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With all the fun everyone had Saturday on
the wreck trek I asked Jody if he was up for navigating again at
night assuming we still has a South current? Buck came down to
drive boat and not dive so we would be free to drift live boat
instead of anchoring.
Team A: Jody & Matt
Team B: Charlie & Andrea
Seas 2-3 ft rising to 4-6 after the dive
Temp: 84 degrees surface and 82 water
Visibility: Excellent, top to bottom, as far
as the HID would glow
Plan:
While gearing up we found Ballyhoo jumping
and skipping over the water. It was really cool, one almost hit
the boat! So where they feeding? Or was something feeding no
them? We would just have to jump in and see!
Buck gave us a good drop on the Rio Miami. I
saw it from 20ft and we landed right in the middle. It was a
small wreck with several penetration options. The current was
mild, but we didn't try to swim back to the stern. We explored
the bow and headed out to the Paraisio. Swimming over the sand
is a empty feeling, like being in a desert. There were holes all
over the place where sting rays buried themselves to sleep
during the day. Only creatures with heavy armor like crabs and
conch brave crossing this exposed area.
The best part of the dive is the
anticipation in wondering IF your going to hit the next wreck?
The sand had a coating of algae on it. After a couple of minutes
the sand turned pure white and I started to see Grunts our
foraging for detrius (plant and animal matter in the sand).
There was a mound of sand and over it a huge valley where the
prop of the Paraisio was supposed to be. Swimming up to a wreck
from the sand really gives you a good impression of how big a
ship is.
This one looked like a work boat. It had a A
frame lift at the stern. The bottom deck was exposed and several
pieces of concrete were placed inside. We planned on A team
penetrating the wreck and B team staying outside. Being new to
the wreck I left Jody lead in. The main deck was a large open
area about 15ft wide. We swam in a ways, further then I've been
inside a wreck without knowing a way out. I looked for other
exits, but without natural light pouring in, they were hidden to
me. I though, "I'm now in a steel cave and I haven't run a
guideline." I could still see the exit and any of the four walls
would lead me out. Just when I was thinking, "We really should
have run a line," Jody turned. I though we were going to head
out. He pointed to hole in the floor that was about 3ft square
and gestured down and out.
He slipped through with ease, I didn't look
so pretty. I noted some cables on the right side that I didn't
want to tangle in (Remember John Ornsby from Deep Descent?). I
went head first down the hole and barely wiggled my shoulders
through. I tried to move ahead and realized I wasn't down enough
and my manifold was hitting the ceiling. I saw Jody ahead of me,
now were returning through a hallway just big enough for a
person without scuba gear to walk through. There were racks on
each side and huge air conditioners hanging from the ceiling. I
looked ahead and see a plum of rust colored silt poof up ahead
of me. Jody switched from the frog kick to modified flutter
because there wasn't enough room to expand your legs for full
kick. I flashed him and gave him the "silting" hand signal. As
my heart rate increased and stress level raised up and I fell
back on my cave training. Relax, you got plenty of gas and
bottom time. Kick easy, look around, and enjoy the dive. A small
modified frog kick, gave just enough thrust to move me forward.
I could always pull and glide off the storage racks. Once I
started looking around there were 5-7 terminal phase parrotfish
sleeping inside the wreck. They were tucked way back in the
corners. I was back to the stern in no time and came out of one
of the bigger holes in the aft deck.
B team had circled the wreck from the
outside and watched our progress through some of the smaller
holes. As Jody was untying the reel I though, "this wreck would
be good for a whole dive, I need to come back here!" We drifted
back over the sand heading SE. We were buzzed by a small
Southern Stingray out looking for a meal. Also, there were
little tiny squid all over the place. Another 5 minute swim and
the sand turned pure white again. We looked around and couldn't
see the wreck until one light finally hit this huge wall in the
water.
We came up on the stern of the Princess
Britney, the latest wreck to be sunk off Miami. The prop was big
and the name was still painted on the back of the ship. The
teams split up again and I lead into the ship. I went into the
crew deck, there is still Linoleum on the floor, a toilet and
sink. I forgot its the deck below that leads the engine room.
Andrea and Charlie were waiting for us outside.
Andrea was diving a single tank and we knew
she would be the limit on the planned dive and everyone was cool
with that. We went back to where the flag was tied off and I
tried to signal that we should untie and swim to the bow of the
Britney. We hadn't seen the bow of any of the ships yet. Then we
could drift off and ascend. Jody thought I wanted to press my
luck and try for one more wreck. He untied and we drifted off
out over the sand. This time we found two huge craps digging
away at the sand like back hoes. There was a path of clean sand
behind them. It reminded me of the spice mining factories in the
movie Dune. There was a silt trail drifting away from each crab.
After 45 minutes of bottom time at an
average depth of 66ft it was time to make our ascent. Andrea
pulled her thumb and we all followed suit. Charlie was to run
the ascent time, to my surprise Jody handed me off the reel.
Reeling up, staying with the group, venting my BC and keeping my
light in my hand was a little more than what I had expected. I
should get a DIR demotion for venting to much gas, going
vertical and swimming up while reeling in. I was below everyone
on ascent until we got to 20 ft when I could hover again, lock
the reel off and get into position to look at the team leader. I
could see the white sandy bottom. There were more squid and a
school of little 4 inch fish circling around us. I saw one out
in the distance and it changed me and swam into my stomach! I
blurted out so everyone could hear me as I tried to swat it
away. It was pretty funny!
When we popped up on the surface conditions
had gotten a lot worse. Inside the Paraisio I could here the
diesel engines idling. I just realized that I was missing that
sound. The seas had kicked up and there were a few waves
breaking over our heads. There were "disco boats" (dinner cruise
ships) on both sides and one had us right between the red and
green (aka heading right for us). I found our boat off in the
distance, but it was not underway to pick us up. I locked the
reel, clipped it to the flag and held in between my legs to get
he sausage underwater enough so it would stand up. That put the
glow stick high in the air and my HID lit up the orange marker
and reflective tape at the top. After a couple minutes at the
surface Buck came over and backed up to us. The disco boat
changed coarse to avoid us. I wonder what the diners were
thinking?
After we stowed to the gear we exchanged
smiles and multiple, "that was awesome" were exclaimed. Jody
guesses were not that far from the South Seas, but I'll take 3
wrecks on a swimming dive any day on the week. We headed in from
another good night of diving. I wonder how many we could hit
with scooters?
–Matt |
