Where did you solo dive today?

[scubadada]

Wow! Your photos are phenomenal! You saw a lot of big marine life.

Do you have any photos of the wreck itself?

No sorry. This was my 123rd dive on the Castor, I always forget to take any pictures of what's left of the wreck. The stern was knocked off to the starboard many years ago. The bow was knocked off to the starboard more recently, by Hurricane Matthew.

 

[lukeb]

This was my 123rd dive on the Castor

That is impressive. I would love to have the opportunity to dive a wreck that many times. You must feel like you know every inch of it. And when changes occur like you said with the hurricanes, it must be a lot easier for you to get reorientated and work out what happened.

When I dived the Rankin last week I had the mental image from the pictures of the ship that was sunk back in 1988 in my head. It was very different to the reality of the ship today. It was a mess after the hurricanes had taken their toll. It was very confusing in places!

 

[scubadada]

Hi @lukeb

The 123 dives has taken me 12 years. When I 1st started diving the Castor in 2009, it was entirely intact. The biggest blow was having the bow knocked off. The Goliath Grouper loved stacking up on the bow in brisk north current

 

[Pacediver]

Very true happy -diver

 

[scubadada]

Hi @lukeb

Here is a post regarding the Castor that I recently made in another forum Unoffical Scubaboard Goliath Grouper aggregation dives Aug 21-2 and Sept 25-6

 

[lukeb]

Thanks!!! That was a really good read. I find it fascinating how hurricanes can have such an affect on shipwrecks lying 100' + below the surface.

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

10 Mile Point at the south end of Vancouver Island, a high current, wall dive that can only be done on slack tide. Entered the water, just after 5:30 pm, I dropped down to 88' where I found vis in the 20' range. Tons of little life on the wall, but I was looking for GPOs. Sadly, I found none; some empty dens which showed signs of being active. Lots of fishing lures were removed from the wall, which I give to a dive buddie's husband who fishes. I entered the water with 3300 psi, (steel 100cu) and ended with 700 psi over 44 min. Max depth was 88, average depth was 55', water temp, 11C. I played with a 3min NDL limit, most of the way up from the btm. Pony is a 30cu Catalina.

 

[TMHeimer]

Seawall Beach, NS. Summer diving in NS is winding down to the point where air temp. (60F) is lower than water temp. (still 68F).
Oh, interesting dive. Beach, sand, rocks, seaweed AND a seawall!

 

[Gandalf-the-Diver]

Oct 18th, I walked along the top of Ogden Point Breakwater, (Victoria, Vancouver Island, B.C., Canada) to the middle stairs, and shuttled my gear down to the water there. Bright sunshine and winds less than 5kts made the entry into the water, pleasurable. High tide, so the kelp forest along the breakwater, had lots of room to flow. (low tide is nasty, with a big mat of kelp to get under, or over) 3:12, I slipped below the surface, right at the blocks, chose my direction, and dove straight down, along the blocks, weaving through the kelp forest, before I was clear of it. The fronds of kelp revealed the current flowing in the direction I was hoping for, outwards, at a gentle pace. Dropping down to the btm, due to my eyesight (and lack of Rx lens) I am looking primarily for GPO dens and Wolf Eels. Sadly, only empty dens and no Wolf Eels, but a few rather large, Ling Cod and lots of Rockfish. Vis in the top 20' was in the 30' range, dropping down got a little hazier, with vis in the 15'-20' range.
I surfaced, 20yds from the stairs at the end of the breakwater, after a 44 minute dive in 10C water, happy to find my surface support had pulled my gear buggy, from the middle stairs, to the end of the breakwater. (1km to the end of the breakwater, from shore) I get down to 75', with an avg depth of 56'; I played with a 1 -2 min NDL warning for a bit near the end of my dive and had a 5 min safety stop, using a Shearwater Peregrine. Using a steel 100HP and a slung 30cu. I surfaced with 700 psi in my main tank. SDI Solo cert, and my 15th logged solo dive.

 

[texastechdiver]

Copenhagen wreck in Pompano