Hetland
Contributor
I met up with Captain Andy Ross and crew for a Sunday afternoon dive trip with Niuhi Dive Charters. The weather was spectacular, if not a little hot. I got to the dock early, and found a shady spot to watch the boats go by.
At about 12:30, Capt. Andy returned to the marina with the morning charter. It looked like they had shot their limit of red snapper, and boated a trigger, an almaco jack, and a few lobsters. I chatted a bit with the dive master, and some regular customers I had dove with before.
Once we got loaded up we made quick time through the pass. The ride out started a bit rough with a few 2.5 foot waves, but the seas calmed with every passing moment, and id didn't take long to hit blue water. About a mile out from our first drop, we came across a large weed line (more of a circle) and Capt. And asked if anyone wanted to snorkel it for Mahi-Mahi. Four snorkelers quickly splashed and spread out to their chosen cardinal points hoping to herd a fish to one of their buddies. They saw a 6ft blacktip working the center of the mat, and a decent tripletail cruising the edges. One of the snorkelers boated a trigger fish, and we headed back out to our first dive, the YDT-15.
The YDT-15 is a former U.S. Navy dive tender. Her remains are about 130ft long, and 30ft wide. Her stern has mostly subsided, and her bow sits 10ft or so out of the sand at 102fsw. Her pilothouse is only partially intact, with the forward bridge bulkhead lost to the sea. There are several holes cut into the deck of the YDT-15 for safety reasons. Her sister ship, the YDT-14 sits approximately 100 yards away.
I splashed in at 2:17, and found beautiful blue, warm water from top to bottom. I could faintly make out the outline of the wreck from a foot or two below the surface. Horizontal visibility appeared a shade better, but certainly 100+. The temp at the bottom was 71°. It felt warmer at the surface, but the drop was so subtle I didn't notice a thermocline. I had a max depth of 102ft, and a run time of 33 minutes. I spent my time at depth taking photos and videos, and I collected five lionfish souls.
Our second dive was the Pen-Hall reef. After an hour on the surface, we found viz to be pretty close to what we had on the YDT. Viz did drop off a bit towards the end of the dive, but just at the bottom. There was a chillingly obvious thermocline present in the last 25-30feet. I had been thinking about removing my hooded vest because I was so warm on the first dive, but I stopped and rolled my hood on before I reached bottom. My computer recorded a minimum temp of 69°.
The Penhall reef is a bridge rubble site. It's not uncommon to see sandbar sharks, flounder, rays, eels, and even sea turtles napping at this site. I'm not the biggest fan of bridge rubble, but this is certainly one of the exceptions. I collected three more lionfish souls, and a pair of smallish lobster. There were several morays in the area, a smaller one hunting the rubble, but a decent sized one willing to pose for photographs. The shooters in our bunch boated a few mangroves, a trigger, and another almaco. I had a max depth of 91ft, and a run time of 36 minutes. My mix was a little lean, so I ascended based on my no-deco time expiring. As I made my way to the anchor line, I caught a glimpse of a 6ft sandbar shark circling the perimeter of the rubble field, but he was too far off for me to get photos or video.
The ride back in was short and sweet. The winds and seas were with us, and the heat of the day gave way to pleasant temperatures. As always, Captain Andy and crew did a great job anticipating our needs.
I was really amazed with the visibility. It's the best I've seen that close to shore, and I hope it lasts the Summer.
At about 12:30, Capt. Andy returned to the marina with the morning charter. It looked like they had shot their limit of red snapper, and boated a trigger, an almaco jack, and a few lobsters. I chatted a bit with the dive master, and some regular customers I had dove with before.
Once we got loaded up we made quick time through the pass. The ride out started a bit rough with a few 2.5 foot waves, but the seas calmed with every passing moment, and id didn't take long to hit blue water. About a mile out from our first drop, we came across a large weed line (more of a circle) and Capt. And asked if anyone wanted to snorkel it for Mahi-Mahi. Four snorkelers quickly splashed and spread out to their chosen cardinal points hoping to herd a fish to one of their buddies. They saw a 6ft blacktip working the center of the mat, and a decent tripletail cruising the edges. One of the snorkelers boated a trigger fish, and we headed back out to our first dive, the YDT-15.
The YDT-15 is a former U.S. Navy dive tender. Her remains are about 130ft long, and 30ft wide. Her stern has mostly subsided, and her bow sits 10ft or so out of the sand at 102fsw. Her pilothouse is only partially intact, with the forward bridge bulkhead lost to the sea. There are several holes cut into the deck of the YDT-15 for safety reasons. Her sister ship, the YDT-14 sits approximately 100 yards away.
I splashed in at 2:17, and found beautiful blue, warm water from top to bottom. I could faintly make out the outline of the wreck from a foot or two below the surface. Horizontal visibility appeared a shade better, but certainly 100+. The temp at the bottom was 71°. It felt warmer at the surface, but the drop was so subtle I didn't notice a thermocline. I had a max depth of 102ft, and a run time of 33 minutes. I spent my time at depth taking photos and videos, and I collected five lionfish souls.
Our second dive was the Pen-Hall reef. After an hour on the surface, we found viz to be pretty close to what we had on the YDT. Viz did drop off a bit towards the end of the dive, but just at the bottom. There was a chillingly obvious thermocline present in the last 25-30feet. I had been thinking about removing my hooded vest because I was so warm on the first dive, but I stopped and rolled my hood on before I reached bottom. My computer recorded a minimum temp of 69°.
The Penhall reef is a bridge rubble site. It's not uncommon to see sandbar sharks, flounder, rays, eels, and even sea turtles napping at this site. I'm not the biggest fan of bridge rubble, but this is certainly one of the exceptions. I collected three more lionfish souls, and a pair of smallish lobster. There were several morays in the area, a smaller one hunting the rubble, but a decent sized one willing to pose for photographs. The shooters in our bunch boated a few mangroves, a trigger, and another almaco. I had a max depth of 91ft, and a run time of 36 minutes. My mix was a little lean, so I ascended based on my no-deco time expiring. As I made my way to the anchor line, I caught a glimpse of a 6ft sandbar shark circling the perimeter of the rubble field, but he was too far off for me to get photos or video.
The ride back in was short and sweet. The winds and seas were with us, and the heat of the day gave way to pleasant temperatures. As always, Captain Andy and crew did a great job anticipating our needs.
I was really amazed with the visibility. It's the best I've seen that close to shore, and I hope it lasts the Summer.
[vimeo]67701268[/vimeo]
