I think you will find this a good read it is my dive report from NC. Let me know what you guys think.
About 06:30 I rolled over and saw that the morning light had started to break through the windows of our tent. Mike my 3 year old son was staring at me and waiting to go to the bath room. I unzipped the front of the tent and made the 500 yards walk to the bath house. It was already about 70 degrees and the wind was blowing off the ocean. The wind was warm and you could feel the weight of the ocean in it. After we went to the bath house my son and I went to the beach and watched the sun come up together, it was the beginning of a beautiful day. My day to day life is very busy and moments like this with my son seem to put things into perspective
I am so glad that are first choice of campsites did not work out; otherwise we would have never discovered Holiday Trav-L-Park. We were in a camp site right on the ocean at the end of Emerald Isle. I could not have been happier with the facilities. They had activities for the kids, a great location and very reasonable rates. If family camping
is your thing, then I highly recommend you give them a try.
Although I had a great time with my family, this afternoons dive was always in the back of my mind. It had been two months since I had been wet. I had spent the majority of my post surgical recovery reading about diving and pestering my doctor to let me back in the water.
It was about 14:00 when we left the camp ground for Morehead City, it was an easy 25 minute drive to Olympus Dive Center. Although the temperature had climbed to about 85 degrees the ocean breeze minimized the humidity to a nice comfortable level. I was diving with my brother-in-law, John. This was the first time John and I had dived together. I was really curious to see how our partnership would work out. John is a NAUI Advanced Diver who had not dove in a year. I had spent the last year sliding into the dark side under the tutelage of Darth Meller. I really expected our dive styles and philosophies to be very different.
Once we arrived at Olympus we wasted no time checking in and got our numbers. I really liked their accountability system. You are given a number at check in and that is your accountability number for the day. You simply give this number to the crew and they use it to ensure everyone is on the boat and keep track of all your dive data. We loaded our gear and about 15:00 we started boarding the Olympus. Captain George was in command that day and he had 2 mates with him. Although I was happy with the boats ergonomics, I have to say that I missed the crew of the Ol' Salty II.
It took about an hour to get over the U.S.S Indra. It was a little rough going Out, with 4 to 5 foot seas. The swells were VERY long. Once the crew gave the briefing the pool was opened. I notice out of the 27 divers on the boat, I was the only person diving dry. I was also the only person with doubles. I guess you can take the diver out of New Jersey, but you cant take the New Jersey out of the diver.
The fact that I was diving doubles was not lost on the crew. After the hook was set they approached me and asked how long I planned on diving. I think they were relieved when I told them John only had an aluminum 80 and I wasnt planning on watching him surface without me
I hit the water at 17:03 and waited for John at the 20 foot mark. Once we linked up we made our way down the line to the Indra. The visibility was 25-30 feet. I was amused how the local divers were disappointed at the vis. It would be fun to see how they reacted to the vis off Jersey.
There was a strong port to starboard surge on the wreck. The bottom temp was a balmy 75 degrees
John and I spent most of our 40 minute bottom time exploring the bow of the wreck. As we swam aft there were some areas amidships were the vis dropped to 5 foot. I wasnt sure if it was a result of something drifting in from offshore or the large number of open water students who were swimming about.
I went as deep as 69 fsw but I did not enter the wreck because John and I had never dove together before and the surge was very strong. If I had been with Dave or Alex I would have tied off my reel and penetrated the wreck. I had never been in that type of surge before and watched the bait fish being pushed in and pulled out of the large holes that were cut in the ship. Outside of the Baltimore or Camden aquariums I had never seen anything like the colorful fish that live on the Indra. Spadefish, barracuda, and angel fish abounded. The invertebrates and nudibranchs were beautiful.
I was sorry when my 40 minutes were up and I had to make my way back up the line.
After a 3 minute hang I climbed back aboard the Olympus. Now I really understand what Alex means when he says the ladder on the Ol Salty is the best in the North Atlantic. While we were down, the seas had picked up and we rocked and rolled all the way back to Morehead City.
Despite a few hitches, I have to say that overall it was a very good day and I cannot wait until August when I go down with Alex and the gang. This dive just whetted my appetite for more North Carolina diving.
We got back to the campsite around 20:30 completely exhausted. As much as I wanted to relax, I also wanted to eat. On the way back from Olympus John and I stopped at Smithfields. Although they are a national fried chicken franchise, the Morehead City location serves BBQ. There is nothing quite like North Carolina BBQ with hush puppies and it really hit the spot after a long day. Smithfields is located right on 70 about 5 minutes from Olympus and the staff was pleasant and the service was quick. Give them a try if youre there
About 06:30 I rolled over and saw that the morning light had started to break through the windows of our tent. Mike my 3 year old son was staring at me and waiting to go to the bath room. I unzipped the front of the tent and made the 500 yards walk to the bath house. It was already about 70 degrees and the wind was blowing off the ocean. The wind was warm and you could feel the weight of the ocean in it. After we went to the bath house my son and I went to the beach and watched the sun come up together, it was the beginning of a beautiful day. My day to day life is very busy and moments like this with my son seem to put things into perspective
I am so glad that are first choice of campsites did not work out; otherwise we would have never discovered Holiday Trav-L-Park. We were in a camp site right on the ocean at the end of Emerald Isle. I could not have been happier with the facilities. They had activities for the kids, a great location and very reasonable rates. If family camping
is your thing, then I highly recommend you give them a try.
Although I had a great time with my family, this afternoons dive was always in the back of my mind. It had been two months since I had been wet. I had spent the majority of my post surgical recovery reading about diving and pestering my doctor to let me back in the water.
It was about 14:00 when we left the camp ground for Morehead City, it was an easy 25 minute drive to Olympus Dive Center. Although the temperature had climbed to about 85 degrees the ocean breeze minimized the humidity to a nice comfortable level. I was diving with my brother-in-law, John. This was the first time John and I had dived together. I was really curious to see how our partnership would work out. John is a NAUI Advanced Diver who had not dove in a year. I had spent the last year sliding into the dark side under the tutelage of Darth Meller. I really expected our dive styles and philosophies to be very different.
Once we arrived at Olympus we wasted no time checking in and got our numbers. I really liked their accountability system. You are given a number at check in and that is your accountability number for the day. You simply give this number to the crew and they use it to ensure everyone is on the boat and keep track of all your dive data. We loaded our gear and about 15:00 we started boarding the Olympus. Captain George was in command that day and he had 2 mates with him. Although I was happy with the boats ergonomics, I have to say that I missed the crew of the Ol' Salty II.
It took about an hour to get over the U.S.S Indra. It was a little rough going Out, with 4 to 5 foot seas. The swells were VERY long. Once the crew gave the briefing the pool was opened. I notice out of the 27 divers on the boat, I was the only person diving dry. I was also the only person with doubles. I guess you can take the diver out of New Jersey, but you cant take the New Jersey out of the diver.
The fact that I was diving doubles was not lost on the crew. After the hook was set they approached me and asked how long I planned on diving. I think they were relieved when I told them John only had an aluminum 80 and I wasnt planning on watching him surface without me
I hit the water at 17:03 and waited for John at the 20 foot mark. Once we linked up we made our way down the line to the Indra. The visibility was 25-30 feet. I was amused how the local divers were disappointed at the vis. It would be fun to see how they reacted to the vis off Jersey.
There was a strong port to starboard surge on the wreck. The bottom temp was a balmy 75 degrees
John and I spent most of our 40 minute bottom time exploring the bow of the wreck. As we swam aft there were some areas amidships were the vis dropped to 5 foot. I wasnt sure if it was a result of something drifting in from offshore or the large number of open water students who were swimming about.
I went as deep as 69 fsw but I did not enter the wreck because John and I had never dove together before and the surge was very strong. If I had been with Dave or Alex I would have tied off my reel and penetrated the wreck. I had never been in that type of surge before and watched the bait fish being pushed in and pulled out of the large holes that were cut in the ship. Outside of the Baltimore or Camden aquariums I had never seen anything like the colorful fish that live on the Indra. Spadefish, barracuda, and angel fish abounded. The invertebrates and nudibranchs were beautiful.
I was sorry when my 40 minutes were up and I had to make my way back up the line.
After a 3 minute hang I climbed back aboard the Olympus. Now I really understand what Alex means when he says the ladder on the Ol Salty is the best in the North Atlantic. While we were down, the seas had picked up and we rocked and rolled all the way back to Morehead City.
Despite a few hitches, I have to say that overall it was a very good day and I cannot wait until August when I go down with Alex and the gang. This dive just whetted my appetite for more North Carolina diving.
We got back to the campsite around 20:30 completely exhausted. As much as I wanted to relax, I also wanted to eat. On the way back from Olympus John and I stopped at Smithfields. Although they are a national fried chicken franchise, the Morehead City location serves BBQ. There is nothing quite like North Carolina BBQ with hush puppies and it really hit the spot after a long day. Smithfields is located right on 70 about 5 minutes from Olympus and the staff was pleasant and the service was quick. Give them a try if youre there
