The Bass
- Thread starter Riwrecker
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I didn't dive it but I got a pretty ill-advised invitation to dive it!
I was at one of the local shops and the owner says:
Owner: "Hey! What are you doing Saturday!"
Me: "Not much, why?"
Owner: "Got an open spot for the Bass Saturday! Want to go?"
Me: "Well I don't do deco so I am not really up to it."
Owner: "Hey! No problem! 5 minute no-deco dive to 150 ft!"
Me: "Um... I think I will wait until I am trained for tech diving"
If you know the RI shops I bet you anything you can guess who I was talking to, but I won't mention the name.....
I was at one of the local shops and the owner says:
Owner: "Hey! What are you doing Saturday!"
Me: "Not much, why?"
Owner: "Got an open spot for the Bass Saturday! Want to go?"
Me: "Well I don't do deco so I am not really up to it."
Owner: "Hey! No problem! 5 minute no-deco dive to 150 ft!"
Me: "Um... I think I will wait until I am trained for tech diving"
If you know the RI shops I bet you anything you can guess who I was talking to, but I won't mention the name.....
Chebby
Guest
Hmm, you guys aren't talking about Bass Rocks in Gloucester, are you?
Chebby:
The wreck of the submarine U.S.S. Bass south of Block Island. It's a pretty popular site for tech divers around here.
http://wreckhunter.net/DataPages/bass-dat.htm
Chebby
Guest
Thanx, RIOceanographer.
I like that owner
Bet he wouldn't have given me any lip about lack of an advanced C-card on deep dives Although it doesn't matter now, as I finally got it 2 weeks ago.
I like that owner
Bet he wouldn't have given me any lip about lack of an advanced C-card on deep dives Although it doesn't matter now, as I finally got it 2 weeks ago.i was on the bass a few weeks ago..
we did the u-853 on sat and stayed tied to it, pulled the hook sat morning and steamed to the bass sunday ...
i wqsnt feeling 100% sat morning. and after i pulled the hook on the U boat and got back on the boat i was starting to get a little headache...im guessing i was just a little tiered and dehydrated. so i drank a bunch of water and took few tylonol.. laid down for a few minn. well that turned into a few hours. they where generic tylonol PM come to find out. and when i woke up i still felt like crap.. so i decided that i wasnt gonna dive, and passed on it.
o well. next time...
hey RIOceanographer. if you want a excellent recomendation for tech training. i have a outstanding recomendation for you, and culd fill a book of other people who will give a glowing recomendation.
if your intrested shoot me a PM i just hate being like a commercial on here
we did the u-853 on sat and stayed tied to it, pulled the hook sat morning and steamed to the bass sunday ...
i wqsnt feeling 100% sat morning. and after i pulled the hook on the U boat and got back on the boat i was starting to get a little headache...im guessing i was just a little tiered and dehydrated. so i drank a bunch of water and took few tylonol.. laid down for a few minn. well that turned into a few hours. they where generic tylonol PM come to find out. and when i woke up i still felt like crap.. so i decided that i wasnt gonna dive, and passed on it.
o well. next time...
hey RIOceanographer. if you want a excellent recomendation for tech training. i have a outstanding recomendation for you, and culd fill a book of other people who will give a glowing recomendation.
if your intrested shoot me a PM i just hate being like a commercial on here
ScubaSarus
Guest
GrabaShellDude dove the Bass before. Tells me it was an awsome experience. 130' to the deck. They slinged 72 cf travel tanks to an fro. Was a planned decompression dive. The vis was practically the best he has seen in RI. The wreck is broken up so you go to either one part or the other.
I'de love to be able to dive it some day. That GrabashellDude has some good diving genes .
I'de love to be able to dive it some day. That GrabashellDude has some good diving genes .
salty
Contributor
I have dove the bass about 6 times this year.
Early in the season it is farly cold with the bottom temps in the high 40's and surface temps in the high 50's. Visability is so so with 20 feet being average. At this point in the year the wreck is loaded with ling and flounder.
Mid season the temps are about the same and vis changes week to week coming and going one day its 15 others its 40.
This time of year is the best, your getting blue water on top and the temps on the bottom are warming up. Vis on top can be 50 to 70 foot and the bottom is 30 or so. There are still ling and flounder on the wreck but now you will find more lobsters and several cod fish in the 30 pound range.
I typicaly will dive the wreck with double 104's with 21/35 and O2 for deco, although I did the dive last time with double 80's and a stage plus O2. We will typicaly do a 30 mineut bottom time, this is more than enough time to do a nice swim around the whole main piece. The top of the wreck is around 130 to 135 and you can spend your dive at this range. If you want you can drop into the sand at 150 and swim around also. Besides the main pice the bow is about 50 feet forward of the main wreck and has a large net off of it. This Is an interesting area and you could spend most of your dive here as well.
Early in the season it is farly cold with the bottom temps in the high 40's and surface temps in the high 50's. Visability is so so with 20 feet being average. At this point in the year the wreck is loaded with ling and flounder.
Mid season the temps are about the same and vis changes week to week coming and going one day its 15 others its 40.
This time of year is the best, your getting blue water on top and the temps on the bottom are warming up. Vis on top can be 50 to 70 foot and the bottom is 30 or so. There are still ling and flounder on the wreck but now you will find more lobsters and several cod fish in the 30 pound range.
I typicaly will dive the wreck with double 104's with 21/35 and O2 for deco, although I did the dive last time with double 80's and a stage plus O2. We will typicaly do a 30 mineut bottom time, this is more than enough time to do a nice swim around the whole main piece. The top of the wreck is around 130 to 135 and you can spend your dive at this range. If you want you can drop into the sand at 150 and swim around also. Besides the main pice the bow is about 50 feet forward of the main wreck and has a large net off of it. This Is an interesting area and you could spend most of your dive here as well.
matt_unique
Guest
I dove the Bass 4 times last year. I use double 80's w/air and a 70% deco mix. You touch metal at 125' (top of conning tower) and I have maxed out at 156' in the sand. I usually plan and conduct the dive at 138'. 3 of my dives have been along the larger stern section. I have visited the bow section only once. I like to descend to the top of the structure, cruise down to the stern, descend to the sand to look at the giant prop/rudder, then back on deck to cruise back to the conning tower. Without silly current I found 20 minutes to be perfect for exploring the stern section.
I have steamed out to the Bass twice this year to find no mooring. My usual drill is to dive the Bass and U853 and stay the weekend at Block Island. I prefer the convenience of a mooring when packed heavy for a weekend on my boat. I could bring lots of line and try to hook the wreck or drop a weighted line and keep the boat idling while divers are down but logistically and gear wise it's a pain. I heard from some divers that someone deliberatly set the mooring below the surface this year to avoid non-commercials out there. I don't know if this is true but if yes it's bull*****. There are some charter operations who actually think they own the wrecks but that is another conversation. Next time out I will plan the appropriate anchor line length and reset a surface buoy. Salty - do you recall if there was a surface mooring buoy the last time you went out or did your charter outfit hook the wreck/grab a submerged buoy?
It's a great wreck...it's really just massive. My first time on the wreck I saw more fish than any single spot in all of my travels. There were Squirrel Hake along the bottom beside the wreck. There were so many the fish had to move out of the way for you to reach to the sand. It was unbelievable.....The prop and rudder are something to see as well. To give you a perspective...the U853 could fit inside the Bass.
The bow section has a huge amount of netting. I mean a few feet thick the last time I was there. There were lots of dead fish caught in this net - you would need a chainsaw to cut through that stuff. I would not venture within 15' of that hazzard.
One time I arrived to find 4 divers on an open boat and they all rolled into the water to dive it at once on single alum 80's! They all surfaced within about 5 minutes...wow.
--Matt
I have steamed out to the Bass twice this year to find no mooring. My usual drill is to dive the Bass and U853 and stay the weekend at Block Island. I prefer the convenience of a mooring when packed heavy for a weekend on my boat. I could bring lots of line and try to hook the wreck or drop a weighted line and keep the boat idling while divers are down but logistically and gear wise it's a pain. I heard from some divers that someone deliberatly set the mooring below the surface this year to avoid non-commercials out there. I don't know if this is true but if yes it's bull*****. There are some charter operations who actually think they own the wrecks but that is another conversation. Next time out I will plan the appropriate anchor line length and reset a surface buoy. Salty - do you recall if there was a surface mooring buoy the last time you went out or did your charter outfit hook the wreck/grab a submerged buoy?
It's a great wreck...it's really just massive. My first time on the wreck I saw more fish than any single spot in all of my travels. There were Squirrel Hake along the bottom beside the wreck. There were so many the fish had to move out of the way for you to reach to the sand. It was unbelievable.....The prop and rudder are something to see as well. To give you a perspective...the U853 could fit inside the Bass.
The bow section has a huge amount of netting. I mean a few feet thick the last time I was there. There were lots of dead fish caught in this net - you would need a chainsaw to cut through that stuff. I would not venture within 15' of that hazzard.
One time I arrived to find 4 divers on an open boat and they all rolled into the water to dive it at once on single alum 80's! They all surfaced within about 5 minutes...wow.
--Matt
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