brand new skeg protector on it's deck last year.

[Salty Gator]

That is really cool! I didn't know it was there and left a brand new skeg protector on it's deck last year.

They finally put up a piling marking it now. I wonder what took them so long. It’s been hit a few times, surprising no one got seriously hurt( that I’ve heard of)