May 8, 2004 — Normannia
May 9, 2004 — Lobster Wreck - Porta Allegra
June 5, 2004 — Cassimir
June 6, 2004 — Bedfordshire
June 12, 2004 — Proteus
June 13, 2004 — Australia
June 26, 2004 — Yancey
June 27, 2004 — Naeco - Bow
July 8, 2004 — Proteus
July 10, 2004 — Empire Gem
July 11, 2004 — Tarpon
August 7, 2004 — Lobster Wreck - Porta Allegra
August 8, 2004 — Tamaulipas Stern
August 21, 2004 — Lancing
August 22, 2004 — Liberator
August 28, 2004 — Manuela
August 29, 2004 — Kassandra-Louloudis
September 11, 2004 — Australia
September 12, 2004 — British Splendour
September 24, 2004 — Malchace
September 25, 2004 — Manuela
October 9, 2004 — Tamaulipas - Bow
October 10, 2004 — Normannia
October 30, 2004 —
October 31, 2004 —
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| This trip report was submitted by BFDC diver Jim Kruek | |
| Dr. Bob and I went down to Morehead to dive with the BFDC aboard the Atlantis IV and had a perfect day. The seas were virtually flat and the weather was great. Joe Poe, Rick Allen, Julian Mullaney and Gary Kuzkin attended. Even though the seas were cooperating and the boat was extremely comfortable, it was a long ride out to the Normannia. Temp was 68 and bottom 112 feet. The second dive was to the Cashmere with similar temp and 120 feet. Vis on both dives was about 60 feet but there was a good bit of particulate in the water which made it a little cloudy. Two divers were in dry suits but most were comfortable in wet suits. There were a few spear fisherman but mostly just took flounder. Lots of pictures taken, too. My scooter worked well without the prop falling off again. I lucked into a nice piece of brass which appears to be a threaded fitting off a fire hose with the name "BARKER" on it. One lion fish was spotted on Cashmere and Bob followed a huge ray accompanied by remoras. We would have liked to stay for the Sunday dive to the Lobster Wreck but needed to come back for Mother's Day. This is a great group to dive with and I hope I can go out with them again, soon. Watch your speed coming into Morehead. I got a ticket at 6:15 a.m. | |
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Artifact
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Another Artifact: Don't Laugh! He has wetsuits older than you!
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"Old Men of the BFD-Sea"
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| All photos for the 5/8 report © Jim Kruek | All captions & editorial comment courtesy of missing mystery diver. |
| Pictures and dive report by Joe Poe© 2004 | |
DIVE 1: Lobster WreckAnother spectacular, sunny day on and under the deep blue sea!. Our trip to the Lobster Wreck felt like a magic carpet ride, the glassy ocean was so smooth. Okay, perhaps I stretch things a tad, but the waters on top really were better than yesterday with maybe a 6 inch swell. On the bottom, however, there was still a lot of particulate around the wreck, enough to make a strobe fanatic cringe. But the visibility was a decent 50' - 60' and the temp at 124' was about 68 degrees. Joe Poe, Rick Allen, Julian Mullaney, and Gary Kuzkin has the wreck to themselves, given that others wimped out, and the extra room was appreciated by all. Not many lobsters were seen since George's boat group took away 40 of them yesterday, but plenty of lionfish (saw 6), nudibranchs, and other denziens of the deep. Even had a large, stray remora try to mate with me on the hang. A very nice dive. DIVE 2: Lobster RocksOur second dive of the day was a few miles north of the wreck on a series of small ledges called the Lobster Rocks. Julian had a field day hauling up several giant beasts (ask him for a photo - he had to strike a number of poses) and the rest of us enjoyed the bounteous reef creatures, including a snake eel, lionfish, small shark, brittle star colonies, etc. Visibility was a solid 40' -50' and temperature at 123' was again around 68 degrees. The ledges were stepped and about 1 to 2 feet high with lots of nooks and crannies. There really were lobsters, big ones, all over the place. Again, a good day to be on and under the water. |
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Lionfish
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Nudibranch
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"Jack" Blenny
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Kuzkin confronts the beast!
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Nudibranch in repose
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"When the moon's in the sky like a.....it's a Moray"
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| TRIP NOTES: BFDC BONUS TRIP | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: n/a | |
| Actual Site: PROTEUS | |
| Divers: n/a | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny and calm | |
| Sea Conditions: slight chop to calm; no swell | |
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: xx ft | |
| Current: medium at surface; medium from stern to bow on bottom | |
| Visibility: 50-70 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: First dive for me in almost two years and the "dive gods" were being very kind. Easy ride out in the calm seas and great conditions to loosen the "rust". Anchored just forward of the boilers. Current was running from stern to bow, so that is the route I took, down along the starboard side. Dozens of sandtigers out in the sand and behind the bow. Viz was a bit milky, but otherwise great. Lots of green algae covering the wreck. | |
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A cargo of cement bags makes a good reef!
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The anti-lift bag
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: CATHERINE M. MONOHAN | |
| Maximum Depth: xx ft. | |
| Current: medium at surface; slight to medium on bottom | |
| Visibility: 50-60 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: much more "comfortable" dive - amazing the difference one dive makes ;-) Anchored on the starboard side, just aft of the bow. Good dive. | |
| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: TARPON | |
| Actual Site: EMPIRE GEM | |
| Divers: Paul, Bruce, Bob, Charles | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny, hot and calm | |
| Sea Conditions: slight chop to calm; no swell | |
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EDB approaches the ladder. Nice viz!
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Charles, looking technical
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"I had just poured my milk and BOOM! ..."
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"Bruce...about that wetsuit..."
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 142 ft | |
| Current: slight on surface; slight to none on bottom | |
| Visibility: 70+ on top; 50-70 ft on bottom; a bit milky | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: The great conditions called for a switch of dive sites to the shoals. We anchored in the stern section of the wreck, near the engine area. This was the best viz most of us had ever seen on the Gem. Did a couple of circuits of the stern section. | |
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: KASSANDRA-LOULOUDIS | |
| Maximum Depth: 70 ft. | |
| Current: medium-strong at surface; medium-strong on bottom running across the wreck from starboard to port | |
| Visibility: 30-40 ft on bottom; a bit milky | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: much more "comfortable" dive - amazing the difference one dive makes ;-) Anchored on the starboard side, just aft of the bow. Good dive. | |
| TRIP NOTES: (additional: Carolina Breeze Trip Report) | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Empire Gem | |
| Actual Site: TARPON | |
| Divers: Paul, Bruce, Bob, Charles | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny, hot and calm | |
| Sea Conditions: slight chop to calm; no swell | |
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African Pompano
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Charles shooting the bow
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Exit, stage somewhere!
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Blue water/blue current
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 142 ft | |
| Current: slight to medium on surface; slight on bottom running down starboard side, from stern to bow | |
| Visibility: 70+ on top; 70 ft on bottom; | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: Great conditions again, so we headed down south to our original divesite from Saturday. Lots of green algae on the wreck, but the viz was good with a slight current coming down the wreck from the stern across the starboard side. Sandtigers have returned to the Tarpon. A couple of dozen circled out in the sand off the bow. Small loggerhead visted and several morays were seen. | |
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Charles works the stern, right above the propelller blade.
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Videography Rule #201: Boilers don't move
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: KESHENA | |
| Maximum Depth: 85 ft. | |
| Current: slight on surface; slight to none on bottom | |
| Visibility: 70 ft. | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: Seas stayed calm and clear. Great dive on the Keshena. | |
| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Lobster Wreck | |
| Actual Site: SPAR | |
| Divers: Paul, Joe, Cindy, Rick, Jade, Jimmy, Julian and Greg (as Gilligan) | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny, cool to mild and windy | |
| Sea Conditions: NNE wind at 15-17kts; following sea with lots of white caps | |
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stern lettering of the SPAR |
| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 97 ft | |
| Current: slight on surface; | |
| Visibility: 5-10 ft on top; 5 ft on wreck; | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: It was four days after Hurricane Alex came through and there were small craft advisories out on Friday. Well, we should have known better. But the forecast called for dropping winds and seas...in the afternoon, but we forgot about that part and tried to press the issue. Even with a following sea out to the Porta Allegra, it was clear pretty quickly that we would be taking a chance if we proceeded on. It is one thing to go out to a wreck, but you still have to get back! We cut our trip short to the nearest offshore site we could think of . The Spar was chosen since it was newly sunk and none of us had been there. The "pea green" color of the water gave us a clue that this wasn't going to be the average "Gulf Stream" dive. The mate confirmed the worse — BAD VIZ! I didn't know how bad things were until I was approaching the anchor line and realized I couldn't see across the gap between the hang line and the wreck line. Hmmmm. Even worse on the bottom. Thank goodness much of the Spar's white paint is still visable. We anchored on a railing/ladder on the stern end of the superstructure. Lots of bait, barracuda and spadefish around. There could have schools of blue whales, but we wouldn't have seen them. Will have to come back some time with good viz. | |
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Jimmy on the Hutton
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Greg was here
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: W.E. HUTTON | |
| Maximum Depth: 74 ft. | |
| Current: slight to none on surface; slight to none on bottom | |
| Visibility: a milky 25-30 ft. on the botton | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: In search of good viz, we called around and boats were reporting better conditions on the inshore wrecks. Go figure! A bumpy, but mercifully quick ride to the Hutton&Mac246;confirmed the reports. The water was much bluer. We anchored near midships on the starboard side. I hadn't been on Hutton for many years. Warm water, relatively clearer water and shallow depths resulted in a dive that was lots of fun. | |
| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Tamaulipas | |
| Actual Site: LOBSTER WRECK | |
| Divers: Paul, Joe, Cindy, Rick, Jade, Jimmy, Julian and Greg (as Gilligan) | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny, mild to warm and light wind | |
| Sea Conditions: light winds out of NE; less than 10kts | |
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Jade swims across the dredge shaft
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Joe looking for the very wide angle lens
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Engine growth
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Julian bags food for the family
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Lionfish #0
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 121 ft | |
| Current: none of surfact; none to slight on wreck; | |
| Visibility: 50-70 ft on bottom - a bit milky; clear on the top; | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: A much better start of the day on Sunday. The flags and seas were flat. Given the bad water in shore and the suspicion of that and worse out "east", we decided to go to our orginal Saturday destination — the Porta Allegra or Lobster Wreck. A very pleasant 3 hour (51 nmiles!) ride. The lack of wind and lack of current made anchoring a bit of an issue, but our fearless and well-dressed mate "Gilligan" Greg, swam the anchor down to the wreck and tied us in at the end of the dredge cutter. Easy and relaxed dive. Saw 5-6 lionfish and several hognose snapper and large grouper. Lots of tropicals, etc on the wreck. | |
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Lionfish #0 + n
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Rick & Joe on the hang
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: LOBSTER WRECK | |
| Maximum Depth: 121 ft. | |
| Current: none of surfact; none to slight on bottom; | |
| Visibility: 50-70 ft on bottom - a bit milky; clear on the top; | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: Why take a chance?, so we decided to do two dives on the wreck. Conditions remained consistent from the first dive. I now have more lionfish shots that a single human being could possible need! Unless of course someone would like to purchase some pix..... | |
| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Lancing | |
| Actual Site: DIXIE ARROW | |
| Divers: Paul, Joe, Gary, Charles | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny, hot with some thunderstorms | |
| Sea Conditions: 15+kt winds out of SW; waves very close together | |
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Charles kneels to adjust his camera — all of this area was under sand prior to Isabel
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More of the stern machinary exposed by the large Isabel sand movement
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 89 ft | |
| Current: slight on surface; slight to mild on bottom; starboard to port from stern | |
| Visibility: 35-45 ft on bottom - a bit milky with lots of temperature gradients cutting into viz | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top; lots of mixing temps | |
| Description: Probably a day best spent in bed! Speed was reduced to 11 knots trying to beat against a very close sea; Finally got to the Arrow in about 2 hrs. Not a pleasant ride and I know I paid for it. Anchored at the stern section. Lots of sand has moved from the stern of the Arrow. Particularly around the port side and the wheelhouse ("box") sitting on the starboard side. I would guess around 2 -3 feet. Much of the stern machinary is now visable and the "box" looks more like the top of the wheelhouse that it probably is. The hub of the prop is also visable. Water was clearer on the bottom than mid-water and the overall effect was to "darken" the water. Viz was fuzzy. A large sandtiger kept making the rounds, circling the engine, trying to stay in the current flow. | |
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Sandtiger on the prowl
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Hiding in the bait
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: DIXIE ARROW | |
| Maximum Depth: 90 ft. | |
| Current: mild to moderate on the bottom; current reported to have picked-up on the 2nd dive | |
| Visibility: 30-40 ft on bottom - a bit milky; viz reported improved on bottom on 2nd dive | |
| Water temperature: high 70s on bottom; low 80s on top | |
| Description: With no promise of improving conditions anywhere else, we stayed put. I passed on the second dive and from the diver reports there was an increase in current on the 2nd dive and slight improvement on the viz. Didn't sound like I missed too much. | |
| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Liberator | |
| Actual Site: AUSTRALIA | |
| Divers: Paul, Joe, Gary, Charles | |
| Weather Conditions: Overcast with rain showers | |
| Sea Conditions: wind turned 180 degrees to the NE, but still a good 10-15kts | |
| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 98 ft | |
| Current: slight on surface; slight to none on bottom; | |
| Visibility: 10 ft on bottom and dark; (f2 at 1/4 second with 800iso film - Boo!) | |
| Water temperature: mid high 70s on top; low 60s at about 70 ft down to the bottom | |
| Description: Took a chance of going to the shoals, and in retrospect, not a good idea. Sharp thermocline at 60-70 ft. and very little viz. Couldn't see the anchor line from 10 feet. The only item of note on the dive was a school of african pompano at 20 feet on the hang — they didn't like it any better on the bottom than I did. Cold, green and dark - I could'a stayed in Joisey for this! ;-) | |
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Pompano at 25 ft. — it must be bad and cold
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Even the 'cudas thought the water sucked
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: NEVADA | |
| Maximum Depth: -- | |
| Current: -- | |
| Visibility: worse than the first dive | |
| Water temperature: -- | |
| Description: The mate, Cliff, went into the water to set the anchor. Came back quickly with a report of worse viz than the first dive. We all passed on the dive, got in early, and headed home. An overall very marginal weekend diving off the North Carolina coast. Oh well, it happens! | |
| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Manuela | |
| Actual Site: U-701 | |
| Divers: Paul, Joe, Gary, Bob | |
| Weather Conditions: Some clouds in the morning with sun later | |
| Sea Conditions: slight breeze dying throughout the day | |
| DIVE #1 & 2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 115 ft | |
| Current: slight on surface; slight to none on bottom; | |
| Visibility: 70+ feet | |
| Water temperature: mid high 70s to low 80s | |
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Jim Willis directing the cooperative sharks on the U-701
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Ready ammo cannister and 88mm deck gun
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Big Jelly!
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| Description: Reports on excellent "shoals" conditions on Friday coupled with good seas/winds and our frustration from the previous weekend, we decided to roll the dice (again) with a long trip to try to dive the infamous U-701 — our first. The conditions could not have been more perfect - clear water, no current and calm seas. Very unusual for this part of the shoals. Not knowing how much of the u-boat was buried in the sand, Cliff, the mate, rolled in upon anchor drop to tie us off. The U-701 is sitting in a bright white patch of sand. The wreck is sitting on its keel, intact, with a 45 degree list to the starboard side. Approximately 1/3 to 1/2 of its length is uncovered. Most everything forward of the 88mm deck gun and "ready ammo" cannister is still under sand. Except for the conning tower, the port side "saddle" tanks near the conning tower, the deck gun and the extreme stern, nearly all of the remaining "bulk" of the wreck is buried under the sand. Capt. Dave reports that this is the most that has been uncovered in a long time.
Even though the location has just become "public" this year and inspite of efforts being organized to protect the u-boat, [article 2, article 3 reprint] it is immediately obvious that the members of the wreck "raping" community have already made their mark on the wreck.. Some selfish, short-sighted jack ass(es) has cut the DF loop antenna and the sky/air periscope from the conning tower, dredged the sand from within the conning tower to get to the instruments located there, and have cut items from the 88mm deck gun. What is next? Recovering of human remains and selling them on ebay? Do we have to re-live the fiasco of the U-352 in the 1970-80s, when the US Navy and a US Senator got involved to "close" the wreck because of the activities of the wreck "raping" community? We have apparently learned neither respect nor from experience. There were several sandtiger sharks which cruised the wreck and it was quite clear that they were not used to a lot of divers. They were quite "photographically" cooperative. There was also a large group of amberjacks on the wreck. The bottom fish were those most commonly found in our cooler waters - black sea bass and tautog - which is consistent with the wrecks location in the cool/warm water transition zone. We were joined after the first dive by a boat from a local Hatteras Village dive shop. We decided to do a 2nd dive on the u-boat and the timing was such that we did our SIT while the other boat did their first dive. The conditions remained for the 2nd dive. Thanks to the sharp eyes of Jim, I saw my first Mola mola - ocean sunfish - during the hang of my 2nd dive. Surely one of the oddest looking creatures on the planet! ...if it was only close enough for a picture! |
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Cliff above the conning tower
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Attack periscope
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Looking forward toward the conning tower
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The stern is completely uncovered
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| DIVE #3 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: VETURIA | |
| Maximum Depth: 40 ft. | |
| Current: sllight | |
| Visibility: 50-60 ft | |
| Water temperature: high 70s/low 80s | |
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Joe walking the Veturia
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Ann stalking the rare "moving boiler" shot
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"Jim! No, come back!"
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Boiler and engine
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| Description: You know you are having a privileged day diving off of NC when you get to do a "three dive day" — and not just any third dive, but a third dive on a wreck (yet another one!) that you have never been to before and has been uncovered after many years of being buried in the sand. I had been to the site of the Veturia several times in the last couple of years and never got in the water because the depth was 10-20 ft too shallow and nothing "marked" on the depth finder. Not this time. We saw the shadow of the wreck pieces as we motored up to the site. The water was clear, calm and no current. We anchored at the boilers and engine. The shallow water, sun and bright sand made the dive seem more Caribbean-like rather than North Carolina. Only the large upright pieces of the wreck are above the sand and long sand flats separate the bow and stern ends. Jim and I tried to find the stern, but didn't have the "commitment" it takes to do a long open sand traverse. Gary K. did, however, and brought back pictures of the steering quadrant as proof. ...of course, he thought it was the bow, but why quibble? He got there and we didn't...sniff..sniff. A very pretty and fund dive. | |
| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Kassandra Louloudis | |
| Actual Site: NEVADA | |
| Divers: Paul, Joe, Gary, Bob | |
| Weather Conditions: Some sun/clouds | |
| Sea Conditions: a stiff 10 knt breeze out of the ENE on top of a swell - and increasing as the day continued | |
| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 72 ft | |
| Current: slight on surface; slight to none on bottom; | |
| Visibility: 15-20 feet on a muddy/silty bottom | |
| Water temperature: mid high 70s to low 80s | |
| Description: Hurricane Gaston had formed — *where* did that come from? — and the southern NC coast was already feeling the effects. We knew that going south was going towards the coming winds — Morehead City was already blown-out on this morning, so we decided to sneak out to the Lancing hoping that yesterdays conditions would hold for about 3 hours — long enough for one dive. After a rough inlet ride and 45 minutes at reduced speed, taking it "on the nose", we decided it was not to be and went to the Nevada to try to salvage the dive day. The Nevada has had 2-3 ft of sand removed from it since the last time I was there. This is reportedly due to dredging activity. The wreck has a large upright cylinder/cone-shaped steam engine and square boilers. You can follow the prop shft to a large four-bladed propellor, now encased in netting. Lots of flounder on this wreck. In the low viz, it was hard to distinguish between flounder and flounder hole. Fun dive. but the wind was picking up so we cut the day to one dive and headed home. | |
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Gary - going macro
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the prop
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"Hey, did you see that dead fish on the bottom?"
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If you point at something in the sea and no one is looking, is it really there?
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| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Australia | |
| Actual Site: PROTEUS | |
| Divers: Paul, Joe, Charles, Bob | |
| Weather Conditions: Overcast with some rain | |
| Sea Conditions: a stiff 10-15 knt breeze out of the NE on top of a SE swell; | |
| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 120 ft | |
| Current: none to slight on surface; none on bottom | |
| Visibility: 10 feet on bottom; 15-25 on top; | |
| Water temperature: mid high 70s | |
| Description: We made an attempt to go out to the shoals, but as we got to the vicinity of the Liberator, the sea and the color of the water indicated that the shoals were not going to be the place to dive today. We turned course and rode a following sea to the Proteus. When we arrived, the water looked better, but as soon as we rolled in, it was clear that the water wasn't. Couldn't see half way to the anchor line from the back of the boat. Even the barracuda and sharks were staying off the bottom. 10-15 ft bottom viz was being generous. Most cut the dive early. I think I shot one frame just to see if I could. For the 2nd dive, we intended to go the Dixie Arrow in search of better viz. As we approached, a report of 5 ft viz on the Arrowconvinced us not to even hesitate on our long, slow, bumpy slog back to the dock. We headed into a strong and short head sea making only 8 - 10 knots. It took a long time. Today's trip back is the current leader in the 2004 BFDC Boat Ride From Hell competition. |