DIVE REPORT J REEF SAGEBRUSH WRECK
Sat morning we arrived to Ft. McAllister Marina in Richmond Hill Georgia at 7am to get on our charter with Captain Tim. http://www.doubleornothingcharters.com/ This was the first time he was taking divers out on a charter. He has a good boat, so lots of room for about 8 divers total. He doesn’t have benches per se but had lots of space to set up the gear and we just rolled out the side. We left to a beautiful sunrise about 7:45 am. The weather report was good but we were looking at 1-2’ waves and winds 5-10knots. It takes about 1 ½ hrs to get to this particular dive site. It is on J REEF on the SAGEBRUSH WRECK and it was a Coast Guard Ship. http://www.coastguardchannel.com/viewerCont/sagebrush/sagebrush.shtml We set anchor and had a bit of trouble with some rolly polly wave action. I entered the water @ 9:42am and had a max depth of 22.3meters. with a water temp of 71.2F. There was a thermocline that hit about 35-40’ and dropped the temp down to 65F in that region. The visability on the first dive was about 50’. We hit the tide right by leaving early. There were lots of jellies @ about 20-30’ so definitely gloves and a hood was necessary for a comfy dive. The wreck itself is upright and very much covered in beautiful soft and hard corals. There were large amounts of baitfish, spades, red snapper, kingfish, sea bass, and barracuda. The wreck itself is still intact so some areas that can be penetrated but easy to silt out due to sediment. I would only venture to penetrate if properly trained. I ended the dive @ 10:25am. It wasn’t too hard to board this boat and Cpt. Tim has a good ladder. We did have current on this wreck so we used the anchor line for both descent and ascents. Due to a current to the boat, it had been decided that we all were to be on the line with 1000psi for plenty of reserve in case there were issues getting back on the boat. The waves could make things a little more difficult getting back in. We did a 35min interval since all of us were diving Nitrox. Unfortunately, I was chumming at that point. Too many rolly polly waves. The wind had also picked up so we were being tossed a bit. I rolled back in @ 11:16am and was up @ 12:06. The visibility was about 30ft on this dive due to the tide and current changes. Max depth 23.5m. We packed up and headed back in. Unfortunately, I had to chum again so it was a long boat ride back in greater chop. It was still good dives and much needed practice. Cpt. Tim took good care of me and I was happy to have the help of my fellow divers to get my gear setup for the 2nd dive. I hate feeling sick, it really makes me seem like I am totally incapacitated. However, chumming has never deterred me from a dive!
Sunday, we did a repeat with a few different divers and it was decided to go to this wreck again. There is so much to look at, I really didn’t mind doing more exploring on it. Plus I had a good comfort level and I basically was going to escort some newer divers this time around. We left @ 7:30am in a heavy fog. Once we got to the outlet it was clear. The water today was a flat calm with light wind of maybe 5knots max. We got to the dive site around 9:20am and it was a little longer since the ride out was slow. I entered the water with the novice divers @ 9:45am. The visibility was good of about 50’. It was an easy dive since the current was very low. We got on the wreck and I led my team around to the wreck and tried to point out as much as possible for them. Unfortunately, one of the divers was going quickly through her air so we cut the dive short. I was on the line with 1900psi and I was the last diver up. Max depth 23.7m. Again we had to avoid the jellies but the dive was uneventful. I was back up @ 10:22am. The interval this time was great since I wasn’t sick at all. I had been given MECLIZINE to try and I think it was working for me, but it also helped that the boat wasn’t pitching today. I was back in with my team @ 11:16 and had another comfortable dive. Again the visibility went back down to about 35’. There were many barracuda with us on the ascent, but they kept their distance. I was back on the boat @ 12:06 with at least 1500psi. But, it is good to stay together and be there for my fellow divers. Max depth 23.4m. We had a good ride back in and were off the boat pretty quickly before 2pm.
Captain Tim was awesome and so friendly. He took very good care of us and anchored us in perfectly both days. He is looking at making some changes on his boat to help accommodate divers in the future. He had no idea it would be so fun for him and I am glad we made a good impression. We did have spearfishermen on board, but the fish were elusive and one diver got his fish stolen by a pesky barracuda on his ascent.
These dives are advanced, not too terribly difficult, but if you do not have boat experience, or have had to work an anchor line, or deal with poor visibility, or a rougher current, then this dive is not for you. I would compare J REEF to most of the wrecks I have been on out of Panama City Florida. This was a great dive weekend, and having the water lay flat today is a rare occurrence. The conditions we had Saturday are more the norm. There are many more dive sites offshore Georgia. Gray’s Reef is a drift dive only due to the fact that the reef is protected and they do not allow any boat to anchor in.
The only bummer part of the whole trip was NOT seeing any sharks! I guess they were being shy this weekend!
I have posted some pics in my gallery of the trip! ENJOY!
Carolyn :sharks:
ps: Sorry for the duplicate thread, I didn't look to see if someone else had posted! My bad!
Sat morning we arrived to Ft. McAllister Marina in Richmond Hill Georgia at 7am to get on our charter with Captain Tim. http://www.doubleornothingcharters.com/ This was the first time he was taking divers out on a charter. He has a good boat, so lots of room for about 8 divers total. He doesn’t have benches per se but had lots of space to set up the gear and we just rolled out the side. We left to a beautiful sunrise about 7:45 am. The weather report was good but we were looking at 1-2’ waves and winds 5-10knots. It takes about 1 ½ hrs to get to this particular dive site. It is on J REEF on the SAGEBRUSH WRECK and it was a Coast Guard Ship. http://www.coastguardchannel.com/viewerCont/sagebrush/sagebrush.shtml We set anchor and had a bit of trouble with some rolly polly wave action. I entered the water @ 9:42am and had a max depth of 22.3meters. with a water temp of 71.2F. There was a thermocline that hit about 35-40’ and dropped the temp down to 65F in that region. The visability on the first dive was about 50’. We hit the tide right by leaving early. There were lots of jellies @ about 20-30’ so definitely gloves and a hood was necessary for a comfy dive. The wreck itself is upright and very much covered in beautiful soft and hard corals. There were large amounts of baitfish, spades, red snapper, kingfish, sea bass, and barracuda. The wreck itself is still intact so some areas that can be penetrated but easy to silt out due to sediment. I would only venture to penetrate if properly trained. I ended the dive @ 10:25am. It wasn’t too hard to board this boat and Cpt. Tim has a good ladder. We did have current on this wreck so we used the anchor line for both descent and ascents. Due to a current to the boat, it had been decided that we all were to be on the line with 1000psi for plenty of reserve in case there were issues getting back on the boat. The waves could make things a little more difficult getting back in. We did a 35min interval since all of us were diving Nitrox. Unfortunately, I was chumming at that point. Too many rolly polly waves. The wind had also picked up so we were being tossed a bit. I rolled back in @ 11:16am and was up @ 12:06. The visibility was about 30ft on this dive due to the tide and current changes. Max depth 23.5m. We packed up and headed back in. Unfortunately, I had to chum again so it was a long boat ride back in greater chop. It was still good dives and much needed practice. Cpt. Tim took good care of me and I was happy to have the help of my fellow divers to get my gear setup for the 2nd dive. I hate feeling sick, it really makes me seem like I am totally incapacitated. However, chumming has never deterred me from a dive!
Sunday, we did a repeat with a few different divers and it was decided to go to this wreck again. There is so much to look at, I really didn’t mind doing more exploring on it. Plus I had a good comfort level and I basically was going to escort some newer divers this time around. We left @ 7:30am in a heavy fog. Once we got to the outlet it was clear. The water today was a flat calm with light wind of maybe 5knots max. We got to the dive site around 9:20am and it was a little longer since the ride out was slow. I entered the water with the novice divers @ 9:45am. The visibility was good of about 50’. It was an easy dive since the current was very low. We got on the wreck and I led my team around to the wreck and tried to point out as much as possible for them. Unfortunately, one of the divers was going quickly through her air so we cut the dive short. I was on the line with 1900psi and I was the last diver up. Max depth 23.7m. Again we had to avoid the jellies but the dive was uneventful. I was back up @ 10:22am. The interval this time was great since I wasn’t sick at all. I had been given MECLIZINE to try and I think it was working for me, but it also helped that the boat wasn’t pitching today. I was back in with my team @ 11:16 and had another comfortable dive. Again the visibility went back down to about 35’. There were many barracuda with us on the ascent, but they kept their distance. I was back on the boat @ 12:06 with at least 1500psi. But, it is good to stay together and be there for my fellow divers. Max depth 23.4m. We had a good ride back in and were off the boat pretty quickly before 2pm.
Captain Tim was awesome and so friendly. He took very good care of us and anchored us in perfectly both days. He is looking at making some changes on his boat to help accommodate divers in the future. He had no idea it would be so fun for him and I am glad we made a good impression. We did have spearfishermen on board, but the fish were elusive and one diver got his fish stolen by a pesky barracuda on his ascent.
These dives are advanced, not too terribly difficult, but if you do not have boat experience, or have had to work an anchor line, or deal with poor visibility, or a rougher current, then this dive is not for you. I would compare J REEF to most of the wrecks I have been on out of Panama City Florida. This was a great dive weekend, and having the water lay flat today is a rare occurrence. The conditions we had Saturday are more the norm. There are many more dive sites offshore Georgia. Gray’s Reef is a drift dive only due to the fact that the reef is protected and they do not allow any boat to anchor in.
The only bummer part of the whole trip was NOT seeing any sharks! I guess they were being shy this weekend!
I have posted some pics in my gallery of the trip! ENJOY!
Carolyn :sharks:
ps: Sorry for the duplicate thread, I didn't look to see if someone else had posted! My bad!
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But you are a trooper and you always make the most out of the experience. Good for you!! 
