BGF
Guest
Well the weather finally cooperated with our available schedules, and thus, yesterday Capt. Earl, RIO, the soon to be Mrs. RIO, and I met in Pt. Judith and made the long run out south of Block through 6' swells and 2-3' choppers. We arrived at the Grecian to find a mooring greeting us, so we celebrated and got tied up. However as we started to get settled in and get the gear out we saw another boat steaming directly toward us in the distance. At first we thought a lobsterman, then realized it was the Sea Turtle loaded with CCR divers, and of no surprise it was they who had left the mooring. Graciously we untied and agreed to tie off from them. After a couple attempts with no luck we decided to layoff and just hook it ourselves.
Once secured, Earl let us know he was sitting out until dive #2, so RIO splashed first and I geared up and followed a little while after. The hook ended up about 30-40' to the stern of the boilers (after RIO re-secured it), with about 15-20' of vis and a mild current. I cruised through the huge boilers, around each side about 20' off on the sand, then followed a line I believed was laid by RIO, but soon realized was actually set by a team of 2 divers from the Sea Turtle. The line ran in a direction from the boilers to where I knew would be the bow, so after taking a compass reading I followed it across the scattered wreckage and arrived to find the CCR team at the bow. Very cool for me because I got to spend my first "in water" time around 2 fully tech rigged CCR divers, complete with stages and scooters. Pretty cool to observe. When I arrived, one signaled that they were turning around so I acknowledged, spent a quick min or two checking out the area, then followed my compass back towards the boilers. Maybe it was due to the huge size of the wreck site, or maybe it was because of the large schools of stripers and dogfish holding my attention, but RIO and I never crossed paths on the bottom. A nice drift above and by the boilers giving a great perspective of the site, a quick look to see if RIO was still on the bottom, then a last check on my time and pressure and I decided that I would save the rest of my gas (dbl 100's) for #2. A brief struggle to unhook and lift the anchor out of the wreck and off to the sand so it wouldn't snag, then up the line with a quick 8 mins of deco amongst the schools that followed me all the way up through 30'. 52 mins, 95'max, 50 deg bottom, 55ish above 60'.
A quick chat about the dive then it was off for the short run north to the Idene. RIO splashed, I chowed lunch and relaxed for a while, then to my disappointment Earl let me know he wasn't feeling it so decided not to dive. I started gearing up, and to my surprise as soon as I had squeezed my head through my DS neck seal and zipped up my suit I got hit with a wave of nausea from the boat rocking my full belly, the heat, and me not having an eye on the horizon. I fought it off for a min but then got another wave and had to lean over the transom to chum
. Luckily I felt great afterwords, but I did waste a great turkey and lingonberry sandwich. After getting settled I finished gearing up and splashed. RIO was on the line as I dropped so I did a quick 30 min tour around and in the wreck. Apparently RIO had once again kindly reset the anchor in the sand directly off the starboard side of the hull 
. 80', 32mins, 50 deg min. vis ~10-15 and continued company from small schools of dogs.
All in all it was an awesome day to be out on the water! Thanks again to our captain, and the great company. Until next weekend......!
Once secured, Earl let us know he was sitting out until dive #2, so RIO splashed first and I geared up and followed a little while after. The hook ended up about 30-40' to the stern of the boilers (after RIO re-secured it), with about 15-20' of vis and a mild current. I cruised through the huge boilers, around each side about 20' off on the sand, then followed a line I believed was laid by RIO, but soon realized was actually set by a team of 2 divers from the Sea Turtle. The line ran in a direction from the boilers to where I knew would be the bow, so after taking a compass reading I followed it across the scattered wreckage and arrived to find the CCR team at the bow. Very cool for me because I got to spend my first "in water" time around 2 fully tech rigged CCR divers, complete with stages and scooters. Pretty cool to observe. When I arrived, one signaled that they were turning around so I acknowledged, spent a quick min or two checking out the area, then followed my compass back towards the boilers. Maybe it was due to the huge size of the wreck site, or maybe it was because of the large schools of stripers and dogfish holding my attention, but RIO and I never crossed paths on the bottom. A nice drift above and by the boilers giving a great perspective of the site, a quick look to see if RIO was still on the bottom, then a last check on my time and pressure and I decided that I would save the rest of my gas (dbl 100's) for #2. A brief struggle to unhook and lift the anchor out of the wreck and off to the sand so it wouldn't snag, then up the line with a quick 8 mins of deco amongst the schools that followed me all the way up through 30'. 52 mins, 95'max, 50 deg bottom, 55ish above 60'.
A quick chat about the dive then it was off for the short run north to the Idene. RIO splashed, I chowed lunch and relaxed for a while, then to my disappointment Earl let me know he wasn't feeling it so decided not to dive. I started gearing up, and to my surprise as soon as I had squeezed my head through my DS neck seal and zipped up my suit I got hit with a wave of nausea from the boat rocking my full belly, the heat, and me not having an eye on the horizon. I fought it off for a min but then got another wave and had to lean over the transom to chum
. Luckily I felt great afterwords, but I did waste a great turkey and lingonberry sandwich. After getting settled I finished gearing up and splashed. RIO was on the line as I dropped so I did a quick 30 min tour around and in the wreck. Apparently RIO had once again kindly reset the anchor in the sand directly off the starboard side of the hull . 80', 32mins, 50 deg min. vis ~10-15 and continued company from small schools of dogs.All in all it was an awesome day to be out on the water! Thanks again to our captain, and the great company. Until next weekend......!
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