Oil Rig

[Arnaud]

Had an incredible time diving "Grace" with The Peace on Wednesday. First time on an oil rig. The first dive was sort of challenging, mainly because of a strong current. It was deep (100ft), bottomless (340ft) and wall-less. Once I got used to these unusual conditions, I had a blast. I had never seen so many anemones, white, pink and yellow. Plus, an excellent viz below 50ft.

Clearly not for beginners, but with a little experience, it's a fantastic trip.

 

[kelpmermaid]

To me, diving the rigs is always a rush. I think it's how the structure disappears into the darkness as one looks down. Grace has those rings that almost look like bowls full of strawberries (anemones) or a children's cereal whose name now escapes me.

We did the Southern rigs (the E's) over Labor Day weekend. Each of them has a different structure, so there is never a dull moment, and the resident sea lions are curious...

 

[Arnaud]

kelpmermaid once bubbled...
To me, diving the rigs is always a rush. I think it's how the structure disappears into the darkness as one looks down. Grace has those rings that almost look like bowls full of strawberries (anemones) or a children's cereal whose name now escapes me.

Very true. And for the 3 D part, it made me think about those multi-level chess games...

 

[socaldiver]

Dove the Eureka a couple years back, only rig dive I have done but truely breathtaking.

White and strawberry anemones, tons of brittle stars, a jellyfish, not to mention the playful sea lions.

Don't remember the viz being that good though, maybe 30 ft if we were lucky.

Glad you had a good time.

 

[JustAddWater]

Did you see many large pelagics on the rig dive? I have an interest in someday diving rigs in the gulf.

 

[SoCalAJ]

is is true about the size of the scallops on the oil rigs.

 

[drbill]

Dove Grace a year or two ago and found it interesting. However I felt the ecosystem that is created on the oil rigs was somewhat artificial given the isolation of the platforms as a habitat and the unusual vertical structure in deep water.

Still it was an interesting set of dives... lots of video subjects including nudies, scallops, anemones, etc. Make sure you hold onto your housing though unless it is neutral or slightly positive like mine!

My poor buddy had her dry suit leak... she said she had 35# of sea water in it and had to abort the dive. A lot of extra weight to fight in "bottomless" turf. No, I didn't complete the dive solo- we had a buddy group on that dive.

Dr. Bill

 

[Arnaud]

It's a macro world out there. Definitely different than any other dives. The mostly vertical structure forces to have different marks than on a regular reef or wreck dive.

 

[blackice]

Sounds like a fun type of dive, it's on my list and will be trying to include it on my decompression training dives or leasure decompression dives.

Man... I hate being stuck in the office!