Did anyone dive NC this weekend?

[suthnbelle]

Yes... Hatteras was warm and there were lots of sharks...

Now cornfed, would it have been that much trouble to give us more of a report?

Yes...Rawlings was warm and there were lots of Divers...

Rub it in Doc! I really hate that I couldn't meet you guys out there. It sounds like you all had a big group and had a great time diving/hanging out.

Mel

 

[Cape Fear Divers]

Ok, it's late June - anyone going this weekend or went last weekend?

Hello all--been too busy to post, sorry. We've been out every weekend since May 28th, and several weekdays. Sea conditions have been pretty nice. We've dove the Tower several times, various ledges, the Gill, the Hyde, the Markham, 10 mile boxcars, etc. Water temps, both surface and bottom, have been rising day by day. Vis has been variable, ranging from 50+ down to 30 feet. We've seen too many fish species to relate here, but some of the exceptional ones are hammerhead shark at the Tower last Monday, big lionfish on 38 mile ledge, several beautiful nudibranchs, big grouper, an abundance of amberjacks, lovely filefish, an ocean sunfish. Of course, sand tigers.

This week, we are going to the Gill and Hyde on Thursday. Cassimir/Normania on Saturday. Hyde and inshore on Sunday. Friday is wide open, and spots are left on the other days.

Ya'll come diving! (And PLEASE be careful of the currents--especially around the Tower! Remember, always start out into the current, and let the current help you back to the boat. No matter how experienced you are, be careful . . . .)

 

[bankey]

6/18 Papoose 70' viz 73 degrees
6/18 U352 60' viz 73 degrees
6/19 Suloide 40' viz 70 degrees (twice)
6/20 blowout
6/21 Spar 20' viz 72 degrees
6/21 Papoose 50' viz 72 degrees

Dove with Olympus all days. As always the crew did an awesome job. Nothing really out of the way to report on any of the wrecks. Fairly standard dives on all of them except for the bad viz on the Spar, but it was the first dive the day after being blown out.

 

[Doc Intrepid]

Rub it in Doc! I really hate that I couldn't meet you guys out there. It sounds like you all had a big group and had a great time diving/hanging out.

It was a fun day! We had a great time, but missed meeting you. Is your daughter feeling better now? Check your PMs.

Doc

 

[flounderer]

It is about time for Pat and/or John to give us a trip report. where are you guys?

I've had the bad luck of being scheduled to dive when the wind decided to blow.

The dive boats been going out everyday, but the two days I was supposed to be on it, and my buddies told me the conditions have been great. The blue water is still in making for some nice vis. A few storms moved through and decreased the vis some but not too much.

I did get out yesterday. It was for an unfortunate reason, to recover gear and gain a little info about what happened with the missing diver on June 18. The divers are really tight down here so the community got together and 4 boats with 6 dive teams searched the area and recovered Greg's weight belt and the boats anchor. A wreath and cross was placed on the site.

The site was 45 miles offshore near the tower. Vis was 40-50ft on the bottom. The seas were a little rough but manageable. It was one of the most beautiful dives I've done. It was the most alive I've seen in a long time. There were literally hundreds of lobster, all kinds of tropical fish both big and small. It was an awesome dive. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post, it was a search and recovery dive not a pleasure dive.

I'll hopefully have a good trip report on Monday. I step on the boat on Friday and will be diving through Sunday evening so I should have some good stuff then. And I will take my camera on this one.

Pat

 

[suthnbelle]

I've had the bad luck of being scheduled to dive when the wind decided to blow.

The dive boats been going out everyday, but the two days I was supposed to be on it, and my buddies told me the conditions have been great. The blue water is still in making for some nice vis. A few storms moved through and decreased the vis some but not too much.

I did get out yesterday. It was for an unfortunate reason, to recover gear and gain a little info about what happened with the missing diver on June 18. The divers are really tight down here so the community got together and 4 boats with 6 dive teams searched the area and recovered Greg's weight belt and the boats anchor. A wreath and cross was placed on the site.

The site was 45 miles offshore near the tower. Vis was 40-50ft on the bottom. The seas were a little rough but manageable. It was one of the most beautiful dives I've done. It was the most alive I've seen in a long time. There were literally hundreds of lobster, all kinds of tropical fish both big and small. It was an awesome dive. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures to post, it was a search and recovery dive not a pleasure dive.

I'll hopefully have a good trip report on Monday. I step on the boat on Friday and will be diving through Sunday evening so I should have some good stuff then. And I will take my camera on this one.

Pat

Pat, thanks for posting about your dive. I'm sorry it was not a dive planned under better circumstances. Have fun diving this weekend, and be safe.

Thanks everyone for the trip reports.....even yours cornfed.
Mel

 

[flounderer]

Ok after a short dry spell I finally got back in the water. Friday and Sunday we went to the Hyde and Markham (Sharkham) and the Sand Tigers have finally moved in. The water has warmed up to around 75-76 on the bottom at 85ft and vis has been great at around 60+ feet. Yesterday was the most alive I've ever seen the Hyde. There were schools of baitfish everywhere and a gigantic school of jacks moving through them like a freight train. The Sand tigers were everywhere on the Hyde and they were not shy. One big guy pinned me up against the wreck while he swam within arms reach, luckily they look smaller thru a viewfinder. I shot a lot of digital video clips and will try to start a video page on my wilmingtondiving site next week. I also shot over 200 pics between Friday and Sunday which I'll get uploaded to my photo page hopefully this afternoon. I'm off to dive the 23-mile ledge now so I'll post a trip report and some pictures in the very near future.

Pat

 

[suthnbelle]

Ok after a short dry spell I finally got back in the water. Friday and Sunday we went to the Hyde and Markham (Sharkham) and the Sand Tigers have finally moved in. The water has warmed up to around 75-76 on the bottom at 85ft and vis has been great at around 60+ feet. Yesterday was the most alive I've ever seen the Hyde. There were schools of baitfish everywhere and a gigantic school of jacks moving through them like a freight train. The Sand tigers were everywhere on the Hyde and they were not shy. One big guy pinned me up against the wreck while he swam within arms reach, luckily they look smaller thru a viewfinder. I shot a lot of digital video clips and will try to start a video page on my wilmingtondiving site next week. I also shot over 200 pics between Friday and Sunday which I'll get uploaded to my photo page hopefully this afternoon. I'm off to dive the 23-mile ledge now so I'll post a trip report and some pictures in the very near future.

Pat

Can't wait to see the photos, especially of the sharks! Sounds like you had a great dive. I'm still hoping to dive off the coast in September, until then I have to be satisified with the reports over here. See, what a great service you're providing.

Okay, here is my AWESOME quarry diving report. I did one 50 minute dive yesterday, temp 50 degrees below thermocline (ice cream headache....ouch) and vis was a very nice 5-7 feet. The pea soup was soo bad I got vertigo at one point. Couldn't find anything to focus on...yikes....finally found Bobby and latched onto him long enough to get my bearings. After that everything was fine until the ice cream headache. What the heck was I thinking wearing my beanie. It's 90 degrees up top and I'm thinking it will be a little warmer down below, i was wrong, so I stayed above 30 most of the dive...i think temp was in the 60s there. Practiced navigatation to the PT boat...I suck...need to brush up. I drop a little deeper (only 45 feet i think) long enough to search for Grier's geocache on the PT boat, which i was unsuccessful.

So, there is my report...enjoy.

Mel

 

[flounderer]

Dove the Pocahontas and the Dredge wreck this Sunday. They are about 14 miles from wrightsville beach and 10 miles off the Carolina Beach coast. The typical green water has moved in that area. Temp on the bottom was 77 and vis was about 20-30 ft.

The Pocahontas is an old tug boat that has broken up a bit. Large schools of baitfish brought in a lot of king and spanish mackerel, barracuda and amberjacks. While shooting some pictures of where a porthole used to be I peered a little closer and found out it was still there! Only one small bolt hole was visible. After a little work I was able to free it. I got it to the surface and found out it is just the base to it ( no glass) and it is steel instead of brass but it is still pretty cool.

The Dredge had it's usual host of fish, a lot of tomtates, seabass, and sand bass. A few divers snatched some bricks that are scattered all over the wreck.

All in all it was a good day of diving but the 50+ ft vis at that site is gone.

Now I've got the task of trying to restore the porthole. I've got it soaking in freshwater now and will get some electrolysis going on it later this week to clean it up. Hopefully something good comes out from behind the rust.

 

[cornfed]

Thanks everyone for the trip reports.....even yours cornfed.

Nags Head was cold and the viz wasn't that great.