RAD Diver
Contributor
Andy (Drewski) & I got to dive the Morgan on Saturday. The day started off pretty nice with very calm conditions, & only a little fog. We were the only 2 locals on the boat with 8 divers from up north. I believe they were from Maryland. The ride out was very nice with all but flat seas. I tried to get some sleep as I never sleep real good the night before diving, even Andy thought I was a bit tight. I didnt think it showed that much.
Once we were hooked on the wreck & got a quick briefing on the site with 5-10 ft vis & 51% water temps top to bottom. We were set & ready to go. Or at least I thought I was. I was pretty nervous as this would be my 1st dive slinging a 40. I thought my mask felt a lttle strange, but didnt give it a 2nd thought & jumped in. Well my mask started flooding at the hang bar so I resurfaced. When I tried to clear it, it came completly off. The strap had pulled out of the clip, so I swam to the swim platform to see if Ike could fix it for me as Andy had jumped & was waiting for me.
Will the DM on the boat gave me his mask to use & it fit great so I was ready to go again, but when I tried to swim back to the line most of the other divers were in the water blocking my swim to Andy on the line. So I decided to swim under them to the line. Not a good decision with the limited vis. I was down about 30ft & I didnt see anything. So I surfaced & was about 50ft from the boat. I flipped on my back & swam back to the line to decend & found Andy at the hang bar. We flashed each other OK & I thought I was, but with all my problems I was really amped up. I lead the way to the bottom & we had agreed that I would run a reel with the limited vis. I hooked the wreck right next to the anchor & we were off.
I was having a serious problem with my balance & this was leading to a bouyancy issue. I tried to stop & get myself set, but nothing was working for me. Man did I feel like a newb & was very glad this wasnt my 1st dive with Andy as the way it was going he probably wouldnt want to ever dive with me again.
We went 1 way then got back to the anchor line in 18 minutes & since we had a set BT of 30 minutes we went off in the other direction for a while, getting back to the anchor right at the 30 min mark. I was finally getting used to that slung 40 under my arm. My ascent went off without a hitch & switched to my 40 on the hang bar for our stop. We did 8 minutes as Andys computer went blank before the dive & he had set a very conservative schedule. After 5 minutes Andy asked me if all was well on my computer & it was so he gave me the thumb for me to ascend, but I never leave my buddy on the line unless I am out of air.
I did use uo 1650psi out of my double 98s, but knew I would be alright for my 2nd dive especially with my 40 still having over 2000 psi.
Surface interval went well with a steady supply of Lindsay dogs, chips,& soda.
We were getting ready for the 2nd dive & as were the last on board after the 1st dive we would be the last off for the 2nd dive.
When we were decending we ran into the other group of divers half way down the line & wondered why they were there. Turns out they were heading back to the boat.That was 1 short dive.
Andy said he would run the reel this dive & I had no problem with that. This dive I had my own mask back & my entry & decent went without any issue & I could tell my head was more into the dive. My trim was pretty good as I followed Andy when he got tied up in his line. So I just hung there as he got it worked out when he dropped his reel. I went to the bottom to retrieve it & turned to hand it up to him when I realized that I was flat on my back, not the best way to be with double steel tanks on your back. I twisted & got back neutral, no problem.
We got back to the anchor line after another 30 min dive, Made our ascent & did a 13 min hang. I only used 800psi on this dive. More like what I thought it should have taken.
Water temps were 51% on both dives but I believe we had closer to 15-20 ft vis. We hit 92fsw on the 1st dive & 97fsw on the 2nd.
Once we were hooked on the wreck & got a quick briefing on the site with 5-10 ft vis & 51% water temps top to bottom. We were set & ready to go. Or at least I thought I was. I was pretty nervous as this would be my 1st dive slinging a 40. I thought my mask felt a lttle strange, but didnt give it a 2nd thought & jumped in. Well my mask started flooding at the hang bar so I resurfaced. When I tried to clear it, it came completly off. The strap had pulled out of the clip, so I swam to the swim platform to see if Ike could fix it for me as Andy had jumped & was waiting for me.
Will the DM on the boat gave me his mask to use & it fit great so I was ready to go again, but when I tried to swim back to the line most of the other divers were in the water blocking my swim to Andy on the line. So I decided to swim under them to the line. Not a good decision with the limited vis. I was down about 30ft & I didnt see anything. So I surfaced & was about 50ft from the boat. I flipped on my back & swam back to the line to decend & found Andy at the hang bar. We flashed each other OK & I thought I was, but with all my problems I was really amped up. I lead the way to the bottom & we had agreed that I would run a reel with the limited vis. I hooked the wreck right next to the anchor & we were off.
I was having a serious problem with my balance & this was leading to a bouyancy issue. I tried to stop & get myself set, but nothing was working for me. Man did I feel like a newb & was very glad this wasnt my 1st dive with Andy as the way it was going he probably wouldnt want to ever dive with me again.
We went 1 way then got back to the anchor line in 18 minutes & since we had a set BT of 30 minutes we went off in the other direction for a while, getting back to the anchor right at the 30 min mark. I was finally getting used to that slung 40 under my arm. My ascent went off without a hitch & switched to my 40 on the hang bar for our stop. We did 8 minutes as Andys computer went blank before the dive & he had set a very conservative schedule. After 5 minutes Andy asked me if all was well on my computer & it was so he gave me the thumb for me to ascend, but I never leave my buddy on the line unless I am out of air.
I did use uo 1650psi out of my double 98s, but knew I would be alright for my 2nd dive especially with my 40 still having over 2000 psi.
Surface interval went well with a steady supply of Lindsay dogs, chips,& soda.
We were getting ready for the 2nd dive & as were the last on board after the 1st dive we would be the last off for the 2nd dive.
When we were decending we ran into the other group of divers half way down the line & wondered why they were there. Turns out they were heading back to the boat.That was 1 short dive.
Andy said he would run the reel this dive & I had no problem with that. This dive I had my own mask back & my entry & decent went without any issue & I could tell my head was more into the dive. My trim was pretty good as I followed Andy when he got tied up in his line. So I just hung there as he got it worked out when he dropped his reel. I went to the bottom to retrieve it & turned to hand it up to him when I realized that I was flat on my back, not the best way to be with double steel tanks on your back. I twisted & got back neutral, no problem.
We got back to the anchor line after another 30 min dive, Made our ascent & did a 13 min hang. I only used 800psi on this dive. More like what I thought it should have taken.
Water temps were 51% on both dives but I believe we had closer to 15-20 ft vis. We hit 92fsw on the 1st dive & 97fsw on the 2nd.
