Queen Anne's Revenge

[saying]

Anyone been there?

Is it worth the ride from New Jersey to look at a smallish area with some piles of rubble?

 

[BabyDuck]

it will be for me, but i'm from bath, where blackbeard lived in nc, so the history is more important to me than the site. doing the qar is my medium-term goal. i haven't heard anyone's personal trip report, though, so i'll be watching to see what others say.

 

[LindaBluedolphin]

I had considered this dive, and really thought hard about it, but in the end I felt the $500 price tag was a bit out of my reach.

 

[herman]

I have seen the videos and I agree with Linda, unless you are a big history buff I would not spend the money. The vis is going to be poor at best, you are guarded the entire time you are on the dive and other than a pile of rocks, a few pieces of wood and a scrap of metal here and there, there is not a lot to see. I do mean guarded, they are treating this pile of rubble like it was fragile china. This site is guarded like a military installation. Exactly what damage a diver could actually do escapes me....this wreck is only 2 miles or so off shore in a heavy surf and current area. If the dozens of hurricanes over the years have not distroyed whats remains I fail to see what a few hundred divers touching it will do. Sorry about the rant, I would save the money and do 5 or 6 dives off other wrecks.

 

[herman]

Sorry, hit the send button twice.

 

[usafstang]

What is the big deal about qar?? Why so much!?!?! I mean c'mon now!!

 

[blowin_bubbles]

What is the big deal about qar?? Why so much!?!?! I mean c'mon now!!

I think many of the divers are going because of their interest & support of NC maritime history, and of course the Blackbeard legend is a colorful part. Since it is a 2-day program, you may want to think of it this way:
$250 per day ... includes:
- one half day of diving-related classtime with various presenters,
- plus the historical overview at the opening reception,
- one "training" dive to see how well you manage your buoyancy, u/w skills
- then the actual QAR dive on the last day
- with (drumroll please .... ) u/w MP3 player providing narative.
- but mostly since the site is under the protection of NC State Historical Property Office, the current plan is to limit access to the site to only 300 wRECREATIONAL divers per year over a 5 year period, so you are paying a little more for the limited availability of the site.

but >>>> VIZ is expected to be low, you won't be able to collect any souveniers (if you should be so lucky as to see one), and I think the bottom-time on the wreck is not even 30 minutes.

http://www.qaronline.org is a good source if you would like to read more on the project. If travelling several hours to get to the dive, you'll probably feel your money was better spent if you also treat yourself to an extra day or two in the area to visit some of the other popular (and more in-tact) wrecks.

Either way, a trip to NC is always good !

 

[stevetim]

I think many of the divers are going because of their interest & support of NC maritime history, and of course the Blackbeard legend is a colorful part. Since it is a 2-day program, you may want to think of it this way:
$250 per day ... includes:
- one half day of diving-related classtime with various presenters,
- plus the historical overview at the opening reception,
- one "training" dive to see how well you manage your buoyancy, u/w skills
- then the actual QAR dive on the last day
- with (drumroll please .... ) u/w MP3 player providing narative.
- but mostly since the site is under the protection of NC State Historical Property NC State Historical Property Office, the current plan is to limit access to the site to only 300 wRECREATIONAL divers per year over a 5 year period, so you are paying a little more for the limited availability of the site.

but >>>> VIZ is expected to be low, you won't be able to collect any souveniers (if you should be so lucky as to see one), and I think the bottom-time on the wreck is not even 30 minutes.

http://www.qaronline.org is a good source if you would like to read more on the project. If travelling several hours to get to the dive, you'll probably feel your money was better spent if you also treat yourself to an extra day or two in the area to visit some of the other popular (and more in-tact) wrecks.

Either way, a trip to NC is always good !

If the site is protected under the NC State Historical Property Office, would you get in hot water for taking a souvenier?

 

[Doc Intrepid]

If the site is protected under the NC State Historical Property Office, would you get in hot water for taking a souvenier?

No ****, sherlock.

OTOH, technical charters, including your gas fills, are similarly expensive in order to dive, for example, the St. Augustine out of Ocean City, MD where you'll have a 20-25 minute bottom time at 250' and your cost per day (1 dive) will be ~$250 not including food or lodging. The cost to dive this wreck has to be considered in relation to its limited access and its historical significance. And given it's relative depth, I suspect your dive times may be in excess of 30 minutes...

YMMV.

http://www.discoverydiving.com/dive_down.htm

http://www.mahsnet.org/

 

[stevetim]

Quote:
Originally Posted by stevetim
If the site is protected under the NC State Historical Property Office, would you get in hot water for taking a souvenier?

No ****, sherlock.

Maybe I should have posted a more clear question on what I really wanted to know as not to attract the intellectual Scubaboard Veteran(pfft) reply.

What actually encompasses the site of the(for that matter any) wreck? The ship and how much surrounding ocean floor? So if I picked up something 50 yards or so from the actual wreck site, could I be arrested, fined, banned from future dives there?