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This trip ROCKED!!! Mike Barnett, Richie
Kohler, the crew at Oceanic Ventures, and 12
loyal customers joined us for the Deep Week
wreck trek off of Dry Tortugas and Key West.
As with all plans, some things changed from
the original, but holy cow, what a great
week we had. We boarded as usual after a
great meal at the Rusty Anchor, with at
least 50 tons of rebreathers, doubles, stage
bottles, deco bottles, 24 cylinders of
helium, 30 cylinders of oxygen, 10 tubs of
sorb, and a partridge in a pear tree. We set
out at 9 PM for the wreck of the Rhein. We
arrived on-station at the Rhein at 0700 on
the 17th. We threw a spot buoy, Mike and
Richie swam down the up-line and tied into
the wreck, and we were anchored above the
wreck by 0800. The divers waited for Mike
and Richie to come back up with a conditions
report, then splashed onto the Rhein. The
Rhein was sunk by Dutch and British warships
before the US had entered World War II. A
complete description of the sinking is
available in Mike Barnett’s book Shipwrecks
of the Sunshine State. Richard Mork shot
some amazing video of a baitball above the
wreck, and Richie returned with a square
porthole to start the collecting. Most
people did not come prepared to collect (no
tools, no plastic bins), so a large pouty
face was collectively seen. By the second
dive, the crew was starting to get the
program figured out regarding fills, etc.
After pulling the grapple, we motored off to
the Araby Maid. The second day was spent
on the Araby Maid. The Araby Maid was sunk
in a collision at the turn of the last
century, and was a wood over steel sailing
ship. The weather was slightly choppy and
the Spree was hanging by her stern to the
seas making for a uncomfortable ride and a
grumpy captain. Richie again started with a
brass something or another, and, on his
second dive, came up with a matching chamber
pot, pitcher, and butter dish, probably from
the captain’s cabin. OK, it isn’t a butter
dish, I don’t know what it is, but it’s
freakin’ cool. China fever had hit the
Spree. So we moved onto the U-boat U-2513.
The U-2513 was sunk with Hedgehogs and
Weapon Alfa’s (ASROCS for the old navy guys)
in the 50’s during the cold war. We captured
the 2513 from the Germans and brought it
back to the US as a war prize. No collecting
is allowed on the submarine as it is still
owned by the US Navy, but it is penetrable,
has cool placards on the torpedo tubes, has
some monster goliath grouper and a big
baitball on the conning tower, and is really
really cool to boot. After 2 dives, we were
supposed to go on to the S-16, but china
fever had taken hold, and the vote was to
return to the Araby Maid. Day 4 found us
anchored over the Araby Maid once again,
with divers wanting to borrow gloves and
prybars (no!). Even without, some real finds
were discovered. Mike found a porthole with
glass intact, Richie found a globe from a
hurricane lantern, Terry found an intact red
globe from a lantern of some sort, many
brass door locks, hinges, and many pieces of
catch and release junk were brought back to
the Spree. The junk was released unharmed.
Wade and the scooter got a little misplaced,
but not lost!! Day 5 found us at dawn on
the USS Wilkes Barre off of Key West. When
we arrived, conditions were slick calm, no
current, and a beautiful anticipated dive.
After dropping the anchor, current picked up
to a knot and a half, and visibility dropped
to about 25 feet. The anchor was hauled and
the dive turned into a live boat. Some
divers did not understand “drop hard” and
missed the wreck altogether. Some hit the
bow section, and some got to dive the whole
thing (by Braille). After 1, most divers
were ambivalent about a second dive, and the
rest were drinking beer. Off to the dock we
went, looking for more beer, as well as
getting home a little earlier. The guests
universally had a great time, most signed up
for one of three trips planned for next
year, including a rebreather-only trip to
the Key West Ghost Fleet, max depth 420
feet. Capt. Frank
M/V Spree
Stock Island, FL |
