waterpirate
Contributor
This past Sunday the magic continued as the seas layed flat enough for a early departure to the Northern Pacific. I have been a 2 time loser on her as it is in a tricky spot that is easily affected by wind and waves. My 2 previous attempts to dive her could only be described as a unwilling intro to cave diving with no light!
As it loomed up on us from the depth finder, it is one BIG pile of wreck, 200-300' of debris. One prominant section lifts up from the bottom, giving 20-25' of relief. Other divers reffered to it as " the mountain of steel ".
We grappled in near the mountain and I splashed to tie in. Top vis was a easy 40' and suddenly at around 75fsw the lights and the heat went off. Damn! I have been here before. It remained dark in the snot layer all the way down to around 120. When I landed on a pile of steel plate at 141, my eyes adjusted and found we had a dark 25' of vis. Bingo! She was finally going to let me have a look at her.
It was a study in hull plates and mayhem, but fairly well organised if you like a good jumble puzzle. There were few fish to note other than a HUGE alpha female taug. I left her to make more fish for me to shoot another year. After waxing poetic on her size and the size of males she would mother, I noticed alot of uniform round holes in the plating??? I dropped down and investigated and found portholes a plenty..... Only problem is the plating is upside down, meaning the port holes are under the plate. I formulated a plan, lets stick our head in there and see whats what. To my surprise the portholes were a no go, but the under sides of those plates had bugs a plenty!
My lucky day! Lobster for dinner. I did a second dive to pull the hook and do some more hunting and gathering and called it all good. 2 dives each with a run of 73 minutes is another good fall day in the midatlantic.
Eric
As it loomed up on us from the depth finder, it is one BIG pile of wreck, 200-300' of debris. One prominant section lifts up from the bottom, giving 20-25' of relief. Other divers reffered to it as " the mountain of steel ".
We grappled in near the mountain and I splashed to tie in. Top vis was a easy 40' and suddenly at around 75fsw the lights and the heat went off. Damn! I have been here before. It remained dark in the snot layer all the way down to around 120. When I landed on a pile of steel plate at 141, my eyes adjusted and found we had a dark 25' of vis. Bingo! She was finally going to let me have a look at her.
It was a study in hull plates and mayhem, but fairly well organised if you like a good jumble puzzle. There were few fish to note other than a HUGE alpha female taug. I left her to make more fish for me to shoot another year. After waxing poetic on her size and the size of males she would mother, I noticed alot of uniform round holes in the plating??? I dropped down and investigated and found portholes a plenty..... Only problem is the plating is upside down, meaning the port holes are under the plate. I formulated a plan, lets stick our head in there and see whats what. To my surprise the portholes were a no go, but the under sides of those plates had bugs a plenty!
My lucky day! Lobster for dinner. I did a second dive to pull the hook and do some more hunting and gathering and called it all good. 2 dives each with a run of 73 minutes is another good fall day in the midatlantic.
Eric
