Well, we were down to 9 divers and 12 crew by the time we left
the dock on Friday night, but with a fine forecast, we headed out to the Rhein
for a little wrecking and diving. We arrived at the Rhein at 0700 Saturday
Morning to find the wind blowing from the east at 10-15 (not in the forecast),
current southerly at almost a knot, and great difficulty anchoring. We
eventually stern tied to the shot line, with the anchor down, and went diving.
Efforts expended were high due to the current, especially with the current
coming from the stern. 2 great dives were conducted on the Rhein, but no goodies
were found by divers, probably due to the current. There are still plenty of
items left to bring up. After untying from the wreck, we swung around on the
anchor until a squall came through at 2:30 AM. The squall drug us into the
wreck, and we held well until the next squall came through at 4:30. That one
untangled us from the wreck and sent us flying west. We got the anchor to hold,
and finished napping.
Sunday morning we threw a shot on the Araby Maid. The mates jumped in with the
shot to tie in, but it was not to be. Current was estimated at over 2 knots,
which was enough to pull 3 tuna balls (A-4’s for those of you who know tuna
balls) under water. The mates drifted to complete deco, and were recovered. At
some point, the hook let go, and the tuna balls returned to the surface and were
recovered. We motored off to the U-2513 looking for less current. I shot the U
boat and threw the mates back in, once again, current pulled the tuna balls
under. I’ve got lots of folks who have dived these wrecks many times, and none
of them have ever heard of this kind of current, much less seen it. We ended up
at the oil wreck, where there was no current, and about 30 feet of visibility.
No one penetrated, but there were reports of monster goliaths and blacks.
Monday morning we headed over to the S-16. I don’t think the sub has been dived
in a while, we shot the line in and threw the mates in with the following
instructions: “Tie into something stout”. Turns out, there isn’t anything stout
on a wreck that’s been down 50 years. Whatever it was we tied in to, it came
with us. From that point, we live boated. We did 2 great dives on the S-16,
which is a non-collection wreck, and killed 10 lionfish, 7 in the conning tower.
After 2 excellent dives, we headed out for the Wilkes-Barre.
By Tuesday morning, the wind and seas had built to the point where I could no
longer use the sounder. 20 knot winds, 6 foot seas, and tired divers helped us
to decide not to shot into the Wilkes, but to head on to the Vandenberg. The
Vandenberg is as always, but our divers were equipped to penetrate, so they
spent most of their time inside, away from the hordes of recreational divers who
descended on them right after they jumped in.
Everyone agreed that the trip was a success, even though the weather and
currents weren’t very cooperative. |