Sea Wolf ‘didn’t really sink; just fell apart’
When one of the 5,000 New Jersey Maritime Museum Shipwreck Database files reads that the Sea Wolf, which sunk off Cape May in December of 2010, “didn’t really sink; just fell apart,” maritime history buffs want to know more.
Morehead City, Nc
Gilliken Boat Works of Harker’s Island/Morehead City, North Carolina, built the Sea Wolf in 1963.
At a time when most boat builders like Pacemaker and other New Jersey based boat builders were switching to fiberglass, the Gilliken Boat Works was still using only wood. They were noted boat builders from the 1950s through the 1990s, specializing in charter fishing boats, better known to mariners as party boats. Stan Joseph designed many of the Gilliken commercial boats.
Sea Wolf was 60.4 feet long, with a 17.9 foot beam, and a draft of 5.3 feet. She had a “clipper bow” and a work horse of a 6-71 Detroit powered engine.
Gilliken’s boats were known for their pilot houses, located on top of the main cabins, more of a ferryboat style than usual fishing boats of the time. This enabled their boats to carry more passengers.
Their 60-foot charter boats could hold 70 or 80 people and were amazingly economical to run.
Well-constructed, their fishing life was estimated at over 30 years. There are still some in use in Sheepshead Bay, New York.
They are known as flattie boats - fluke, then flounder, then fluke, then flounder boats. Sturdy Gilliken boats were usually fished nine months out of the year.
Captain Eddie Moraski of Sheepshead Bay
Fred Moore was the original owner of the Sea Wolf, known originally as the Miss Moore. He was wellknown for his exceptional maintenance on the mahogany-built fishing boat, which was brought from North Carolina to Sheepshead Bay, New York and Shoals Dock in Staten Island.
This boat had the reputation of being the best-maintained wooded charter boat of its time.
Next to the last owner of the Sea Wolf was Captain Eddie Moraski, who had once owned a smaller Sea Wolf. He had a reputation of being an expert sea captain at a time before modern technology, namely Loran and GPS. He had a uncanny ability to navigate from New York Harbor waters to off Long Island and north of Sandy Hook.
Captain Moraski had a loyal clientele at a time when party boats were extremely popular, and fishing was at an all-time high. It was said that his prices were economical while giving a full day to fishing.
According to E.C. Newellman,
“Legacy in the fishing business from those who do remember her (Sea Wolf ) and do remember our fishing memories, can be divided between the vessel, and more so, the captain who is responsible for putting his customers on the fish. What I do remember is long time mate Artie ‘Chrome-Dome’ with his handlebar mustache and shaved head selling fish aboard it every day when the boat came in right into the early evening.
“Captain Moraski had a long fishing career, something most in the fishing business should be lucky enough to have had. He finally sold the Sea Wolf in December.”
December 23, 2010
Just a few weeks later, at 1:30 a.m., Dec. 23, 2010, seven miles off Cape May at the entrance to Delaware Bay, the boat was battling 8 foot waves with 29 knot steady winds, and higher gusts, under new ownership.
Gregory Arlotta, 62, of Fort Myers, Florida, had just purchased the six-decade-old wooden boat for $20,000. He was headed to New Orleans with crew member Eric Hopkins of Washington, D.C. The mouth of Delaware Bay can be dicey much of the time; Arlotta was obviously headed up Delaware Bay to calmer waters of the Delaware River or to go through the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal.
Mariners from Sheepshead Bay told the inquiring board later that Arlotta bought the boat and headed south almost immediately.
They said the old Sea Wolf was being pushed too hard, with smoke coming out of the stacks, overheating the engine as she crossed Raritan Bay. It was also reported that neither man had the correct clothing for the December weather. In addition, the vessel had an unspecified problem in her port quarter.
Local captains said that Gregory Arlotta told them he did not buy the boat for fishing, leaving them wondering what was going on, and why such a hurry to head south.
An emergency satellite beacon (EPIRB) was picked up by the New Jersey State Police; then passed along to the US Coast Guard. Apparently, the old vessel broke apart without warning.
Air Station Atlantic City went into action in minutes and dropped rescue swimmer Petty Officer Third Class John Opsal. He was able to rescue Eric Hopkins, who was then transferred to the Atlantic City Hospital with hypothermia, where he was listed in critical condition for a few days.
The incident happened quickly, with the Sea Wolf
taking on water quickly. Both men had gotten into a life raft, but Arlotta could not stay aboard. Sadly, the rescue swimmer could not get a grip on Gregory Arlotta as he floated amidst the debris. After several tries to pull him to safety, Gregory Arlotta slipped underwater amid the debris field. It was reported that neither man had survival gear.
Neither the New Jersey State Police nor the US Coast Guard could make a specific determination as to why the Sea Wolf sank.
A report declared that much of the required safety equipment for a commercial fishing vessel was not among the floating debris. Was Gregory Arlotta inexperienced? What were the two men doing in bad weather and frigid water (36 degrees) so late at night running a boat that Arlotta had only owned for a few days? Why push the vessel so hard and fast? Why did they leave in such a hurry without the equipment needed to make a voyage at Christmas time?
Obviously, the age of the vessel and weather conditions contributed to the wreck. Credit goes to the NJ State Police and US Coast Guard, which not only sent up a helicopter and experienced rescue swimmer, but also two Coast Guard boats were sent out from Indian River, Delaware.