- WEST PALM BEACH _DEEP WRECK TRIMIX DIVES -
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May 20, 2002: The Miller Lite Wreck - Built in 1957, this 186-foot Freighter was a German refrigerator cargo vessel and was originally commissioned the Mini-Horn. She now sits upright in 164 feet of water about 1 mile off the coast of Florida. Sunk as an artificial reef she now makes for a good intermediate range wreck dive. The weather deck on this dive is at 140 feet. The first dive of the week is always an adrenalin rush, even more so after taking the winter off. The morning started off well and the weather was great. Sun shine and blue sky's made the day look like a divers dream day. The group for this trip consisted of myself, Matt Harlan (group leader) who was my Trimix Instructor, John Mason, Rick Carlstrom, Alan Crew and Patrick. A good group of tech divers all of which I have dove with before. Because this was my first deep trimix dive I would be diving with Matt as my dive buddy. After getting geared up and doing equipment check Matt and I talked about our dive plan and decided to shorten our bottom time to 25 minutes. This would end up being a very good thing as the dive conditions were less than favorable as we found out as soon as we hit the water. The Captain tried to hook the wreck but after the third failed attempt he sent down another diver that was on the boat to tie us in to the wreck. Once the down line was secure Matt and myself got up first for our jump. We hit the water and right away found out the current was ripping. It was every bit of 2 knots! As I pulled myself down the line I found myself breathing very hard, almost as if I were not getting enough gas. I must have used 1000 psi of gas in the 4 minutes it took to get down to the wreck. I did not even see the wreck until we were at 140 feet. Once we got in to one of the cargo holes we stopped and I got a chance to calm down and catch my breath. The current on the wreck was just as bad and we had to hide in side the wreck for the whole dive. It was funny that I did not remember this wreck having cargo holes from the dive's I have done on it before. Doing this dive on trimix (21/33) made everything different, like adding color to the wreck when it uses to be in black and white. My head was so clear that it was almost unnerving. The rest of the dive went well and the deco also went well as soon as Alan and Patrick unhooked the anchor line from the wreck. We drift decompressed on the anchor line and made our way back on to the boat. All in all a very good dive.
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May 21, 2002: The Hydro Atlantic Wreck - Located 1 mile east of Boca Raton Inlet. She is a 320-foot long Freighter, fully intact that was sunk in a storm on December 7th , 1987 while in tow. She sits upright in 180 feet of water. Her main deck is at 145 feet. The top of the wheelhouse is at 115 feet. The dive conditions were worse today and the captain tried to warn us about the current. He had to tie a 5-pound weight to the grapple in order to hook the wreck. After the line was set we watched as the current pulled the ball on the end of the down line under the surface of the water. Most divers would not even bother getting in the water and most dive boat captains would have not let anyone dive in these conditions. We wanted this dive and decided to try to pull ourselves down the line. Rick was in the lead, and then there was me, followed by Matt and then John Mason. The current was ripping at a good 3 ½ to 4 knots. This was by far the worse current I have ever been in. We tried to pull ourselves down the line, hand over hand, and keep our breathing under control at the same time. My mask and hood were about to be ripped from my face and my back up regulator was free flowing when I saw Rick turn his head and call the dive for himself and John. When he let go of the line it was like he was shot out of a gun. We were only at 35 feet and I had already lost 400 PSI of bottom mix and looking at Matt I also called the dive. We surfaced and waited for the dive boat, which was there in seconds. We got back on board and Matt and I decided to have Captain Rob take us up current and try free jumping the wreck. As we motored back up current about 400 yards I started to recheck my gear and found that one of my deco bottle regulators had been knocked out of adjustment. It was in a permanent free flow and I new that this was a sign from God. John Mason who had decided not to jump the wreck was willing to give me his 50% deco bottle and regulator but as I thought about all the things that had gone wrong and all the things that could still go wrong I decided to sit this one out. I know that Matt was a little disappointed but I started getting bad vibes and there is always tomorrow as long as you don't die on the wreck today! We will call this one a miss.
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May 22, 2002: The Hydro Atlantic Wreck - Day number two on this wreck. The winds over night did not let up and this would mean more currents for us to deal with. Last night while having a couple of beers at the local tiki bar we decided as a group that we would all jump the wreck and this would give us a much better chance of getting on it in a lot less time and with more gas in our tanks for the dive. To our surprise this morning, the ocean seemed quite calm and the winds had shifted to a southeast direction. Once on the dive site the captain told us that the currents had died down to just under 1 knot. This meant that the visibility on the wreck should be great. The First mate Brian grappled the wreck on the first try and told us to use the line for our descent and also to do our deco. James, one of the other divers on the boat, would be responsible for pulling the hook at the end of the dive and then we would all drift on the line. The sky was very over cast but the surface conditions looked good and as we got in to position to jump the line I could sense that this would be a great dive! 'Dive, Dive, Dive!!' the captain shouted and off the stern of the boat we went. I hit the down line at about 20 feet and checked my equipment. After charging my two-deco bottles and making sure Matt was not loosing any gas we started pulling our selves down the line. About 1.5 minutes in to the dive I checked my computer and saw my depth was 120 feet. I looked around and there out of the blue I saw the massive king posts right in front of me. The anchor line went over the king post and was hooked into the up current side of the wreck's hull. Matt and I followed the line down to the main deck and then made our way forward into one of the cargo holes to hide from the current. As we started our tour of this great shipwreck we saw a huge manta ray followed by a small 4-foot reef shark. The marine life on the wreck was thriving and the water temperature at this depth was much warmer than the day before, 78 degrees at 165 feet. We had planned the dive for 170 feet with a bottom time of 20 minutes and actually stayed about 22 minutes. Our gas consumption was great and we were having way too much fun checking out the swim thru's. We did our deco on our 25-minute deco plan and had a total run time of about 60 minutes. My bottom gas was trimix 22/24 (not what I wanted, but the dive shop ran out of helium). I did my deco with EAN 50 and 100% Oxygen. The dive was great and I hope for the same kind of weather for tomorrow's dive.
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May 23, 2002: The Lowrance Wreck - A 420-foot long freighter with a 55-foot beam this wreck take's your breath away!! She was sunk on March 31st , 1984 as an artificial reef in 210-feet of water and is one of the biggest shipwrecks in the area. This wreck has a lot of marine life on it and a lot of fishing line too! Her deck is at 170-feet and the first catwalk in the cargo holes is at 180-feet. This is the best wreck in the area for deep diving. From the look of the surf on the beach this morning I knew it was going to be a rough day. The ocean has a way of telling you when it is unhappy and this morning it was pissed! The winds were still blowing out of the north at about 20 knots and there were white caps as far as the eye could see. The sky was partly cloudy and smelled of rain. I got to the dock around 0730 a little ahead of the others and asked the captain if he had a weather report for us. Captain Rob said he was going to go over and check out the beach for a better idea of what the day would be like. When he got back to the boat he told us we would be looking at 3 to 5 foot sea's and at least a 1 knot current running south. We made the call to go ahead with the dive and loaded the boat. During our 30-minute boat ride through the inland waterway before we hit the open ocean Matt and I started gearing up and going over our dive plan. We decided last night that we would dive an 18/40 trimix and plan our dive for 220 feet for 20-minutes. The dive shop gave us a light mix (mine was 18/35 and Matt's was only 18/30) but after running some numbers decided this would still work. The sand was only 205 feet to 210 feet and we would only spend 2 or 3 minutes on the bottom before moving up to the main deck at 170 feet. From there we would keep our profile between 170 feet and 190 feet for the rest of the dive. As we hit the channel going out to the open sea we knew we were in for a ride. The sun came out and the sea's came over the side of the boat. The swells were 4 to 6 feet and tossed the dive boat as we motored east-southeast into the open ocean. The good news was that the current was only 1 knot and running south, which meant the visibility on the wreck should be very good. About 10 minutes later over the wreck site Brian dropped the grapple and hooked the wreck on the first try. With the down line and dive ball in place, Captain Rob brought the boat around for the first team of divers to jump the line. John, Rick, Matt and I got set on the stern of the dive boat and when just past the ball we all hit the water. I grabbed the down line at 20 feet and down we went! It was 10:06 am and the water temperture was a lovely 80 degrees! The current was almost 1 knot but as we made our way down to the wreck it was the last thing on our minds. I first saw the wreck at about 160 feet as we swam up to her starboard side, which was the down current side on this dive. After doing a quick equipment check and helping John with one of his hoses, Matt and I dropped down the side of the wreck and got a first hand look at the hull of this great ship where it is sunk in to the sand. The last time I dove this wreck I was diving it on air and did not get to enjoy the feeling of being totally aware as you get on mixed gas. It was a totally different wreck. The colors were brighter and the ship looked a lot older and more decayed. The only thing I remembered was the size of the wreck. With a 20-minute bottom time we really didn't have time to see the whole ship so we would spend most of our time in the cargo holes forward of the wheel house. After taking 3-minutes to get down to the wreck and another 2-minutes on the sand we started up the side of the hull and over the rail on to the weather deck. The current was a little stronger here and we quickly made our way into the first cargo hole. The cargo holes are connected by hatches and cat walks at 180 feet. This is the nice part about swimming through this wreck. The cargo holes are full of pipes and other junk that was left in them when she was sunk; this makes for a great habitat for marine life. Matt and I took our time touring the three forward cargo holes and then made our way back to the anchor line for our ascent and the 45-minutes of decompression we would have to pull for this dive. We did our last stop at 20 feet on oxygen due to the rough seas; a 10-foot stop would have been hard to control with the 6-foot swells overhead. The dive boat was right there to pick us up and getting on the boat was a trick in it self!! On the ladder, the boat sideways to the waves, the stern swaying side to side and jumping 3 to 4 feet out of the water with each swell, I thought I would loose every piece of equipment before I got back on board. I made it with everything intact and no broken bones to talk about. This is what tech diving is all about!!!
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May 24, 2002: The Lowrance Wreck - Day number two on this wreck. The sky was clear this morning but the winds were still blowing in from the northeast at about 20 knots and the surf was rough with waves in the 3 to 4 foot range. Last night over a cocktail, the guy's and I talked about the possibility of the dive being cancelled due to a small craft advisory issued by the Coast Guard. The warning said that due to the tropical depression down around Cuba the sea conditions for Friday would be bad! It said that the winds would pick up to 30 knots over night and the seas would be between 7 and 10 feet. This was not what I wanted to hear on our last day of the trip. We had decided to meet at the dock in the morning and let Captain Rob make the call. I knew I could handle the diving in rough seas because I had been there before. The hard part was getting back on to the boat after the dive. Timing the dive ladder in high seas can be a real trick. Just yesterday at the end of the dive, Patrick had a hell of a time getting back on to the boat and as a result had some bad bruises on his arms and legs. Today's dive would be both better and worse! The ride down the inner coastal way was so peaceful, a light wind at our back and just as smooth as you could ever want. As we waited for the drawbridge to open to let us out to the open ocean, Rob shouted down from the bridge that we would be looking at 6 to 8 foot seas. We all looked at each other for a second and then resumed our gearing up and pre dive check out. The current is what was going through every ones mind, if it was a strong current and we got swept off the wreck we would have to drift deco on a lift bag. Normally this is no big deal, but in high seas if you shoot your bag too far away from the wreck there is a good possibility that the boat Captain won't see you. This could mean a free trip to Cuba! Once over the wreck Brian hooked the down line in and Rob reported the current was the same as yesterday, about 1 knot or less and running to the south. We were ready to go, standing on the back of the boat huddled together like a football team waiting for the order to dive. John Mason and Patrick decided to sit this dive out, John couldn't get his ears to clear and Patrick was too sore from fighting with the ladder the day before. When Rob gave the word Matt, Rick, Alan and I all hit the water one after the other and started our descent down to the deck of the Lowarnce. We were running the same dive plan as yesterday with a little different bottom mix. We would do a 210-foot dive for 20 minutes on a bottom mix of 18/30 Trimix and decompress on EAN 50 starting at 70 feet and then switch to 100% oxygen at 20 feet to finish our deco. Matt and I hit the deck at 2-minutes into the dive and then went over the side to visit the sand. There on the starboard side of the wreck in the sand is what looks like the super structure of a huge crane. We did not have a lot of time to check it out so we would leave that for another day. We then made our way back up to the weather deck and made our way aft to the wheelhouse and engine room area. Matt had said he had no interest in going in to the engine room so instead we swam through the open areas around the wheelhouse. It is wide open and you can see where some of the upper decks are starting to collapse in on the others. This wreck is really old and has been underwater for quite some time, it gives me a good feeling to know that I am one of the few that will ever be able to swim through her before she collapses completely in on her self. Before we knew it, it was time to go and we made our way back to the anchor line for our 54-minute ascent and decompression obligation before returning to the surface. Matt and I hit the surface at 78-minutes and once up the ladder and safely on board the Lady Go Diver we couldn't help but look at each other and just smile. 'What a great dive' I said, 'What a great wreck!' he said. We were both right!!
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May 25, 2002: The Castro Wreck - Another beautiful day in Florida started off with a sunrise like no other. This morning I was in no rush to do anything, the diving was over and there was nothing to do but relax and get ready for the long drive home tomorrow. The rest of the guys left for home right after we got back to the docks on Friday, and I had decided to stay another day or so to soak up some rays. Back at the dock, after the dive on the Lowrance, Captain Rob heard me say that I was going to be in town for another day or two and asked if I would like to come out and do a couple of relaxing recreational dives on Saturday or Sunday. He told me to just show up at the dock and don't worry about bringing any money because it was his treat. I decided to take him up on his offer for the afternoon run at 1:30 pm, that way I could get some breakfast and lay out on the beach for a while in the morning and not feel rushed. On Friday, Rob had invited some local tech divers on to the boat with us to dive the Lowrance. Most of them I had meet earlier in the week and two of them we had been diving with all week long. Rob decided to take us up north to a wreck named The Castro. A 250-foot long freighter with a 45-foot beam, this ship would have made a great tech dive if it had only been sunk in deeper water. She sits in 120 feet of water with her bow pointing to the north. The ship is an artificial reef and has been somewhat striped but there are still lots of goodies for the taking! There was a 2-knot current above 70 feet and pulling down the anchor line was a little rough but on the wreck the current was only about 1 knot and the visibility was around 70 feet. The first thing I noticed about this wreck was the huge cargo hole. This ship has only one cargo hole, it is about 150 feet long and 30 feet deep. A very impressive wreck at first glance and it got better as I started my tour of the ship. I swam to the bow and took a look around and then drifted in the current back toward the wheelhouse and engine room area. While in the cargo hole I saw a hole in the rear bulkhead on the bottom level with bars welded over it. As I shined my dive light in to the hole I could see that this was the engine room, I then saw another divers light in the back of the room and knew there must be another way in. I started up the bulkhead to the next level and there was an open hatchway leading in to the interior of the ship just under the wheelhouse area. This ship is at least 5 stories tall with three levels above the weather deck. I noticed that the hatches had been removed and there was very little coral growth on the ship. I found out later that this ship was sunk in December of 2001 and indeed was a new wreck to the area. I decided to penetrate the interior of the wreck and see if I could go all the way up to the wheelhouse. After entering through the hatch way I dropped down a level to the engine room and right away saw a shiny brass gauge. I didn't have any tools and decided to leave it for another day; I would find that there was a lot to be taken from this wreck in the future. I found my way to the stairs and moved up a level to the electrical rooms and found all the breakers still on. I then proceeded up to the next level and so on till I found my self in the wheelhouse and to my surprise I found more gauges and goodies for the taking. I was running on 25 minutes and did not want to rack up too much deco since I was only diving on air so I made my way back out side to the weather deck and back to the anchor line for my ascent. I had a maximum depth of only 105 feet and a total run time of 40 minutes. This would be a great wreck for teaching first time wreck divers the dos and don'ts of wreck diving. I also did a drift dive on a reef called 'fink's hole' but there was not much to talk about on that dive.
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