Diving the USCG DUANE in February

[scubadiver214]

Getting married in February and going to dive the USCG Cutter DUANE off of Key Largo during my honeymoon. Any thoughts from folks who have been there and done that?

 

[gr8jab]

I wrote about it a little here: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/florida-diving/514172-diving-spiegel-grove.html

 

[darrenlowjq]

Hope you have a better time than I did. My one and only dive on the Duane, the current was really ripping and most of my group thumbed the dive while trying to come down the line. I made it down to the wreck with the guide and swam around for a min or two before deciding it was too much for me too and had to literally crawl back to the line or risk getting blown clear off the wreck. That was a memorable dive for sure. Since I only did one dive at that spot I have no reference to whether this was normal conditions or out of the ordinary. The conditions seemed perfectly ok on the surface though.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I did it once in the summer. We had very nice conditions. Go Pro on a head cam video. We enjoyed it.

[video=youtube_share;QK7AugWOdSo]http://youtu.be/QK7AugWOdSo[/video]

 

[robint]

There is a Florida Forum.......... this should be moved there.

 

[seeker242]

I spoke to someone yesterday who was there recently, all they kept talking about was how heavy the current was.

 

[pickens_46929]

Duane and Bibb can have heavy current. If you've not dove in the area a good warm up is the Speigel Grove.

You can see and tour it's sister ship USCGC Taney in Baltimore Harbour.
USCGC Taney (WHEC-37) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[scubadiver214]

Thanks so much to all who replied.

Current seems to be the big concern. Though I am very experienced, strong current is strong current.

My younger brother passed away a number of years ago and his name was Duane. Though he was not a diver, not in the Coast Guard, and had no association with this ship, I've always wanted to dive it for my own sentimental reasons. I'll be determined to give it shot regardless of the conditions and I'll just hope for the best.

Dumpster: Thanks so much for the Go Pro video! :cool3:

---------- Post added September 25th, 2015 at 06:03 AM ----------

I couldn't figure out how to "move" the thread. Do you know how?

 

[SanibelDiver]

Dove the Duane this morning. A little current on the surface but none at ship depth. Easy dive, beautiful wreck, 80 feet + of viz, saw a very large moray eel slither across one of the decks. Diving in February might be a bit chilly, though.

 

[sportxlh]

I've dove the Duane a dozen times or so. If the current is truly dangerous, the dive operator will cancel the dive and go somewhere else. From your profile picture, you look like you're in pretty good shape. I've dove the wrecks in Key Largo on occasion where one had to use a fair amount of upper body strength to pull oneself along the granny line and then down to the wreck on the mooring line: just don't kick your feet and only pull yourself hand over hand on the lines so you don't blow through your gas too quickly. For someone in decent shape its not a big deal. Once you get down to the wreck, you'll be able to get in the lee side of the current on the wreck's structure and enjoy the dive. You'll be flapping like a flag during your safety stop, but again, not that big a deal.

I've also dove the Duane when conditions were completely calm and I was able to simply float down from the dive boat without touching the granny line or mooring line.

Aside from underwater conditions, February can be pretty bouncy on the surface too. When dive boats are jumping around, I like to dive with operators that have christmas tree ladders that allow you to climb back on to the dive boat without taking off your fins. I know Conch Republic and Silent World both have these type of ladders.

I've never hired a guide, but it might be worth it if you want to find the cool swim throughs. There are some that I didn't find until I had a half dozen dives on the wreck. The Bibb is also an interesting dive, but deeper and the ship is a sister to the Duane. If the dive operator gives you a choice of a double dip on the Duane or one on the Bibb and one on the Duane, take the double on the Duane.

I'm sorry to hear about your brother: I hope your dive brings back some nice memories.