paulwall
Contributor
So, I had booked with Gary (http://gulfdiver.net) for a wreck Dive on Memorial day. I was bringing the Brother in Law (Keith) and Nephew (Jeremy) for their first Redneck Riviera Boat trip (they dived from a boat in Cozumel, but it's not the same, is it?).
I had planned to be at the shop at 7:30 for an 8am departure. Gary was calling me at 7 wondering where we were (coming up on the FloraBama). Sheesh, you'd think he was running the show.
Anyway, we got there, purchased a set of fins for Keith, due to the sacrifice to the Tidal gods at Pickens, picked up the rental gear and went down to the boat. I helped load the boat with tanks (last time I do that - OW, my toe!), and the 4 of us (Duncan from South Carolina joined us) headed out.
Air temps were warm, and the sun made frequent appearances through the overcast. We had intended to go to the YDT's, but the 1-3' rollers with some waves on top caused us to redirect to the Navy Tug.
This is an OOOOOLD tug sunk as an artificial reef in the 90's. I dove it when it was fairly new, and now it is riddled with corrosion and covered in fish and life. It is still identifiable as a tugboat, and looked great in the 40'-50' vis we enjoyed. Huge schools of amberjack swam around us as did spades, redfish, and angels. We spotted a barracuda hanging in the murk above the wreck. Sand Dollars and shells (and apparently a flounder or two) littered the sand around the wreck. Although a small wreck and easily penetrated, the wreck is covered in monofilament, so divers should bring a cutting implement and be prepared for entanglement. One could make a fortune harvesting lead sinkers on this thing. Dive time was a little over 30mins, Depth 87', Temp 75o
I was willing to dive this wreck again, even though it's small, but we decided to head over to Ivan's reef. This is an area where the debris from the old I-10 bridge over Pensacola Bay was dumped haphazardly. Concrete supports criss-cross and lay parallel over a huge area of the gulf. Depths were to 85'. I get lost on this site regularly, and with the 20' of vis and two newer divers, I wasn't taking any chances. I ran line around my course, looking in holes for lobsters and octopi, scaring triggerfish, snapper and Amberjack. Keith met up with me about halfway through my dive after sending Jeremy back to the boat with Equalization problems. He told me hi, and then said he was heading back, navigating via my strung line. I followed him, reeling in my spools, and still looking in holes. I sent him up the line with 750psi, and hung around for a few more minutes enjoying the post-apocalyptic view of these massive concrete pilings spread out like matchsticks. Temps were a little cooler (73o[/SUP)], and the concentration of fish to wreckage was not as good as at the tug, but it was an enjoyable dive.
The trip back in was easier with a following breeze, but we did hit a freshwater rinse before making the pass.
No equipment was lost one either dive. It was a good day on the water.
I had planned to be at the shop at 7:30 for an 8am departure. Gary was calling me at 7 wondering where we were (coming up on the FloraBama). Sheesh, you'd think he was running the show.
Anyway, we got there, purchased a set of fins for Keith, due to the sacrifice to the Tidal gods at Pickens, picked up the rental gear and went down to the boat. I helped load the boat with tanks (last time I do that - OW, my toe!), and the 4 of us (Duncan from South Carolina joined us) headed out.
Air temps were warm, and the sun made frequent appearances through the overcast. We had intended to go to the YDT's, but the 1-3' rollers with some waves on top caused us to redirect to the Navy Tug.
This is an OOOOOLD tug sunk as an artificial reef in the 90's. I dove it when it was fairly new, and now it is riddled with corrosion and covered in fish and life. It is still identifiable as a tugboat, and looked great in the 40'-50' vis we enjoyed. Huge schools of amberjack swam around us as did spades, redfish, and angels. We spotted a barracuda hanging in the murk above the wreck. Sand Dollars and shells (and apparently a flounder or two) littered the sand around the wreck. Although a small wreck and easily penetrated, the wreck is covered in monofilament, so divers should bring a cutting implement and be prepared for entanglement. One could make a fortune harvesting lead sinkers on this thing. Dive time was a little over 30mins, Depth 87', Temp 75o
I was willing to dive this wreck again, even though it's small, but we decided to head over to Ivan's reef. This is an area where the debris from the old I-10 bridge over Pensacola Bay was dumped haphazardly. Concrete supports criss-cross and lay parallel over a huge area of the gulf. Depths were to 85'. I get lost on this site regularly, and with the 20' of vis and two newer divers, I wasn't taking any chances. I ran line around my course, looking in holes for lobsters and octopi, scaring triggerfish, snapper and Amberjack. Keith met up with me about halfway through my dive after sending Jeremy back to the boat with Equalization problems. He told me hi, and then said he was heading back, navigating via my strung line. I followed him, reeling in my spools, and still looking in holes. I sent him up the line with 750psi, and hung around for a few more minutes enjoying the post-apocalyptic view of these massive concrete pilings spread out like matchsticks. Temps were a little cooler (73o[/SUP)], and the concentration of fish to wreckage was not as good as at the tug, but it was an enjoyable dive.
The trip back in was easier with a following breeze, but we did hit a freshwater rinse before making the pass.
No equipment was lost one either dive. It was a good day on the water.
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