Dive #1 - Date / Dive #:
Monday Morning - 4-July-2005 / My Dive #490
A. Dive Location:
The wreck of the Leslie / Caralee
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
40 ft [ not bad for this area, I was thinking it would be 5 - 10 ft ]
Seas:
1 ft!
Water Temp:
well, it started out in the low 70's, but by the time we got to the bottom and
swam around some, it registered a low of 67 deg -
DAMM COLD!
Skies:
Typical Florida Sunny Clear Blue Skies!!
Air Temp:
80's - to low 90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 106 ft for 39 Min, PO2 1.42 on 34%
Air consumption:
Me: 3750 lbs to 1100 lbs, 34% NITROX, Steel HP 120's
Current: Mild to Medium to the North
Description:
We had an invite to go out in this 36 ft ?? with some friends out of Indian
Harbor Beach [ Julie and Eric S... ]. We met at their place at 7:00 am and
were underway by 7:30 am.
Five Divers with 3 tanks each and all their dive gear and this twin 200 hp
powered boat which had no problems doing mid 30's+ mph!! It was an hour 30 min
ride out. The anchor was dropped and we grabbed the wreck. Oh, and on the way
out, I
realized I had left my wet suit in the closet!! This was the second Ah-Shit
this weekend. So the deal was made that I would borrow the boat owners suit,
they dive first, we dive second. That did work out ok.
The boat Capt Eric and Wife Julie went in first, they were spearing - looking for dinner. When they came up, they said vis was great fo this area and temps not bad. We suited up and three divers went in [ me, my dive partner and a spearfisherdiver ]. We had to swim to the anchor line, it wasn't easy, but we made it and started down. The water was blue and warm. About 60 ft the water turned browner and cool. Another 20 ft and the water turned DAMM COLD. The anchor was admiships. The wreck was pretty much destroyed with parts all over. We followed our spearing dive buddy for a while then just worked our way around. We went up to the bow and back to the stern and back up to the bow again. I was looking for the prop, but didn't see it. I was told it was there, hmmm!
On our second trip to the bow, our speering buddy shot a cobia. There was a Big Ray [ 6 - 8 ft across ] that had swam past us out into the sand. I had looked over to see what looked like a shark attacking the ray. It really was a cobia that had just gotten shot in the head and took off breaking the line to the spear. They never did find the spear or fish! With our bottom time getting low, we started up the anchor line. We hung at 65 ft for a long time. There were schools of small fish [ 3 - 8 " long ] just darting around the wreck and up to us in one big massive cloud. It's hard to describe but it was awesome! Then there was this school of a few dozen jacks or whatever [ 1 - 1/2 ft long ] just diving into the cloud. The cloud went down to the wreck and the jacks dove into the cloud then came back up to our Warm Depth. It almost looked like they didn't like the cold. We must have hung there for over 5 min watching the attacks et al!
My trip notes say - Big Ray, Speared Cobia. Lots of little fish being attacked by the bigger ones. Lot's of queen angel's. One Big Grouper [ seen by my dive partner, I didn't see it ]. Lot's of sheephead's. The wreck is pretty much beat up, not recognizable as a ship. There were cuda in the shallower depths as usual on a wreck.
Back on board, the Capt and Wife did another dive and then we moved on to find the "Sub" wreck.
Dive #2 - Date / Dive #:
Monday Morning - 4-July-2005 / My Dive #491
A. Dive Location:
The Sub [ as marked on the normal nautical charts ]
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
20 - 25 ft and down to zero in the fish schools.
Seas:
1 to 2 ft
Water Temp:
Similar to above [ COLD ]!
Skies:
Typical Florida Sunny Clear Blue Skies!!
Air Temp:
80's to low 90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - Up time 2 hrs 48 min, then 92 ft for 30
min, PO2 1.28 on 34%
Air consumption:
Me: 3750 lbs to 1500 lbs, 34% NITROX, Steel HP 120's
Current:
Same as above, weak to medium. Again, it was a swim to get to the anchor line.
Description:
Capt wanted to find the "Sub", so off we went. It was not where the charts
said it was. There were a few boats on a spot about 1/2 mile from where we
were looking. The Capt did some pattern bottom depth searching and after 20
min found it. It took a while to set the anchor, but then we were the 1st in
the water. Me The Irishman, my dive partener and the spear fisherdiver. Down
we went on the anchor line. It was much darker and less vis and the cold hit
much earlier. The anchor was caught on a 1 ft sq beam. We followed the beam
to some upright 1 ft sq beams with a darker mass inside. It looked real eary.
The water was filled with my partner says "Zillions of Baitfish". I'd say more
than that - Ka-Zillions of 3 - 10" long fish moving around in masses of a
cloud. We went around and up and down and all around this so called "Sub"!!
It ends out it was a holder for a camera system from the cape. It looked like
a holder that could hold a sub - two walls of cross membered beams forming a
sort of wall about maybe 50 ft apart. Between these two open walls were a
solid wall of fish. If you swam into them, it went very dark with no forward
vis. As we went over the top to the other side, we spied two Jew Fish. One
about 10 ft and the other smaller around 6 ft. The 10 footer every time it
spied us charged us. It's mouth was big enough to bite off your head easily.
We backed off. After a few potential attacks, we stayed away from that side.
There were a few nice size snook - in the 2 - 3 ft range, and lot's of your
normal small stuff. After a while, we headed back to the anchor line, up, did
our hang and got back on the boat. Twas an interesting dive!
So from my partner's notes: Zillions of Baitfish, steel gerters with lots of life - corals and plants, snook, 2 HUGE JEW FISH, barracuda, angelfish, spadefish, Balck out by fish and ThermoClines!
Dive #3 - Date / Dive #:
Monday Morning - 4-July-2005 / My Dive #492
A. Dive Location:
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
A little less than the 1st dive, maybe 20 ft!
Seas:
Getting bigger - 2 ft range.
Water Temp:
Same if not Colder!
Skies:
Typical Florida Sunny Clear Blue Skies!!
Air Temp:
80's - 90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 1 hr 26 min up time, 95 ft for 27 min with
PO2 of 1.43 on 34%
Air consumption:
Me: 3700 - 1100 lbs, [ Steel HP 120's ]
Current:
Mild to Medium to the north
Description:
Well we had the last dive, I was to pick up the anchor at the end. We went
down, the vis was not as good as on the 1st dive here. We pretty much stayed
on the bottom looking at all the fish. We didn't see the Jew Fish this time,
but stayed away from where they were. With bottom time starting to run out, we
headed back to the anchor. I had to go down about 20 ft from our hovering
depth to pull up the anchor. It was a VERY HARD pull to get it free. The boat
was not leaving any slack to get it free. With the help of my dive partner we
broke it free. All the time, my computer was showing that I was over PO2 of
1.40!! I was kind of getting worried of doing heavy work to free the anchor
and approaching the O2 limits! But all turned out Ok. As soon as the anchor
broke free, it and we went up. We went up FAST. I let out my BC air to slow
us down. Near the surface, my dp let go and went up. She was having problems
getting air out of her BC and staying on the hang. After seeing her not
around, I abanded my hang and went up looking for her. She was Ok on the
surface.
A 2 hour ride back got us back at the dock around 8 and home by 9! Twas a Very Long and Fun Day!
Pics to Follow!
Last Updated: 10-July-2002