Go deep, stay long

After a long summer of diving, Captain Dan offered a mid-week crew trip.   He assembled the usual suspects and made plans for an offshore trip.   Mother nature had other ideas, so we diverted to an inshore trip to the U.S.S. San Diego which lies a few miles off of Fire Island.   With a diverse collection of rebreathers loaded aboard, we headed off.

The USS San Diego was a WW I cruiser believed to have struck a mine back in 1918.  The wreck now lies upside down in 110 ft of water.  Since I’ve never been to this wreck I was looking forward to the trip.   When we left the inlet there were 3-4 foot of chop with a long period swell underneath.   Richie was kind enough to drive while the rest of us tried to catch some rest.   By the time we reached the wreck the chop was dying down, but the swell was still apparent.   When Brandon and Danny jumped in to tie in, they revealed a strong surface current.   When they popped back up a few minutes later, they reported that the visibility could only be measured in inches, and the shot had been dragged off the wreck.

Franky and Dan discussed alternates to the alternate, and we soon found ourselves headed for the Oregon.   The Oregon was a English Luxury Liner sunk in collision back in 1886.    The wreck lies a few miles west of the San Diego, but on a sandy bottom where the visibility should be better.  Upon arrival, Richie had us tied in within a few minutes, and the pool was open.  Bill and Ginny jumped in followed shortly by Capt Dan and Frankie.  Brandon and Danny were waiting for Richie’s condition report before deciding on their dive plan.

Given the delays getting into the water, and the long trip back home, I opted for one long dive.   Richie surfaced with a report of surge and 15 foot of vis on the sand, better on the wreck.  Brandon opted to leave the camera on board, and he and Danny jumped in.   Once Frankie and Dan were back I jumped in also.

Richie had us tied into a winch by the bow of this huge vessel. I tied off my reel and headed out.  The first stop was the bow.  Here I could see a large hause pipe that once held one of the ship’s huge anchors. I doubled back and started heading aft along the starboard side of the wreck.  On occasions the wreck appeared to be a jumble of deck plates in the sand. Inflatable Water Slide Here and there large portions of the hull loomed up off the bottom providing protection from the surge where the sea life would hide.

The primary fish on the wreck appeared to be ling cod.  They were all about, but most were small.   Not the monster ling often found on deeper wreck.   Here and there a flounder would scurry about in the sand, searching for food.  Sea Ravens where well represented also.   I don’t recall seeing that many on a wreck before.  A few Tautog were about, but not many.

After a bit of a swim, another large structure loomed up.  This was more substantial than the hull sections I’d seen before.  This was one of the ships massive boilers.    With the short vis, I could not see them all, but Richie told us of the rows of boilers, 12 in all, standing up out of the sand.  In her day this ship had set speed records for the trans Atlantic crossing.  With these massive boilers, I could see why.  I’d love to be able to seem them all at once, but even one at a time they’re impressive.  After passing the first, I found that my reel was nearly out of line, and my Time To Surface was getting longer.  I turned around an headed back.

Here and there were the obvious holes that had previously held a port hole.  I poked my light into a few hoping for a lobster, but came up empty.  One hole caught my eye with a bright round image of china.  About 2/3 of a plate was exposed.  I tried to free it, but the ground around it was like cement.  Tapping at the ground with my knife did not break up the material.  It was solid, and that plate was not going anywhere.   Probably for the best, as my time was short.

By the time I hit the line, Richie and Frankie were on their way down.  I started up for my long deco.  During the whole deco time I could hear voices off in the distance.   I later found out it was Richie and Frankie talking to each other.  One of the advantages of CCR is that you can hear your buddy under water.   Others say this is a disadvantage.  Either way, it was entertaining.   By the time I was ready to board the boat, I could see (and hear) them on the line below.

Once aboard we pulled in the line and headed back home.  The seas had calmed down during the day, so the trip back was smooth sailing.  By the time we had the boat cleaned, the sun was setting over the bay.  Just another great day of diving.  Thanks Captain Dan!

Our initial destination was the Texas Tower. We left port with a boat full of rebreathers, and a pair of open circuit divers. As fate would have it, we ended up on the Bidevind. The trip out had been fairly calm with seas around 3 ft. Since Bill and I were going to tie in, we were relieved of bridge duty for the night. When the boat neared the wreck we started to get ourselves together. I was trying out my new Liquavision X1 with V-planner live. Bill uses an HS Explorer with integrated RGBM. It was to be the battle of the bubble models.

When we hit the water, we could see the line hanging directly below the ball. The surface vis was great with no current. We dropped down quickly through the clear blue water. I noted a thermocline at 70′, and the temperature slowly dropped below that. The vis dropped off slowly, but was still good, with lots of light. Soon we could see the rope coiled below us on the sand. This means two things: first the vis was great (about 50 ft), and second, there was no current. Bill headed off over the wreck looking for a spot to tie off. I headed for the shot to send it back up. When I reached for it, I noticed that the nice shiny shot and chain had apparently caught the attention of a lobster which was now out of it’s hole, and on top of the shot. Well priorities are what they are, so I’ll have to come back for him later.

We were quickly tied in, and along the keel. With the ambient light, navigation was a snap. The last time we had been here, I took the scenic tour. This time, I was here to have fun. We headed out along the wreck picking up lobster after lobster. Bill had coxed a pair of 4 pounders out of their holes. One of equal size had evaded him. I was mostly bagging, but was able to grab a few of my own. Some of them were just walking about. We made it back to the props, then turned back toward the bow. Here and there were medium size monkfish lying on the bottom. While I was tempted to grab one, I had not brought my spear, and my line cutter was not going to do the trick. Inflatable Water Slide At one point Bill pointed out a huge flat fish. It did not have the markings of a Fluke, but did have a large mouth. By the size, I was wondering if it was a Halibut. Again, the available weapons were not up to the task at hand, and I’ve been chastised ever since.

We were quite warm as the bottom temp was 48 degrees. After 45 minutes, we really didn’t want to end the dive, but given our current deco obligations, our bailout would not permit us to stay longer. Also, the rest of the crew would not be able to get into the water until we got out, so we headed back to the line for the long ascent. On the way Bill headed out into the sand and grabbed a few scallops. On the way up we quickly hit the first thermocline and remained warm the whole way. There was a layer below the 70′ thermocline which was a bit cloudy. While hanging here, we looked up to see a large creature swim by. Neither one of us saw the front, but the tail was definitely that of a shark. What type, we could not say. There was no lateral line, and the body was uniformly speckled. The size was at least 8-10 ft, and the distance from us was more like 6-8. We kept looking around for him to return, but did not see it again. Above 70′ the vis opened up to close to 100′. We could see the back of the boat from the anchor line. At this point divers started dropping down the line by us. The first was using a scooter, then one by one the rest headed down. A couple of them had already boarded the boat by the time Bill and I finished our obligation.

When we hit the surface, all the passengers had entered the water, and the crew was now jumping in. We didn’t have time to mention the shark, but they did see the bag full of lobster.

When they all returned, we talked about the wreck, and what everyone had seen. Several other divers mentioned seeing a school of sharks. One diver was taking video, while the scooter diver was able to make several passes around the wreck. Brandon went in with his camera, and got some great shots. Terry brought up a few lobsters to add to the cooler. Due to the distance from shore, the crew had opted to do one long dive, but the passengers all did two. On the way home everyone talked about the great dive and the fantastic conditions. It just doesn’t get much better than this.

(Photos on this article by Brandon McWilliams. Check his Blog here)

Lately, it seems, more often than not, that the NOAA forecast changes at the last minute, and remains marginal. This weekend was no different. We delayed our departure until daylight to better assesses the conditions. Leaving the inlet we were met by 3-4 ft seas with an occasional 5 thrown in to keep us on our toes. Unfortunately we were taking them on our starboard bow. This made the ride a bit bumpy, but observation of the actual wave height made it clear that the conditions were safe to dive.

Today’s trip was to one of the Black Sunday wrecks; the Texel. Back in 1918 the U-151 sank a number of ships in one day know as Black Sunday. The Texel was a steamer carrying sugar from Puerto Rico to New York when she was sighted by the U-151. Rather than using a torpedo, the U-151 forced the Texel to stop by firing warning shots across her bow. The Texel crew was forced to abandon ship, and Germans then sunk her with demolition charges. The wreck now lies some 60 miles off the coast in 230 ft of water.

When we arrived, Bill and I started to get ready to splash. Now that the boat not running into the waves, everyone was more comfortable. The echo on the depth finder did not show much relief. We made several passes and dropped the shot on the best piece we could find. Bill and I jumped in for a closer inspection. The time was about 11:00, and the sun was bright in the sky.

There was a mild current the whole way down so the shot line was angled off into the distance below. We knew the shot weight was not heavy. This prevented us from actually holding onto the line or pulling ourselves along. We swam into the current the bouncy castle for sale entire decent. The surface visibility had been great, and it continued to be clear. We switched on our lights as standard procedure, but they were not necessary. As the bottom started to come into focus, we were still swimming to follow the line. Soon the shot came into view, and the wreck loomed off in the distance.

Bill unhooked the line, and started off toward the wreck. At first I started pulling on the line to give him slack, but he signaled that I should get on with my job, shooting the shot. I quickly hooked up a bag, and filled it for its ascent. Then went over to help Bill hunt for a good spot. We had to search for a little bit before finding a heavy beam that looked and felt sturdy. Wrap, clip, and off we went to inspect the wreck.

I tied off a reel and we started off along the wreck with Bill close behind. The decking along the centerline had collapsed to the sea floor, but the two sides of the ship still provided some relief. We swam down the centerline trying to avoid the fishing line strung above us. Soon two large boilers came into view, and a large engine to the side. Now that would have been a great place to tie in! We examined the deck plates looking for anything out of the ordinary. Here and there we found the holes where port holes had once been. Now large eel pouts made them their homes. Given the remote location of the wreck I was surprised at the lack of fish life. Neither of us saw lobster or scallops which normally litter these deep wrecks.

Unfortunately our time was short, and we had to head up. The dive had been a warm 48 degrees at 220 ft. There was a moderate current all the way up, but the thermoclines were deep enough to be comfortable. The long 20ft stop was a balmy 76 degrees.