SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Paulwall swiped me up this morning on his way through town, apparently he was playing hooky from work and needed an accomplice. We met up with the rest of our divers(all seemingly from Louisiana, so apparently there are mass quantities of people playing hooky out there) at Gary's Gulf Diver. We signed a couple waivers and headed to the boat a short distance away. It didn't take us long to load up our gear and tanks into the Cat-n-Around, which is a cat-hulled cuddy cabin with plenty of room for 6(even though we were only running 5 divers on this trip). The bay was slick and while already a bit humid, the outside temperatures weren't broiling just yet. Gary briefed us and off we went, heading south-east in hopes of clear water.
Pete Tide
We made it out to the Pete Tide, not sure what time, but early enough to beat the crowds, with only one other fisherman drifting around on the wreck solo. He wasn't anchored in, so once he drifted out of the way, we drifted in, tied up and put the flag up. There was a stiff current on top, but visibility seemd OK, even from the surface. The DM tied us in and we tied the boat off to the bouy and Gary ran a jonline down the back of the boat for us to use in order to get from the ladders in back, to the anchor up front. Paul dropped in first, and I followed shortly afterwards and we started our descent from the anchorline after a quick tug-o-war with the jonline vs the surface current. Once down a dozen or two feet, the current went slack, visibility opened up to about 40' and the temperatures dropped from the low 80s to the mid 70sF. It was SO nice to be able to dive without a wetsuit. I friggin LOVE diving in just my trunks. Fish covered the wreck with spades, snapper, aj's, porgy, and grunts schooling around thousands of baitfish. Butterflys, doctors, and angels played in and out of any hold they could fine and if you looked even closer you'd find soapfish, damsels, squirrelfish, and toadfish galore. Plenty of seacucumbers could be found as well as fireworms, urchins, etc. Paul and I headed into the holds and I made a swim through, with Paul coming out from the opposite hold, already with a lobsta in hand. I passed him a goody bag and cursed him for catching the first! I looked and looked, but couldn't find a buddy for the lobsta in the bag, and searched damned near every hold in the ship. Eventually we came out from our hiding spaces and explored the top of the boat and got visited by a pair of dolphin. I ended up with a max depth of 103' for a dive lasting 39 minutes. By the time we were back on the boat, oranges were sliced, water and juice was out, and then we found out there were cookies...!
PC Barge
Next on the list on the way in was the PC Barge. We passed by and there were a few fisherman on the spot so we headed a bit further to find some radio towers in the same area(about a mile off). After a few attempts on locating them, we headed back to the PC Barge to find it emptied out and the DM quickly tied us in. The surface current had gone very mild here and visibility from the surface had even improved. I hit the water an hour and ten minutes after the first dive with Paulwall splashing shortly afterwards. We were heading down the anchor line in no time with very little current to fight on the surface. The barge and the towers around it came into view quickly with 40' visibility(maybe slightly better?). Much of the same fish were around, but on a smaller scale. We made several swim thru's under the barge in hopes for more bugs, but no such luck this time around. These are regularly hit sites and I was actually suprised PW managed to snag one from the Pete Tide. It was great being back out on the Gulf doing some of the easiest most relaxing dives imaginable. Unfortunately, the nitrogen was loading too quickly since I was diving air. I called my dive with a max depth of 82' for a dive lasting 45 minutes, which put me back on the boat still with 1000psi in my AL80. I munched on more goodies on the way back in and it seemed as though all the divers on board had a great trip today. The outside temps were rising, but the Cat-N-Around kept the breeze up as she sped us back to the dock and I think everyone was comfortable.
We hit up Fatback's at Sportsman's for some lunch, I grabbed a PoBoy and PW grabbed a Bob Burger and we left more than satisfied. It was the first time I've eaten there since it had changed from whatever restraunt it used to be(I like it much better now than what it used to be).
Another great day of diving. Mysteriously, Paulwall didn't get lost, injured, nor did he lose any gear?!?! He must be having an off day. Thanks for snaggin me up Paul!
Word on the street is that the Paddlewheeler may be uncovered again, I'm gonna have to find someone to head out there with me soon to go find out.
Pete Tide
We made it out to the Pete Tide, not sure what time, but early enough to beat the crowds, with only one other fisherman drifting around on the wreck solo. He wasn't anchored in, so once he drifted out of the way, we drifted in, tied up and put the flag up. There was a stiff current on top, but visibility seemd OK, even from the surface. The DM tied us in and we tied the boat off to the bouy and Gary ran a jonline down the back of the boat for us to use in order to get from the ladders in back, to the anchor up front. Paul dropped in first, and I followed shortly afterwards and we started our descent from the anchorline after a quick tug-o-war with the jonline vs the surface current. Once down a dozen or two feet, the current went slack, visibility opened up to about 40' and the temperatures dropped from the low 80s to the mid 70sF. It was SO nice to be able to dive without a wetsuit. I friggin LOVE diving in just my trunks. Fish covered the wreck with spades, snapper, aj's, porgy, and grunts schooling around thousands of baitfish. Butterflys, doctors, and angels played in and out of any hold they could fine and if you looked even closer you'd find soapfish, damsels, squirrelfish, and toadfish galore. Plenty of seacucumbers could be found as well as fireworms, urchins, etc. Paul and I headed into the holds and I made a swim through, with Paul coming out from the opposite hold, already with a lobsta in hand. I passed him a goody bag and cursed him for catching the first! I looked and looked, but couldn't find a buddy for the lobsta in the bag, and searched damned near every hold in the ship. Eventually we came out from our hiding spaces and explored the top of the boat and got visited by a pair of dolphin. I ended up with a max depth of 103' for a dive lasting 39 minutes. By the time we were back on the boat, oranges were sliced, water and juice was out, and then we found out there were cookies...!
PC Barge
Next on the list on the way in was the PC Barge. We passed by and there were a few fisherman on the spot so we headed a bit further to find some radio towers in the same area(about a mile off). After a few attempts on locating them, we headed back to the PC Barge to find it emptied out and the DM quickly tied us in. The surface current had gone very mild here and visibility from the surface had even improved. I hit the water an hour and ten minutes after the first dive with Paulwall splashing shortly afterwards. We were heading down the anchor line in no time with very little current to fight on the surface. The barge and the towers around it came into view quickly with 40' visibility(maybe slightly better?). Much of the same fish were around, but on a smaller scale. We made several swim thru's under the barge in hopes for more bugs, but no such luck this time around. These are regularly hit sites and I was actually suprised PW managed to snag one from the Pete Tide. It was great being back out on the Gulf doing some of the easiest most relaxing dives imaginable. Unfortunately, the nitrogen was loading too quickly since I was diving air. I called my dive with a max depth of 82' for a dive lasting 45 minutes, which put me back on the boat still with 1000psi in my AL80. I munched on more goodies on the way back in and it seemed as though all the divers on board had a great trip today. The outside temps were rising, but the Cat-N-Around kept the breeze up as she sped us back to the dock and I think everyone was comfortable.
We hit up Fatback's at Sportsman's for some lunch, I grabbed a PoBoy and PW grabbed a Bob Burger and we left more than satisfied. It was the first time I've eaten there since it had changed from whatever restraunt it used to be(I like it much better now than what it used to be).
Another great day of diving. Mysteriously, Paulwall didn't get lost, injured, nor did he lose any gear?!?! He must be having an off day. Thanks for snaggin me up Paul!
Word on the street is that the Paddlewheeler may be uncovered again, I'm gonna have to find someone to head out there with me soon to go find out.
.....More Wood Knocking!
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