Dive Report (Va Bch): Kurn & Eureka

[Wil]

Made the first off shore dive trip for this season and it was the perfect weather day for it. Winds from the S/SE at 5-10kts initially and later from the South at 10-15kts. Bobby (RAD Diver) and Andy (Drewski) made the trip.

We departed Vinings Marina (Little Creek Inlet) at 0730 and took about 1.5 hours to make it our first dive site, the Kurn. Our plan had been to dive the Liberty Ship Clark and second the Kurn. However, once at the Triangle Reef area there was a sport fishing boat on the Clark so we moved further south to the Kurn. We hooked the aft bow section break of the Kurn and tied in about 40ft forward of the break.

Bobby and Andy were first to dive, with a plan to explore the wreck and video it. While surface visibility was good, vis on the bottom was about 10ft with suspended particles ("gunk"). Water temps were on the cooler side at about 43deg. I might add Bobby and Andy were diving drysuits, I was diving a "semi-wet" (will explain later). Once they returned I made my dive with doubles and my video camera. However, after seeing the vis myself I remained about 15mins, did my safety stop, got back in the boat. Max depth was 104ft. My computer read the water temp at 43deg.


We decided to pass on diving anything else in the Triangle Reef area due to the vis. We moved about 28nm southeast to the wreck of the Eureka. Sunk as a result of a collision, the Eureka was loaded with general merchandise and one can often find medicine bottles, doll parts, and ink wells on the wreck.

Surface visibility was very good and gave hope that better conditions would be on the bottom. We hooked the wreck between the large boilers and the bow. Bobby and I made the dive and found the surface vis clear down to baout 40ft. Then...the "gunk" returned. With a fair current on the bottom, the visibility was still about 20ft. I recorded the water temp at 42deg. We made a 27min dive and started our way up. Bobby, penalized for a longer first dive, had a short deco stop along the way. I was able to snap some pictures of the wreck and record some video. Max depth was 112ft.

We departed for the +/-70nm trip back to Little Creek, taking about 1 hour and 45 min, we had a following sea and kept the knots up.

Bobby and Andy, we had a great day diving, THANKS!, for going and helping with the boat. Hopefully we'lll have better vis and temps next time.


Lastly, Will's philosophy on diving Semi-Dry and Semi-Wet: Diving Semi-Dry means that first cold water trickle down your spine is an unexpected shock to the system. After all, you're diving with a "Semi-Dry" suit and expect to be dry and warm. On the contrary, if you consider the suit "Semi-Wet", when that trickle of cold water taps at the center core of your body, you're ready for it, though still not welcome, your mind is prepared to endure it. It's all about being mentally prepared. Me?, I dive "Semi-Wet" but will be getting my Dry Suit out for the next few months anyway...

Safe Diving,
Will

 

[TNTdive]

Will,

Great to hear that the boat is ready for the season and the weather was good for you. I think I would agree with Bobby and Andy and would do the dry suit. But still sounds like the kick off of your dive season was a good time out on and under the water. Sorry to hear the visibility was down to 10 and 20 feet.

Did you use EAN30? Were you able to salvage any video with the vis?

Thanks for posting the trip report, I am hoping to start diving in the next week or so.

Dive Safe,
Ted

 

[Wil]

Ted,

Bobby and I dove with a 34% NITROX mix and Andy had 30%. While my still photos were poor (I think because of auto-focus and all the crap floating in the water), the video came out pretty good. From now on I'll take Andy's advice and use fix focus while shooting general subjects and apply the white balance once I get on the bottom.

I almost forgot to mention in my report: Both Kurn and Eureka had a very healthy stock of Sea Bass and TauTaug (not as many). Eureka had the largest Sea Bass I've seen in a long time and LOTS of them! No Flounder, No Amber Jacks, and I don't blame them at 42deg

I put something like 4.5 hours on the motors yesterday and everything worked perfect. My dive season is back on! I'll be watching the weather, my travel schedule at work, and looking to put together a couple more trips.

Safe Diving,
Will

 

[RAD Diver]

Nice report Will, although quite cool, the diving was a welcome distraction from everyday life.

The Kurn was about the worst vis I have ever seen on it, so bad I had a hard time figuring out where we were on it, I knew the bow, as it is turtled, but other than that I was lost.

The anchor was not as secure as I like, so I moved it a bit to allow for a secure tie in.

After a little swim, Andy asked why I was not running a reel, good thought so I went back to the line & ran 1. We had made almost a complete run around the bow before Andy called it, his Deco time being a bit shorter than mine with him on 30% & me on 34% & with the water temp we didn't want to be hanging too long.

After getting back on the boat I really didn't want to do a 2nd dive, but after the run to the Eureka & the water looking so good I couldn't refuse the call.

I think the vis was a bit more than 20ft, but just seemed dark with the layer of gunk mid water.

Was a good dive, since it was only the 2nd dive on this site I ran a reel again, made it to the bow & would have loved to make it back to the boilers, but since I didn't carry any deco gas with me I didn't want to do a long hang on back gas, even though I had well over 1000psi in my double 108s.

I was surprised Will was still hanging on the bottom with me after 30 min. it was cold, but when I gave the thumb dive he was quick to agree.

I went over & untied the hook, then carried it out in the sand to make an easy recovery, Will was on his way up. I checked my computer & it gave me a stop at 10ft, great, then it deep stopped me at 70, great, after this stop now I had a stop at 20ft too, but a nice slow ascent & they all went away by the time I reached 50ft, so with a 3 min. stop at 15ft I was very clear.
Boy did my dry gloves come in handy.

I will say that these faber double 108s had me very light in the end compared to my Worthington double 108s & may need to put on my SS plate when diving them again.

Now back to the real world, my garage door opener decided to open 1 last time, but will not move any more, so I will spend today addressing this situation.

 

[RAD Diver]

Oh & on water temps, on the Kurn my BT had 46 & my computer had 44 so that is 45.
I also reached 108ft, the deepest I have ever been on the Kurn before was 97, must have been that deep washout that the anchor came to rest in.

The Eureka my BT had 44 & my computer had 42 so that makes it 43.
I recorded 112 ft as the deepest point reached.

 

[BobbyT22]

Thanks for the report. I sat and stared longingly at the ocean Saturday, hoping someone was out there diving it. It looked beautiful.

Got the drygloves and optested them last week at Rawlings. Man, they are nice. 42 degrees is cold though.

Glad to see the season is underway.

Rob

 

[DennisW]

Thanks for the report. Sounds interesting except for the water temps. I am strictly a warm water diver, so it may be a while before I go diving in the area. However, I'm off to Bonaire in early July.

 

[CaptJT]

Next time you go Bobby let me know and I will draw you a map of the Eureka so it will be a more productive dive for you.

 

[RAD Diver]

Thanks JT, this was kind of a last minute decision to hit the Eureka & was only the 2nd time I've been on it.

Get that shaft back in?

Will; I see your on here, e-mail those pictures, I might be able to do something with them.

 

[Randy g]

Nice report guys and glad to see some of you out in the cold water. To cold for me (diving wet), I can't wait for the warmer water to get here so we can do some diving.

I feel my nitrox card burning a hole in my wallet!