DIve Report 5/2/04: Woods Cove (Night Dive)
Surf: 1-2' Going in; 2-4' coming out
Swell: minimal going out; BIG coming in
Surge: minimal initially; moderate to heavy towards end of dive (see report)
Temp: a nice toasty 59 degrees Suunto!!!
Depth: 39'
ABT: 67 minutes
Met up with Jennifer Yee tonight. Due to high tide, decided to check out Moss Point. Hmmm...tide was REALLY high, with strong sets coming in one after another plus, there looked like alot of surge coming in over the reef to the east. Decided to pass on Moss and check out Woods. Woods seemed to be a little bit more protected and didn't have the sets coming in one after another. Looked like there was a little bit of surge, but we decided to give it a go. Got geared up, made our way down the stairs, was greeted by an interesting Aboriginy horn player, did our buddy check, and in the water we went. We were greeting by a suprisingly nice toasty water. A nice change from the 52 degree water we had been seeing.
We dropped down into about 18' fsw into remarkable viz. What a wonderful dive. Saw all kinds of critters: three Octopuss, a horn shark, large bugs, tons of blacksmith, giribaldis, tree fish, female sheephead, sand bass, greenlings, gobys, golden gorgonians, red gorgonians, hermit crabs, Leafy Hornsmouth, Chestnut Cowries, red turban snails, keyhole limpets, rock scallops, a variety of worms, sea anemones, and sponges.
We took a south heading looking for Miller's Reef. Not sure if we found it or not. Returning, we took a N/W heading and came upon what I believe to be the airplane wreckage. One of the wings of the plane is a cool reef with lots of stuff growing on and underneath it. Hitting our turn around point, we kept heading North until we hit a large rock formation. Not know whether to go over it, or around it, we decided to go around (west). As we got shallower, I noticed the surge was picking up quite a bit. At one point, Jennifer was below me. I attempted to kick down noticing we were going through an Arch. It was really cool. However, just as I was enjoying this cool structure, a very strong surge kicked up and WHOOOOOOOOOOSH!!! Out I went, tumbling mid water. Before I got my bearings about me, I was at the surface being pounded by heavy surf. I immediately kicked out of the area. Once I got my wits about me, I looked around for Jennifer. She fortunately had surfaced near me. I have to admit, that was pretty scary!!! We decided to surface swim for shore. As we kicked to shore, the surf was picking up, REALLY picking up. Then I noticced that we weren't in the right cove, for our landmarks weren't where they were supposed to see. Also, in the next cove west, I could see the Condo Hotel from Cress Street. So we doubled back past where we popped up, fighting large swells and surf. We made it back to our cove and with timing, we were able to walk out without incident.
All in all, it was a fantastic dive!!! Lots to see, great viz, good temps.
Thanks Jennifer for a great time!
Jan