Wil
Contributor
I had the chance to take a group of Open Water Students to the Tower this morning. A small group of three plus two others and the Instructor. Could not have asked for a better day out on the water! Light winds and small swells made the boat trip quick and comfortable.
Their first two dives were completed at the Chesapeake Light Tower. Surface temps were hovering around 76 deg and the reported bottom temp was 54 deg at 40 ft. They made two dives on the Tower with their Instructor. On their second dive and after they'd completed their tasks, I asked them to collect a bag of mussels. Visibility reported at around 30ft. After the Students cleared the water the group of two took to the water and also had a nice dive.
The second stop of the day was for the non-Students and we wanted to pick something close. So, we took a 1/2 mile trip to the west and landed on the Steel Barge (N36 54.145 / W75 43.289). These numbers will place you on the portside of the barge about 50ft from the bow. I got to revisit the Steel barge after almost eight years. It's a large barge placed in the Tower Artifical Reef area. It's deteriorated some and you'll now find the port hull collapsed outward about 30ft forward of the stern. The new (who knows how "new") break is about 60ft in length and provides a great haven for flounder, sea bass, and taug. I was able to bag a few of each before returning to the boat. Total dive time 55min at a max depth of 68ft. Though the surface visibility wasn't the best, around 40 ft it cleared and vis on the bottom was 30+ft. Temps were 55deg on bottom.
During the second dive I put the Open Water Students on the fishing rigs, showed them how to bait for sea bass and turned them lose. They caught quite a few though none were legal size. They had a lot of fun with it.
The trip back to Vinings Landing Marina (Little Creek, VA) was real quick running at about 46 mph. We made it back in less than an hour.
Safe Diving,
Wil
Their first two dives were completed at the Chesapeake Light Tower. Surface temps were hovering around 76 deg and the reported bottom temp was 54 deg at 40 ft. They made two dives on the Tower with their Instructor. On their second dive and after they'd completed their tasks, I asked them to collect a bag of mussels. Visibility reported at around 30ft. After the Students cleared the water the group of two took to the water and also had a nice dive.
The second stop of the day was for the non-Students and we wanted to pick something close. So, we took a 1/2 mile trip to the west and landed on the Steel Barge (N36 54.145 / W75 43.289). These numbers will place you on the portside of the barge about 50ft from the bow. I got to revisit the Steel barge after almost eight years. It's a large barge placed in the Tower Artifical Reef area. It's deteriorated some and you'll now find the port hull collapsed outward about 30ft forward of the stern. The new (who knows how "new") break is about 60ft in length and provides a great haven for flounder, sea bass, and taug. I was able to bag a few of each before returning to the boat. Total dive time 55min at a max depth of 68ft. Though the surface visibility wasn't the best, around 40 ft it cleared and vis on the bottom was 30+ft. Temps were 55deg on bottom.
During the second dive I put the Open Water Students on the fishing rigs, showed them how to bait for sea bass and turned them lose. They caught quite a few though none were legal size. They had a lot of fun with it.
The trip back to Vinings Landing Marina (Little Creek, VA) was real quick running at about 46 mph. We made it back in less than an hour.
Safe Diving,
Wil
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