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Revision 4/27/2015 12:26 PM by LatitudeAdjustment
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Governor’s River Walk, Gilbert Sea, ShaSha Boekani - West Palm Beach FL


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Location:

Governor’s River Walk Reef is approximately 1½ miles south of the Lake Worth Inlet in about 90 ft. of water. It is due east of the natural reef, South Double Ledges. There are 4 ships and the southern point for each ship is located as follows:

ShaSha Boekanier 26° 45.064 N 800 00.606 W

St. Jacques 26° 45.083 N 800 00.606 W divebuddy.com/divesite/372/st-jacques-west-palm-beach-fl/

Thozina 26° 45.089 N 800 00.593 W divebuddy.com/divesite/371/thozina-west-palm-beach-fl/

Gilbert Sea 26° 45.176 N 800 00.616 W
The four ships making up Governor’s River Walk Reef were all turned over to the County by U.S. Customs as part of Operation River Walk, a program to eliminate drug smuggling operations on the Miami River. Each ship had been seized while the crews were trafficking drugs. The reef’s name honors Governor Bush’s effort to make Operation River Walk a success.

From Pura Vida; In February 2002, Palm Beach County’s Artificial Reef Program expanded with the intentional sinking of the Shasha Boekanier. Known as the Shasha to local divers, this 184-foot coastal freighter was the first of three former drug smuggling vessels seized and sunk off Palm Beach County. Following the Shasha was the St. Jacques (180-foot) and the Gilbert Sea (170-foot).

Almost as a gift to divers, Palm Beach County added the Thozina to Governor’s Riverwalk Reef in December 2002. This 174-foot coastal freighter was donated to Palm Beach County’s Artificial Reef Program, and now lies with the others in 90-feet of water. The wrecks are quickly becoming a haven for game and tropical fish as they rapidly become overgrown with coral and algae.

As a dive site, Governor’s Riverwalk Reef is an excellent training site for advanced recreational and introductory technical training.

YouTube; youtube.com/watch?v=6wDlCOhk2ag

Dive site map; scubadiver.cc/images/forum/governors-riverwalk-reef.pdf