Dive 1: Tacoma

The current was running to fast to put down a ball so we set up a drop 250ft south of the Tacoma. Charlie and Gamba did our first deco dive after class on this wreck. There was a lot fish on it for being down only a couple of years. Jody hadn’t dove it on mix yet and was looking forward to it.

I back rolled and was at 20ft before I knew it. I looked up and got the “ok” from Jody who was starting down from the surface. I looked down and saw the bow of the Tacoma passing under me 100ft down. Wow, great visibility! Oh crap, I have to dive or I’m going to miss it!

On the way down we hit a school of several hundred small Horse Eye Jacks. There were Amber Jacks all over the port and starboard side. We hit the stern deck of the fishing vessel and worked our way back up to amid ship out of the current. I couldn’t find the big Green Moray in the cargo holds? There was a passageway from the cargo hold towards the bow, but there wasn’t any natural light and I didn’t want to run a reel.

I guessed this ship was similar to the RSB1 and that passage way goes up to the bridge and probably connects to a stair well or two. We explored the stern and then pulled ourselves back up to the bow. I went in the superstructure and sure enough there were stairs to my right on the starboard side. Jody and I decided to swim through. I headed down the stairwell. I hit the bottom and looked up to see a huge grinning smile and two little beady eyes! Yipes! There was a big Goliath smiling back at me blocking the hallway. I figured how to warp speed backwards. I trying to explain, “Huge fish” to Jody, I think he got the point.

We went up another stairwell to the bridge. I headed out the hatchway when I saw a reef shark hanging out in the distance, just within view. After we moved outside the shark disappeared. We swam around the bow and I briefly saw another shark on the other side of the wreck.

We drifted down the side of the wreck and off the stern. There were two schools of hogfish off in the sand. A bit further we drifted over a large Eagle Ray cruising over the sand. This was one of the best dives of the year.

Dive 2: Emerald Reef

Time for my first ride on a Gavin! It looks easy in the videos. The first trick is to figure out how long the tow cord should be. Too long and the scooter pulls down. Too short and it pulls up. After I could scooter in a straight line we reviewed the three types of turns and then the three types of stops. Next we practiced how to deal with a scooter that is stuck on. Then, we went over towing procedures and each took a turn stowing the scooter behind us and towing the other diver.

Once I got the hang of it I buzzed the other divers and headed out across the reef. It was hard staying up off the reef. I trimmed a few soft corals along the way L. We scootered back to the anchored boat and hoisted them back aboard.
 

–Matt