TISIRI’s Joe Kistel, Ed Kalakauskis, and Larry Davis made another visit to the Tuff-E-Nuff vessel location this past weekend. Kistel and Kalakauskis inspected the tug in an effort to start outlining preparation task while Davis documented the events with his cameras rolling.

The vessel currently rest on a sand bar near a boat repair yard. The plan is to float the vessel to the boat yard, remove the vessel from the water with use of specialized machinery, and the start vessel preparations. The vessel needs to be cleaned to a reef friendly condition which will involve removing all debris, cutting and removing sections of the ship, making some hull repairs, and much more.

Although several in kind donations and volunteer man hours are being applied to this project, significant cost hurdles still need to be overcome. We are looking for project sponsors and contributions. Contributions can be made directly at the link below or by contacting our office.

The reef site name is still available. For a significant contribution we offer the naming rights to the donor. A metal sign will be welded directly to the vessel with the contributor’s name and the reef will be forever known by that name. A reef name can also be purchased in the name of a business and is a forever form of marketing, not to mention the initial media attention with vessel preparations and deployment. This is a chance to purchase a reef name with the tax incentives of contributing to a non-profit organization.