DPV Trimix Dive on Wreck of Miller Lite in Pompano Beach, FL

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Errol Kalayci

Contributor
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Location
Boca Raton, FL
Miller Lite –Pompano Beach, FL on November 5, 2010

My buddy John Adair and I booked the Miller Lite for this morning with Avid Diver with the hopes of sneaking it in before the winds shifted around. We scheduled it as early as possible which forced me to wake up a bit earlier so I could get my 4,000 yd swim in before the dive and drop the kids off at school. We loaded up at 8:15am and were glad we did since as we left the inlet at 8:45 the winds shifted from W to NW at 20+mph and the seas quickly became white caps with 3-4 waves. We chose the Miller Lite because it’s close to the inlet and a quick round trip. Originally, our plan was to dive the Miller Lite and then scooter over to the Clinton. With the building seas and conditions declining we decided to stick with the Miller Lite.

Surface wind was pushing the boat at close to 3 knots and we did not have a great read on the bottom current. Oliver dropped us just a few hundred feet north of the wreck and I towed a torpedo float to mark our progress and location. Visibility was solid 100’ as we started the descent and continued to the bottom, we spotted the wreck and scootered over using Beauty and the Beast (name I gave to my Halcyon 14 and 16 dpvs). Using our Halcyon Primary lights it was easy to communicate and I tied off at 130fsw while the torpedo float cut through the surface current with little drag making it easy for Avid Diver to keep track of us. There was no current on the bottom and the water was in the 80’s until the thermo cline at 150fsw.

Given the lack of current, 100’ of vis, knowledge of the wreck we dropped our 2 AL 40 deco bottles (70’ bottle and Oxygen) on the deck next to the tie off point. We then scootered the wreck once to get our bearings and began penetration. Scootering through the majority of companion ways and cargo holds was easy, fun and without stirring up silt. We spotted a Goliath Grouper which swam quickly into the engine room. With the wreck teaming with fish, we tied off the dpv’s and explored all 3 levels inside the engine area. There is some old line in the wreck that needs to be replaced and perhaps I should make that a priority next time on the wreck if someone else does not do it first. Passing the end of the line I came into a small fairly silty area and discover the Grouper who was surprised by the light and me. He decided to make a quick exit and swam directly at John who made the best backwards kicks I have ever seen him make then pivoted with the helicopter and let the Grouper pass. We finished exploring the area and took off with the dpv’s again. We explored more of the exterior and did another lap of the wreck, scootered through the companion ways of the stern area before parking and exploring the interior rooms of the stern area which was somewhat broken down. Again we did another lap, took a look in the anchor locker (too small to enter), went back to the stern and spotted a huge ray swimming towards us on the bottom. Having plenty of gas and time we did another lap and observed 3 large Pompano’s swimming around the deco bottles. By this time 30 minutes had lapsed and we scootered over to the bottles, clipped them on without letting go of the trigger and continued on for another 5 minutes for a total bottom time of 35 minutes. At this point we were in 130fsw and started our ascent by circling the wreck as we ascended up to 90fsw at which point the vis had decreased to the point we could no longer see the wreck.

The vis continued to get worse and was only about 20’ from 50’ to the surface. Baitfish seemed to congregate with us which was a bit unsettling since we could not see very far and were surrounded by several hundred blue runners which is something else’s food supply. The torpedo float was pulling a fair bit at this point (up and down) and I thought it was the building seas but figured out during the oxygen hang that it was probably sideways to the waves. I hit the trigger, it righted itself and John and I headed west (towards shore) and just stayed on the trigger until it was time to surface. Once orientated correctly, the torpedo never pulled again while we were scootering during the remaining deco. Interestingly, the blue runners thought we were mama and stayed with us the whole time. Coming up, the temp had dropped and the wind was howling but fortunately the seas had not gotten worse. John handed up the dpv and a bottle and climbed in. I had to release the boat, which was being blown very fast, turned the scooter on, dialed the speed to full and had to kick a bit to catch the boat. I grabbed the boat ladder, turned off the dpv, handed up the reel with torpedo float and the Beast (H 16 dpv). Since Oliver did not have help, I decided to make it easier and just climb up with both bottles and my fins on in case I had to jump off or fell off. Maybe not the best decision but it worked out ok. For those that wonder about using Double 80’s, John and I both used them, did 35 minutes BT (70 minutes RT we were not in a hurry and having fun flying Beauty and the Beast during deco) and I still had 1,200 psi at the dock after the dive. It was cold, very cold when we climbed on the boat even with the jackets on over the wetsuit so it is time for me to break out the Dry suits again :wink:
 
Sounds like a fun dive. Did training dives on the Miller Lite w/ Avid Charters earlier in the week. Great dive and great op.
 
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