philmottrek99and02
Contributor
First I want to say that I had a very enjoyable Veteran's Day and a thank you to all you fellow vets and their families!
Signed up with Down Under Divers for a visit to the Navy Tug and Atlantis (Bridge Rubble). I met Pamawi (Pam) the day previous at the shop and agreed to buddy up for the dive. Met the boat around 0745 the following morning. Saw Marcie from the H2O Below and met Shane, two more than awesome divemasters. After a slight delay we were off. The seas were rough, well more than your normal chop, but the Down Under handled them well. After a boat vote at the 3 or 4-mile mark, we pushed ahead only to find conditions at the Tug diveable. We hit the water and visibility was easily 50' or better. The tug was covered on the inside with numerous black snapper. I thought I caught a glimpse of a small shark in the lower aft engine compartment, but the numerous snapper kept getting in the way. Pam and I made our way around the bow and discovered a very nice ray buried in the sand. I estimated the ray from head to tail to be about 6' long. The other divers said the ray swam with them and the sight was impressive. I spotted 2 large flounder and Pam showed me a sand dollar as large as her hand. I hit the designated dive turn pressure first and went up the anchor line. While at our ST, Pam kept pointing behind me. I thought she was signaling to watch out for the bottom of the boat as we ascended. I gave her the OK. After a 3-minute safety stop we were back on-board. Only then did I discover what Pam was trying to signal me, a very large barracuda was hanging around checking us all out.
A quick change of tank and we were off to the bridge rubble site aka Atlantis. Descent was the same as before, hit the tag line, follow down the anchor line and enjoy the trip. Visibility on the rubble was not as good as the tug at about 20-30'. We kept above the sand level on this dive and spent the majority of the time poking our lights into the cracks looking at the various marine critters. Pam and I saw a very large sea cucumber on the bottom in between a couple of the larger chunks of bridge. We spotted a small leopard fish or a leopard eel in one of the cracks as well as some very colorful worms. Again, Mr. Hoover vacuum here, hit the turn around pressure and up the line we went. After our 3 or 4 min safety stop, we got back in the boat for a rather bumpy ride back in. Got back in a little before 2 pm. All in all we had a wonderful trip. Enjoyed meeting everyone.
Signed up with Down Under Divers for a visit to the Navy Tug and Atlantis (Bridge Rubble). I met Pamawi (Pam) the day previous at the shop and agreed to buddy up for the dive. Met the boat around 0745 the following morning. Saw Marcie from the H2O Below and met Shane, two more than awesome divemasters. After a slight delay we were off. The seas were rough, well more than your normal chop, but the Down Under handled them well. After a boat vote at the 3 or 4-mile mark, we pushed ahead only to find conditions at the Tug diveable. We hit the water and visibility was easily 50' or better. The tug was covered on the inside with numerous black snapper. I thought I caught a glimpse of a small shark in the lower aft engine compartment, but the numerous snapper kept getting in the way. Pam and I made our way around the bow and discovered a very nice ray buried in the sand. I estimated the ray from head to tail to be about 6' long. The other divers said the ray swam with them and the sight was impressive. I spotted 2 large flounder and Pam showed me a sand dollar as large as her hand. I hit the designated dive turn pressure first and went up the anchor line. While at our ST, Pam kept pointing behind me. I thought she was signaling to watch out for the bottom of the boat as we ascended. I gave her the OK. After a 3-minute safety stop we were back on-board. Only then did I discover what Pam was trying to signal me, a very large barracuda was hanging around checking us all out.
A quick change of tank and we were off to the bridge rubble site aka Atlantis. Descent was the same as before, hit the tag line, follow down the anchor line and enjoy the trip. Visibility on the rubble was not as good as the tug at about 20-30'. We kept above the sand level on this dive and spent the majority of the time poking our lights into the cracks looking at the various marine critters. Pam and I saw a very large sea cucumber on the bottom in between a couple of the larger chunks of bridge. We spotted a small leopard fish or a leopard eel in one of the cracks as well as some very colorful worms. Again, Mr. Hoover vacuum here, hit the turn around pressure and up the line we went. After our 3 or 4 min safety stop, we got back in the boat for a rather bumpy ride back in. Got back in a little before 2 pm. All in all we had a wonderful trip. Enjoyed meeting everyone.
