Salinas River Dredging Barge - Monterey, California - Shipwrecks on Waymarking.com

Still, it's a favorite fishing spot for the locals, due to the man made reef affect made by the submerged portion of the barge.

Although I couldn't find any history of the barge, I suspect that this old barge was pressed into service during the devastating floods of 1995 to open the mouth of the Salinas River, which is a short distance to the North.

The Salinas River outlet, typically gets cut off by the build up of sand from the relentless wave action during the summer. Prior to 1995, nobody found this to be a problem, but the year of the massive flooding demonstrated in a graphic way, how the build up of the flood waters behind the dunes, would back up to the point that the nearby Hwy 1 bridge became submerged, cutting off access to the Monterey Peninsula.

A small army of dozers and probably this barge, were taken to the scene to haul the sand out that sealed up the river. My guess is that the barge became grounded at some point during the operations, and the crews were unable to pull it off the beach.

So hear it sits, for fish to swim around, and for fishermen and women to drop their lines in and catch a meal.

Date of Shipwreck: approximately 1995 Type of Boat: Barge Accessibility: The shortest route to the barge is through the nearby Salinas River National Wildlife Refuge. The walk is approximately 2 miles on soft sand. The barge itself, is pretty much high and dry except during the highest of tides. Military or Civilian: Not listed Cause of Shipwreck: Not listed Diving Permitted: Not Listed

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