DEEPLOU
Contributor
- Messages
- 766
- Reaction score
- 14
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Went out again today. Original destination supposed to be the San Diego. But based on weather and popular demand, we diverted to the Reggie.
Not sure of Reggie's history.
It took the mate a few minutes to tie in, longer than usual. When the cups came up, and the "pool" was open it was noted to be a bit of a current.
Upon jumping in I found that from the stern to the anchor line it was a hand over hand pull on the granny line. The current on top was ripping. Going down the line was concentrating on not loosing grip on the line, clearing ears, burping suit. About 80 ft could start to see the wreck which was at abt 110 ft. Where we were tied in seemed like a hull turned turtle. Going to the left of the tie in and over the hump there was a hole on the far side. I looked in and saw under the side of the hole fairly deep in was a large lobster. Too far to reach. A couple of tries with a tickler were unsuccessful. I gave up, and went back over the wreck to the other side. then moving to the right of the tie in, found large opening. Just outside was a plate lying in the sand with a gap between the plate and the sand. Inside, another bug that appeared fairly large. Several attempts also were fruitless. Moving inside, saw couple of small babies, not much else, but notice the hole on other side where I saw the big one, I knew I could swim through and exit the other side w/no problem. I again tried to get this monster. It was now getting late, and I was w/o success. so it was back to the anchor line. Due to the current still raging, I put my Jon line on the anchor line immediately and clipped the other end to my harness, now even if I lost my grip, I was part of the anchor line. While ascending, slid the rope up the line. When I reached the 20 ft stop, turned on the O2. Two breaths, and it started to free flow. Damm! With 42 min at 100 to 110 ft, and no O2 I had per my computers almost another 30 min of deco. Several tries w/ the O2 but it was useless. So, I remained on my back gas. the only concern was Mother Nature, and the fluids I took in prior to the dive. Finally it was time to surface, 81 minutes since I left the surface.
During the surface interval, i dismantled the second stage of my deco reg. It was full of sand. After a good rinseing, and blow dry, it seemed to work ok.
For the second dive I cut my planned bottom time just in case the O2 again proved to be unuseable. If couldn't use O2 just wanted to keep total dive time down.
The descent was easier than the first dive, the current had subsided a bit. At the bottom, this time, I unhooked the deco bottle and clipped it to the anchor chain, several feet away from the sand.
Then a bee line to the steel plate w/its bug below. Quick grab and I missed it. Now it was off to other part of wreck, nothing seen. Then went back through the swim through to the big one on the far side. This time I could see more clearly in the bug hole, and was able to tickle it aroung until I was able to reach in and grab it by the tail. Upon pulling it out, I needed two hands to hold it. Wow! It now got a hold of the wire from my light, but first priority, get it in the bag. Now it was time to get out of here, time's up.
After retreiving the O2 and ascending to the 20 ft stop, now was the moment of truth. Long hang, or short hang on O2. Turned it on, little hesitant on first couple of breaths, but it worked fine.
Once we were all on board, and the boat was freed, it was time for BBQ, beer, and bragging.
Not sure of Reggie's history.
It took the mate a few minutes to tie in, longer than usual. When the cups came up, and the "pool" was open it was noted to be a bit of a current.
Upon jumping in I found that from the stern to the anchor line it was a hand over hand pull on the granny line. The current on top was ripping. Going down the line was concentrating on not loosing grip on the line, clearing ears, burping suit. About 80 ft could start to see the wreck which was at abt 110 ft. Where we were tied in seemed like a hull turned turtle. Going to the left of the tie in and over the hump there was a hole on the far side. I looked in and saw under the side of the hole fairly deep in was a large lobster. Too far to reach. A couple of tries with a tickler were unsuccessful. I gave up, and went back over the wreck to the other side. then moving to the right of the tie in, found large opening. Just outside was a plate lying in the sand with a gap between the plate and the sand. Inside, another bug that appeared fairly large. Several attempts also were fruitless. Moving inside, saw couple of small babies, not much else, but notice the hole on other side where I saw the big one, I knew I could swim through and exit the other side w/no problem. I again tried to get this monster. It was now getting late, and I was w/o success. so it was back to the anchor line. Due to the current still raging, I put my Jon line on the anchor line immediately and clipped the other end to my harness, now even if I lost my grip, I was part of the anchor line. While ascending, slid the rope up the line. When I reached the 20 ft stop, turned on the O2. Two breaths, and it started to free flow. Damm! With 42 min at 100 to 110 ft, and no O2 I had per my computers almost another 30 min of deco. Several tries w/ the O2 but it was useless. So, I remained on my back gas. the only concern was Mother Nature, and the fluids I took in prior to the dive. Finally it was time to surface, 81 minutes since I left the surface.
During the surface interval, i dismantled the second stage of my deco reg. It was full of sand. After a good rinseing, and blow dry, it seemed to work ok.
For the second dive I cut my planned bottom time just in case the O2 again proved to be unuseable. If couldn't use O2 just wanted to keep total dive time down.
The descent was easier than the first dive, the current had subsided a bit. At the bottom, this time, I unhooked the deco bottle and clipped it to the anchor chain, several feet away from the sand.
Then a bee line to the steel plate w/its bug below. Quick grab and I missed it. Now it was off to other part of wreck, nothing seen. Then went back through the swim through to the big one on the far side. This time I could see more clearly in the bug hole, and was able to tickle it aroung until I was able to reach in and grab it by the tail. Upon pulling it out, I needed two hands to hold it. Wow! It now got a hold of the wire from my light, but first priority, get it in the bag. Now it was time to get out of here, time's up.
After retreiving the O2 and ascending to the 20 ft stop, now was the moment of truth. Long hang, or short hang on O2. Turned it on, little hesitant on first couple of breaths, but it worked fine.
Once we were all on board, and the boat was freed, it was time for BBQ, beer, and bragging.
