Ship sinking will create A.A. Hendry artificial reef off Hutchinson Island, Fort Pierce

Sometime before lunch Saturday, the fish living offshore of Hutchinson Island will have new digs to explore. St. Lucie County is planning to sink another vessel to become the latest artificial reef along the Treasure Coast.

The A.A. Hendry Reef is expected to create habitat for corals, sea fans, lobsters, shrimp, grouper, snapper, amberjacks, triggerfish, sea bass, porgies, blue runners, goggle-eyes and sardines. Pelagic species such as kingfish, wahoo, cobia, bonito, tunas and iconic sailfish will colonize the reef at times, too.

The 127-foot-long M/Y Time is an aluminum-hulled vessel built in 1987 to be very fast for its owners. Abandoned over a decade ago at what is now Willis Custom Yachts boatyard in Martin County, the vessel was acquired by MCAC Reef Fund, given to St. Lucie County and relocated to Causeway Cove Marina in Fort Pierce in 2022.

Deployment will take place July 15 in 160 feet of water at the Fort Pierce Sportfishing Club Reef permitted artificial reef site about 15 miles southeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet. The vessel will be towed to the sinking site by McCulley Marine Services in Fort Pierce and is expected to arrive at the sinking site by 9 a.m.

It likely will take about 20 minutes to sink. Deployment should be complete by 11 a.m.

The vessel will provide about 35 feet of vertical relief once it is resting on the seafloor, explained Jim Oppenborn, coastal marine resources coordinator for St. Lucie County.

The reef received a significant donation from the Hendry family, a pioneer family of St. Lucie, Martin and Hendry counties since the late 1800s. Gary Hendry of Jensen Beach, an avid angler and Treasure Coast native, led the effort to arrange the reef on behalf of his family.

The reef is named for great-grandfather A.A. Hendry, grandfather A.A. Hendry II and father A.A. Hendry. The Hendry family was involved in the propane, real estate and rental businesses.

Marine Cleanup Initiative, Inc. prepared the vessel for deployment, including removing engines, oils, fuels, chemicals and electrical wiring, according to the permitting process administered by the Coast Guard, Environment Protection Agency and others. It was the fifth vessel the Marine Cleanup Initiative has helped the county sink since 2019.

It is the 55th reef deployment since Oppenborn joined the county program in 2005. An active artificial reef program helps attract visiting fishers to Fort Pierce, who in turn put heads in beds, generating tax revenue and helping to stimulate the economy, said Christa Stone of the Marine Cleanup Initiative.

The vessel will be about halfway between the Fort Pierce and St. Lucie inlets and within a quarter-mile of two other artificial reef projects: the Tug Lesley Lee and the Blake Charron memorial reef. Although the depth of the vessel may be deployed too deep for recreational diving, it likely will become a good spot for anglers to fish, said Oppenborn.

A nearshore reef has been deployed for divers in the Lee Harris Reef area in 60 feet of water, just northeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet, Oppenborn said. It features over 50 tons of concrete rubble collected by donations to the county. There is another vessel in the works for the program, too, which could be deployed next year.

Ed Killer is the outdoors writer for TCPalm.com. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Ship sinking to create A.A. Hendry artificial reef off Fort Pierce