Missdirected
Contributor
August Second 2006 USCG Blackthorne and Sheridan
Dive buds John (GulfCostDiver) and his awesome built in buddy/wife Kathleen
We set off about 8:30 arriving at the dive site about an hour later. Sky was clear, seas were producing gentle rollers, very nice indeed. Splashed down on the USCG Blackthorn. The Blackthorn is a very dilapidated buoy tender with loads of tires strewn around her. Conditions: Water temp was 88, viz about 30ft., with little to no current, sitting in 77 foot of water. Dive was nothing special, at least for me. Some of the usual suspects but nothing that stood out or made the dive memorable. Dive time was 49 minutes.
On SI I had made a lil lunch for myself and dive buddies. So we enjoyed some roasted red pepper wraps with turkey, ham, provolone, and roasted red pepper hummus. Not sure if my buddies liked it. John looked mortified when I shared with him what the spread was
Kathy well lets just say she shared some with the fishies I thought that was nice of her to think of others – even though they were fish :14:
Second dive was the Sheridan. There is a buoy marker for this site. However, we anchored a bit south of it. Splashdown was not on top of the wreck. We had already planned our search, should we not end up right on top of it. Note, often times the buoys are not right on. The GPS gave us a reading that we were on top of something large when we anchored. I assume it must have been one of the large schools of fish we seen later. Though this site is just yards away from the Blackthorn our viz had come up to about 60 foot. Same depth and same temp as the Blackthorn.
Within a couple of minutes John spotted our site. As soon as he motioned to Kathy and myself, the two of us were engulfed by a massive school of Tomtates. Once the Tomtates cleared they opened our view to the tug I really enjoyed this dive. There were masses of different schooling baitfish. Several Great Barracuda, High-Hats, Red Snapper, and long spined urchins. Other life of interest on our dives include; Blue Angelfish, Goliath Grouper, Sea Cumber (not fully identified), Reef Butterfly, Cocoa Damsels, Doctorfish, Arrow Crab, Anemone (not fully identified) Shrimp, and Atlantic Spadefish.
Note, the largest portion of sea life is to be found on the Sheridan. Personally, if I were doing this trip again, I would bypass the Blackthorn.
The seas stayed welcoming the entire day. Plans were in the making, before even leaving the site, to return and soon.
A few pics taken by John and Kathleen:
Dive buds John (GulfCostDiver) and his awesome built in buddy/wife Kathleen
We set off about 8:30 arriving at the dive site about an hour later. Sky was clear, seas were producing gentle rollers, very nice indeed. Splashed down on the USCG Blackthorn. The Blackthorn is a very dilapidated buoy tender with loads of tires strewn around her. Conditions: Water temp was 88, viz about 30ft., with little to no current, sitting in 77 foot of water. Dive was nothing special, at least for me. Some of the usual suspects but nothing that stood out or made the dive memorable. Dive time was 49 minutes.
On SI I had made a lil lunch for myself and dive buddies. So we enjoyed some roasted red pepper wraps with turkey, ham, provolone, and roasted red pepper hummus. Not sure if my buddies liked it. John looked mortified when I shared with him what the spread was
Kathy well lets just say she shared some with the fishies I thought that was nice of her to think of others – even though they were fish :14: Second dive was the Sheridan. There is a buoy marker for this site. However, we anchored a bit south of it. Splashdown was not on top of the wreck. We had already planned our search, should we not end up right on top of it. Note, often times the buoys are not right on. The GPS gave us a reading that we were on top of something large when we anchored. I assume it must have been one of the large schools of fish we seen later. Though this site is just yards away from the Blackthorn our viz had come up to about 60 foot. Same depth and same temp as the Blackthorn.
Within a couple of minutes John spotted our site. As soon as he motioned to Kathy and myself, the two of us were engulfed by a massive school of Tomtates. Once the Tomtates cleared they opened our view to the tug I really enjoyed this dive. There were masses of different schooling baitfish. Several Great Barracuda, High-Hats, Red Snapper, and long spined urchins. Other life of interest on our dives include; Blue Angelfish, Goliath Grouper, Sea Cumber (not fully identified), Reef Butterfly, Cocoa Damsels, Doctorfish, Arrow Crab, Anemone (not fully identified) Shrimp, and Atlantic Spadefish.
Note, the largest portion of sea life is to be found on the Sheridan. Personally, if I were doing this trip again, I would bypass the Blackthorn.
The seas stayed welcoming the entire day. Plans were in the making, before even leaving the site, to return and soon.
A few pics taken by John and Kathleen:
