Who is up for an adventure?

[Mack Diver]

I had two guys cancel on me for the Clipper trip this weekend, but the trip is a go. Capt. Tim reports good weather and the island is coming back to life. The condition of the Clipper as well as the vis there will not be determined until a scientific dive on Friday. I'm going on faith that the gulf stream is diverting any muck coming out of the ship channel.

Supposedly, there are some great deals to be had on rooms this weekend. Just need to make sure they have power.

Let me know quick if you want to join us. I know the Fling trip did not make, so there should be some divers who are eager to get on a trip like this.

Call the shop at 512-892-4900 if interested. Must have advanced cert., Nitrox is recommended.

 

[freedvr]

The power is back on for most of the island. The best diving of the season is ahead of us. Mack, it would be a helluva surprise if the Clipper righted itself in the storm (fingers crossed). Stranger things have happened. We will know on Friday. Appropriately, we are taking out a group of researchers from UT-Brownsville for the first post-Dolly dive, but your group will be the first recreational group to see what changes were wrought from the storm. Either way, I know it will be some great diving. See you down here.

 

[IslandFrog]

Alas, I cannot make it. For anyone who can though, this is a great opportunity. The Clipper is a great dive and it is amazing to see how much growth has already encrusted the lady.

 

[paulw]

Alas, I cannot make it.

Sorry you can't make it this trip Brad I will give you a report when we return and maybe even some pictures this time !

Paul

 

[Mack Diver]

Last call from American Diving is that they have 12 divers, plenty for the trip to go. They are also reporting some possible price gouging from the hotels, but they have cut some deals on condos for divers. We're getting one for $100 / night.

 

[IslandFrog]

Sorry you can't make it this trip Brad I will give you a report when we return and maybe even some pictures this time !

Paul

Thanks Paul. Have a great and safe time. When I get back to Austin (I'm back in Japan again) I will give you a shout and see if we can arrange a trip to Travis.

-Brad

 

[paulw]

When I get back to Austin (I'm back in Japan again) I will give you a shout and see if we can arrange a trip to Travis.

-Brad

I'm ready, any time. Mack and I dove a good spot a couple of weeks ago we can visit. Have fun and bring some pictures of Japan.

 

[Mack Diver]

Well, the Clipper is still there. Top side, there was not as much damage as I would have thought. Several buildings had roof damage and bucket trucks were everywhere working to get power restored. We scored a small condo thanks to Freedvr. There were several hotels and food places open, as well as convenience stores, so we had access to everything we needed.

Dive one on the Clipper was a bit different. One of the divers in the first group had a first stage failure and that delayed the 2nd group from getting in the water. The delay combined with the sway of the boat convinced me to join the up chuck club for a brief time. After my talk with Ralph, I was finished with that silliness and ready to go dive. You could see the ship on your descent, but a cloud of silt surrounded the ship, so vis was very limited. Current was mild to non-existent. Because of the limited vis, we were taken on a guided dive, which really limited any exploration. The ship is really becoming crusted over. There are several arrow crabs and a purple eel calling the ship home now.

For dive 2, we headed over to a nearby rig. This rig was smaller than any I ever dove on, probably about 40' across. There was a halocline and thermocline about 37' and vis went bad below that. With 12 divers in such a small area, there was not a huge amount of fish around. We did see several AJs and a couple of barracuda around though. Paul and I thumbed the dive after 45 minutes.

We had planned to move over to another rig for dive 3, but some work was going on at that rig, so we stayed where we were. Paul and I decided to sit out the 3rd dive.

Paul and I were both exhausted when we made it back to the condo, despite napping during the boat ride back to shore. We can only attribute that to our bodies being tasked to offset the sway and pitch of the boat for several hours. Anyway, a good nights sleep and a nice drive got us home safe.

Hats off to Tim and his crew. Because of the storm, he was running with a skeleton crew, him and 2 crew. Still, they were very accommodating. While some of the folks were upset that we did not return to the Clipper for dive 3, I can understand his reasoning and we had a good time anyway.

 

[paulw]

I can't add much more than Mack, it was an adventure. The first dive on the clipper actually had nice blue water until you hit about 55-60ft where we just dropped into a heavy cloud of silt and on the rig you could see what looked to be a layer of fresh water shimmering at 35-37ft and the temp really dropped. Here are a few pictures I hope yall like em, they start at sunrise as we pulled out of port..

 

[Debraw]

So are all Clipper trips three dives with just one dive on the Clipper and two on rigs? Or is it the booker's choice?