Missdirected
Contributor
DATE: August 7, 2006
DIVE: Tug Sheridan
DIVERS: John, Kathleen, Mary Kate, MissDirected and one tagalong - Trish
Met at GulfCoastDiver and Kathleens home. I immediately loaded my gear onto the boat and we headed over to the marina. Setting off from the marina at promptly 8:30. Seas were pretty good until we got a bit further out then we had some sloppy rollers. Made it to dive site in about 50 minutes or so.
We had done a dive on this wreck just five days prior. It wasn’t enough. This wreck has a lot of life on it. It will take several dives to really get a feel for it and know where some of the “locals” hang out. Additionally, there is debris around the boat that needs to be checked out along with some small ledges. So, of course, today we planned for a double dip. So we could get some of this work done.
Mary Kate and myself were down first. With Kathleen and John following close behind. Temperature was 88, visibility 50 ft., depth 80 ft. The largest part of the first dive was spent scouting the base of the wreck. Again there were several schools of different baitfish being chased by Yellow Jack, Bar Jack, and Small Tuna. Also present were Spotfin Butterfly’s, Dusky Squirrelfish, Blue Angels, Surgeon Fish, High-Hats, Grouper, Snapper, and Cocoa Damsels. As we came around the backside of the Sheridan we peeked in and spotted the local Goliath. He didn’t seem bothered with our presence and let us gaze at a fairly close distance. The Great Barracudas were friendly today – just a little too friendly actually. The largest of the greats has a hook stuck in him. Had I already had my scissors in my hand I had an opportunity to cut part of the line.
Second dive was also excellent. Short, but excellent. My buddy and I were the first down again. We spotted the biggest arrow crab I have ever seen. He was larger than my hand. We also seen some Dungeness Crab, of course, as they aren’t in season.
As we were coming around to do the upper part of the tug, 20 minutes into the dive, my buddy signaled she had a problem. She communicated that it was time to thumb the dive. So we did. Once were on board I found she had been stung. It got her on her upper lip, ouch. I would like to make a special note that I was very impressed with this newly certified buddy. She stayed calm, she communicated to me she had a problem we could not fix, and she called our dive. Quite impressive, in my book considering she was in a lot of pain. Once topside we doctored her up and she began to feel better.
John and Kathleen surfaced and let us know they had spotted two octopi. I would have cut their hoses had I been behind them in the water, as I was so jealous. I thought better of it as they are good dive buddies and we have become friends. Still didn’t make me feel better having missed out. Oh, another thing, they own the boat. So…
Note: Look for octopus eye in last pic.
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This pic is a little blurry but you are able to make out the octopi's beak
Pics taken by GulfCoastDiver and Kathleen
