2010 BFDC Trip Reports | |
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June 19, 2010 — Naeco July 10, 2010 — Tamaulipas Stern July 24, 2010 — Proteus August 7, 2010 — U-701 August 28, 2010 — Manuela September 11, 2010 — Lancing October 16, 2010 — Lightship October 23, 2010 — Porta Allegra |
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June 20, 2009Dive 1: NAECO sternBOAT: Atlantis IVGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: First dive season and first dive in well over a year for some. Nice smooth ride out to the wreck on the Atlantis IV....love that A/C in the forward berths! Air temp was mild and only a slight chop on the water...along with the A/C, just enough to rock you to sleep! INWATER CONDITIONS: Anchored just forward of the break. No current on top or bottom. Viz was good - 40-60 ft; water temp in the hi-70s THE DIVE: 10:12 am in water; 132 ft max depth; BT: 0:27; We were diving the stern section of the Naeco - anchored just forward of the break; MARINE LIFE: lionfish certainly have not reduced in numbers; a few sharks; otherwise normal NC fish life THE DIVERS & CREW: Bruce, Bill, Jade, Gary, Rick, Julian, Paul, Paul, Bobby and Renate GENERAL COMMENTS: couldn't have asked for an easier first dive - felt comfortable and the ladder did *not* kick my butt; LOL! It was GREAT to see the dive buds after a long while! new wetsuit (3mm jump) worked well; new computer OK - but didn't turn on automagically when I hit the water - but that is what backups are for...pretty interesting to watch a rebreather diver operate first hand | ||||
Dive 2: Sailing Ship - Ella Pierce ThurlowBOAT: Atlantis IVGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: Continued beautiful conditions.... INWATER CONDITIONS: No current on top or bottom. Viz was good - a bit better than the first dive; min. water temp was 77 degrees THE DIVE: 12:52 pm in water; 122 ft max depth; dive time: 0:42; I think I have been on this wreck before - it is a small sailing ship, possibly the Ella Pierce Thurlow. I think I dove it back in the early 80s off of an old shrimp boat. Probably not visited too much. The wreck site is small. It has very little relief except for the anchor and windlass machinery; We anchored into the windlass. You can follow the keel/spine of the ship aft as it slowly fades into the sand. MARINE LIFE: lionfish of course and lots of baitfish - lots of small tropicals on the wreck (pretty!) *AND* of all things two "real" sharks - looked like a sandbar shark (or similar) or a black tip shark; they made a couple of passes on the bottom and then came up to the top during the hang and circled the boat. The sandbar stayed the longest until Julian got out of the water with his "dinner"....never close enough for pictures...dang it! THE DIVERS & CREW: 1...2...3.....yup, we seem to have the same number we had on the first dive. whew! GENERAL COMMENTS: new dive computer turned on upon "water contact" this time - needed to get wet once? ; trolled between dives...caught two dolphin and two false tunny; a perfect first day - easy conditions, no seasickness, comfortable diving, no photo equipment issues....not too shabby | ||||
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| Renate doing the dive guide thing on the Naeco | Steering quadrant at the stern of the Naeco | |||
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| They're everywhere! They're everywhere! | Just Hangin' | |||
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| Julian hunting on the EPT | Gary looking alien-like | |||
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| Pony boiler | Small windlass | |||
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| Lionfish have even populated the small wrecks | ...along with schools of baitfish | |||
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| Gary working on the bouyancy | Jade approaches the anchor line | Small sea bass on the EPT | ||
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||
June 21, 2009Dive 1: W.E. Hutton (aka Papoose)BOAT: Atlantis IVGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: Originally scheduled for the Lobster Wreck but a 15-17 knot winds and a heavy sea forced us to cut our offshore trip short and we turned to the "Hutton"; Weather sunny and mild - seemed almost like a early fall day; INWATER CONDITIONS: No current on top or bottom. Viz was good - 60-80 ft; min. water temp 75 degrees THE DIVE: 9:29 am in water; 118 ft max depth; BT: 0:57; We were anchored just forward of the stern MARINE LIFE: a few sharks; otherwise normal NC fish life THE DIVERS & CREW: Bruce, Bill, Jade, Gary, Rick, Julian, Paul, Paul, Bobby and Renate GENERAL COMMENTS: hadn't been on the "Papoose" in a while; pretty dive; it looks like the stern has sagged a bit more since the last time I dived it. It will be a sad day when the rudder eventually completely collapses | ||||
Dive 2: U-352BOAT: Atlantis IVGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: no change from the first dive; INWATER CONDITIONS: No current on top or bottom. Viz was good - 50-60 ft; min. water temp 78 degrees THE DIVE:12:19 in water; 110 ft max depth; BT: 0:54; We were anchored a the deck gun base; MARINE LIFE:I actually saw a shark on this dive...I think this is the first shark I have every scene on the sub in over 30 years of diving; THE DIVERS & CREW:Bruce, Bill, Jade, Gary, Rick, Julian, Paul, Paul, Bobby and Renate GENERAL COMMENTS: very pretty dive; nice to get the 352 with good conditions | ||||
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| Julian comes around the rudder | Nice spots! | |||
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| Big momma out in the sand | French Angelfish - who needs the Keys!?! | |||
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| Bill at the Hutton rudder | Coming out of the fish | Gary heads home | 88mm deck gun mount on the U-352 | |
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| U-352 | Forward torpedo loading hatch | |||
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| Bow control machinery - U-352 | Bow external tropedo tubes at the pressure hull | |||
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| Port side saddle tanks | Julian scores! | The toughest fish in the ocean! ;-) | The hardest part of the dive | |
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||
July 11, 2009Dive 1: PROTEUSBOAT: Atlantis IVGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: Light to moderate -- a bit bumpy going over the shoals; Warm and sunny temps INWATER CONDITIONS: light current on the surface; only slight on the bottom; a bit cloudy and dark mid-water but pretty clear (50 ft) below; light was diffuse and low; min. water temp was 75 degrees THE DIVE:10:31 am in water; 119 ft max depth; DT: 0:52; We anchored forward of the boilers about half between the boilers and the bow; anchored to large windlass; traveled back to the stern; MARINE LIFE: Sharks, sharks and ore sharks....the wreck was loaded up with sandtiger sharks; most were gathering between the boilers and the stern; you could count at least 50 in the dark viz; all sizes but most were in the 6 ft to 9 ft range; didn't seemed to be bothered by divers so there were some good opportunities for kodak moments; THE DIVERS & CREW: Bruce, Jade, Paul, Joe, Mark, Rick, Cindy and Renate, Bobby, Paul GENERAL COMMENTS: I don't think I have seen this concentration of sandtigers on a wreck in a long time; I wish the light on the bottom could have been about 1 or 2 stops higher; Pretty cool experience - the Proteus almost never fails to produce a great dive | ||||
Dive 2: CARIBSEAGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: no change from dive 1...slightly less windy inshore;INWATER CONDITIONS: no current; viz 40+ ft; min. water temp was 77 degrees THE DIVE: 13:49 in water; 88 ft max depth; DT: 0:53; We anchored at the engine; THE DIVE: 01:49 pm in water; 88 ft max depth; DT: 0:53; We anchored at the engine; MARINE LIFE: group of big sandtigers off the stern which were sitting on top of about a dozen good size grouper....pretty funny -- as if the groups were daring you to take a shot; lots of sharks teeth on the bottom; A school of spanish mackeral came thru when I first got on the wreck; GENERAL COMMENTS: The bow of the Caribea used to provide the most structure on the wreck. As that has collapsed over the years, most of the structure now lies back on the boilers, engine and stern. The starboard side anchor has now dropped completely off the bow and sits on the bottom. | ||||
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| Anchored into the windlass | Sandtiger swims past boiler | |||
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| Sandtiger | Proteus prop and rudder | |||
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| Smile! | Rick making the ascent | |||
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| Bruce over the Proteus boilers; | Joe on the anchor line | Jelly-man | Windlass on the Caribsea | |
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| Bruce | Dr. Video | |||
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| This is why we dive - thx Rick! | Rick in search of video quarry | |||
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| I know there is a port hole somewhere near the engine | Starboard bow anchor of the Caribsea now lies in the sand | Hmmmmmm...I wonder how big that was? | Rudder of the Caribsea | |
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| Rick at work | Cindy, not so much | |||
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| Bruce checking things out before ascending | ||||
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||
July 12, 2009
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||
August 8, 2009Dive 1: U-701BOAT: Lion's PawGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: Light to no breeze - almost like glass on the water surface; Hot and sunny temps INWATER CONDITIONS: moderate to strong current on the surface; almost undiveable current between 40 ft and 90 ft - the anchor line was quivering and it was a hard hand-over-hand slog down to the wreck. The current abated only very slightly on the wreck bottom; Viz was a very dirty 10-15 ft or less. min. water temp was 69 degrees; definite thermocline on way down; THE DIVE: 11:18 am in water; 110 ft max depth; BT: 0:28; We anchored just aft of the conning tower. The dive was a low viz, hold on type of dive...not a good way to see any wreck; But what I could tell and front what the other divers reported, the wreck has definitely uncovered significantly this year. The bow and the stern are almost completely revealed....but hard to appreciate in such low viz and high current. Disappontment! ...but an interesting experience to actually live through! ;-) MARINE LIFE: there was something moving down there, but frankly I was too busy holding on for dear life that I didn't notice what they were! ;-) There were large schools of big amberjacks in the mid-water and on the wreck -- they would brush right up on you as you "climbed" your way down in the hard current. It was pretty cool. THE DIVERS & CREW: Bruce, John, Paul, Joe, David, Danny, and Dave, Ann, Rich GENERAL COMMENTS: That had to have been one of the strongest currents I have ever dived in....usually comes with clear water, but not this time. It is such a crap shoot heading up on Diamond Shoals and particularly to the U701. Everything looked so good riding up there...couldn't have asked for better topside conditions. Even the top water current was OK...*if* it had stayed that way or had slacked off on the bottom or if the water had been clear. But none of that happened! Should have gotten a clue when we missed the wreck with the hook several times. A long ride for pretty much a nothing dive except as a "been there" moment. Our first trip on Dave and Ann's new boat - Lions Paw. It certainly proved to be a solid dive platform - fast and roomy with a solid feel on the water. Dave is doing the usual "new boat tweaks" to get it configured the way he wants it so I see nothing but good things out of Hatteras for the future. | ||||
Dive 2: LIBERATORGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: similar to first diveINWATER CONDITIONS: only slight current at surface; at surface, viz was 40-50 ft; at depth viz less than 10-15 ft; min. water temp. was 71 degrees; thermocline on way down; THE DIVE: 2:05 pm in water; 105 ft max depth; dive time: 0:37; We anchored on the bow, I think -- viz was pretty crappy, so it was hard to tell; the viz was no better than the U701 which is probably predictable given the conditions on the u-boat. It is unusual to have wide shifts of conditions on the shoals; MARINE LIFE: lots of large triggerfish on this wreck --- *schools* of trigger fish! and on this mud/sand bottom, lots of large flounder; GENERAL COMMENTS: You pretty much get locked into "what it is" once you head up to the U701, but we were hoping for a bit better on the Liberator, but no go. Didn't even take the cover off of my camera on this dive; | ||||
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| Gosh, I wish the viz actually looked this good. | Notice that little tangle of long-liner tackle on the right side of the conning tower. Danger in the dark! Oh yeah, there used to be a attack scope on that right most tower. Nitwit Dive Club at work | |||
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| Danny's bubble are normally supposed to go vertical, not sideways! | Nitwit Dive Club strikes again...there used to be a hatch sitting here, until removed, it was last touched by the 17 sailors who swam to the surface when their boat sank. Only 7 survived. | |||
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||
August 9, 2009Dive 1: PROTEUSBOAT: Lion's PawGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: things got breezier than forecast overnight; bagged another trip up on the shoals and headed south to find better viz; we found ourselves beating into a SW wind (13-17kts) and a very short and disorganized sea. I thought the Lion's Paw did pretty well and kept her 17kt speed all along without too much discomfort; very hot day; INWATER CONDITIONS: moderate current on the surface; not much on the bottom; several thermoclines on the way down; very clear on the surface but a little milkier on the bottom...50+ ft; min temp on the bottom was 69 degrees; THE DIVE: 10:29 am in water; 126 ft max depth; Divetime: 0:31; Well first the good stuff....We anchored into the engine. David and I traveled down the middle of the wreck to the stern and back. Lots of sharks along the way with at least 10-12 under the stern and prop area. Lots of fun on the first two thirds of the dive. As we came back to the area we were anchored, it became clear the anchor was no longer there. Yikes! This hasn't happened to me in about, oh, 20 years. Fortunately, we weren't that deep into deco, so we calmly got our sh*t together and started our free ascent in 130 feet of water some 25 miles from land. No worries! It was actually kind of interesting (as in "fun") and stress free....but we had our bouyancy locked in and plenty of gas. We ascended thru a large school of barracuda and had several of the large sandtigers follow us up off the wreck. At about 60 ft, one large shark was about to put her nose in my butt, but David signaled me and the shark swam off as I turned around. What was that about? We popped up to the surface after deco and safety stops and ended up a couple of hundred yards away from the boat who was busy picking up other divers. The current had carried us about 1/4 mile from the wreck in the 10 minutes of our ascent. We were spotted right away and they came over to get us, end of story. Pays to have good training, plenty of gas, a good buddy, and a good dive boat. BTW, were we supposed to use that sausage and reel? ;-) MARINE LIFE: Lots and lots of sharks....almost hard to see anything else since I was so busy trying to photograph the sharks. THE DIVERS & CREW: John, Paul, Joe, David, Danny, and Dave, Ann, Bart GENERAL COMMENTS: Bruce bailed on this dive to assist a friend with a crisis birthday. That's what good buddies do! | ||||
Dive 2: DIXIE ARROWGENERAL TOPWATER CONDITIONS: similar to the first dive, but not quite blowing as hard closer to shore, but winds were scheduled to increase in the afternoon; Hot and sunny tempsINWATER CONDITIONS: slight current on the surface; viz was 50-60 on surface and about 30-40ft on bottom -- a bit gritty on the bottom; min. water temp was 77 degrees; THE DIVE: 1:17 pm in water; 89 ft max depth; divetime: 0:31; We anchored just aft of the bow on the starboard side of the wreck. Hadn't been on the Dixie this year, so was looking forward to the dive. But crap, I should have checked my horoscope or biorhythms this morning. No sooner than I got down on the wreck, I noticed a commotion at the anchor line. Danny was struggling with the anchor trying to tie it in and David went to assist. I am thinking, "This is not looking good" and back-off, keeping a watchful eye, to let them do their work. Sure enough, in a minute or so, the anchor comes bouncing towards me with Danny trying to hang on. It hooks on the last bit of wreck before land and no where to tie it to. I held it in place as everyone got up the line and then sprung it free, riding it along the bottom, slowly making my way up the line. Two times in one day? What is going on? MARINE LIFE: John reported seeing a large loggerhead turtle sleeping under a deck plate.....I didn't get much chance to see anything; very large barracuda under the boat; GENERAL COMMENTS: I am a firm believer in two somewhat related things when it comes to diving: (1) There is a dive god who keeps a tally of debits and credits she gives you whenever you make your diving decisions. (2) You need to follow the Nancy Reagan Rule while diving: "When in Doubt - Just Say No". The more often you follow the NRR, the more credits you get with the dive gods and the better/longer your diving life is. Mother Ocean has a karma that you just can't fight while diving. You can only take what MO is willing to allow. There are just days when the "f*ck factor" is looming large. This weekend appeared to be one of those times. | ||||
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| See! I knew there was an anchor there at one time | Following the sandtigers down the prop shaft to the Proteus stern | |||
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| Stern looms in the distance | Rudder and propeller of the Proteus - little shark heaven/haven! | |||
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| Hanging with the "boys" at the stern | "Are you comimg?" | |||
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| Small winch on the Proteus | Proteus engine...Davids bubbles saying, "Where's the anchor?" | |||
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| Proteus Stern | David swimming above the prop | Wazzzup? | ||
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| Wazzup?, Part II | Anchor roping on the Dixie...this isn't going to end well | |||
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||
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August 29, 2009
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||
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August 29, 2009
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| Unless otherwise noted, all images, photos, text are Paul M. Hudy © 2009 (bfdc@nc-wreckdiving.com) | ||||