Seeker 2000 Sebastian I

The Sebastian is a British tanker which sank in 1918 due to a fire in the ship's stern. It lies 250 feet under the North Atlantic, 100 miles off Montauk, New York, and just 8 miles from the Andrea Doria. Although the hull is mostly intact, most of the wooden superstructure has collapsed, with a large debris field in the middle covered with nets, but containing many very interesting artifacts. The Sebastian is unique because it is an early oil tanker which also had sails.

The following pictures (all images from video) are from the voyage of the Seeker to the Sebastian, Saturday and Sunday, July 1 - 2, 2000.

The evening before everyone loads up their gear on the Seeker, docked at Star Island Marina in Montauk, New York. We will leave around 10:30 pm and arrive on site at around 7 am the next morning.
	John Chatterton, still ecstatic after last weekend's Carolina safe recovery, proudly shows off his new PADI Safe Diver rating, with this sticker on his Buddy Inspiration rebreather. He had this statement to make: "PADI has finally given me the recognition I've felt I deserved after all these years!"
Once we arrive on site and zero in on the wreck, Mike Yasky and Mike Pizzio drop the hook. The sea is flat calm, but the current is ripping.
	Danny Crowell hooks the wreck, while Steve Brozyna looks on. This is the bridge of the Seeker.
John Yurga and John Chatterton gear up to go set the hook.
	Doc Gianni gears up, assisted by Mike Yasky. Doc is an old timer who has been diving from the Seeker(s) longer than anyone else on board.
This is the tie-in point on the Sebastian, a boom towards the bow of the ship. The rusty steel piece you see in the lower left is one of the tines of the grapnel. Almost the entire wreck is covered with thick layers of nets.
	Here's another view of the tie-in point.
Looking down at some of the wreckage. The round thing you see at the top of the picture is a ventilator duct.
	A boom lying on the deck. Conditions are very much like the New Jersey Mud Hole - dark and silty.
Looking down at the port side gunwhale. A lot of shards of china have been found around here, but no intact pieces have ever come off the wreck. Doc Gianni recovered an almost intact soup bowl in which you could just barely make out faded British flags and "Laird Line". This is unusual because other china shards recovered in the past were inscribed with "Motorship Sebastian".
	This is the area where the main superstructure (which was wooden) collapsed. Can you say "netscape"??!! It is here that many of the best artifacts have been found. Getting these artifacts involves searching beneath the layers of nets and beams, and when you spot something cutting it out and freeing it from the wreckage.