SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Late nights and early mornings... when will I learn?
Woke up on my little brothers couch this morning(party at his house Sat night) at 6AM with my gear already packed and headed to Gulf Shores. I arrived a bit early and walked down to the beach, the sun had barely risen over the horizon so it was difficult to judge visibility. The waves were a bit choppy and surf was running 1-3', but it seemed as though visibility would be doable with some seaweed floating around. On my way back to the truck I ran into THUMBSUP55. It was 7AM and we had thought Port Tack would be arriving by boat, but we were incorrect.
We suited up and headed out to the water and later learned that Port Tack and dnos were pretty much right behind us. They were able to follow our flag in order to find the wreck without any problems. The water itself was fairly clear, I'm guessing with visibility as good as 10-12'. However, seaweed became a major issue. There were several large plumes rolling around at different points of the wreckage which dropped visibility to less than a foot in places. The wreck still seems to be uncovering, I hit a max depth of 19' without ever diving the deepest point of the wreck(it was in a big nasty storm of seaweed). THUMBS and I tried to stick together as buddies, but occasionally would have to surface in order to regroup due to getting seperated in patches of bad visibility. There were schools of spades, pigfish, mangroves, flounder, seargeant majors, filefish, blennies, and a few varieties of crab to be found around the wreckage. Water temperature had actually dropped a few degrees to 84F, I'm guessing due to the rain. Still very comfortable without an exposure suit. I did get hit by a few jellies, but not enough to sway me from diving in trunks next time. There was a bit of surge to remind me why I shouldn't drink the night before I dive. The dive lasted 77 minutes and despite the visibility issues, everyone seemed to have fun.
When we were back on the beach, we were greeted by Tom Wicker who had taken the opportunity to come meet us after reading we'd all be diving here. It was the first time I had met/dived with any of these SB'ers(aside from a boat dive with dnos this past January) despite all of us being locals. I'm sure it won't be the last time
Had fun guys!
Woke up on my little brothers couch this morning(party at his house Sat night) at 6AM with my gear already packed and headed to Gulf Shores. I arrived a bit early and walked down to the beach, the sun had barely risen over the horizon so it was difficult to judge visibility. The waves were a bit choppy and surf was running 1-3', but it seemed as though visibility would be doable with some seaweed floating around. On my way back to the truck I ran into THUMBSUP55. It was 7AM and we had thought Port Tack would be arriving by boat, but we were incorrect.
We suited up and headed out to the water and later learned that Port Tack and dnos were pretty much right behind us. They were able to follow our flag in order to find the wreck without any problems. The water itself was fairly clear, I'm guessing with visibility as good as 10-12'. However, seaweed became a major issue. There were several large plumes rolling around at different points of the wreckage which dropped visibility to less than a foot in places. The wreck still seems to be uncovering, I hit a max depth of 19' without ever diving the deepest point of the wreck(it was in a big nasty storm of seaweed). THUMBS and I tried to stick together as buddies, but occasionally would have to surface in order to regroup due to getting seperated in patches of bad visibility. There were schools of spades, pigfish, mangroves, flounder, seargeant majors, filefish, blennies, and a few varieties of crab to be found around the wreckage. Water temperature had actually dropped a few degrees to 84F, I'm guessing due to the rain. Still very comfortable without an exposure suit. I did get hit by a few jellies, but not enough to sway me from diving in trunks next time. There was a bit of surge to remind me why I shouldn't drink the night before I dive. The dive lasted 77 minutes and despite the visibility issues, everyone seemed to have fun.
When we were back on the beach, we were greeted by Tom Wicker who had taken the opportunity to come meet us after reading we'd all be diving here. It was the first time I had met/dived with any of these SB'ers(aside from a boat dive with dnos this past January) despite all of us being locals. I'm sure it won't be the last time
Had fun guys!
