SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Straight out of work, I headed down to Gulf Shores to meet up with jwhitlock and shagman to dive the Whiskey Wreck this afternoon. jwhitlock ended up being called back home, so it was left to shagman and me to check on the wreck conditions.
Surf was running shin high and a bit choppy with light winds out of the west. From the surface, the water looked relatively clearish. We geared up and hit the water, which was running 69F still. Had and easy 5-10'visibility, but pretty dirty on the longer side. Without a compass, I ran us directly into the wreck using only my sense of smell. We hit the stern portion, which is no longer connected by visible relief to the main hulk of the wreck. We did fine the main portion though, the starboard side hull which still has several ribs high enough to swim under and the base of the mast is still visible. Total relief from the beachside of the hull was around 5'-6' at the highest points, but 1-2' less relief if on the inside of the hull where all the sand is being caught. Portside hull is no longer visible at all. The long mast laying parrallel, just outside of the starboard side hull is still visible. We didn't swim out to the bow sections as they are most likely covered.
Tons of life out, some flounder, some sheepshead, a trigger(~8"), pigfish, mangroves snapper, and a ton of sponge growing all over the wreck.
Hit a max depth of 13' for a dive lasting 51 minutes. Hit up Bahama Bobs afterwards. Had a great time!
Its gonna take me quite some time to do a Spring-SpringFest report, so that'll come tomorrow or the next day Whiskey reports are easy.
Surf was running shin high and a bit choppy with light winds out of the west. From the surface, the water looked relatively clearish. We geared up and hit the water, which was running 69F still. Had and easy 5-10'visibility, but pretty dirty on the longer side. Without a compass, I ran us directly into the wreck using only my sense of smell. We hit the stern portion, which is no longer connected by visible relief to the main hulk of the wreck. We did fine the main portion though, the starboard side hull which still has several ribs high enough to swim under and the base of the mast is still visible. Total relief from the beachside of the hull was around 5'-6' at the highest points, but 1-2' less relief if on the inside of the hull where all the sand is being caught. Portside hull is no longer visible at all. The long mast laying parrallel, just outside of the starboard side hull is still visible. We didn't swim out to the bow sections as they are most likely covered.
Tons of life out, some flounder, some sheepshead, a trigger(~8"), pigfish, mangroves snapper, and a ton of sponge growing all over the wreck.
Hit a max depth of 13' for a dive lasting 51 minutes. Hit up Bahama Bobs afterwards. Had a great time!
Its gonna take me quite some time to do a Spring-SpringFest report, so that'll come tomorrow or the next day Whiskey reports are easy.