Dive Trip Report to: Ft. Pierce
Purpose: TO DIVE Urda de Lima
Dive #1: Saturday, 20-June, Morning Dive. My Dive #
A. Dive Boat / Location:
Just north of Pepper Park -
Beach Dive Florida,
Urca de Lima
B. Conditions:
Visibility: 5 - 10', about normal for a good day in this area
Seas: Flat -> 6"
Water Temp: 79 - 80 degrees
Skies: Some cloud cover, not much sun
Air Temp: 80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 14' for 39 min
, Me: Analog @16'
Air consumption: Me: 3500 lb -> @1800 lb (120 cu ft), note we did use up some air swimming out and back to the wreck.
Current: None -> slight surge near shore
Description: Through a previous agreement, we were able to enter the water from a field, just north of Pepper Park - @100 yards south of the wreck. Urca is marked by two white bouy's about 100 yards off shore! We met around 7:30 and were entering the water at 8:30 am! This was an easy beach entry, not much waves! I decided to put on my fins and enter the water with them on. In the past, I've had some problems getting my left fin on with waves of 1'! We swam on the surface to the area near the bouy's then went down to the dark abiss of 14 feet! The swim on the way out was on yor back, BC inflated, breathing normal air - this is more relaxing then with your head in the water breathing tank air! Vis was 5 - 10'! The bouy;s are held down with a 3' cube block of cement! One block has a plaque on it! I did see some ballast stone, hopefully got some pictures - no gold or silver bars!! There were some assorted fish - max size 1'! I sure don't see what the fishing boats go out here for - never did see anything big! There were quite a few bugs under the ledges around the wreck. Wayne and some others did find the replca cannon and the ships keel! Well, after about an hour in the water, we headed back for the Pepper Park Dema Pictures. The beach exit was normal and the walk back to the car tiring - expecially with 100 lbs of tank, equipment, and weights!
The continuing story at Pepper Park - about 2 dozen divers met for the DEMA divers picutre. Most were diving at the park. After the pictures, we all had lunch and swapped diver's tales! I was invited for some kayak Llessons and had a blast! It might be fun to use a Kayak to get to some of these wrecks! This was one of the first succesful Florida Wreck Beach dives we had this summer!
Neptunes Adventures Report
For those that chose to stay home due to the overcast skys, to bad. We had a great dive. I arrived a couple minutes late at the Urca de Lima site, but we were all in the water by 8:30. It was Steve and Marsha's first beach dive. I think they're both hooked, they sounded like a couple giddy teenagers when we came up. Emily's group dove at Pepper Park and we got together after to do some pictures, share some munchies, fruit, drinks and some great dive stories. Collectively we saw dozens of lobster (if you look close under the ledges, you can see their calanders showing the start of the season), some game fish, tropical fish, a moray, turtle and 1715 cannons. I was very impressed with Emilys younger members. These are some good well balanced teenagers, who have managed to keep their heads on straight while all their peers seem to not be able to manage this feat. Ya'll keep up the good work.
Next dive is next Saturday, on the wrecks of the Robert and the Spring of Whitby, a couple 1810 wrecks at Golden Sands Park on A1A about 5.7 miles south of Sebastian Inlet. Then the following weekend, the 1618 wreck of the San Martin at Wabasso Beach Park. Check out my website for more details of other beach dives and trips coming up.