Dive Report: Russian Freighter & Tug Sylvia 12-20-08

[MRXRAY]

Well it looks like gas finally hit bottom so I decided it was time to take the boat out before it gets back to $4.00/gallon again. I met up with Hetland (Alex) and a couple of divers from the dive club (Robert and Larry) at the Shoreline Park in Gulf Breeze at 9:00Am on a warm calm morning. The water was real calm as we pushed off from the pier and made our way out to the pass. I knew we were going to be in for a nice day when we didn't spill a drop of coffee when we turned South out of Pensacola Pass, and we were not to be disappointed by the weather the whole day. Although the fog got real heavy at times especially on the way in. We headed straight out to the Russian Freighter and were on site and anchored in a real short time. Hetland and Robert hit the water first as some spearfisherman were returning and reported seeing a large Bull Shark in the area, But we never saw it. Larry and I hit the water next but Larry had to abort early after a getting sick from sea water ingestion. All in all the Freighter was holding a lot of fish although no one reported any Grouper and the Flounder were thin as well. There was a huge school of AJ's on the wreck circling about 15 feet off the bottom which is always an awesome sight to watch those big fish in big schools cruise through. I also saw a big school of real big spades and tons of bait fish on the wreck so thick at times it was hard to see wreck through them. I made nice quick tour of the wreck and surfaced with a just under a grand of air left after 24 minutes of bottom time with a max depth of 81 feet. I had the bottom temperature at 60*. I had the viz at about 35 feet, maybe 40 on the high side.
Oh man, I almost forgot..... We had seen some Dolphins on the surface swimming around but I was so excited to see a Dolphin "Drive By" as soon as I hit the bottom. I almost forgot to grab the camera and only got a couple seconds of video before he decided I was boring and took off!

Here is my rather short video of the Dolphin:


So after our dive at the Russian Freighter we talked about possible next dives and since no one had dove the Tug Sylvia or hearing anything about it we decided to run over to dive her (It's only about a mile from the Russian Freighter). On the way we picked up quite a few Dolphins. And we all took a few minutes to enjoy the beauty and grace of these munificent animals.....

At about 3:00 we hit the water above the Sylvia and honestly I think we were all a bit disappointed with her condition. She is real buried and tore up with only her port section with some nice portholes visible and just a small portion of her starboard hull still intact. The reveal was a good 12 feet off the bottom but it wasn't holding many fish we swam circles around this wreck probably 10 times in our 30 minute dive. We showed a max depth of 80 feet and a water temp of 62*. I was thinking the viz was around 30- 35 feet. Here are a couple pics from Sylvia:

Alex, Make sure you post some pics and video!

 

[MRXRAY]

Here are a couple of unedited video from the Russian Freighter:

 

[denisegg]

Great pics Barry!! I'm sure it was nice to get back out on the water. Navarre Pier is an awesome dive but it is always nice to have a change along.

 

[MRXRAY]

Absolutely. I love Navarre but I love the Wrecks too!

 

[Hetland]

Special thanks to MrXRay for a great trip. He is a fine captain that got us to and from our dive spots with safety, and minimum stress. You really could not have asked for better seas Saturday. We had a few bumps on the way out, but most of the time the gulf was kind to us, and the viz was pretty nice considering the rains we have had recently. I've never seen so many dolphins on a single day out in the gulf. They were literally everywhere, including, 6 feet off the stern, patiently waiting for us to feed them. It was a sight. I only wish I could have been lucky enough (like XRay) to have encountered one underwater, and witnessed their clicks and whistles first-hand :depressed:

Don't rely on gps numbers from Ned Deloache's Guide to Underwater Florida. Their numbers for the Sylvia were half of a mile off of MBT's numbers, which were right on the money.

The Russian Freighter is really massive. You could really spend a whole day of diving, and miss so much of the wreck. I hope to go back and dive it again and again. I especially look forward to making some night dives there.

The tug Sylvia is probably a hurricane or two away from being a footnote. There were still 2-3 bulkheads with 10' or so of reveal, but she is mostly buried or broken up, and she is barely recognizable as a tug anymore (it takes some imagination lol) Despite her small size and sorry state, I still enjoyed the Sylvia very much. There were a handful of VERY large angels there, including the largest I have ever seen of the species. I'm guessing 24-28 inches. We also spotted a nice-sized spotted drum (why do they call them that?) he was about a foot long, which is the biggest I've seen of that species as well.

Viz for the dives topped out at about 40 feet. My comp showed 58 and 59 degrees for our two dives. I wore a 2 piece 3mm with 5mm hood and boots. I did get a tad chilly on our second dive though, so for most people a 5mm or even a 7mm should keep them mostly toasty.

Here are a few pics. I may add some video later.....

Topside Dolphin Looking For a Snack

MrXray During Descent

Spotted Drum

MrXray Hammin' It Up!

Trigger Fish Are Delicious

Spotty Again

Queen Sylvia

Queen Sylvia

​

Almost forgot. XRay and I hit up McGuire's for debriefing and photo review. I had a very delicious NY Strip and Barry had some sort of a pie-like affair with dark gravy, mushrooms, and lamb (I think?).... Anyway, I really enjoyed my steak, but I'm going to try the pie thingy next time I'm there, it looked great.

-h

 

[denisegg]

Wow Alex!! Great shots also.

 

[GLENFWB]

Almost forgot. XRay and I hit up McGuire's for debriefing and photo review. I had a very delicious NY Strip and Barry had some sort of a pie-like affair with dark gravy, mushrooms, and lamb (I think?).... Anyway, I really enjoyed my steak, but I'm going to try the pie thingy next time I'm there, it looked great.

Sounds like their Shepherds Pie. That is not my favorite but the wife likes it. McGuires is a good place for a post-dive meeting. I think Bugman and I had one in Destin one time. I get a filet and ask them to do the pepper corn thing to it....mmmmm good.

Nice pictures and glad the seas cooperated with you guys!

 

[denisegg]

So the MIB have acquired guns I see

 

[MRXRAY]

Alex, I think the "Spotted Drum" is actually a Jackknife Fish, by my Reef Fish ID which explains its size. The Jackknife Fish ranges in size from 5-8" max 9". I bet ours was close to 7". It was big.

Also, thanks for the kind words and all the help on the boat. You can be my deck hand anytime.

And Great Pics as usual. Missed your photos of the Dolphin underwater though! Ooopps, that's right! Sorry!

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

McGuires has a great rasberry beer They also have a grape beer, not on the menu, thats 10% alc for those that want a beer with a bit more punch. Their Amber is good too.

I usually just get a burger, of whatever flavor I'm feeling, when I'm at McGuires. Great post-dive choice!