Old shipwreck at Salt Point state park (gerstle cove)

[BrianM]

Anyone have any details on the old shipwreck just outside the cove at Salt Point? I have been diving there for 2 years and just had the opportunity to check it out for the first time a few weeks ago and I am really interested in finding more information about it. I did find the name "NORLINA" on a state park website and when I looked it up in the state wreck registry it says it was sunk in 1926, but other details or actual photos of the ship would be really neat.

I now understand why it seemed to go on forever when I was diving it, as it shows here it is 386 feet long and 51 feet wide!!!

http://shipwrecks.slc.ca.gov

Thanks,

Brian

 

[renpirate]

Anyone have any details on the old shipwreck just outside the cove at Salt Point? I have been diving there for 2 years and just had the opportunity to check it out for the first time a few weeks ago and I am really interested in finding more information about it. I did find the name "NORLINA" on a state park website and when I looked it up in the state wreck registry it says it was sunk in 1926, but other details or actual photos of the ship would be really neat.

I now understand why it seemed to go on forever when I was diving it, as it shows here it is 386 feet long and 51 feet wide!!!

http://shipwrecks.slc.ca.gov

Thanks,

Brian

I guess that is where those anchors came from. Did you find anything else from the wreck?

 

[BrianM]

I guess that is where those anchors came from. Did you find anything else from the wreck?

Hey Andy,

When I was reading some other websites about North Coast Wrecks (The wreck of the Frolic) they mentioned that sometimes the crew would use the anchors to try to pull the ship off the rocks when they ran aground, but on the Fort Ross website run by the state, they say the anchors in the Ft Ross cove were placed there to secure the lumber chutes that were used to load the ships with lumber. I guess they had a huge framework of ramps and chutes coming off the cliffs and had cables secured all over the place. Both of those explanations I had never considered before whenever I would see those anchors while diving down there. I always just figured some ship broke loose or the anchor got stuck and they cut the line (it's happened to me in the delta .

Have you ever dove this wreck? I think you guys were right over by it that day that Ericson got those big lings. I only freedove it, and I was looking to poke holes in the fishies, so I really didn't get a chance to fully explore the whole thing, but I was blown away by how big it is. I also saw an article from a diver on deeperblue.net describing the boiler area of the wreck as one of the best dives he has ever had in that area, and that it is covered with metridiums.

I have a photo of the area and I marked it where the bow is. The bow actually sticks out of the water at low tide and the ship is pointing straight at the shore.

There is a huge shaft towards the bow that looks like a mast or maybe some kind of pipeline. I didn't look around too close in that area because I was afraid of getting caught on something and having to spend eternity submerged

I wish I would have seen this before as I think this would be an awesome tank dive!!! Here is a link to it on the California Coastal project website too...

www.CaliforniaCoastline.org

Brian

 

[scubajunkee]

I'm game for North Coast wreck diving! Hopefully, I can make my way out there this weekend!

Ericson

Hey Andy,

When I was reading some other websites about North Coast Wrecks (The wreck of the Frolic) they mentioned that sometimes the crew would use the anchors to try to pull the ship off the rocks when they ran aground, but on the Fort Ross website run by the state, they say the anchors in the Ft Ross cove were placed there to secure the lumber chutes that were used to load the ships with lumber. I guess they had a huge framework of ramps and chutes coming off the cliffs and had cables secured all over the place. Both of those explanations I had never considered before whenever I would see those anchors while diving down there. I always just figured some ship broke loose or the anchor got stuck and they cut the line (it's happened to me in the delta .

Have you ever dove this wreck? I think you guys were right over by it that day that Ericson got those big lings. I only freedove it, and I was looking to poke holes in the fishies, so I really didn't get a chance to fully explore the whole thing, but I was blown away by how big it is. I also saw an article from a diver on deeperblue.net describing the boiler area of the wreck as one of the best dives he has ever had in that area, and that it is covered with metridiums.

I have a photo of the area and I marked it where the bow is. The bow actually sticks out of the water at low tide and the ship is pointing straight at the shore.

There is a huge shaft towards the bow that looks like a mast or maybe some kind of pipeline. I didn't look around too close in that area because I was afraid of getting caught on something and having to spend eternity submerged

I wish I would have seen this before as I think this would be an awesome tank dive!!! Here is a link to it on the California Coastal project website too...

www.CaliforniaCoastline.org

Brian

 

[renpirate]

I'm game for North Coast wreck diving! Hopefully, I can make my way out there this weekend!

Ericson

HMMMMM!!!! Decent conditions this weekend. Hey guys, how about checking out the wreck on Sunday? Anybody else game?

 

[jon m]

bump this one-
did you ever make it to this wreck?
any other info on how to get to it???

thanks!

 

[jon m]

am i safe in assuming it lies outside the "washrocks" straight out of the cove?

 

[Hinalo]

Gotta be the Norlina, at South Gerstle. This part of the park has been closed, but I've recently heard that Bamboo Reef has scheduled a dive there so I don't know if there is access or not.

 

[BrianM]

am i safe in assuming it lies outside the "washrocks" straight out of the cove?

Hi Jon, It's a little bit south of Gerstle Cove, but easy to get to if you have a kayak or don't mind doing a bit of a surface swim. I had a photo with the wreck marked, but since this thread is 5 years old, I can't seem to get the attached photo to load and I am not at home to access an old archive of the photo.

I went to the California Coastal Records Project website and they have a new set of photos from Oct 2009. I found the spot but you can't see the bow since it is only visible at a low tide, but I can describe the location. At the far left of the photo is Gerstle Cove, you can just barely make out a sliver of it at the edge. If you go out of the cove and head south, you will go around a big rocky outcropping (where the yellow protected area of the cove is marked, it kind of looks like someone sitting on the rock in a yellow rainsuit. :cool2 So go south to the second large group of boulders and that's where the bow of the wreck is. If you scroll up to the shoreline, it is the only area where the brush/trees go almost down to the waters edge. That's the best I can do on describing it, if you get near the area on a day of good visibility, you will have no problem finding it!! Here is a link to the photo:

California Coastal Records Project - Image 200904869

 

[jon m]

thanks!
looking at the pic, it seems if we walk the trail till we hit the treeline, we should be able to see it at low tide?

also-
if you could post that pic, it would be EPIC!
thanks again!