Diveral
Contributor
I got wordy on the last post: 
The SPAR is a 180' Coast Gaurd icebreaker that has recently been sunk as an artificial reef adjacent to the Aeolus. It is an intact ship and posseses many cutouts and swim throughs.
The four of us splashed on this wreck at 12:05. It is a new clean wreck and looks like what most people would conceive as a shipwreck. It was the closest to what our Great Lakes divers are used to finding that there is in North Carolina. We made several penetrations and swim throughs throught the upper decks and works on the ship. It was a very interesting and easy dive. There was abundant life on the wreck and a school of Atlantic Spadefish occupied the bridge and pilothouse. Visibility was excellent 80-100 feet. I hit a max depth of 96 feet, bottom time of 30 minutes, surface temp of 77F and bottom temp of 73F. An excellent dive.
We did another 4 minute deep stop above the wreck observing the life and divers. I really enjoyed hanging above the wrecks and observing the goings on. Although this time I did not enter the zen-like state that I experienced on the U-352. It was still very enjoyable. I paid close attention to my N2 loading graph this stop. I was in the yellow zone on the Spar but had dropped to the bottom of the green during the 4 minutes. The N2 loading had completely disappeared at the conclusion of the 3 min. stop at 15'.
Speaking of the safety stops, Jeb was a jellyfish magnet on the 15 foot safety stops. He got stung on the mouth, neck, and or face on everyone of them. He finally got tired of it and used that sunscreen that prevents jellyfish stings. It worked and they got peeved and got me from the corner of my mouth and down around my neck below my ear on this dive.
There were lots of sea urchins on the Spar. Apparently they don't have those in the Great Lakes because Bryon came up with a palm full of spines. I loaned him my tweezers and watched him pick them out. I offered to let him borrow my spare pair of gloves for the next dive.
This was the best day of the trip, it made the trip. This is why we came to North Carolina. Fantastic.
We got back to the marina in time to hit the maritime Museum in Beaufort. It is a small but fascinating museum containing many local artifacts including items collected from the Queen Ann's Revenge, Blackbeards ship which was found nearby. Well worth the effort.
We went back to Discovery to analyze our Nitrox fills and run into Big White Square. Frank is going out Friday with our Minnesota group on the Captain's Lady. We invite him to join us for dinner at the Charterhouse over on Atlantic Beach. A very crowded resturant and the best seafood we have while in NC. We really enjoyed meeting Frank and a good time was had by all.
This was a fantastic day!!
To be continued:
The SPAR is a 180' Coast Gaurd icebreaker that has recently been sunk as an artificial reef adjacent to the Aeolus. It is an intact ship and posseses many cutouts and swim throughs.
The four of us splashed on this wreck at 12:05. It is a new clean wreck and looks like what most people would conceive as a shipwreck. It was the closest to what our Great Lakes divers are used to finding that there is in North Carolina. We made several penetrations and swim throughs throught the upper decks and works on the ship. It was a very interesting and easy dive. There was abundant life on the wreck and a school of Atlantic Spadefish occupied the bridge and pilothouse. Visibility was excellent 80-100 feet. I hit a max depth of 96 feet, bottom time of 30 minutes, surface temp of 77F and bottom temp of 73F. An excellent dive.
We did another 4 minute deep stop above the wreck observing the life and divers. I really enjoyed hanging above the wrecks and observing the goings on. Although this time I did not enter the zen-like state that I experienced on the U-352. It was still very enjoyable. I paid close attention to my N2 loading graph this stop. I was in the yellow zone on the Spar but had dropped to the bottom of the green during the 4 minutes. The N2 loading had completely disappeared at the conclusion of the 3 min. stop at 15'.
Speaking of the safety stops, Jeb was a jellyfish magnet on the 15 foot safety stops. He got stung on the mouth, neck, and or face on everyone of them. He finally got tired of it and used that sunscreen that prevents jellyfish stings. It worked and they got peeved and got me from the corner of my mouth and down around my neck below my ear on this dive.
There were lots of sea urchins on the Spar. Apparently they don't have those in the Great Lakes because Bryon came up with a palm full of spines. I loaned him my tweezers and watched him pick them out. I offered to let him borrow my spare pair of gloves for the next dive.
This was the best day of the trip, it made the trip. This is why we came to North Carolina. Fantastic.
We got back to the marina in time to hit the maritime Museum in Beaufort. It is a small but fascinating museum containing many local artifacts including items collected from the Queen Ann's Revenge, Blackbeards ship which was found nearby. Well worth the effort.
We went back to Discovery to analyze our Nitrox fills and run into Big White Square. Frank is going out Friday with our Minnesota group on the Captain's Lady. We invite him to join us for dinner at the Charterhouse over on Atlantic Beach. A very crowded resturant and the best seafood we have while in NC. We really enjoyed meeting Frank and a good time was had by all.
This was a fantastic day!!
To be continued:
