Whiskey Wreck 11-24-6 Dive Report and attempted dive 11-25-6 Dive Report

[SuPrBuGmAn]

11-24-6 Whiskey Wreck

After an hour + dive at Pensacola Beach Reef and a few stops for lunch and tank filling(as well as some tank pickups for Oriskany dives for my buddies), we(Reefhound and quite a few CHUM divers) headed to Gulf Shores for a dive on the Whiskey Wreck. The Gulf was smooth and surf was just about non-existant. We made it to Gulf Shores around 4PM, without much sunlight left in the day. Everyone geared up and made there way to the beach. Visibility ranged about 15-20' in the better areas, slightly less in the kicked up areas. There was still some fish onsite, namely spades, mangroves, pinfish, sheepshead, and even a flounder. There were a few nudibranch's lurching around, even one swimming midwater. There seems to be some sand pouring into the wreck on the east end and filling in the interior of the ship, but the north and west ends are more exposed than in previous decades. We had a great dive at a max depth of 18 feet for a dive lasting 44 minutes before ambient light got too dim to dive without an artificial lightsource.

11-25-6 Whiskey Wreck

After a great day on the Whiskey the day before, I was looking forward to another dive onsite Saturday. The Gulf happened and we had small surf pickup to knee high and slightly better ground swell. It was apparently enough to pick up the silt and bring it midwater as visibility onsite went to ~3'. Along with the surge, the low visibility made for an unfavorable dive We called it. Regardless, it was nice to meet rdharbis1(and wife) as well as snepdiver. Tom played as surface support and even took some incriminating pictures

 

[tom wicker]

Oboy do I have a couple of shots. but as a Southern gentleman and most of all to keep my skull intact in case we cross paths again I'll refrain from posting them. Something just don't seem right to my wife, she is wondering just how come my seat of the truck got so wet along with my wallet and I didn't dive oh well go figure. my lips are sealed for awhile anyways

Oh by the way I'm putting together and Article for the Alabama Living Publication I just wonder if I can get a certain person to sign a release for me




Mats shin hight Surf click on image to see full size

 

[philmottrek99and02]

Mat,
Great report! I wasn't even thinking about joining you so don't blame the surf on me this time. The curse is broken!
Howard

 

[SeaYoda]

Excellent picture Tom!

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Very cool picture Tom

 

[snepdiver]

Nice picture of the back of my head. I must admit I am better looking from this angle.

 

[ReefHound]

11-24-6 Whiskey Wreck

After an hour + dive at Pensacola Beach Reef and a few stops for lunch and tank filling(as well as some tank pickups for Oriskany dives for my buddies), we(Reefhound and quite a few CHUM divers) headed to Gulf Shores for a dive on the Whiskey Wreck. The Gulf was smooth and surf was just about non-existant. We made it to Gulf Shores around 4PM, without much sunlight left in the day. Everyone geared up and made there way to the beach. Visibility ranged about 15-20' in the better areas, slightly less in the kicked up areas. There was still some fish onsite, namely spades, mangroves, pinfish, sheepshead, and even a flounder. There were a few nudibranch's lurching around, even one swimming midwater. There seems to be some sand pouring into the wreck on the east end and filling in the interior of the ship, but the north and west ends are more exposed than in previous decades. We had a great dive at a max depth of 18 feet for a dive lasting 44 minutes before ambient light got too dim to dive without an artificial lightsource.

I thought they were both great dives and I'm jealous of you guys that live in the area and can hit those spots most any weekend. Yes, there was indeed a gaggle of divers, and I want to thank you Mat for being so patient with our group. Getting that many people in sync is like herding cats, especially when none of us knew where we were going one minute to the next. Great job of keeping a caravan of 4 cars all together from Pcola Beach to Gulf Shores.

As it turns out, the smaller of the two boats we chartered to the Oriskany didn't make it out (the one I was on ), after soaking us for 90 minutes and 18 miles the captain decided it was too rough. My group instead went to Vortex for an afternoon and a night dive. Viz was fair and water was refreshing.

We may have missed out on the "Mighty 'O" but we did some deep penetration on the "Mighty 'A", stopping to tour the USS Alabama on our way back to Texas. I was tempted to take my dive light and line reel. It's a beautiful ship and I'd like to dive something like that one day.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Ouch! Sorry to hear about your Oriskany dive getting cancelled. Atleast you guys still got some dives in

 

[rdharbis1]

Oboy do I have a couple of shots. but as a Southern gentleman and most of all to keep my skull intact in case we cross paths again I'll refrain from posting them. Something just don't seem right to my wife, she is wondering

just how come my seat of the truck got so wet along with my wallet and I didn't dive oh well go figure. my lips are sealed for awhile anyways

Oh by the way I'm putting together and Article for the Alabama Living Publication I just wonder if I can get a certain person to sign a release for me

You are the Gentlemen! I owe you more than an explanation for your wife. When we cross paths again, I'll be ready to pay up, lunch dinner or something. We were too embarrassed to say or do much after getting beat up by the 'shin high surf' and we are still talking about everything that we did wrong. I have learned more from that 'dive' than any other, but nothing had ever gone wrong before then. All of you guys were very polite and more than helpful, thanks.
The wife will be in touch with the ransom for the pictures!!

 

[tom wicker]

You are the Gentlemen! I owe you more than an explanation for your wife. When we cross paths again, I'll be ready to pay up, lunch dinner or something. We were too embarrassed to say or do much after getting beat up by the 'shin high surf' and we are still talking about everything that we did wrong. I have learned more from that 'dive' than any other, but nothing had ever gone wrong before then. All of you guys were very polite and more than helpful, thanks.
The wife will be in touch with the ransom for the pictures!!

My friend you don’t owe me a thing or your little lady. Us lower Alabama Red Necks aren’t as bad as some people tend to believe. All you could possibly owe me is another chance to show you to our Coast line on a better day. I would love the chance to introduce your wife and yourself to some of our awesome Marine life that can be found on some of our Beach dives. Get your little lady back into the water as soon as your able so she want get to spooked. I’m working up some pictures for another one of the divers. I got a couple of her but I don’t think she would want to see them. I don’t think they would make for to good of a memory on her first beach dive. But if anyone of you guy/gal’s wants some of the shots drop me an email saying what size you want and if its for print or internet so I’ll no the ppi to use

Tom
paradiseservice@gulftel.com


P.S The water is looking good today