Diveral
Contributor
This is the second report of the series.
Again morning came too early. We got up and headed off to Discovery to load the boat. Two of our Atlanta divers showed up the previous evening and we had 12 divers for this trip. We got to the shop and met Capt. Jerry and his crew. We helped them grab our tanks and loaded the boat. Everyone picked out their spots the previous day. We also picked up two additional divers from Maryland and Delaware who jumped on the boat with us. They squeezed into the back of the boat. With 14 divers the boat was a lot more crowded than with the 10 we had the previous day. Our other Atlanta diver, Corigan, couldn't make the trip due to last minute complications.
Captain Jerry's boat has four main areas. There was the dive deck where we stowed the dive gear and conducted dive operations. It is a large and well organized space although it seemed crowded with 14 divers. He has an interior compartment/lounge with tables and benches. This is where we stowed our personal items at worked on equipment and log books. He has an upper sun deck with benches where we hung out most of the time for the first three days. A couple of us performed our lobster imitations up there by the end of the day. Good old Bullfrog helped me avoid lobsteritis. Then there is the cockpit where Captain Jerry drives the boat and the crew hangs out. He has an extra seat up there and enjoys having someone drop in and chat.
We initially wanted to dive the U-352 but two boats were already in route so we diverted to the Papoose which is really the Hutton. :huh: We anchored to the stern with one boat already anchored to the bow. While we were gearing up and Captain Jerry was giving the brief another boat came and anchored admidships.
The Papoose(Hutton) is a 400+ foot tanker that was torpedoed, capsized, and sank in 1942. It lies upside down in 120+ feet of water. It is an offshore dive and often lies within the currents of the Gulf Stream.
We had mostly settled down into our dive teams now. There was Jeb, Jeepbrew, and I diving Nitrox and usually among the first in the water. Our Minnesota divers all members of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society and very good divers. Two, Steve D and Bob were older tech divers diving nitrox and very accomplished divers. Our third Minnesota diver Byron joined our Alabama/Georgia foursome who dive the Keys and Caymans together. They were all diving air. George is our photographer, Steve B his buddy and their two friends from Atlanta, David and Terry. And we had our two SEAS club divers Donny and Darren (Curly). All in all a very good group of divers.
Jeb, Jeepbrew, and I splashed at 9:59 on the Papoose. We met up on the hangbar and Jeb dropped down the anchor line, I paused to look at the bottom hull of the ship. You could see it from the hangbar. I looked down and saw Jeb's yellow fins on the wreck, Holy Cow is he in a hurry today. Jeepbrew and I take off after him. We meet up on the stern of the ship where the anchor is tied in. There is a spotted Moray hanging out here and some of us saw an octopus. There are schools of fish and a lot of sandtigers hanging around the stern.
Jeb and Jeepbrew enter the wreck through a large hole in the stern. I poke my head in and look around. I notice a large hole in the bottom of the ship above Jeb and Jeepbrew. I ascend up the side of the ship and poke my head inside this hole and notice Jeb and Jeepbrew exiting the way they went in. They join up with me and we swim along the side of the ship until we come to an area where a large section of the hull has collapsed. We drop down and cross this area and look into the ship from this end. I believe this may be where one of the torpedoes struck the ship. We continue swimming torwards the bow and cross another large hole where the admidships dive charter is tied to the wreck. We meet up with some of their divers in this section of the wreck.
We've got divers from three larger dive boats intermingled in this area and it's hard to tell who's who. I check my pressure gage and it registers 2000 psi by the rule of thirds my turn point. This is such an easy and interesting dive I decide to push the turn point to 1600 psi. We ascend to the keel to conserve gas and swim towards the bow. By the time we'd swum 2/3'rds the length of the ship and could see the bow I'd hit my new turn point and we turned the dive.
Holy Crap where did this current come from? We were swimming into a strong current that we had not noticed before. I had switched to a set of splits the year before to make life easier on my tired damaged knees and now I was kicking for all I was worth and it didn't seem like I was getting anywhere. I dropped down to the side of the wreck and started grabbing barnacles and encrustations in the pull and scoot method. Checked my gage again. The needle was dropping like the gas gage on a Hemi Cuda with a six pack in a drag race. Not good. Hit the collapsed area and crossed it now the anchor line is in sight.
Hit the anchor and look at my gage 300# not enough for my planned ascent. I ascend at 60 ft/min to 60'. Check the gage again down around 200#. I have a CO2 buildup from the long swim into the strong current and am huffing like a thoroughbred after the Preakness. I blow off my deep stop and slow my ascent. (In hindsight I should have done my deep stop on my remaining nitrox and continued my ascent on my pony.) I ascend to the 20 foot hang bar and grab the surface supplied airline from the boat and hang there for five minutes panting like my lab in the hot sun. I go back on my tank and hit the ladder. I come on the boat with less than 150# in my tank and I am worn out.
I wasn't the only one. We had three divers pratically run out of air swimming into that deceptive current. Other than the swim into the current and draining my primary tank the dive was fantastic. Max depth 115', average depth 85', bottom time 24 min, a thermocline around 90' 79F above and 74F below and visibilty of 80 to 100 feet.
I am too tired to switch my gear to a new tank. I grab something to drink and my lunch a sit on the lounge deck to rest and recuperate. We have a 2:24 surface interval while we head to the Hutton which is really the Ario:huh: .
We arrive over the Hutton(Ario) and anchor to the ships engines. The Hutton is a 400 ft+ tanker that was torpedoed and sank in 1942. She lay shallow enough that she was a navigation hazard and the Suliode in fact struct her and sank a few miles away. As a result the Coast Gaurd dynamited and wire dragged her. The wreck is very broken up and scattered with the only relief being the engines and boilers.
We splashed at 12:48 and descended to the engines and boilers. Visibility is 25-35 feet easily the worst of the trip. We descend to about 67 feet I shoot a compass bearing so I can find my way back and start swimming up the port side of the wreckage. I saw a sand tiger near the boilers. There is a lot of fish and other life amongst the wreckage. There is also a moderate current coming across the wreckage. Since this is a busted up wreck I start looking at the macrolife. I ran across either a Ray's or sharks egg in the wreck which was very cool. I am again bothered by a leaky mask.
We hit our turn point and we cross over the wreck to the starboard side. I shoot a compass bearing to make our way back and either because I set the indicator line wrong or I got some interferance from the metal in the wreckage I turn the opposite direction and continue swimming towards the bow. I am now swimming the exact opposite direction from which I think we are going. We swim the leg and I dont see the engines when I am supposed to. I realize that I am lost and turn to Jeb and shrug my arms. He shrugs his arms and continues the dive. I pull out my dive slate and ask Jeepbrew where we are. He indicates that he knows where the anchor is and I sign for him to lead the way. Jeb and I follow.
We swim a ways and Jeepbrew signs that he sees a big freakin shark. I am well beyond my turn point, lost, and still don't see the engines, anchor line, or dive boat. I am in no mood for sightseeing. We continue on for about a minute and a half when the engines come into site. What a relief. I have enough air to hang around for a few minutes and then begin the ascent. I now wished I had stopped to see the shark Jeepbrew :sharks: was trying to show me. It was a 9 foot bullshark and seen by at least three divers off of our boat. And then again maybe not. Big bull sharks make me nervous.:shakehead
This was an OK dive Max depth 67 feet, average depth 53 feet, 31 minute bottom time, there was a thermocline at depth 79F above, 72F below. I was not happy with my air consumption rate today. I also misjudged a current and nearly ran out of air leading to a faster ascent than I really should have done and then gotten lost on a relatively shallow wreck. Not my best day of diving.
We get back to port and learned not to let Steve B pick out any places to eat during any future trips. We ate at the Sandbar. It was expensive and all of the food was overcooked.
Part III to follow:
Again morning came too early. We got up and headed off to Discovery to load the boat. Two of our Atlanta divers showed up the previous evening and we had 12 divers for this trip. We got to the shop and met Capt. Jerry and his crew. We helped them grab our tanks and loaded the boat. Everyone picked out their spots the previous day. We also picked up two additional divers from Maryland and Delaware who jumped on the boat with us. They squeezed into the back of the boat. With 14 divers the boat was a lot more crowded than with the 10 we had the previous day. Our other Atlanta diver, Corigan, couldn't make the trip due to last minute complications.
Captain Jerry's boat has four main areas. There was the dive deck where we stowed the dive gear and conducted dive operations. It is a large and well organized space although it seemed crowded with 14 divers. He has an interior compartment/lounge with tables and benches. This is where we stowed our personal items at worked on equipment and log books. He has an upper sun deck with benches where we hung out most of the time for the first three days. A couple of us performed our lobster imitations up there by the end of the day. Good old Bullfrog helped me avoid lobsteritis. Then there is the cockpit where Captain Jerry drives the boat and the crew hangs out. He has an extra seat up there and enjoys having someone drop in and chat.
We initially wanted to dive the U-352 but two boats were already in route so we diverted to the Papoose which is really the Hutton. :huh: We anchored to the stern with one boat already anchored to the bow. While we were gearing up and Captain Jerry was giving the brief another boat came and anchored admidships.
The Papoose(Hutton) is a 400+ foot tanker that was torpedoed, capsized, and sank in 1942. It lies upside down in 120+ feet of water. It is an offshore dive and often lies within the currents of the Gulf Stream.
We had mostly settled down into our dive teams now. There was Jeb, Jeepbrew, and I diving Nitrox and usually among the first in the water. Our Minnesota divers all members of the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society and very good divers. Two, Steve D and Bob were older tech divers diving nitrox and very accomplished divers. Our third Minnesota diver Byron joined our Alabama/Georgia foursome who dive the Keys and Caymans together. They were all diving air. George is our photographer, Steve B his buddy and their two friends from Atlanta, David and Terry. And we had our two SEAS club divers Donny and Darren (Curly). All in all a very good group of divers.
Jeb, Jeepbrew, and I splashed at 9:59 on the Papoose. We met up on the hangbar and Jeb dropped down the anchor line, I paused to look at the bottom hull of the ship. You could see it from the hangbar. I looked down and saw Jeb's yellow fins on the wreck, Holy Cow is he in a hurry today. Jeepbrew and I take off after him. We meet up on the stern of the ship where the anchor is tied in. There is a spotted Moray hanging out here and some of us saw an octopus. There are schools of fish and a lot of sandtigers hanging around the stern.
Jeb and Jeepbrew enter the wreck through a large hole in the stern. I poke my head in and look around. I notice a large hole in the bottom of the ship above Jeb and Jeepbrew. I ascend up the side of the ship and poke my head inside this hole and notice Jeb and Jeepbrew exiting the way they went in. They join up with me and we swim along the side of the ship until we come to an area where a large section of the hull has collapsed. We drop down and cross this area and look into the ship from this end. I believe this may be where one of the torpedoes struck the ship. We continue swimming torwards the bow and cross another large hole where the admidships dive charter is tied to the wreck. We meet up with some of their divers in this section of the wreck.
We've got divers from three larger dive boats intermingled in this area and it's hard to tell who's who. I check my pressure gage and it registers 2000 psi by the rule of thirds my turn point. This is such an easy and interesting dive I decide to push the turn point to 1600 psi. We ascend to the keel to conserve gas and swim towards the bow. By the time we'd swum 2/3'rds the length of the ship and could see the bow I'd hit my new turn point and we turned the dive.
Holy Crap where did this current come from? We were swimming into a strong current that we had not noticed before. I had switched to a set of splits the year before to make life easier on my tired damaged knees and now I was kicking for all I was worth and it didn't seem like I was getting anywhere. I dropped down to the side of the wreck and started grabbing barnacles and encrustations in the pull and scoot method. Checked my gage again. The needle was dropping like the gas gage on a Hemi Cuda with a six pack in a drag race. Not good. Hit the collapsed area and crossed it now the anchor line is in sight.
Hit the anchor and look at my gage 300# not enough for my planned ascent. I ascend at 60 ft/min to 60'. Check the gage again down around 200#. I have a CO2 buildup from the long swim into the strong current and am huffing like a thoroughbred after the Preakness. I blow off my deep stop and slow my ascent. (In hindsight I should have done my deep stop on my remaining nitrox and continued my ascent on my pony.) I ascend to the 20 foot hang bar and grab the surface supplied airline from the boat and hang there for five minutes panting like my lab in the hot sun. I go back on my tank and hit the ladder. I come on the boat with less than 150# in my tank and I am worn out.
I wasn't the only one. We had three divers pratically run out of air swimming into that deceptive current. Other than the swim into the current and draining my primary tank the dive was fantastic. Max depth 115', average depth 85', bottom time 24 min, a thermocline around 90' 79F above and 74F below and visibilty of 80 to 100 feet.
I am too tired to switch my gear to a new tank. I grab something to drink and my lunch a sit on the lounge deck to rest and recuperate. We have a 2:24 surface interval while we head to the Hutton which is really the Ario:huh: .
We arrive over the Hutton(Ario) and anchor to the ships engines. The Hutton is a 400 ft+ tanker that was torpedoed and sank in 1942. She lay shallow enough that she was a navigation hazard and the Suliode in fact struct her and sank a few miles away. As a result the Coast Gaurd dynamited and wire dragged her. The wreck is very broken up and scattered with the only relief being the engines and boilers.
We splashed at 12:48 and descended to the engines and boilers. Visibility is 25-35 feet easily the worst of the trip. We descend to about 67 feet I shoot a compass bearing so I can find my way back and start swimming up the port side of the wreckage. I saw a sand tiger near the boilers. There is a lot of fish and other life amongst the wreckage. There is also a moderate current coming across the wreckage. Since this is a busted up wreck I start looking at the macrolife. I ran across either a Ray's or sharks egg in the wreck which was very cool. I am again bothered by a leaky mask.
We hit our turn point and we cross over the wreck to the starboard side. I shoot a compass bearing to make our way back and either because I set the indicator line wrong or I got some interferance from the metal in the wreckage I turn the opposite direction and continue swimming towards the bow. I am now swimming the exact opposite direction from which I think we are going. We swim the leg and I dont see the engines when I am supposed to. I realize that I am lost and turn to Jeb and shrug my arms. He shrugs his arms and continues the dive. I pull out my dive slate and ask Jeepbrew where we are. He indicates that he knows where the anchor is and I sign for him to lead the way. Jeb and I follow.
We swim a ways and Jeepbrew signs that he sees a big freakin shark. I am well beyond my turn point, lost, and still don't see the engines, anchor line, or dive boat. I am in no mood for sightseeing. We continue on for about a minute and a half when the engines come into site. What a relief. I have enough air to hang around for a few minutes and then begin the ascent. I now wished I had stopped to see the shark Jeepbrew :sharks: was trying to show me. It was a 9 foot bullshark and seen by at least three divers off of our boat. And then again maybe not. Big bull sharks make me nervous.:shakehead
This was an OK dive Max depth 67 feet, average depth 53 feet, 31 minute bottom time, there was a thermocline at depth 79F above, 72F below. I was not happy with my air consumption rate today. I also misjudged a current and nearly ran out of air leading to a faster ascent than I really should have done and then gotten lost on a relatively shallow wreck. Not my best day of diving.
We get back to port and learned not to let Steve B pick out any places to eat during any future trips. We ate at the Sandbar. It was expensive and all of the food was overcooked.
Part III to follow:
