Earl, Ed, Matt, Brian and I did a WWII history tour today with a dive on the U853 followed by a dive on its final victim, the Black Point.
When we arrived on site the charter Atlantis was on the Bow mooring. We took the stern mooring (there was a third mooring on the conning tower as well) and Ed and Brian splashed in first while the rest of us watched the boat. They came back up reporting excellent visibility so Matt and I splashed in next, followed by Earl a short time behind us. I had nitrox 29 and Matt had air so I was planning to run a longer profile.
Ed and Brian weren't exaggerating about the visibility, it was as good as I have ever seen it on the 853. I could see the wreck when it was still over 30ft below me.
The bottom temperature was 48 degrees and there were plenty of fish on the wreck. We worked our way forward up to the bow then all the way back to the stern. When we reached the stern Matt signaled me that his time was up. A moment after he turned for the line I caught sight of a nice 4+ ft torpedo ray sitting in the sand under the stern below me. I quickly got Matt's attention with my light beam and pointed it out so he'd at least get a glimpse of it before he headed for home.
Here is a shot of the conning tower to give you an idea about the vis:
Here is Matt:
And here is the torpedo ray (look for the outline in the sand).
For the second dive we headed over to the Blackpoint. Unfortunately since the last time we had been on it last summer the wreck has been badly fouled by a large monfilament gillnet. Matt and I cut up a bunch of it with our knives to try and reduce the impact, but there were quite a lot of dead fish in it and there was a lot of net there. Really a shame.
When we arrived on site the charter Atlantis was on the Bow mooring. We took the stern mooring (there was a third mooring on the conning tower as well) and Ed and Brian splashed in first while the rest of us watched the boat. They came back up reporting excellent visibility so Matt and I splashed in next, followed by Earl a short time behind us. I had nitrox 29 and Matt had air so I was planning to run a longer profile.
Ed and Brian weren't exaggerating about the visibility, it was as good as I have ever seen it on the 853. I could see the wreck when it was still over 30ft below me.
The bottom temperature was 48 degrees and there were plenty of fish on the wreck. We worked our way forward up to the bow then all the way back to the stern. When we reached the stern Matt signaled me that his time was up. A moment after he turned for the line I caught sight of a nice 4+ ft torpedo ray sitting in the sand under the stern below me. I quickly got Matt's attention with my light beam and pointed it out so he'd at least get a glimpse of it before he headed for home.
Here is a shot of the conning tower to give you an idea about the vis:
Here is Matt:
And here is the torpedo ray (look for the outline in the sand).
For the second dive we headed over to the Blackpoint. Unfortunately since the last time we had been on it last summer the wreck has been badly fouled by a large monfilament gillnet. Matt and I cut up a bunch of it with our knives to try and reduce the impact, but there were quite a lot of dead fish in it and there was a lot of net there. Really a shame.
Can't wait to do more exploring next time. Great shot of the ray.
