Don't get your hopes up about the
photos, they are pretty bad. The ocean
was flat black oil as we cruised out around
light house at Key Biscayne.
Ofelia Brian
The current was running about .7 knots
as we ran over the new artificial reef, the
210ft freighter Ofelia Brian formally the
Sea Taxi. I was diving with Kevin Carby and
as we planned I explained that is a good
skill to learn to drop down 100ft in under 1
minute from getting off the boat.
The boat captain gave us a good 100ft
drop and we hit the water. A quick ok and we
swam down. I landed right on the stack and
saw that we were getting blown off fast so
I grabbed the rail and got out of the
current. Kevin landed next to me and
relaxed. The vis was about 20ft.
The right side of my new mask was
fogging up making it hard to read my depth
gouge and watch. I kept clearing it and took
a quick look around the stern. The wreck is
bare rusty metal and spray paint marking the
groups that help make the new reef possible.
I fired up the camera to document a few of
the markings.
A section has been cut out making
access to the engine room easy. We didn't do
any penetration on this dive. The cut out
has some very rough edges that could do a
number on my dry suit. On the main deck the
door to the interior has large screws still
in place that could easily puncture a dry
suit or a wing bladder. Please be aware, I
took a pic just in case you don't believe
me!
We dropped down into the cargo hold and
swam for the bow. There were a few pieces of
concrete culvert in the cargo hold, but not
as much as say the Princess Brittney. I
would have liked to have seen more concrete
in the cargo hold as otherwise there is no
shelter for the fish. When the wreck
collapses the concrete will hold up the
sides and make a great habitat for a longer
period of time.
The bow a large mast supported by three
cables so it should last a while. I was sad
to see the bow winch was removed before
sinking. Hopefully it raised some money
towards the sinking of the ship. Usually the
bow winch is home to the juvenile fish and
is one of the most interesting areas of
a artificial wreck reef.
We then swam back to the stern, low on
the deck to stay out of the current.
The main deck offers access to what is left
of the gallery and the windless is still on
the stern. I'll wait for a calmer day light
dive to penetrate the inner sections of the
stern.
All in all its great to have another
large freighter in recreational depths off
Miami. The last ship was the "Dema
Trader" sunk in 2003 in honor of Dema being
held in Miami.
Emerald Reef
As we were gearing up, we were looking
at the four new mooring balls with a 1.5mil
handheld light. The fish were jumping out of
the water in a big boil. Something big was
down there!
We dropped in on the 20ft reef to check
out the new morning balls and play with the
scooters. Rick didn't have a chance to buzz
around on a Gavin in a while. Rick's primary
light failed. It was flickering on and
off which seemed to me to be a cord issue.
We surfaced and the boat came up and we
exchanged the lights in the water and
dropped back down to play some more.
A school of small tomtates went flying
by and then I saw what was causing all
the concern. 5 4-6ft greater amberjacks were
feeding on the reef fish. The lights
didn't phase the fish at all as they
charged all three of us. I used the Gavin as
a sheild, but the fish came right at us. I
was hit in the chest, legs, and back several
times. Rick and Jody were as well. We tried
to go back to back to defend ourselves, but
is hard to fend off a fish that is faster,
more agile, and has three dimensions of
water to swim in. After a few minutes
they took off and left us alone.
We cruised up and down the reef. Found
several spotted and spiny lobster out for a
walk. We surfaced after an hour and headed
it.
The air temp was 55 degrees. I puffed
up my dry suit and was quite comfortable on
the way home. Every one else bundled up to
stay warm. Overall we still had a great time
even with the bad vis and high currents! I
really enjoyed watching the moon seen in a
blood red color after midnight as we came
back in across the bay.
Best regards,