--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The day started over cast but dry. The night before they had called for rain, it looked like they where wrong. I got to the OlSaltyII about 06:00 hours and loaded my gear on board and set every thing up. Then I sat back and watched the 30 divers come aboard. It looked as if Alex and the rest of the mates had there hands full. About 30 divers came on board all told; it was a lot of folks. The crew of the OlSalty where there normal helpful selfs. Making sure every one got in place safely. We started out to the Stolt and the channel was calm. Alex gave the briefing on the way out to the ocean. When we got out on the ocean the story was a little different. To say the least the seas seemed a little rough so I took my self down below to get some rest on the trip out.
The engines turning off woke me from my sleep. I started getting my dry suit on and found it difficult to get dressed do to the movement of the boat. When I made it to the deck I saw that a storm was heading right for us. Alex was in the water setting the hook while the rest of the crew tried to set the sand anchors. Because of the sea conditions it took quite a while to set every thing up before the crew could let divers in the water.
The word came down that divers could hit the water. I grabbed my fins and started for the back of the boat. Thats when I saw Alex for the first time since we got to the dive site. I half expected Alex to pay me back for the joke that Dave Stewart and I played on him in North Carolina. After all he did say that we had started something in motion that Mother Nature her self could not stop. Well thats enough on that best to leave a sleeping dog lay. I asked Alex what it was like on the bottom. To which he said it was unbelievable. That just drove me to get in the water more quickly.
I hit the water and dropped to 20 feet. There I checked all my gear for a second time. Then I focused down the anchor line. I could not believe what I was seeing. There I was at 20 feet looking down and could see the wreck below me. Alex was right it was unbelievable. I slid down the line, as I reached the Stolt I could see the entire wreck. I slipped down to the deck area and did a nice relaxing dive looking around the ship. It was beautiful. It was clear and very relaxing. I spent about 50 minutes on my first dive. I came out of the water hearing everyone scream what a great dive Visibility there was. There was a report of some Dog Fish which I did not see.
The crew had a muffins and drinks for us during our surface interval. I spent an hour in between dives and could not wait to get back in.
On my second dive I went to the bottom and did a slow assent threw the wreck with some light penetration into some of the large areas of the ship. I fond the visibility to be the same on the second dive as it was on the first. It had to be 80+ feet of visibility. The water temp was 65 degrees above 100 feet and 60 degrees below 100 feet. I did about 40 minutes on my second dive with a 4 minute deco obligation which was absolved on my deep stops. I still did about 4 minutes on 100% O2 at 15 feet just to be safe. I was diving 30% for my back gas. That is such a good mix for Jersey diving.
When I got back on board it was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. Not at all like the day had started out to be. On the way back to shore we had Ziti and talked of the days dives. I am so glad we braved the weather and made the dives. The crew had done a great job and Capt. Nick had made for a great day.
The day started over cast but dry. The night before they had called for rain, it looked like they where wrong. I got to the OlSaltyII about 06:00 hours and loaded my gear on board and set every thing up. Then I sat back and watched the 30 divers come aboard. It looked as if Alex and the rest of the mates had there hands full. About 30 divers came on board all told; it was a lot of folks. The crew of the OlSalty where there normal helpful selfs. Making sure every one got in place safely. We started out to the Stolt and the channel was calm. Alex gave the briefing on the way out to the ocean. When we got out on the ocean the story was a little different. To say the least the seas seemed a little rough so I took my self down below to get some rest on the trip out.
The engines turning off woke me from my sleep. I started getting my dry suit on and found it difficult to get dressed do to the movement of the boat. When I made it to the deck I saw that a storm was heading right for us. Alex was in the water setting the hook while the rest of the crew tried to set the sand anchors. Because of the sea conditions it took quite a while to set every thing up before the crew could let divers in the water.
The word came down that divers could hit the water. I grabbed my fins and started for the back of the boat. Thats when I saw Alex for the first time since we got to the dive site. I half expected Alex to pay me back for the joke that Dave Stewart and I played on him in North Carolina. After all he did say that we had started something in motion that Mother Nature her self could not stop. Well thats enough on that best to leave a sleeping dog lay. I asked Alex what it was like on the bottom. To which he said it was unbelievable. That just drove me to get in the water more quickly.
I hit the water and dropped to 20 feet. There I checked all my gear for a second time. Then I focused down the anchor line. I could not believe what I was seeing. There I was at 20 feet looking down and could see the wreck below me. Alex was right it was unbelievable. I slid down the line, as I reached the Stolt I could see the entire wreck. I slipped down to the deck area and did a nice relaxing dive looking around the ship. It was beautiful. It was clear and very relaxing. I spent about 50 minutes on my first dive. I came out of the water hearing everyone scream what a great dive Visibility there was. There was a report of some Dog Fish which I did not see.
The crew had a muffins and drinks for us during our surface interval. I spent an hour in between dives and could not wait to get back in.
On my second dive I went to the bottom and did a slow assent threw the wreck with some light penetration into some of the large areas of the ship. I fond the visibility to be the same on the second dive as it was on the first. It had to be 80+ feet of visibility. The water temp was 65 degrees above 100 feet and 60 degrees below 100 feet. I did about 40 minutes on my second dive with a 4 minute deco obligation which was absolved on my deep stops. I still did about 4 minutes on 100% O2 at 15 feet just to be safe. I was diving 30% for my back gas. That is such a good mix for Jersey diving.
When I got back on board it was a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon. Not at all like the day had started out to be. On the way back to shore we had Ziti and talked of the days dives. I am so glad we braved the weather and made the dives. The crew had done a great job and Capt. Nick had made for a great day.
