Diveral
Contributor
Well morning came on the 13th. Hopefully this wouldn't be an unlucky day. We were maybe a little bummed as this was the last day of diving for the majority of the group. It was probably a good thing as after 3 days for diving we were tired and our scuba gear had not gotten an opportunity to thoroughly dry out and was beginning to smell funky. We were in a groove now and were settled on the Seaquest II in no time.
As the boat left the dock headed out to the Schurz, we could tell the wind was up and stronger than any of the first three days. After we cleared the jetties and entered the Atlantic it was also evident that the seas were much rougher. In short time an unrelenting saltwater spray had chased most of us riding on the sun deck down into the cabin. It was like riding the bull at Gilley's with all of the patrons throwing buckets of cool seawater on you.
Jeb, Jeepbrew, and Curly stayed on top and rode it out. Jeb and Curly put on their masks and snorkels and jeepbrew road it out wearing a large plastic washtub over his head. I really hope those pictures turn out
.
Things weren't a whole lot better in the cabin except for we weren't getting wet. We had to travel over the shoals to give the Navy tug hauling the Spruance or Kidd class Destroyer a wide berth. The boat was shimmying, shaking, herking, and jerking like a poledancer in a gentleman's establishment. We were taking a beating with the boat slamming over the waves. Every so often a brave soul had to go out onto the covered diving deck to re-secure bottles and equipment. You still got wet but didn't get drenched. Steve B. eventually decided to ride it out there. The rest of us were beggining to turn green.
I wore a transderm scop patch for the duration of my time in NC. I swapped patches every other day. This was the second day for the current patch and I was starting to feel ill. I put on my reserve patch and wore two patches for 15-20 min until my stomach settled down and removed the old patch. I noticed several people scarfing down ginger snaps and eating candied ginger.
Soon Captain Jerry called me up. Seas were rough and he suggested we divert to the Spar instead of going for the Schutz. It would knock 40-60 minutes off of the beating we were receiving. I polled the rest of the divers and no objections were noted. The Spar was one of our favorite dives and everyone liked the idea of getting in the water much sooner and minimizing our misery.
We anchored on the Spar. I noticed that the boat was rocking and pitching like the dinosaur ride in Disney's Animal Kingdom. Now this was going to be interesting. I was diving with Byron today. I wasn't happy with my air consumption rate on the previous three days and decided it was probably due to me chasing the two youngest divers on the trip around. Byron and I were going to dive a slower pace today. Captain Jerry was concerned with how he was going to get Byron back aboard after the dive. He went over the plan with Byron. Unfortunately they were on my right which is my nearly deaf ear and I left my hearing aid at home. So while we were shuffling to the entry I asked Capt. Jerry to repeat the plan since I was Byron's buddy.
Jeb and Jeepbrew splashed in the water and then it was Byron and my turn. Byron hit the water and I shuffled up. He must have dislodged his mask or something as he was fiddling with something under water. There was a strong quartering current running under the boat. Byron had drifted a good 40' off the side of the boat before he was squared away and swimming towards the downline. When it became evident that he was making good progress and would make the line Capt. Jerry told me to go.
I timed the jump with the roll. I didn't want the boat to slam me on the head while in the water. I found the down rope and splashed at 10:44. This was a hot entry no hanging around the surface and patting my head this time. That was a good way to end up with a 47' headache. Before I bottomed out I pivoted 180 and there was the downline, I grabbed it and pulled myself down to the 15' hang-bar. I turned and found Byron. He was at 25', had a good angle, and was making steady progress to the downline. That single fin of his was as steady as a metronome. I matched his depth, paced him down the line, and swam hard sideways to pull the line as close to him as I could get it. As soon as I could stretch out and reach him I grabbed his tank valve and pulled him to the line. The whole thing looked like we had planned it that way.
We were on the wreck in no time. It was the second time on the Spar in 2 days. We were familiar with this wreck. Since I was diving with one of the experienced divers in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society we wasted no time in getting down to our penetration dive. We dropped all the way into forward hatch. Hit the bottom of the ship and turned to the bow. It was dark down here and I had my big light out. We swam into a medium sized room. One way in, one way out. There were a few small fish and anemones in there but it was fairly devoid of life.
We turned about and swam toward the stern of the ship through the lower deck. We set a nice slow leisurely pace and took our time checking out many things. About 1/3 of the way down the ship I noticed Byron did not have his light out and was following me with my light. I took my time and slowed down the movement of my light. We hit the stern and doubled back to a large open compartment and came up slowly. We passed through the engine room and I saw a large control panel with many dials and gages. It must be the engine control panel.
We came up aft of the superstructure. Byron wanted one more penetration in the superstructure but I hit my turn point deep in the bowels of the ship and since my experience on the Papoose I wasn't pushing any more turns. We went around the superstructure and hung out for a little while on it. Saw lots of fish, spadefish, baitfish, pompano, cobia, and redfish. I didn't see any sharks this dive. Continued the observations on our deep stop. Byron was diving 120's but he went up with me on this dive. It was the first time he didn't hang down on the wreck and use up his available air.
As we were sitting on the 15' bar on our 3 min safety stop I was watching the boat pitch and roll above us. Every so often a big wave would come by and the whole boat would pitch and both ladders would almost come out of the water. I hoped it wouldn't do it while we were hanging off of the back. Now usually I would swim under the boat and grab the ladder from the bottom and climb on up but that was too dangerous today. We swum back to the drift line and pulled our way to the ladders. Justin the mate jumped in and Byron doffed his rig and Justin donned it and went up the ladder. Byron went up the port ladder and I was on the starboard. When I was about halfway up one of those big rollers came by and pitched me off the left side of the ladder. I barely hung on but lost my footing and got lucky that I'm not a soprano now. I made it up and walking across the deck was an adventure in itself. Man what an E-ticket ride.
It was another great dive Max depth on the swim through 109 feet, 28 minutes on and in the wreck. Temp was 75 and visibility 60-70 feet.
All divers made it safely back on board and we pulled anchor and turn to the inshore dives. Capt. Jerry was on the radio and inshore conditions were bad. He decided to call it a one dive day. No arguments from us. The ride in was almost as bad as the ride out. Amazingly no one chummed the water. Everyone had taken my advice about the seasickness meds.
Once we cleared the jetties most of us made it up to the sun deck. After we cleared the bridge and turned towards the marina for fuel we suffered our worst casualty of the trip. A capricious wind came up and snatched off my Auburn Tigers cap, a true boon companion through many an adventure and football Saturday, and cast it to Davy Jones.
We pulled into the dock and bid a fond farewell to Capt. Jerry and the crew of the Seaquest II, Justin and John. Thanks guys for a wonderful and spectacular trip . Jeepbrew and I went to the NC Aquarium. It was nice and if you are unfamiliar with the fish off of NC I would suggest dropping in before you start diving. Jeepbrew and I stood at the U-352 tank saying to one another. Yep saw one of those. saw that one and that one. No didn't see that one or that one. Yeah I saw that guy. The one I saw on the wreck was bigger, etc. I noticed several strange looks thrown our way during the soliloquy. Then I heard WAR EAGLE shouted across the room. Jeepbrew and I replied with our own WAR EAGLE. Many strange stares now.
We met up with our fellow Auburn Alum who resides in the area. The Aquarium is nice and worth the effort to visit. We had already established beyond the shadow of a doubt no one in North Carolina knows how to make a Key Lime pie. We decided to see if anyone in North Carolina knows bar-b-cue. We were much more successful. Rowland knows bar-b-cue.
We got one of those large to go packs with the pulled pork, slaw, baked beans, buns, chips, etc. Good stuff. We also got a rack of ribs. The ribs were good and tender, you know the kind where the meat falls off the bones. Guys we have got to work on your sauce. That tastes like one of those cheap store brands. Next time I'm in the area if you want I'll bring a bag of my rub and show you how to do dry ribs. We can also work on putting some zip into that sauce. Otherwise a very good meal.
Well the Alabama-Georgia Foursome had taken off for home and the rest of us spent our last night in the lodge.
As the boat left the dock headed out to the Schurz, we could tell the wind was up and stronger than any of the first three days. After we cleared the jetties and entered the Atlantic it was also evident that the seas were much rougher. In short time an unrelenting saltwater spray had chased most of us riding on the sun deck down into the cabin. It was like riding the bull at Gilley's with all of the patrons throwing buckets of cool seawater on you.
Jeb, Jeepbrew, and Curly stayed on top and rode it out. Jeb and Curly put on their masks and snorkels and jeepbrew road it out wearing a large plastic washtub over his head. I really hope those pictures turn out
.Things weren't a whole lot better in the cabin except for we weren't getting wet. We had to travel over the shoals to give the Navy tug hauling the Spruance or Kidd class Destroyer a wide berth. The boat was shimmying, shaking, herking, and jerking like a poledancer in a gentleman's establishment. We were taking a beating with the boat slamming over the waves. Every so often a brave soul had to go out onto the covered diving deck to re-secure bottles and equipment. You still got wet but didn't get drenched. Steve B. eventually decided to ride it out there. The rest of us were beggining to turn green.
I wore a transderm scop patch for the duration of my time in NC. I swapped patches every other day. This was the second day for the current patch and I was starting to feel ill. I put on my reserve patch and wore two patches for 15-20 min until my stomach settled down and removed the old patch. I noticed several people scarfing down ginger snaps and eating candied ginger.
Soon Captain Jerry called me up. Seas were rough and he suggested we divert to the Spar instead of going for the Schutz. It would knock 40-60 minutes off of the beating we were receiving. I polled the rest of the divers and no objections were noted. The Spar was one of our favorite dives and everyone liked the idea of getting in the water much sooner and minimizing our misery.
We anchored on the Spar. I noticed that the boat was rocking and pitching like the dinosaur ride in Disney's Animal Kingdom. Now this was going to be interesting. I was diving with Byron today. I wasn't happy with my air consumption rate on the previous three days and decided it was probably due to me chasing the two youngest divers on the trip around. Byron and I were going to dive a slower pace today. Captain Jerry was concerned with how he was going to get Byron back aboard after the dive. He went over the plan with Byron. Unfortunately they were on my right which is my nearly deaf ear and I left my hearing aid at home. So while we were shuffling to the entry I asked Capt. Jerry to repeat the plan since I was Byron's buddy.
Jeb and Jeepbrew splashed in the water and then it was Byron and my turn. Byron hit the water and I shuffled up. He must have dislodged his mask or something as he was fiddling with something under water. There was a strong quartering current running under the boat. Byron had drifted a good 40' off the side of the boat before he was squared away and swimming towards the downline. When it became evident that he was making good progress and would make the line Capt. Jerry told me to go.
I timed the jump with the roll. I didn't want the boat to slam me on the head while in the water. I found the down rope and splashed at 10:44. This was a hot entry no hanging around the surface and patting my head this time. That was a good way to end up with a 47' headache. Before I bottomed out I pivoted 180 and there was the downline, I grabbed it and pulled myself down to the 15' hang-bar. I turned and found Byron. He was at 25', had a good angle, and was making steady progress to the downline. That single fin of his was as steady as a metronome. I matched his depth, paced him down the line, and swam hard sideways to pull the line as close to him as I could get it. As soon as I could stretch out and reach him I grabbed his tank valve and pulled him to the line. The whole thing looked like we had planned it that way.
We were on the wreck in no time. It was the second time on the Spar in 2 days. We were familiar with this wreck. Since I was diving with one of the experienced divers in the Great Lakes Shipwreck Preservation Society we wasted no time in getting down to our penetration dive. We dropped all the way into forward hatch. Hit the bottom of the ship and turned to the bow. It was dark down here and I had my big light out. We swam into a medium sized room. One way in, one way out. There were a few small fish and anemones in there but it was fairly devoid of life.
We turned about and swam toward the stern of the ship through the lower deck. We set a nice slow leisurely pace and took our time checking out many things. About 1/3 of the way down the ship I noticed Byron did not have his light out and was following me with my light. I took my time and slowed down the movement of my light. We hit the stern and doubled back to a large open compartment and came up slowly. We passed through the engine room and I saw a large control panel with many dials and gages. It must be the engine control panel.
We came up aft of the superstructure. Byron wanted one more penetration in the superstructure but I hit my turn point deep in the bowels of the ship and since my experience on the Papoose I wasn't pushing any more turns. We went around the superstructure and hung out for a little while on it. Saw lots of fish, spadefish, baitfish, pompano, cobia, and redfish. I didn't see any sharks this dive. Continued the observations on our deep stop. Byron was diving 120's but he went up with me on this dive. It was the first time he didn't hang down on the wreck and use up his available air.
As we were sitting on the 15' bar on our 3 min safety stop I was watching the boat pitch and roll above us. Every so often a big wave would come by and the whole boat would pitch and both ladders would almost come out of the water. I hoped it wouldn't do it while we were hanging off of the back. Now usually I would swim under the boat and grab the ladder from the bottom and climb on up but that was too dangerous today. We swum back to the drift line and pulled our way to the ladders. Justin the mate jumped in and Byron doffed his rig and Justin donned it and went up the ladder. Byron went up the port ladder and I was on the starboard. When I was about halfway up one of those big rollers came by and pitched me off the left side of the ladder. I barely hung on but lost my footing and got lucky that I'm not a soprano now. I made it up and walking across the deck was an adventure in itself. Man what an E-ticket ride.
It was another great dive Max depth on the swim through 109 feet, 28 minutes on and in the wreck. Temp was 75 and visibility 60-70 feet.
All divers made it safely back on board and we pulled anchor and turn to the inshore dives. Capt. Jerry was on the radio and inshore conditions were bad. He decided to call it a one dive day. No arguments from us. The ride in was almost as bad as the ride out. Amazingly no one chummed the water. Everyone had taken my advice about the seasickness meds.
Once we cleared the jetties most of us made it up to the sun deck. After we cleared the bridge and turned towards the marina for fuel we suffered our worst casualty of the trip. A capricious wind came up and snatched off my Auburn Tigers cap, a true boon companion through many an adventure and football Saturday, and cast it to Davy Jones.
We pulled into the dock and bid a fond farewell to Capt. Jerry and the crew of the Seaquest II, Justin and John. Thanks guys for a wonderful and spectacular trip . Jeepbrew and I went to the NC Aquarium. It was nice and if you are unfamiliar with the fish off of NC I would suggest dropping in before you start diving. Jeepbrew and I stood at the U-352 tank saying to one another. Yep saw one of those. saw that one and that one. No didn't see that one or that one. Yeah I saw that guy. The one I saw on the wreck was bigger, etc. I noticed several strange looks thrown our way during the soliloquy. Then I heard WAR EAGLE shouted across the room. Jeepbrew and I replied with our own WAR EAGLE. Many strange stares now.
We met up with our fellow Auburn Alum who resides in the area. The Aquarium is nice and worth the effort to visit. We had already established beyond the shadow of a doubt no one in North Carolina knows how to make a Key Lime pie. We decided to see if anyone in North Carolina knows bar-b-cue. We were much more successful. Rowland knows bar-b-cue.
We got one of those large to go packs with the pulled pork, slaw, baked beans, buns, chips, etc. Good stuff. We also got a rack of ribs. The ribs were good and tender, you know the kind where the meat falls off the bones. Guys we have got to work on your sauce. That tastes like one of those cheap store brands. Next time I'm in the area if you want I'll bring a bag of my rub and show you how to do dry ribs. We can also work on putting some zip into that sauce. Otherwise a very good meal.
Well the Alabama-Georgia Foursome had taken off for home and the rest of us spent our last night in the lodge.
