MHC Labor Day Weekend Dive Report

[Randy g]

Another great trip from Tortuga Dive Charters out of Morehead City, NC this last weekend.

We hit 3 wrecks in 2 days, The Hardee's oil tanker, ASHKHABAD aka Russian Wreck, and The Papoose for a double dip on sunday.

Vis was 30' on the Hardee, 100+ on the Ashkhabad and 30-40 on the papoose with a green water thermocline at the top of the wreck down to the sand and 80' of vis above the wreck in the blue water. I could see the boat from the top of the wreck. :cool2: Temps were 80 on the surface and just slightly less on the deeper wrecks. The Russian wreck was a real treat with the spectacular vis, I had never seen water like this. It was truly a amazing dive with over 60 min of bottom time.

Scootering these large wrecks really is a ton of fun. Being able to see the entire wreck is absolutely amazing and fun. Kate's Mako didn't feel like playing this weekend, so I towed her around all the wrecks with my jon line and she said she really enjoyed not having to do anything except hang on and navagate my Wild Randy Rollercoaster rides on the Papoose.

We shot video and I will download it once UBoob is done.

 

[H20Flyer]

Well I am very interested in seeing your video. I am scheduled to be there next weekend 9/14 and looking forward to the U-352 and the Aeolus or Spar. Carefully watching the tropical weather for the next week. So far so good (keeping my fingers crossed).

 

[Randy g]

Conditions have been great. You will love those wrecks. We dove the Aeolus a few weeks back and had a blast on it, lots of sharks. My video skillz are not that great and have to redo it because the music is not compatible with the downloading system.

Next trip down I am planning on navigating on my scooter from the Spar to the Aeolus and running a line to return to our anchor. 2 wrecks in 1 dive. They are only 400 ft apart and I can make the run over and back in about 10 minutes.

Here's a couple of video's from last months trip.

This one was done by my dive buddy on the Aeolus
Aeolus Movie - YouTube

And here's a compilation from the weekend that I did.
Morehead City Dive HiLites 7-6-13 - YouTube

Labor day weekend on the Russian wreck
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHtbZvMf5L0

We are go pro newbies, remember that when you watch it. In other words they are not professionally done in any way.

 

[RDRINK25]

Looks great wish we had that vis Sat. We were on the Spar and had maybe 35'.

 

[Randy g]

It was unreal. I have never seen vis like that in MHC. The other two wrecks were typical 30-40' visibility.

 

[JayJudge]

Yeah, the vis was good the Ashkabad that day. I did an hour thirty on it, got hungry and cold. Dive morehead enough and you see vis and conditions like that. I've seen the Schurz from the deck of the boat, end to end on the sub..and less than 5 feet on wrecks too.
As an aside, stow your line when you are not towing someone. One of my buddies said it dragged across him...

 

[Randy g]

Jay, Please extend my sincerest apologies to him. I will take that note and remember if there's a next time towing. My wifes scooter was feeling ill (she broke it) and I ended up towing her most of the weekend.

Tell Amy and Wade, Randy Glaze said HI if they run with you sometime soon. I didn't realize it was them hollering to the boat until the Capt told me the next day. Mutiny was the first boat we dove from in MHC 4 yrs ago. Wade and I pulled Tommy out of the water back when he decided to play prop test dummy.

 

[JayJudge]

I used to DM on that boat...no big deal about the line, just a helpful insight, before it wedges in a wreck...

 

[Randy g]

Gotcha. I mentioned to Ken about the capt or who I thought was one of the mates onboard diving in doubles and a doo rag and he mentioned your name. No worries, I appreciate any helpful insights and always try to learn something new on every trip out.

 

[Randy g]

Finally got my video done from Labor day weekend.

MHC Labor Day Weekend - YouTube