Serching for Tropical at Ft Wetherill Sat. 9-7-07

[dave4868]

If anyone does dive Ft Wetherill, please post a report and we can compare the conditions to the report.

Also a small craft advisory has just been issued for the Block Island Sound.

I joined another ScubaBoard member and his wife for my first dives at Fort Wetherill today. We had some excellent camaraderie and some challenging dive conditions.

I would have responded to your post last night, but I hit the rack real early and missed it. (Got up at 2:30am for the 3-hour trip.)

I'll post some pics tomorrow.

Dive #1-

High tide was 6:05am. Partly sunny to mostly sunny.

Steady 10-20 kt south winds created swells up to 1' at 8am when we started our first dive in the cove on the right and we circled the entire peninsula, staying close to where the base of the rocks meet the sand or mud and returning in left cove, as planned.

Max depth was 40'

Water temp 64 degrees.

Vis was 3 to 10'

(better vis on the return leg in the other cove (which is called West Cove, apparently not in relation to the other cove, which is actually further west and is called "Sandy Cove", I believe).

Mild surge. Mild surface current. Occasional mild current in varying directions near the bottom depending on proximity to rocky island off peninsula.

Saw what I think was one small tropical and will post pics for identification tomorrow.

Bottom time 87 minutes (for me).

Dive #2-

Southerly winds by 12noon had increased to a steady 20-25 kts by my estimate. Swells were about 2'.

Crossed the left cove ("West Cove") directly on a 150 heading and then followed the rock base in a more southerly heading, finally coming around the point on a heading of 130 or so, reaching 65' depths at the main base of the rocks. Then took a course directly away from the base of the rocky slope on about a 180 heading probably, reaching 80' within a few fin kicks. Came up the slope to return on swimming safety stops and to conserve air, all as planned.

Max depth was 81'. (Reverse profile noted and conservatism added to dive plan.)

Water temp was 64 degrees throughout (well mixed, no thermocline).

Vis was 5 to 10'.

Moderate surge.

Moderate currents of about 6" per second inside cove, 12" per second outside the point, and its direction varied with depth and on proximity to the point. Significant surface current pulling on the flag (and my tuna ball). (Don't say it.....)

Bottom time 60 minutes.

Altogether on the two dives, we saw one winter flounder, one sculpin, a couple near-legal-sized fluke (who were too quick for me), a tautog or two, possibly some sea bass (not sure), plenty of cunner, and a couple others that I'll need help identifying when I post pics tomorrow. One of those may have been a small tropical.

Lots of comb jellies, too, I think.

I knew the wind direction would make things challenging, but I wouldn't have wanted to miss meeting and diving with such a nice couple on a beautiful, warm and sunny day.

Since Fort Wetherill is a long 140-mile drive each way, I'd probaby wait for more favorable conditions in the future, but this first trip was definitely worth the effort.

Pics tomorrow. (I'm bushed....)

Dave C

 

[ScubaSarus]

Nice Dave you got the dives in. You did the right thing to go deep on bad conditions away from the swells. Provided you dont need to surface near the surging rocks and know your way, its usually a doable plan. One of those dive you stay real close to your buddy to avoid a lost buddy ascent near the rocks.

Did you drag a flag thru all that too. Thats also a tough thing to do.

Thanks for posting Dave and Amajamar.

 

[learn2turn]

Winds out of the south typically not good for conditions there or anywhere else in RI for that matter.

Used to windsurf RI a lot (don't dive, at least not yet) seems to me the prevailing winds were just about always S or SSW, at least in summer when there wasn't a storm. Does that make for RI not being a good dive spot most of the time?

 

[amajamar]

dave4868,

Well I'm glad to meet you! That was my girlfriend and myself yesterday who was parked two cars over from you! How did the pics come out?

I'll post later, heading out to Plymouth for a Flag rock dive this am.

 

[ScubaSarus]

Ah learn2turn. Wonder if you go to Matunuck a lot. Ft Wetherill is usually not too bad on SW winds but when they are gustin like yesterday, it can make for a bad dive. Some of the best dive spots are the exposed southern coast and are sensitive to southernly winds. It can be gusting fom the North at 30 mph and Ive seen the coves at Ft Wetherill as calm as a mill pond.

 

[dave4868]

Related to my dive report above, here are some pics showing the building seas and various fish seen, including a couple I couldn't identify, one of which that have been a tropical. Please identify the fish in question, if you can. Thanks.

Dave C

Right cove at 6:30am, southerly winds of about 10-20 kts produced some slight swells at the mouth of the cove. Still calm at the dive entrance.

Right cove swells of 1-2' in late morning, early afternoon.

Right cove swells and kayaks in the early afternoon.

Left cove in early afternoon.

Left cove swells in late afternoon viewed from fort side.

Is this a tropical to the left of the small cunner? It was about 2" long with some tiny blue spots and a yellow band and a black band near the base of the tail. Very camera shy, but stood it's ground around a rock.

I've seen these before, but does this blurry image show a juvenile sea bass? It was also about 2" long.

Here's another view of this unidentified fish with a winter flounder. I also saw larger, similar fish about 5 inches long.

Summer flounder about 18 or 19 inches long. Too wary, scooted off before I uncapped my spear.

 

[dave4868]

dave4868,

Well I'm glad to meet you! That was my girlfriend and myself yesterday who was parked two cars over from you! How did the pics come out?

I'll post later, heading out to Plymouth for a Flag rock dive this am.

Glad to meet you, too!

Many of my underwater pics were slightly blurry because of slow shutter speed and no external flash, but some are decent snapshots. I've just posted a few of topside conditions and fish.

We should get some ScubaBoard bumper stickers! Sorry we didn't get to chat a bit.

Hope you're enjoying your dive today. I'm taking it easy....

Dave C

 

[johnnyseko]

Used to windsurf RI a lot (don't dive, at least not yet) seems to me the prevailing winds were just about always S or SSW, at least in summer when there wasn't a storm. Does that make for RI not being a good dive spot most of the time?

Well, I guess that's why Wetherill can be hit or miss with conditions. As scubasarus said, when we do get winds out of the north, wetherill can be nice and flat and possibly good vis conditions. If we get winds from the east, head over to Beavertail. This is apparently a rare event too as I still have yet to dive that site.

Nice pics Dave! Looks like a snowy grouper (tropical) in that pic.

 

[dave4868]

Nice Dave you got the dives in. You did the right thing to go deep on bad conditions away from the swells. Provided you dont need to surface near the surging rocks and know your way, its usually a doable plan. One of those dive you stay real close to your buddy to avoid a lost buddy ascent near the rocks.

Did you drag a flag thru all that too. Thats also a tough thing to do.

Thanks for posting Dave and Amajamar.

Good points.

I certainly enjoyed finally diving Fort Wetherill and they were memorable dives because it was with buddies, and new buddies at that, and we managed the challenges well, I thought.

You're right, the currents and winds made dragging the flag a significant effort, more than I've encountered in a long time. The handle seemed to require about 5-10 lbs of pull most of the time and it was rising and falling about a foot with the swells. Needless to say, my relative air consumption was significantly greater than my buddies', even taking into account their better fitness.

The tuna ball has significant drag, but probably not much more than the inner-tube type float used by some divers. I like the stable upline it can provide, plus the convenient lift for recovering heavy items that might be found. Next time, I might do without it at Fort Wetherill because of the currents, although I'd probably miss it!

I'll go back to Wetherill when conditions are better, so I'll look you up sometime.

Dave C

 

[dave4868]

Nice pics Dave! Looks like a snowy grouper (tropical) in that pic.

Damn Gulf of Mexico divers! What are you doing on-line? Nothing better to do?

I'm here because I'm too worn out to do anything else! What's your excuse?

Dave C