September 9 and 10, 2000 : On September 9 & 10, 12 divers from the Patowmack Divers Dive Club went to Morehead City for ... diving ! Bruce MacLaren made a good report of it, which he couldn't post due to computer problems. So here it is:
A group of 12 divers from the Patowmack Divers Dive Club met down in Morehead City over the weekend of September 9 & 10 to dive the Graveyard of the Atlantic. These divers included Bob B, Kathy L, Jamie W, Dan B, Steve H, Guilhem M, Roger W, Bruce B, Matt H, Linda A, Bob B, and yours truly, Bruce M. I would also like to say Kudos, and special thanks, to Bob Boling for the OUTSTANDING job he did in planning, organizing, and executing this trip for all of us ;-) ! Along with some of our friends from the Underwater Explorers Club based in Richmond, we used the dive services of Olympus Dive Center and boarded flagship Olympus for both Saturday September 9 and Sunday September 10. Dive #1, Saturday September 9, 2000 - To kick-off the dive trip, the majority from both groups wanted to see sharks and venture to the Caribsea wreck located east of the Diamond Shoals. Based on recent reports and rumors, it seems that many of the Sand-Tigers previously residing on the Papoose decided to "move on up to the east side" to the Caribsea. However, recent reports came in that stated recent rough weather off the NC coast reduced visibility to about 5 feet at the Caribsea. Consequently, we decided to make our 1st dive on the wreck of the Schurz. When we got to the Schurz, other dive boats were already there and had divers in the water. We waited our turn, and when a "parking spot" opened up, we moved in and tied-in to the wreck. We tied-in around the middle of the wreck just behind the boilers. Most of us were a little disappointed to find the viz was only about 15 feet, but in spite of this, the wreck still had it's charms. I've been to the Schurz before, but I've never seen this part of the wreck before so it was a new experience for me. There were also a few other divers on board who had never dove Morehead before at all, so for them it was entirely new. Water temperature on this dive was in the mid-80s. The top water layers were a nice, clear, azure blue color. It was only the bottom 20 feet that hadn't yet cleared from recent rough weather. Once on the bottom, my buddies and I found 3 or 4 reel lines radiating away from the anchor. Instead of tying my reel line off and increasing the chance of any potential confusion from overlapping lines, we decided to follow one of the lines that had already been laid-out. The line we followed led us over to the boilers. These resembled large soda (or beer ;-) ) cans about the size of an old VW Bus. From there, we continued on to the wreck's port side and toward the bow. Since visibility was limited and we couldn't see much of what was going on around the wreck, we concentrated on the wreck itself below us. Something that I very quickly noticed was that, in contrast to previous dives I'd made on this wreck, there weren't many tropical fish and animals present. On one particular dive I made a couple years back, I think I remember seeing as many as 4 Morays, in addition to many angelfish, butterflyfish, etc. This time, I didn't notice any. However, I did notice large schools of baitfish, a few wrasses, and some other types of fish that I wasn't able to easily identify. Maximum depth was 110 feet, and total bottom time (including lengthy hang) was 27 minutes. Dive #2, Saturday September 9, 2000 - Given that viz was as bad as it was on the Schurz, we thought we'd try to venture a little further out into the Gulf Stream and hit the Papoose for our 2nd dive of the day. We tied-in around the middle of the wreck, just ahead of the most-forward collapsed hull section. We were greeted by a big mob of large, active, healthy amberjacks swimming circles all around us…but true to recent reports…NO SHARKS! One immediately apparent up-side of this dive was that the viz turned out to be decent. By most people's approximations, it was about 50 feet. After the amberjacks dispersed a bit, my buddies and I slowly made our way back toward the stern of the wreck. After a short distance, we came to the first collapsed section of hull. I looked down and immediately noticed a small ray in the sand by one of the cavernous compartments. While my buddies stayed relatively shallow and cruised just over the wreck, I swam out into the sand off the wreck's port side to look for any left-over shark teeth. On a previous dive on this wreck, I remembered finding a handful of the nice, white, dagger-shaped teeth in this same area. But as I expected, I didn't find a single tooth. I also checked out the collapsed compartment, but didn't see much of interest. After we checked out the wreck's starboard side, we found the anchor line and ascended for our safety stop at 15 feet. Maximum depth was 124 feet, with a total down time (including safety stop) was 29 minutes. Dive #3, Sunday September 10, 2000 - We arrived at Olympus's dock a bit early on Sunday morning to try to get a head-start on the day (OK…I'll confess…what we were really trying to do was beat the other boats out to the wrecks). After discussing a selection of wrecks to visit, we decided to make the U-352 our 1st dive destination that day. But by the time we got out to the wreck, there were already dive boats "parked" on the sub. While waiting for a parking space, we finished getting ready for the dive. Once in the water I waited for my buddies to catch up to me, and then down the anchor line we went. The water temperature, even on the bottom, was low to mid 80-ish…and viz by most accounts was around 50 feet. We hooked into the rear of the sub by the propellers. My buddies and I swam slowly along the deck toward the conning tower. Schools of baitfish abounded, along with a few large amberjacks and barracudas. Once at the conning tower, I took a close look inside a little hole and noticed a little goby looking directly at me from its home. Like most people, I couldn't resist looking in the main hatch. While looking inside, I noticed a roving beam of light coming from deep inside the sub's interior. Apparently, somebody in our group decided to get adventurous and penetrate to take a look around (I couldn't wait to hear details) !! After exploring the sub's port side and stern section, my buddies indicated they were ready to surface. Once on the surface, I spoke with the person that had penetrated the sub. The person said that he located an old locker inside the sub that had about a foot of silt in it. While rummaging through the silt, he found the remains of a book that had been soaked in diesel fuel. The good thing about this is that it seems the diesel fuel helps preserve paper. Considering the book had been submerged in salt water for close to 60 years, it seemed to be in good condition, but upon reaching the surface and being exposed to wave action, it disintegrated substantially. Of the pages that were left intact, large portions of paragraphs could still easily be read. Maximum depth was 115 feet, with a total down-time (including safety stop) of 34 minutes. Dive #4, Sunday September 10, 2000 - For Sunday's 2nd dive, we decided to return to the Schurz...and the Schurz did not disappoint !! The viz had dramatically improved over the past 24 hours to about 50 feet all the way to the bottom. The water temp seemed to be about the same as the day before…nice and warm ! This time, we tied our anchor off at the stern near one of the 5-inch guns. This was another new experience for me because I've never been on this part of the wreck. On previous dive trips, I had only seen the bow portion of this wreck. On those dives, I came away with the impression that the Schurz was just one of those interesting and beautiful wrecks that I would always want to come back to in the future. This is a wreck that has been changed in such a marvelous way by the ocean that has consumed it. While descending to the wreck, one of my buddies was having problems clearing her ears between 60 and 80 feet. After a couple minutes, she managed to equalize, and we continued our descent. Upon first sight of the wreck, I was struck by how different the stern looked in general comparison to the other parts of the wreck I had seen previously. On a previous dive on the bow section, even with excellent viz I remember that the wreck was very broken-up and didn't resemble a ship much at all. Saturday's dive on the wreck's mid-section (near boilers) left me with a similar impression. But from what I recall, the stern seemed to more or less maintain its original "ship" shape. My 2 buddies and I gave "OK" signals to each other and we began exploring. Along with the ever-present huge schools of baitfish that engulfed the wreck, a couple medium-sized angelfish and a school of blue chromises grabbed my attention. There were of course other fish, but the massive size of the school of baitfish and the color of the angelfish were hard to miss. All things considered, I think the most exciting aspect of this dive was the fact that I was diving a part of the wreck that was new to me. There were lots of old barely-recognizable pieces of machinery to explore, along with the old 5-inch guns. I found the general layout of the wreck to be fascinating…with lots of relief and places to explore. In my opinion, this was the best dive of the weekend. Maximum depth was 111 feet, with total down-time (including safety hang) of 33 minutes. All things considered, in spite of bad viz on Schurz Dive #1 and slightly choppy seas, I think this was one of the best trips I've had down to Morehead in a long time. THANKS AGAIN, BOB !! Bruce MacLaren Patowmack Divers Dive Club www.dcdiver.com
Let me add two personal comments: - As was said, Bob did a really good job in organizing the trip, thanks again ! - Bruce dove air, when I dove nitrox. Here's the benefit in terms of bottom time:
Air:
Dive 1: 110 feet - 27 minutes
Dive 2: 124 feet - 29 minutes
Dive 3: 115 feet - 34 minutes
Dive 4: 111 feet - 33 minutes
Nitrox
Dive 1: 112 feet - 36 minutes
Dive 2: 125 feet - 40 minutes
Dive 3: 116 feet - 40 minutes
Dive 4: 109 feet - 43 minutes
A total of 36 more minutes, almost an extra dive ! I'm glad I did my nitrox certification ! Anyway, we had a great time, and I really liked my first dives in the Atlantic Ocean. Guilhem Molines