I just got back from our CCR North Carolina trip. Walt Stearns of Underwater Journal (www.underwaterjournal.com) organized a group of 16 CCR divers and chartered the Midnight Express from Olympus Dive Center (Olympus Dive Center) for Wednesday through Friday, August 20-22. It was the first CCR-only trip that Olympus had done and they were great! Very accommodating and George and Bobbie really bent over backwards for us while still trying to increase their comfort level for this number of CCR divers – most of whom they did not know.
On Wednesday we dove the Carib Sea (approx 90 fsw). The feeling was that this would be a good wreck as a “warm-up” for everyone and allow Olympus to see that we were all safe divers. We compromised on a run time of 90 minutes for the first dive and then 60 minutes for the second. In retrospect everyone felt (including Captain Bobby) that we could have done two 90 minute run times. Again, this was a new experience for Olympus and I agree whole-heartedly with them for safety first! The water temp was about 81 degrees on the surface with about 60 foot viz but there was a significant thermocline at the wreck down to 71 degrees and poor viz (about 15 –20 feet). There were lots of sand tigers in the wreck but the best photo ops were in mid water. The sharks were actually swimming around the hang lines at 15 fsw!
Wednesday night we had dinner at Floyd’s – reservations for 15 please! It was a big group but they also were very accommodating and the food was great. The highlight was the “Seafood Tower” – layers (bottom to top) of eggplant, filet mignon, more eggplant, feta cheese, crab, and shrimp.
Thursday the seas had picked up and, unfortunately, we had to go to an inshore wreck – the Indra (spelling?). This was a nice 300 foot wreck that allowed you to penetrate all the way from the stern to the bow. The water was 81 degrees top to bottom and viz was pretty good. In fact, a lot of the veteran North Carolina divers thought it was some of the best visibility they had seen on the wreck. Walt and I, being more interested in marine life than old steel spent a lot of time playing with an octopus and photographing the schools of fish. The seas started picking up so after a first dive of 90 minutes the second dive was shortened to 30 minutes so we could get back to shore before the seas got really ugly.
Thursday night we had about 10 of us at Raps for dinner and conversation. Another great evening spent with old and new found friends.
Friday morning we all showed up at 6am to find that the trip was cancelled as the buoys were reading 10 foot seas. So I packed up and drove through the teeth of Tropical Storm Fay on my way back to Florida!
All in all it was a great trip. I had several great dives and met a lot of new friends. I’m sure this is the first of many CCR trips with Olympus. They are already considering how to be more CCR-friendly. There is talk of carrying small cylinders and sorb. Maybe even benches to aid in setup and breakdown of the units. They can already provide any gas fills you need.
Thank you Walt and all the staff at Olympus Dive Center! Check out the photos below from the trip. For any of you who were on the trip that would like copies of photos, PM me with your email address and “snail-mail” address and I’ll send you a CD.
More photos from the trip are on my website (debersole.com) under the “Gallery”.
Doug
Sand Tigers on the Carib Sea
Our Fearless Leader, Walt Stearns, photographing the sharks in mid-water
Various divers from the trip (if you recognize yourself and want a photo – let me know!)
On Wednesday we dove the Carib Sea (approx 90 fsw). The feeling was that this would be a good wreck as a “warm-up” for everyone and allow Olympus to see that we were all safe divers. We compromised on a run time of 90 minutes for the first dive and then 60 minutes for the second. In retrospect everyone felt (including Captain Bobby) that we could have done two 90 minute run times. Again, this was a new experience for Olympus and I agree whole-heartedly with them for safety first! The water temp was about 81 degrees on the surface with about 60 foot viz but there was a significant thermocline at the wreck down to 71 degrees and poor viz (about 15 –20 feet). There were lots of sand tigers in the wreck but the best photo ops were in mid water. The sharks were actually swimming around the hang lines at 15 fsw!
Wednesday night we had dinner at Floyd’s – reservations for 15 please! It was a big group but they also were very accommodating and the food was great. The highlight was the “Seafood Tower” – layers (bottom to top) of eggplant, filet mignon, more eggplant, feta cheese, crab, and shrimp.
Thursday the seas had picked up and, unfortunately, we had to go to an inshore wreck – the Indra (spelling?). This was a nice 300 foot wreck that allowed you to penetrate all the way from the stern to the bow. The water was 81 degrees top to bottom and viz was pretty good. In fact, a lot of the veteran North Carolina divers thought it was some of the best visibility they had seen on the wreck. Walt and I, being more interested in marine life than old steel spent a lot of time playing with an octopus and photographing the schools of fish. The seas started picking up so after a first dive of 90 minutes the second dive was shortened to 30 minutes so we could get back to shore before the seas got really ugly.
Thursday night we had about 10 of us at Raps for dinner and conversation. Another great evening spent with old and new found friends.
Friday morning we all showed up at 6am to find that the trip was cancelled as the buoys were reading 10 foot seas. So I packed up and drove through the teeth of Tropical Storm Fay on my way back to Florida!
All in all it was a great trip. I had several great dives and met a lot of new friends. I’m sure this is the first of many CCR trips with Olympus. They are already considering how to be more CCR-friendly. There is talk of carrying small cylinders and sorb. Maybe even benches to aid in setup and breakdown of the units. They can already provide any gas fills you need.
Thank you Walt and all the staff at Olympus Dive Center! Check out the photos below from the trip. For any of you who were on the trip that would like copies of photos, PM me with your email address and “snail-mail” address and I’ll send you a CD.
More photos from the trip are on my website (debersole.com) under the “Gallery”.
Doug
Sand Tigers on the Carib Sea
Our Fearless Leader, Walt Stearns, photographing the sharks in mid-water
Various divers from the trip (if you recognize yourself and want a photo – let me know!)
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