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Last updated 11:43 am CT September 02, 2010.
Local SCUBA Divers Find Shipwreck on Land
They were in Gulf Shores, Alabama just as Hurricane Ida approached and were unable to dive the wreck they intended.
Instead the storm brought the ship wreck to them.
Dave Trinka and a dive group from Mermet Springs had no idea what was lurking under a mound of sand in their condo's backyard.
Winds and storm surge, from what came on land as Tropical Storm Ida, were strong enough to uncover quite a secret.
He recounts, "The next day after the hurricane had blown through in the middle of the night, it had unearthed this whole ship wreck."
A spokesman from nearby Fort Morgan says he is 90% sure that the ship is The Rachel, built in 1918.
Trenka and his crew, however, had another name for the ship, "Several people had walked around on it and they tripped on some little metal spikes that were sticking out of the sand, stubbed their tie on it so we've officially renamed this wreck, the USS Toestubber."
The ship is rumored to have been a rum runner used during Prohibition and sunk in 1933.
Although Trinka and his dive buddies did not get to dive the wreck they intended, he says, "Travel is an adventure. It got to be a fun adventure for everybody."
The Rachel was also uncovered in 2008 during Hurricane Ike, and the property owner re-buried it with sand.
Trinka spoke with the property owner who said that instead of covering the ship up with sand again, he may leave it uncovered and let nature take its course.
Katie Walls
kwalls@wsiltv.com
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