RAD Diver
Contributor
I went down to Hatteras to dive with Capt. JT this weekend, was not in the overall plans I had, but my niece wanted to get certified with her boyfriend & I set her up with JT's
SO Nancy who is a NAUI instructor. They planned to do their dives off the "Under Pressure", NO quarry for them.
JT had 1 spot open & offered it to me for my wife & I would go as the mate, our niece would feel better with a couple of friendly faces on board so we went.
Saturday was planned for the "Tug" a small AR just 6 miles off shore in 60fsw & a sweet little dive (normally)that would be a perfect training setting.
We were set into the wreck by another friend of JT's who had his 14yo niece on board for some real ocean experience. She was certified almost 2 years ago, but had yet to try out diving in the ocean.
He returned to report 10 ft of vis and a slight current. Trina & I waited to get everyone else suited up & in the water, but they all were having problems equalizing, probably being nervous, but finally got them all to 15 ft for their skills dive.
Trina & I jumped & upon reaching the bottom found less than 5 ft of vis & a stiff current. I ran a reel around the entire circumference of the "Tug" so I could explore the center & find a line no matter where I came out. The current had really picked up when we called the dive. When we did our SS we looked up to see where the boat should be but it wasn't there, the current had blown us & the line from the starboard side under the boat to the port side & instead of being at 20 ft we were at 13.
After an hour of SI it was decided to pull the hook & head in, Trina & I would handle the task after we did our 2nd dive. AHH the best laid plans.
When we jumped & grabbed the line it was really ripping, pushed us under the boat, we were acting as a sail & the line was at the surface beating us against the hull, now this is with both of us in steel doubles with SS BP & 4lbs of weight apiece. We should have sunk like rocks. I turned to my wife & gave her the thumb to get back on the boat, she turned & got back to the ladder while I went to the anchor line. I waited there & JT came to the bow & told me she was safely on the boat, so with my mind at ease I went to the bottom.
The reel retrieval went as well as expected with the current running straight down the wreck. I then set to un-tie the anchor when the line broke, well I guess I got lucky & the anchor got lodged into the wreck after only a couple of feet, I thought for sure I would be free ascending on a reel & bag.
Back on board everyone was glad to be heading in, with a trip planned to the Dixie Arrow on Sunday, the students would need to be on the ball & get their dives in. JT was a little worried as we heard another dive op on the radio reporting a stiff current on the Dixie Arrow on Saturday.
Sunday morning was a beautiful start of the day & we got a start as soon as a single diver who was set to dive with us showed up.
Since he had no buddy he would dive with my wife & I during tie-in, we had a nice talk on the way out & he seemed to have a good grasp on things.
Upon arriving & setting the hook, JT dropped a weighted line and revealed a stiff current, about the same as the start of Saturday, but we would try it anyway. I jumped first from midway on the boat & had to quickly grab the down line before I was past the stern, no problem, I dropped down to the weight at 20ft & found no current, plus as a bonus I could see the sand on the bottom more than 70ft below me. I returned to the surface to report what I found & my wife back rolled in, but couldn't get to the down line & floated past the stern just out of my reach, she swam hard & got to the trail line & back to the ladder. I went down to the weight & waited for her & our other buddy to come down, she never showed, the swim was too much & she needed a break. My other buddy jumped & got to me without a problem & we preceded to descend to the wreck.
We went through a layer of muck & then it opened up, we could see the whole bow & most of the debris field leading back to the boilers at the stern. What really made me smile even more was the 30+ Sandtiger Sharks milling around.
I lead the dive around the bow & zig zagged around the debris field not knowing what my buddies SAC rate was I didn't want to get too far away. He stayed right behind me as I approached the Sharks, stopping as they came close & allowing them to decide how close they wanted to get, most were within a foot when they would veer off missing me by inches, I looked behind me after an 8 footer did this & he was wide eyed at what just happened. When he reached 1500psi we turned the dive as planned.
Our SI was a long 1 as we needed everyone else to complete their dives before we would jump so I could pull the hook, but it was worth it as I promised him a trip to the stern for a boiler/ engine sighting dive. This is quite a dive on an alum 80 on air at 95fsw.
When we rounded the boilers I asked him for his air psi & he responded with 2000, nice, & right on schedule. As we got back to the bow we were on the port side & the anchor was on the starboard side, so I took the long way around & spotted a very strange looking starfish in the sand, when I tried to show him he gave me an OK, but then tried to get my attention quickly, I looked & he flashed that he was down to 1200psi, I guess he didn't realize we were at the anchor, just 30ft below it. The dive was over, we were at 2min NDL left so we went up the hull & as I sent him up the line our NDL had jumped to 5 min.
I pulled the hook & we had a nice easy trip up the line.
After we were on the boat the students needed 1 more skills dive to complete their cert. so they did a line drift dive & are now certified, congrats Jordan & Matt. I am sure though a bit harder than the quarry the Ocean dives will make them stronger divers in the long run. They ran into a few problems that happen in open water that a quarry would prevent, but they now know they can handle it.
SO Nancy who is a NAUI instructor. They planned to do their dives off the "Under Pressure", NO quarry for them.
JT had 1 spot open & offered it to me for my wife & I would go as the mate, our niece would feel better with a couple of friendly faces on board so we went.
Saturday was planned for the "Tug" a small AR just 6 miles off shore in 60fsw & a sweet little dive (normally)that would be a perfect training setting.
We were set into the wreck by another friend of JT's who had his 14yo niece on board for some real ocean experience. She was certified almost 2 years ago, but had yet to try out diving in the ocean.
He returned to report 10 ft of vis and a slight current. Trina & I waited to get everyone else suited up & in the water, but they all were having problems equalizing, probably being nervous, but finally got them all to 15 ft for their skills dive.
Trina & I jumped & upon reaching the bottom found less than 5 ft of vis & a stiff current. I ran a reel around the entire circumference of the "Tug" so I could explore the center & find a line no matter where I came out. The current had really picked up when we called the dive. When we did our SS we looked up to see where the boat should be but it wasn't there, the current had blown us & the line from the starboard side under the boat to the port side & instead of being at 20 ft we were at 13.
After an hour of SI it was decided to pull the hook & head in, Trina & I would handle the task after we did our 2nd dive. AHH the best laid plans.
When we jumped & grabbed the line it was really ripping, pushed us under the boat, we were acting as a sail & the line was at the surface beating us against the hull, now this is with both of us in steel doubles with SS BP & 4lbs of weight apiece. We should have sunk like rocks. I turned to my wife & gave her the thumb to get back on the boat, she turned & got back to the ladder while I went to the anchor line. I waited there & JT came to the bow & told me she was safely on the boat, so with my mind at ease I went to the bottom.
The reel retrieval went as well as expected with the current running straight down the wreck. I then set to un-tie the anchor when the line broke, well I guess I got lucky & the anchor got lodged into the wreck after only a couple of feet, I thought for sure I would be free ascending on a reel & bag.
Back on board everyone was glad to be heading in, with a trip planned to the Dixie Arrow on Sunday, the students would need to be on the ball & get their dives in. JT was a little worried as we heard another dive op on the radio reporting a stiff current on the Dixie Arrow on Saturday.
Sunday morning was a beautiful start of the day & we got a start as soon as a single diver who was set to dive with us showed up.
Since he had no buddy he would dive with my wife & I during tie-in, we had a nice talk on the way out & he seemed to have a good grasp on things.
Upon arriving & setting the hook, JT dropped a weighted line and revealed a stiff current, about the same as the start of Saturday, but we would try it anyway. I jumped first from midway on the boat & had to quickly grab the down line before I was past the stern, no problem, I dropped down to the weight at 20ft & found no current, plus as a bonus I could see the sand on the bottom more than 70ft below me. I returned to the surface to report what I found & my wife back rolled in, but couldn't get to the down line & floated past the stern just out of my reach, she swam hard & got to the trail line & back to the ladder. I went down to the weight & waited for her & our other buddy to come down, she never showed, the swim was too much & she needed a break. My other buddy jumped & got to me without a problem & we preceded to descend to the wreck.
We went through a layer of muck & then it opened up, we could see the whole bow & most of the debris field leading back to the boilers at the stern. What really made me smile even more was the 30+ Sandtiger Sharks milling around.
I lead the dive around the bow & zig zagged around the debris field not knowing what my buddies SAC rate was I didn't want to get too far away. He stayed right behind me as I approached the Sharks, stopping as they came close & allowing them to decide how close they wanted to get, most were within a foot when they would veer off missing me by inches, I looked behind me after an 8 footer did this & he was wide eyed at what just happened. When he reached 1500psi we turned the dive as planned.
Our SI was a long 1 as we needed everyone else to complete their dives before we would jump so I could pull the hook, but it was worth it as I promised him a trip to the stern for a boiler/ engine sighting dive. This is quite a dive on an alum 80 on air at 95fsw.
When we rounded the boilers I asked him for his air psi & he responded with 2000, nice, & right on schedule. As we got back to the bow we were on the port side & the anchor was on the starboard side, so I took the long way around & spotted a very strange looking starfish in the sand, when I tried to show him he gave me an OK, but then tried to get my attention quickly, I looked & he flashed that he was down to 1200psi, I guess he didn't realize we were at the anchor, just 30ft below it. The dive was over, we were at 2min NDL left so we went up the hull & as I sent him up the line our NDL had jumped to 5 min.
I pulled the hook & we had a nice easy trip up the line.
After we were on the boat the students needed 1 more skills dive to complete their cert. so they did a line drift dive & are now certified, congrats Jordan & Matt. I am sure though a bit harder than the quarry the Ocean dives will make them stronger divers in the long run. They ran into a few problems that happen in open water that a quarry would prevent, but they now know they can handle it.
