SFLDiver3445
Contributor
I realize that most divers on ScubaBoard don't generally venture past recreational depths on their dives. So from time to time, I try to post a trip report with some pictures, so non-technical divers on ScubaBoard can see the beauty that exists on some of South Florida's deeper wrecks.
On Sunday, May 23rd a few of us local divers went out of Pompano Beach, FL for an afternoon dive aboard the Avid Diver (http://www.aviddivercharters.com/) to dive the Wreck of the Hydro Atlantic.
Of the six divers aboard, 3 were on rebreathers (Kim, Tony "aka Tienuts" and me) and three were on open circuit (Howard "aka HowardE", Brian "aka Deepstops and Dave). I don't have many topside pictures, but here's a picture I took, which shows Captain Oliver, Tony and Kim.
And here's a picture of Brian's very cool tattoo!
And Here's a picture that shows Kim on the boat and the Revo rebreather she dives behind her.
The weather reports had been a bit volatile, so it appeared the seas would be rough, but it actually turned out to be mild than expected. I'd say the seas were solid 2 to 3 foot seas with ocassional 4's, which wasn't too bad.
We arrived at the wreck just as another dive boat was dropping a few open circuit divers on it, so dropping another anchor on it was not going to happen. Fortunately, Conrad, the captain on Miss Conduct, was kind enough to allow us to use his line, for out descent, and just asked Captain Oliver to returnt it to him later.
Captain Oliver first dropped the open-circuit divers on the line first, and they headed down. Then, us rebreather divers prepped our gear and headed down.
There was a mild northerly current, so the pull down wasn't too tough. I did manage to drop my camera before reaching the wreck, but Tony immediately headed down to get it with me close behind him. Fortunately, the camara came to rest in the sand in 172' of water just off the stern of the wreck, where Kim was awaiting for us.
The water temperature on the wreck was 78 degrees, which made it quite comfortable. The visibility was definitely on the high side, probably 75'+, if not more. Let's just say the conditions were incredible. Here's a shot I took that might show you how the cranes of the ship were visible off in the distance.
Kim and Tony immediately headed for the bow of the ship, because they had some plans to some penetration of a area of the ship that few venture into. I spent some time taking some pictures around the stern, but was slowly making my was towards the bow. At one point, I saw the open circuit divers heading back towards the ascent line, as they were a bit more limited on bottom time than us rebreather divers. Here's a shot I managed to get of Dave as he was headed back towards the line.
As I made my way forward, I couldn't help but notice the amazing amount of growth on this wreck. I've dove this wreck many times before, but each time it seems to have more growth than the time before. Here's a shot I took of the tower that sits midship.
As I apprached the wheel house of the wreck, the orange cup coral growth was even more impressive and the amount of fish life within the wheel house only added to it's beauty.
Eventually, as I just passed the wheel house towards the bow, I ran into Tony and Kim. Tony was taking picture too and was using Kim as his model. Here's a couple of shots of Tony and Kim doing their thing.
At one point, I remembered what my girlfriend said to me that morning, "Make sure someone gets a shot of you, because I don't have any pictures of you underwater!" Well, being the good boyfriend and wanting to make her happy, I set up the camera, asked Kim to come and take a shot of me. I told her to hold on while I carefully made my way into the wheel house. I have to say, Kim did an excellent job...here's the shot she took of me.
After that, we started to make our way back to the line, as we had planned our bottom time to be about 40 minutes or so. Here's a shot of Tony I took as he head back towards the stern.
We unhooked the line and started our ascent at about the 42 minute mark. My computer showed a little over 30 minutes of decompression to make it out of the water, but Kim and Tony had a bit more time, as they were a bit deeper into the wreck for the first half of the dive.
While ascending and completing our deco, we were entertained by a school of about 7 Juvenile Spade Fish. I've seen these on the reef many times, but never out in open ocean. They hung around for a good 15 minutes and even allowed us to pet them as they swam between us. I didn't take many shots while we on the deco line, because I had me camera folded up for the majority of the dive, but I did snap a few pictures. Here's a shot of Kim on the deco line, and you can even see one of the Spade Fish in the background.
All in all, it was an amazing day of diving. The Hydro Atlantic rarely disappoints, and for that reason, it is ranked among the top wreck dives in the country!
Enjoy!
On Sunday, May 23rd a few of us local divers went out of Pompano Beach, FL for an afternoon dive aboard the Avid Diver (http://www.aviddivercharters.com/) to dive the Wreck of the Hydro Atlantic.
Of the six divers aboard, 3 were on rebreathers (Kim, Tony "aka Tienuts" and me) and three were on open circuit (Howard "aka HowardE", Brian "aka Deepstops and Dave). I don't have many topside pictures, but here's a picture I took, which shows Captain Oliver, Tony and Kim.
And here's a picture of Brian's very cool tattoo!
And Here's a picture that shows Kim on the boat and the Revo rebreather she dives behind her.
The weather reports had been a bit volatile, so it appeared the seas would be rough, but it actually turned out to be mild than expected. I'd say the seas were solid 2 to 3 foot seas with ocassional 4's, which wasn't too bad.
We arrived at the wreck just as another dive boat was dropping a few open circuit divers on it, so dropping another anchor on it was not going to happen. Fortunately, Conrad, the captain on Miss Conduct, was kind enough to allow us to use his line, for out descent, and just asked Captain Oliver to returnt it to him later.
Captain Oliver first dropped the open-circuit divers on the line first, and they headed down. Then, us rebreather divers prepped our gear and headed down.
There was a mild northerly current, so the pull down wasn't too tough. I did manage to drop my camera before reaching the wreck, but Tony immediately headed down to get it with me close behind him. Fortunately, the camara came to rest in the sand in 172' of water just off the stern of the wreck, where Kim was awaiting for us.
The water temperature on the wreck was 78 degrees, which made it quite comfortable. The visibility was definitely on the high side, probably 75'+, if not more. Let's just say the conditions were incredible. Here's a shot I took that might show you how the cranes of the ship were visible off in the distance.
Kim and Tony immediately headed for the bow of the ship, because they had some plans to some penetration of a area of the ship that few venture into. I spent some time taking some pictures around the stern, but was slowly making my was towards the bow. At one point, I saw the open circuit divers heading back towards the ascent line, as they were a bit more limited on bottom time than us rebreather divers. Here's a shot I managed to get of Dave as he was headed back towards the line.
As I made my way forward, I couldn't help but notice the amazing amount of growth on this wreck. I've dove this wreck many times before, but each time it seems to have more growth than the time before. Here's a shot I took of the tower that sits midship.
As I apprached the wheel house of the wreck, the orange cup coral growth was even more impressive and the amount of fish life within the wheel house only added to it's beauty.
Eventually, as I just passed the wheel house towards the bow, I ran into Tony and Kim. Tony was taking picture too and was using Kim as his model. Here's a couple of shots of Tony and Kim doing their thing.
At one point, I remembered what my girlfriend said to me that morning, "Make sure someone gets a shot of you, because I don't have any pictures of you underwater!" Well, being the good boyfriend and wanting to make her happy, I set up the camera, asked Kim to come and take a shot of me. I told her to hold on while I carefully made my way into the wheel house. I have to say, Kim did an excellent job...here's the shot she took of me.
After that, we started to make our way back to the line, as we had planned our bottom time to be about 40 minutes or so. Here's a shot of Tony I took as he head back towards the stern.
We unhooked the line and started our ascent at about the 42 minute mark. My computer showed a little over 30 minutes of decompression to make it out of the water, but Kim and Tony had a bit more time, as they were a bit deeper into the wreck for the first half of the dive.
While ascending and completing our deco, we were entertained by a school of about 7 Juvenile Spade Fish. I've seen these on the reef many times, but never out in open ocean. They hung around for a good 15 minutes and even allowed us to pet them as they swam between us. I didn't take many shots while we on the deco line, because I had me camera folded up for the majority of the dive, but I did snap a few pictures. Here's a shot of Kim on the deco line, and you can even see one of the Spade Fish in the background.
All in all, it was an amazing day of diving. The Hydro Atlantic rarely disappoints, and for that reason, it is ranked among the top wreck dives in the country!
Enjoy!
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