Oil Rigs Dive Report

[denisegg]

Wow!!! What an awesome experience. I have been logging my dives and gathering all my information so that I can make a report!! There were several cameras flashing so I know there will be some awesome pics. Gary did an outstanding job on this trip aboard the Cat-n-Around to make it a truly memorable experience.!!

 

[denisegg]

On board the Cat-n-Around for our adventure out to sea was Capt Gary, DM John, Glenfwb and two friends he brought with him, Becky and Joe, dnos(Dana) and Andy and I. We met at Gary's shop at 7am and quickly made it to the boat and started out. The seas were beautiful several miles out but we began to encounter a bit rougher conditions. We saw some amazing water spouts and rain in the distance but we didn't go through them. We began to see a number of rigs but we continued outward because Gary wanted to take us out to the deeper sites for better visibility. Even as the waves began to kick up we were all having a great time getting to know each other. Gary decided to check out a rig that wasn't as far out as he had hoped because we were getting pounded pretty good by the seas so we opted to dive a rig
closer in. For many of us this was our first Oil Rig and we were excited to jump in and get started.

 

[denisegg]

We opted to split the group in half and dive in sets of three. Andy, Dana and I jumped in and Andy hung at about 10ft for a bit clearing while the others made it to the wreck. When Andy finally made it down to us Dana was behind us and pointed us toward the direction of the rig. Gary told us for safety to stay within the framework so we made our way inside and began to explore. We had a nice long dive of 52 minutes with a max depth of 52ft. I rented HP steel 85's from Gary. Andy has a better SAC rate than me and I usually always pull him off the dive first but with the steel 85's and Andy using an AL80 our psi stayed pretty constant during the entire dive which was nice. It was interesting to explore the structure and to see how much growth was on it. There were alot of fish and critters. I will let the experts like Glen give the details on names. We leisurely explored the bottom and then slowly made our way up the structure, had a nice safety stop and made our way back to the boat. There was a bit of current and a thermocline which was quite noticeable and the vis changed at different depths.

After this dive, we headed back inward to a large oil rig that was fully operational and did our SI while watching the workers load and unload from a barge. The workers waved at us and went about doing their job. It was quite interesting to think that you would be diving beneath where all of this was going on. The structure consisted of three platforms with catwalks to join them. Luckily, the barge moved from the center structure which was the largest so we were able to tie into this one. I took a compass reading and we set out to explore. Just as Andy entered the interior he spotted what he thought was a baby shark but it was slipping away so fast he wasn't sure. John said he saw it also. We explored the interior and used our light to peek in holes and crevices. I was again amazed at how much life was on an artificial reef like this. We had a 54 minute dive with a max depth of 53ft. The vis was not as good on this wreck so we used our compass reading to make it back to the side of the rig where the boat was tied in.

 

[philmottrek99and02]

More, more, please more!

 

[denisegg]

When we made it back to the boat, Gary was finishing up some grilled chicken breasts he was cooking for us to celebrate my Birthday!! He even had honey mustard sauce. They were awesome and we were starving. I was ready to eat!!

Thank you Gary and John for making this trip so special for all of us and helping me celebrate my Birthday for the second year in a row on the Cat-n-Around!! :10::10:

 

[algulfdiver]

The second Rig, we call this one the triple rig.

 

[algulfdiver]

another

 

[GLENFWB]

Sorry i cant post pictures yet. hopefully can get laptop fixed tomorrow. Posting tonight from cell phone.

another

Posted via Mobile Device

 

[scubasaint]

Do you know how far out the rig you dove was? Also, what kind of vis did you have?

 

[algulfdiver]

The first rig was 25 nm wnw from Perdido Pass and about ( I'm guessing ) 16 or so out of Dauphin Island,
Vis on the first Rig was 50' I was told and about 25-30 on the second.