Some of the team had been diving the site for two days when the rest of the crew arrived on Saturday. By all first appearances we looked like a typical group of divers heading out for a charter diver. But then came out all the slates covered in u/w paper and the measuring tapes.
Like any diver, we kitted up, and got on board the four boats that had "volunteered" to take us out to the site. And then we got busy. But first a bit of background...
The site choosen to study was two wrecks that had gone down sometime in the 1900 (research is still ongoing as to when, for now the best guess is in the 1930s). Both vessels are unknown - one a steamer, one a barge. They sank so close together that the frames are intwined (hence the nickname given - Twisted Sisters).
The wrecks are in shallow water - 10-20 feet. The wrecks are both approximately 170ft in length. We're concentrating on the steamer as we feel that it will be easier to identify as there were many barges built of this type, and will be difficult to determine which it is.
The diving.
For the first dive, my buddy and I did a simple orientation of the sight - that was when we really appreciated the size of the wreck! After crusing around, taking pictures and taking note of how the wrecks were situated we returned to the dive boat and got our slate and measuring tape. Then off we went to collect data! With one buddy holding the zero-end of the tape, the other located the three other points selected by the project to be used as triangulation. We got only a couple of them done when it was time to head back to the dock for lunch. We changed tanks, had a briefing, and then headed back. Approximately forty-minutes later, my buddy and I were quite proud to finish the assigned data collection, and accomplish a sketch of the stern.
The next day we returned to the site, this time we were assigned to sketch & measure details for a 5meter section of the steamer. A break for lunch and a change of tanks (this time we stayed at the site) we were back in the water to further study "our" section.
What I learned. (1) Don't swim to close to the datum line, or you'll start pulling it with you as you swim (at last report everyone involved in the project had done this at least once) (2) you can get very focused on taking measurements and recording data that you forget basic diving safety measures (on the first dive my buddy and I did not check our air consumption (even once!) until we were 30 minutes into the dive -- subsequent dives we checked after each data collection (usually 3 points). (3)getting a clear dive briefing is important - a mixup caused one team to repeat the work of another. (4) Learning about history in this way is FUN!
There will be more visits to the site.... so the call for trained volunteers may go out again.