We met as usual at the Rusty Anchor, 12 tech divers and a crew of 8 for
another tasty treat and the pre-board briefing. After loading many tons of gear,
we headed out past the Dry Tortugas to dive the deep wrecks of the Gulf of
Mexico.
Tuesday morning found us with calm seas, a mild surface current, and anchored
over the wreck of the Rhein. This sinking of this ship was part of our entrance
into WWII with Germany, and it’s a great dive, with thousands of silversides
surrounding the wreck. She sits keel down in 210 feet of water, with surface
temps around 80, and bottom temp at 70, visibility around 100 feet, making for a
fine dive.
Wednesday we dove the Araby Maid, a turn of the century sailing ship that sank
after a collision with another ship. Again, seas were calm at 1-2 feet, current
slack, and temps 70-80 degrees, and visibility 80-100 feet. We usually have
dolphins at the Maid, and this trip was no exception. CP got out the scooter,
and kept the babies entertained for 45 minutes. No artifacts were recovered, I
guess everyone has enough portholes.
Thursday morning we dove the U-2513, a German U-boat captured during WWII, and
sunk in the “50s Sea conditions were still perfect, but the vis was off at 40 or
so feet. Thursday afternoon we went south of the Dry Tortugas National Park to
dive the Tiki II, a trawler sunk quite a few years ago. The wreck had monster
goliath grouper on it, which allowed for some really cool video. The seas
slicked off, there was a mild surface current, and we felt conditions were right
for a dive on the Wilkes Barre on Friday morning.
Friday morning we dove the Wilkes Barre, and what a dive it was. Current was
mild, seas were flat, temps were in the 70’s and 80’s, it was perfect conditions
for diving. The Wilkes Barre was a Cleveland-class battle ship. She was sunk by
the Navy out of Key West to practice sinking ships. They got it right, because
she is still sunk. We did the dive again in the afternoon, and the heavy dive
schedule was beginning to take its toll on the divers. Only 7 divers made the
dive, but conditions were still very good. We ended up doing a night dive on the
Vandenberg, which was pretty cool. Divers saw many squid, hogfish, and lotsa
fish life already.
By the time Saturday morning rolled around, folks were pretty whipped, but not
too much for a dive on the Curb. The USS Curb sits in 150 feet of water, and is
an old navy seagoing salvage tug. Current was still mild, vis around 50 feet,
seas were choppy at 3’ We returned to the dock after only 1 dive, and had a
great night on the town with many of our new (and old) friends. Barney got hurt,
and not only by my karaoke.
|