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N.C. Wreck Dive and SHARKS!!!


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#46 chinacat46

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Posted 11 August 2005 - 11:48 AM

Sounds like a fun trip. I'm gonna have to make it to one of these trips next year.

#47 Neptuner

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Posted 11 August 2005 - 01:40 PM

Well, Neptuner, you can teach me in October if you sign up for the Morehead trip.

But of course ma'am, I would be happy to share both of my left feet with you! :birthday:

I was told that every night you played songs to the girls before they went to sleep. I am looking forward to that treat. 

That's only cuz they were so incredibly nice to me all the time... the pleasure was all mine, I appreciate having an audience of any kind. :birthday:

But we didn't NEED to go out dancin' with that fabulous in-suite entertainment every night!

See what I mean... they're all so darn sweet. Thank you Miss hydrophilicity!

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#48 GentDiver

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Posted 11 August 2005 - 04:01 PM

Here is my post on LiveJournal to my friends about my trip. Please realize that most of my friends are non-divers, so I tried to write it with that in mind.

All,

I went to North Carolina to do some wreck diving from August 4 - August 8. It was just amazing. Each day started around 5:30am so we could be underway by 6:30am. We then took a 2 hour boat ride to the dive site. Once we got the the dive site here is what happens. You gear up and then get into the water. Because the wrecks are so deep (100+ feet down) you need to descend fairly slow, and then your ascention needs to be slow. The idea is that you need to deal with the pressure going to the wreck and want to ascend slowly so you don't get the bends. While your on the wreck you only have a certain amount of time that you can be down that deep. This is because I do no-decompression diving. What that means is that you don't have to stop coming up because of decompression. It is recommended that you always do a 3 minute safety stop to be safe and insure that I don't get the bends. With decompression diving you are required to stay for the amount of time it takes to remove the extra nitrogen from your body. In addition you still want to add the 3 minute safety stop. What all this means is that you don't have to worry as much about air, you need to worry more about your no-decompression time.

It is very amazing to see something that was sunk during WWII materialize in from of you as you descend. It basically materializes out of the blue. The first site we dove was on a WWII U-boat.

http://www.nc-wreckd.../U352/U352.HTML

This was a very interesting wreck. The boat was completely in tact. It did have many holes were you could look in, but you needed a flashlight to see much inside the wreck, even then it was hard to see much of anything. During my dive buddy and my safety stop, we had a couple of barracuda's hanging out with us. It was so cool to see them just hang out with us.

The second dive we did was on Aeolus.

http://www.nc-wreckd...LUS/AEOLUS.HTML

The wreck itself has been broken into many different pieces. This is because of the many hurricanes that have hit the NC Coast since it had been sunk. As my dive buddy and I explored the wreck we saw a large stingray We were able to get fairly close to it. Again during my dive buddy and my safety stop we had a some barracuda's hanging out with us. This time there were around a 1/2 dozen.

The second day we dove only one site. It was Schurz.

http://www.nc-wreckd...URZ/SCHURZ.HTML

One of the things that people like to do on this site is dig for rifle shells. I didn't try to find any, but there were many people on the boat that did find some shells. One person was nice enough to give me one of their shells.

The whole time I was diving the Schurz I was humming the theme song to National Geographic. This is because in many ways it felt like I was in the middle of one of their shows. There were many schools of bait fish that when you started to swim though them would let you join their school for a while. Also, the visibility of the dive was amazing. It was so blue it's hard for me to explain. During our first dive we saw a huge sea turtle. Unfortunately another dive boat joined us on the first dive so the site was a little crowded and they scared many of the bait fish.

On the second dive we had the dive site to ourselves. This time we were able to check out the entire boat. On the opposite side of the boat from were we saw the turtle on the previous dive we saw a shark that was cruising around the wreck. It was only about 3 feet long, but still a beautiful creature. This dive would turn out to be my favorite dive of the trip. Again as we were doing our safety stop we had a small school of barracudas hanging out with us.

The last day of the trip the dive boat went to 2 sites that are well known as "shark dives". This means that there are a lot of sharks around a particular wreck. The first dive was on the Atlas. Unfortunately the visibility was very bad, so we really didn't see very much of this wreck (except for the primary mast).

http://www.nc-wreckd...TLAS/ATLAS.HTML

The last dive of the trip was on the Caribsea.

http://www.nc-wreckd...A/CARIBSEA.HTML

On this wreck the visibly was great (60 feet or more) and there must have been more then a dozen sharks. It was amazing to have a shark within arms reach and have them not care if you were that or not. They are the most amazing creatures. I was never scared that they were going to bite me, mostly they were just hanging out watch us.

One of the guys on the trip took some pictures, here is a link to his shots.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubabjs/

It was a great trip. I am definitely planning on doing that trip again next year.

Scott

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#49 captainmike

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Posted 16 August 2005 - 04:24 PM

QUOTE (scubabjs @ Aug 9 2005, 02:27 PM)
I have uploaded some of the photos I took from the Trip you can view them at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubabjs/



OK, let's see some more of those photos... since I was driving and couldn't dive I missed out on most of the fun. Thanks though to Brian, for downloading a few of yours at the link above... this is a great start.

You all were a great group and we really enjoyed getting you offshore for a few good dives, of course with exception to the Atlas. I'm also sure at least a few of you are a little more "seasoned" after this trip, so hurry back, we've got some more wrecksites to visit.

Take care,
Captain Mike
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#50 GentDiver

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Posted 16 August 2005 - 04:28 PM

Mike,

it was a great time. Thanks for taking such good care of us.

I have to agree. Where are the rest of the pictures? :lmao:

Scott

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#51 WreckWench

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Posted 16 August 2005 - 05:01 PM

Hey Capt Mike! It is awesome to see you hang out and join us online! Too bad you weren't able to dive with us on our trip...but you did a great job on your maiden voyage as the Capt of the Diver Down! (I promise I've told everyone that the blue paint was ALREADY there from the weekend before when Roy and gang all had THIER maiden voyages!) :teeth:

Here is an excerpt from the official Diver Down trip report...

On August 5-7, Mike Daniel picked up Captain duties and was assisted by Terry Brady from Brass Anchor Scuba Center in Frederick, MD and our very own Kenny the Worm. Kenny says Mike did pretty good except on one drop on the Schurz where he thought he might be in a different area code. :teeth:

Singledivers.com provided the guest for this trip so I'm sure it was entertaining. (THAT you can bet on!!!)  :lmao:

On Friday Kenny said they did the U-352 and the Aeolus. On the Sub they had 60 feet of visibility and a bottom temperature of 79 degrees. At the surface it was 86 degrees. On the Aeolus they 40-50 feet of visibility and similar bottom and surface temperatures.

Saturday they did two dives on the USS Schurz after Kenny tied them in. Visibility was 70-80 feet with a bottom temperature of 77 degrees and a surface temperature of 86 degrees.

On Sunday they went East to the Atlas Tanker but visibility was very disappointing at 10-20 feet. For the second dive they moved to the Caribsea where things improved greatly. Here they had 70 feet of visibility, 77 degrees at the bottom and 86 degrees at the surface. Kenny said they saw plenty of sharks so everyone was much happier.


The Sub was the SUB!! Unfortunately we had to share it with another boat so it was a very crowded u-boat indeed. Sorta took that surreal, warship lost in battle feel I usually get when I dive her away...and reminded me more of rush hour traffic...but only with divers running back and forth along the top of her. I did get the chance to see one of the resident lionfish at the stern as did my dive buddies from Ohio. We also saw a huge spiny puffer keeping the lionfish company at our end of the wreck.

The Aeolus was fun and had some good swim thrus for our divers...as well as a few sharks for a couple of lucky folks. Being the second dive most everyone had settled in and enjoyed it much more.

The two dives on the USS Schurz were spectacular. We found the ammo locker and a number of our divers got bullets as momentos...floor tiles (at least my two buddies on the second dive got a floor tile)...and lots of great pictures of rays, fish, gamefish and baitfish that blocked the sky like the black out lights ships would use to avoid u-boat detection in WWII. And then in a blink of an eye...the wall would move and light was revealed again creating an incredible feeling of awe. And don't forget the MilkyWay of Atlantic Spade Fish...on this and several of the wrecks we visited on this trip. By doing two dives on the same wreck, we were able to go towards the bow on the first dive and then explore the stern on the second and NEVER worry about being lost or having to rush to see it all. Vis was in deed awesome and this wreck is one of my personal favorites.

After each dive we'd do our safety stops with the resident mutant barracudas. Why muntant? Cuz they are 4-6 ft long and they hang out in schools under the boat...just waiting for their prey. (They use the shadow of the boat to 'hide' in and its an incredible way to spend 3, 5, 10 minutes at 20 feet just memorized!)

Our last day was poised to be our best...we had saved the sharks for last! Heading East the ride was a bit bouncy at first 2-3 ft with an occasional 4 for fun but it laid out as we moved further offshore. We chose the Atlas first but unfortunately she had a layer of cloudy water on the bottom leaving the awesome vis above our heads. Moving in closer to shore for our second dive to the Caribesea, we were edgy as to whether we could get on the wreck...2 other dive boats were on it already and of course we were hoping that the blue water high above the Atlas would be the bottom of this wreck since she sits in 80ft of water. The dive gods smiled on us as we wre able to take the center of the wreck AND the vis was great. We could see at least a hundred sharks if you counted them from stem to stern. With the depths being less...we were able to stay on this wreck much longer but alas as with ALL NC wrecks...it was never long enough and we finally had to surface from what was easily the BEST dive of the trip. In fact many of our divers said that dive was in their top 5 all time best dives. And I had to agree...it was certainly one of my best dives in several years in NC and just seeing everyone else so excited about it made it even more special for me. Yep... a few people finally figured out why I'm so excited about diving here...if even for only one dive! I'm already looking forward to the October trip which is also Seafood Festival! Its usually full of incredible artifacts uncovered by the hurricanes that will sweep thru in Sept. See you all there!

-Wreck Wench

Attached Images

  • MemDay02_Naeco_LionFish.JPG


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#52 WreckWench

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Posted 16 August 2005 - 05:05 PM

And the sharks...

Attached Images

  • MT_Sharks_Caribsea_3.JPG


Contact me directly at Kamala@SingleDivers.com for your private or group travel needs or 864-557-6079 AND don't miss SD's 2018-2021 Trips! ....here! Most are once in a lifetime opportunities...don't miss the chance to go!!
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#53 Basslet

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Posted 16 August 2005 - 05:37 PM

QUOTE (scubabjs @ Aug 9 2005, 02:27 PM)
I have uploaded some of the photos I took from the Trip you can view them at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/scubabjs/



OK, let's see some more of those photos... since I was driving and couldn't dive I missed out on most of the fun. Thanks though to Brian, for downloading a few of yours at the link above... this is a great start.

You all were a great group and we really enjoyed getting you offshore for a few good dives, of course with exception to the Atlas. I'm also sure at least a few of you are a little more "seasoned" after this trip, so hurry back, we've got some more wrecksites to visit.

Take care,
Captain Mike

Thanks Capt. Mike, I know I am. I uploaded my profiles. That last one was quite "interesting" :lmao:

Ellen

#54 Dive_Girl

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Posted 17 August 2005 - 10:02 AM

img007 is FABULOUS!!! :birthday:
It's Winter time - you know you're a diver when you're scraping ice off your windshield INSIDE your vehicle...!

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#55 Ariesno1

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Posted 17 August 2005 - 11:20 AM

QUOTE 

You all were a great group and we really enjoyed getting you offshore for a few good dives, of course with exception to the Atlas.  I'm also sure at least a few of you are a little  more "seasoned" after this trip, so hurry back, we've got some more wrecksites to visit.

Take care,
Captain Mike

Thanks, Captain Mike,
You are a great captain, and thanks for being so thoughtful to slow down the boat when the high waves made the use of the head almost impossible. :birthday:

I will be back in October and look forward to more of these fantastic dives.

#56 Basslet

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Posted 17 August 2005 - 11:52 AM

Doris, I'm picking up the photos tonight after work. I'll try to scan them and send them to you tonight. Sorry for the delay but I've been trying to get lots of things done before I go to FG. :birthday:
And I totally agree about Mike being a great guy slowing down the boat for us. :birthday: BTW, Mike, I shared your the equalizing tip you gave me on D2D, but I had forgotten your name. Sorry.

#57 Ariesno1

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Posted 17 August 2005 - 12:59 PM

Doris, I'm picking up the photos tonight after work. I'll try to scan them and send them to you tonight.

Great, thanks Ellen :birthday:
Have a wonderful :birthday: trip




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