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NC 2004: Oct Seafood Festival Trip Report....


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#16 VADiver

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Posted 06 October 2004 - 05:05 AM

Dan, no problem on the air, that what the buddy system is for. Both the diving and company was great; but as Kamala mentioned some of us had the opportunty to evaluate our diving and imporve our skils as a result. I know I did some serious personal reflection and diving evaluation on the long drive home. Damn traffic and no sleep...!

Who's diving this coming weekend?? And where??

#17 sugarbad

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Posted 06 October 2004 - 06:07 AM

I just uploaded a bunch of dryland pics from this weekend's "SleepyDiver's.com" weekend!

#18 WreckGoddess

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Posted 06 October 2004 - 06:14 AM

Brent darlin.. "WRECKED GODDESS" grr... :diver:
btw.. cute pic of you and Kamala!!

Vinny's pic.. :hiya:

Btw.. I am 100% diving this weekend.. either Morehead or Myrtle Beach. I'll put a post up as soon as I can make up my mind!
It looks like Seawitch, Depthcharge65, and Diver171 will be coming with me.
(Since both my DIR buddies bailed on me)
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#19 sugarbad

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Posted 06 October 2004 - 06:23 AM

Brent darlin.. "WRECKED GODDESS" grr... :diver:
btw.. cute pic of you and Kamala!!

Vinny's pic.. :hiya:

Btw.. I am 100% diving this weekend.. either Morehead or Myrtle Beach. I'll put a post up as soon as I can make up my mind!
It looks like Seawitch, Depthcharge65, and Diver171 will be coming with me.
(Since both my DIR buddies bailed on me)

I didn't "bail" on you......I told you upfront I was going to be AWOL.......It looks like I am out of the water until my November trip to Florida...YUCK. Why is it I need to work to pay for diving....Why can't I just win the lottery?

#20 BradfordNC

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Posted 07 October 2004 - 11:16 PM

and thanks Vinny for the air. I owe ya'!

the great thing about diving with Vinny is those PST steel 130s, he always has plenty of air to spare.
OK, lets make a deal. If you stop telling me how to dive, I'll stop going down to the bus station at 2am to slap d***s out of your mouth.

#21 WreckWench

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Posted 07 October 2004 - 11:39 PM

Hey gang...here it is....the official trip report! -ww


Our official SingleDivers.com NC Wreck and Shark diving Seafood Festival summary starts off by reporting that its finally all clear on the Tropical Storm front and conditions are returning to normal in Morehead City. This past weekend saw plenty of great diving in Morehead City and Atlantic Beach area. SingleDivers.com and Red, Wet & Blue Charters were welcomed by the Diver Down for the annual NC Seafood Festival on Friday thru Sunday with trips out to the Papoose, Schurz, U-352 and Aeolus. The sea conditions were beautiful and temperatures pleasant all weekend.

Divers came from all over the Eastern Seaboard and even a few Texans to enjoy the "Caribbean of the Atlantic" also known as the "GraveYard of the Atlantic" due to all the wrecks that litter the coast. For those that arrived early we caught dinner at a local favorite the Ice House and plans were carried out to get ready for the weekend's fun and festivities!


Friday am rolled around very quickly with continental breakfast including sausage biscuits served in Wreck Goddess, NexAriel and Wreck Wench's room. After fueling with grub and coffee the divers started to load gear onto the boat and get settled in for the days diving. After gearing up tanks on the dive deck, several divers found bunks to crash out (especially VinnyVa & Wreck Goddess both of whom arrived in Morehead City around 4am). The other divers chose to watch the sun rise over the ocean as we headed to our first wreck of the day. The waters were fairly calm however we started the day out with a SE swell rolling into the inlet but the further out we went the less the seas became until once on the wreck we had just a 1-2 foot ground swell. Kenny "The Worm Who Swallowed A Compass" Long tied us in on the port anchor still in its hawser on the bow of the Papoose a WWII freighter and U-Boat victim. Visibility was still a bit stirred up from the steady stream of tropical storms and hurricanes, but improving rapidly, and was in the 35-40 foot range Friday morning. The water temperature was 78 at the surface and 81 at the bottom. There was a very large and pretty Red Snapper inside the wreck on the bow (which some scallywag shot on the second dive aka Capt Bobby and his lovely assistant the Wench),a large Loggerhead Turtle and a few Atlantic Sandtigers around but no one saw any Lion Fish this time. It was very enjoyable and the second dive even prettier as the sun broke thru and lightened up the dive improving visibility greatly! There were also plenty of Amber Jack hanging around and several large Barracuda near the surface while doing safety stops and just hanging out under the boat.

After arriving back to shore, divers cleaned gear, showered and got ready for the infamous trip dockside bbq! Steak, Salmon, Pork Steaks, & Chicken all marinaded differently for over 24 hours were soon being grilled to everyone's desires and homemade coleslaw, grilled veggies, deviled eggs and potatoe salad rounded out the meal. Beer, wine and plenty of sodas, water, tea and beverages were served making for a wonderful evening of good food, good conversation and good fun!

In fact...it was a 'shocker' of an evening but you had to be there to understand...or check out the pictures for the new hand signal that referred to the new lingo we learned from Brent aka "SugarBad". We were also joined by a local artist who had dinner with us and offered to do a painting for SingleDivers.com. He is REALLY very talented so I'll keep you posted on how the 'art project' proceeds!

After finally hitting the rack Friday with good food, beach walks and good talks drifting off into slumber, morning once again came early with breakfast grub at the abode of 'dive central' room 103! On Saturday we loaded up again and headed out to the USS Schurz a WWI wreck sunk in 1918 and still loaded with fun artifacts to find and keep! Once again the seas were very docile and the ride was very pleasurable. Pods of Dolphin were everywhere and some came in to ride the bow for a short time but Captain Bob was running too fast for their liking and they soon peeled off. Once on the wreck, Kenny tied us in on the stern. The visibility was a good 50 feet horizontally and 70 feet vertically. As usual, the wreck had it's resident school of baitfish that sometimes knock the vis down to a few feet but they were a bit spread out this day. There was very large Sandtiger lurking on the outskirts of the wreck that Capt Bobby and I just caught as we scootered by surveying the wreck. We did manage to see a Loggerhead Turtle swim in and back out as well as nice Lion Fish near the ammo locker. There were also lots of Grouper, Spade Fish, Amber Jacks, Barracuda, several large Queen Angels and a whole host of Spotted Morays. As usual, digging in the ammo locker occupied the time of many of our divers but a few managed to see the wreck and the wide diversity of life that inhabits this great dive site and one of my two personal favorite wrecks!

After a smooth ride back to shore...gear cleaned and tanks dropped off to get filled...it was time to explore the SeaFood Festival...the essence of this particular weekend! Booths were set up with arts and crafts and more food then even our hearty gang of eaters could master. After tasting and eating the fare from 7 booths of food including bacon wrapped scallops, seafood gumbo, homemade lemonaid to wash everything down, Cajun shrimp wraps, soft shelled crabs, Maryland crab cakes and funnel cakes for dessert...we could barely walk. We checked out the dive shop that originally discovered the U-352 and her resident artifact display...listened to live music...people watched...roamed the games with "hoops" Wreck Maniac and Ryvor showing us how to sink the ball and then ended the evening watching the awesome fireworks display! A quick taxi home and it was time to think about some shuteye as we got ready for our last day of diving in Morehead.


On Sunday the winds shifted to the North so the breeze was slightly cooler
but the seas remained quite hospitable. Our first dive was spent on the
U-352 where we had about 40 feet of visibility and 81 degrees at depth.
There was a reverse thermocline so it was cooler, 76 degrees, and quite
murky near the surface. On the wreck there was plenty to see including a
small Lionfish, about 6 inches in length up forward of the Conning Tower on
the starboard side. The aft was socked in with bait fish and spades and
Amber Jack were cruising all around the wreck. Several of our divers trained in wreck penetration attempted their first penetrations of the sub although it wasn't their first dives on the wreck. Capt Bobby surveyed the insides of the U-boat after our adventuresome threesome and I remained outside this time taking it all in! I had not seen her since July 4th weekend and more of her pressure hull was missing...apparently storm damage legacy. How she has remained in tact is truly amazing and I know it won't be long before she has totally given way to the ravages of the sea...but until that day...she is and always has been one of my two favorite wrecks!


For our second dive we decided to head closer inshore to the Aeolus. On the
short ride over we were joined by a large Pod of Dolphin who spent several
minutes jumping and cavorting near our bow. The Captain slowed down a bit to
maximize the fun for everyone. Once on the Aeolus, Kenny tied us in near the
stern of the wreck and had visibility of about 30-35 feet but it seemed cloudy and murky and proved to be challenging navigating back to the wreck for some of us...myself included! The bottom temperature was 79 degrees and here too there was a thermocline and decreased visibility near the surface but much prettier on the bottom. On the wreck there were plenty of Amber Jacks, Spades and Sea Bass as well as the occasional Sand Tiger. Our last dive of the weekend was not as pristine as the others but it was a great dive to test diving skills and have all our divers pass with flying colors. If conditions continue to improve within the week, conditions should return to the normal 80-100 feet typical of this area.

The ride home for some marked the end of a wonderful weekend and departing from new and old friends! Many of our divers live within driving distance so divers cleaned gear, tipped the crew and loaded up fairly quickly to make it home to Virginia and various parts of NC and SC. Our Texas and Florida divers still had another evening of local hospitality before catching flights the next day.

Monday dawned bright and early and I got to roll over and hit the snooze since breakfast wasn't until 9am. A hearty breakfast at the Four Corners Diner and then packing and goodbyes to the hotel owners, boat owners and others meant the drive back to RDU was soon to begin with flights outbound shortly thereafter. The drive back to Raleigh was uneventful and we stopped for a late lunch since we all know how awesome airplane food is! :wavey: Divers dropped at their gates...rental cars deposited back all in good time only to find that my flight to Dallas was delayed a couple of hours due to thunderstorms. Seems Dallas was getting some much needed rain...but fortunately while I was not there! The time flew by as I found a number of interesting people to talk too...including a gal from Austin who wants to get certified and thought the idea of SingleDivers.com was great! Another buddyless diver from California was met on the plane and planned to check us out during his layover in the DFW airport on his long trek home. I even met another nutritionist on the plane and got to talk 'shop' on the way home!

To all I want to thank you for joining us this weekend and I certainly look forward to seeing you all soon on the next NC trip or even some of our other fun and exciting destinations in 2005 such as Cozumel, Manatee Diving in the Florida Springs, Saba/StKitts/Statia/StMaarteen liveaboard and land package, Turks and Caicos luxury liveaboard, NC Wreck and Shark diving, Texas Flower Gardens, Bonaire or Curacao, Northern Wrecks in the St. Lawrence River, California, and possibly other destinations as well! (The full calendar will be posted as well as trip details between now and the end of DEMA next week!)

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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#22 VADiver

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 04:19 AM

the great thing about diving with Vinny is those PST steel 130s, he always has plenty of air to spare.



The down side was I was using my 40cf deco at the time. Thank God for doubles! The 130s are great too...all I need to do now is get a drysuit and double those up then I'll be able to stay down for days! How you doing out east? Need anything from the states?

#23 wreck_maniac

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 06:22 AM

Yeah Brad,
Hope things are going well...let us know if you need anything. You missed it....Vinny and I went in the sub where Vinny was doing a "modified" frog kick that caused me to have to pick another hatch...the silt plumed out of the forward torpedo hatch like a bomb had gone off :wavey:
~dale

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#24 WreckWench

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 07:01 AM

Yeah Brad,
Hope things are going well...let us know if you need anything. You missed it....Vinny and I went in the sub where Vinny was doing a "modified" frog kick that caused me to have to pick another hatch...the silt plumed out of the forward torpedo hatch like a bomb had gone off :lmao:

Yep...they all forgot that Bobby told them to not kick at all...only pull themselves along!!! Speaking of pulling....how's it going over there???? :wavey:

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!!
SD LEGACY/OLD/MANUAL Forms & Documents.... here !

Click here TO PAY for Merchandise, Membership, or Travel
"Imitation is the sincerest flattery." - Gandhi
"Imitation is proof that originality is rare." - ScubaHawk
SingleDivers.com...often imitated...never duplicated!

Kamala Shadduck c/o SingleDivers.com LLC
2234 North Federal Hwy, #1010 Boca Raton, FL 33431
formerly...
710 Dive Buddy Lane; Salem, SC 29676
864-557-6079 tel/celfone/office or tollfree fax 888-480-0906

#25 VADiver

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 08:01 AM

I did try to pull.... it didn't work too good either. I got to "see" the sub though.... Damn silt.

Dale, we need to build the "silt extraction" device you mentioned; have some of your engineers design one over lunch or so.

#26 BradfordNC

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 10:00 AM

Yeah Brad,
Hope things are going well...let us know if you need anything. You missed it....Vinny and I went in the sub where Vinny was doing a "modified" frog kick that caused me to have to pick another hatch...the silt plumed out of the forward torpedo hatch like a bomb had gone off :welcome:

so Vinny is a "silter" huh?

crossing him off my list of possible cave diving buddies, j/k Vinny.


Dale,
got any plans for mid to late December? i'm prolly gonna run down to Key Largo for a few days to do some aggressive wreck diving.

will prolly go down to do some north florida diving in the springs around the 30-31st of dec.


sounds like you all had a great time in Morehead. i wish i could have been there. got my HID light fixed, Night Rider fixed it overnight and expressed it back to me, but i didn't get a chance to use it before i left.

as for needs, i'm pretty well taken care of over here, considering where i am.

with the elections coming on, we are getting several rocket attacks, makes for some high adventure.
OK, lets make a deal. If you stop telling me how to dive, I'll stop going down to the bus station at 2am to slap d***s out of your mouth.

#27 DandyDon

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 10:35 AM

Yeah, I saw that cloud coming out of that hole. I just prayed for him. :welcome:
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#28 wreck_maniac

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 11:08 AM

I'm there for the Florida trips Brad. Me and Sugarbad are going to do the cavern course at some point this winter as well....I'll be itching to do some wrecks by the time you get home :welcome: Take care of yourself over there
~dale

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#29 jextract

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Posted 08 October 2004 - 03:32 PM

Brent darlin.. "WRECKED GODDESS" grr... :teeth:
btw.. cute pic of you and Kamala!!

Vinny's pic..  :teeth:

Btw.. I am 100% diving this weekend.. either Morehead or Myrtle Beach. I'll put a post up as soon as I can make up my mind!
It looks like Seawitch, Depthcharge65, and Diver171 will be coming with me.
(Since both my DIR buddies bailed on me)

I didn't "bail" on you......I told you upfront I was going to be AWOL.......It looks like I am out of the water until my November trip to Florida...YUCK. Why is it I need to work to pay for diving....Why can't I just win the lottery?

Sounds like the trip was a blast!

By the way, don't forget that the lottery is a Tax On People Who Are Bad At Math. Go ahead and check the state's budget ... that's how it's listed.
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