June 3, 2006 — Proteus
June 4, 2006 — Australia
June 17, 2006— Naeco - Pilot House
June 18, 2006 — Porta Allegra aka "Lobster Wreck"
July 15, 2006 — Manuela
July 16, 2006 — Liberator
July 29, 2006 — Bedfordshire/Box Wreck
July 30, 2006 — Yancey
August 5, 2006 — U-701
August 6, 2006 — Empire Gem
August 26, 2006 — Tamaulipas Stern
August 27, 2006 — Manuela
September 9, 2006 — Lancing
September 10, 2006 — Kassandra Louloudis
September 23, 2006 — Tamaulipas Bow
September 24, 2006 — Naeco Stern
October 14, 2006 — U-701
October 15, 2006 — Australia
October 28, 2006 — Normannia
October 29, 2006 — Cassimir
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| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: NAECO PILOT HOUSE | |
| Actual Site: NAECO BOW | |
| Divers: Rick, Jade Charles, Jason, Jesse, Steve and Paul | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny and mild; | |
| Sea Conditions: calm seas | |
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Rick shoots macro (left) while Jason swims towards the anchor (upper right)
while Jesse and Charles relax between dives (lower right) |
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 141 ft | |
| Current: slight at surface; none at bottom | |
| Visibility: 50-70 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: low 70s on bottom; mid 70s on top | |
| Description: First dive for 2006 and FINALLY a break in the string of high winds and bad weather we have been having. First visit to the bow section in many years; good viz; and *lots* of lionfish - must have been several hundred on the wreck; wreck easy to circumnavigate in one dive with only a few bits of relief and not spread out too much; easy, fun and relaxing dive for the first of the season; | |
| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: NAECO PILOT HOUSE | |
| Maximum Depth: 138 ft. | |
| Current: slight on surface; none on bottom | |
| Visibility: 50-60 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: mid-hi 70s on top; mid low 70s on bottom | |
| Description: first visit to this recently found section; very small area and not much relief; not much there — or so it would appear— unless you know where to look; Renate obviously knows where to look! In the 25+ years I have been diving, non-divers are continually asking me, "Have you ever found any treasure?" Well, I can now say that I have been on a boat where treasure was found! Maybe there is a 1937D, 1924S or 1926S among those buffalo nickels. | |
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Renate finds treasure! Jade Jealous!
[Photo by Charles Stone] |
Gas Money!
[Photo by Charles Stone] |
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Lobster
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Back-end of a juvenile lionfish
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| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Lobster Wreck | |
| Actual Site: LOBSTER WRECK | |
| Divers: Rick, Jade Charles, Jason, Jesse, Brenda and Paul | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny and mild; | |
| Sea Conditions: calm seas | |
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A mug only a mother lionfish would love!
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 128 ft | |
| Current: slight to none | |
| Visibility: 40 ft on bottom - kinda milky | |
| Water temperature: low 70s on bottom; mid 70s on top | |
| Description: beautiful top water conditions for the ride out; good viz on top, but a bit reduced for what is "standard" for the lobster wreck; not many lobsters on the site, but lots of lion fish; | |
| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: CASSIMR | |
| Maximum Depth: 121 ft. | |
| Current: slight to none | |
| Visibility: 20-25 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: mid-hi 70s on top; mid low 70s on bottom | |
| Description: anchored near the bow; fairly reduced viz kept most folks from wandering too far - but those that did faced the "blue water, white death" moment of the week — but all ended well, if only a bit tangled; And on a "late breaking" newsflash — and a good sense of humor by the diver in question — a photograph (below) was submitted by our mystery diver. It was the last picture taken just before they started to look for the anchor line. Notice the upper right hand quadrant of the picture! If it were a snake..... | |
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Couch lizardfish
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| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Liberator | |
| Actual Site: BRITISH SPLENDOUR | |
| Divers: Joe, Paul, Brian, Dave, Ann, Cliff and Wade | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny and not; | |
| Sea Conditions: SW swell with seas falling during the day | |
| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 108 ft | |
| Current: none | |
| Visibility: 30-40 ft on bottom - kinda CHUNKY and GREEN | |
| Water temperature: hi 60s with distinct thermocline on bottom; mid 70s and blue on top | |
| Description: the hard blow of Saturday with high water temps on the Diamond Shoals bouy sent us south instead of risking bad currents on the shoals; beautiful top water conditions turned green and cool about 40 feet above the bottom; anchored at the stern on the port side of the wreck (starboard side of the ship); wasn't the greatest conditions for photography, but at least nothing flooded on the new camera housing! Spent all the dive circling the stern third of the wreck; the stern seems to be collapsing more; | |
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Brian checks gauges as he swims across the hull of the Splendour
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: DIXIE ARROW | |
| Maximum Depth: 85 ft. | |
| Current: slight to none | |
| Visibility: 70-80 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: mid-hi 70s on top; mid 70s on bottom | |
| Description: anchored at the stern, near the boilers; it was one of those magical days on the Arrow with good viz, warm water, no current and lots of marine life; several large sandtigers patrolled the stern area, one of which was quite cooperative in posing for pictures; large schools of fish - spadefish in the thousands - were everywhere; a turtle and large stingray were also spotted; A poignant activity this dive was the placing of a marker in memory of Richard Pryor who died on the Arrow last year. Richard's father, Wade, a long-time NC diver, had the marker made and wanted to place at one of Richard's favorite spots. It was an honor to assist and share the moment with Wade. The dive was a sharing of a loss, but also a celebration of family and friends and the beauty of the ocean that we all enjoy so much. | |
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Brian! Yo! Brian!
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Southern stingray
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One of the big females passes overhead
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Dave wraps up the pillow bag
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Wade scans the wreck above the boilers
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Checkin' out the new camera housing!
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Wade places the marker
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| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: TAMAULIPAS STERN | |
| Actual Site: TAMAULIPAS STERN | |
| Divers: Rick, Cindy, Jimmy, Jim K, Charles, Jason, and Paul | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny and hot; | |
| Sea Conditions: calm seas | |
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Jim K. checks to make sure the surface is still there
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Sandtigers huggin' the deck
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 152 ft | |
| Current: slight-to-some at surface; none at bottom | |
| Visibility: 60 to 80 on top; darkish 30-40 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: hi 60s on bottom; hi 70s to 80 on top | |
| Description: after some reports of not-so-great conditions "out east", we decided that the only way to find out was to go; an easy ride up and back with little wind; blue water on top turned cool and dark near the wreck, but still a good dive with manageble viz; hooked into the top deck near the stern end at the break towards the engines; the deck was crowded with a dozen or so small sandtigers - all in the 4 to 5 foot range; lots of shark teeth on the deck; | |
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The ultimate ploy for a website picture — get well soon!
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| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: TAMAULIPAS STERN | |
| Maximum Depth: 152 ft | |
| Current: slight-to-some at surface; none at bottom | |
| Visibility: 60 to 80 on top; darkish 30-40 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: mid-hi 70s on top; mid low 70s on bottom | |
| Description: some reports on non-optimal conditions on our dive site choices inshore caused us to decide to do two at the Tamaulipas; spent the time collecting photos and shark teeth; good dive and easy ride home; | |
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The #48 Lowes scooter is looking good coming out of turn 3
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Calm, Assertive Energy
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| TRIP NOTES: | |
| Originally Scheduled Site: Manuela | |
| Actual Site: MANUELA | |
| Divers: Rick, Cindy, Jimmy, Jim K, Charles, Jason, and Paul | |
| Weather Conditions: Sunny and hot; | |
| Sea Conditions: 15 knts out of the N; 3 footers hitting us on the nose on the way up; Yeech! | |
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Divers explore the stern of the Manuela
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Sea fans growing on the end of the condensor
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Jason heading into the stern
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| DIVE #1 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Maximum Depth: 158 ft | |
| Current: some mid-water; minimal on wreck | |
| Visibility: 40-60 ft on bottom - kinda dark | |
| Water temperature: mid 70s on bottom; hi 70s on top | |
| Description: rough ride once we made the turn on the shoals; Bobby almost turned off and sometimes we wished he had; not terribly big waves, but were hitting us right on the nose making the ride more uncomfortable as we approached the wreck; anchored just off the stern; water clear, but dark; lots of bait fish - pretty dive; hang was a bit rough; | |
| DIVE #2 DESCRIPTION: | |
| Site: CARIBSEA | |
| Maximum Depth: 85 ft. | |
| Current: bow to stern | |
| Visibility: 50-70 ft down to 15 ft from bottom; 10 ft on bottom | |
| Water temperature: mid-hi 70s on top; mid low 70s on bottom | |
| Description: anchored between the engine and boilers; beautiful water to just below the top of the engines, boilers and bow; I haven't been to the Caribsea in a few years and was saddened to see how the bow has collapsed even more; the anchors no longer hang in their hawse pipes as the sides and supporting decks have fallen away; 4 large sandtigers sat in front of the bow; and another 4-6 sat off the stern; lots of smaller sharks sat down in the wreck; lots of bait in the water and schools of spanish mackeral buzzed the bow and above the engine; pretty dive; | |
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Jason frames the remains of the Caribsea bow
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Baitfish swirl across the bow
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Rick doing the pro-video hover manuever above the boilers
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