Whiskey Wreck report 25 Nov 2009

[cmufieldhockey8]

Pensacolanewbie and I headed out to the Whiskey Wreck after declining a what would be a very tannic dive at the Alabama point jetties. With just my sidemount gear I had no desire to do a beach entry, but the lure of the Whiskey was just too much for me. My last 2 attempts to find it were fruitless and I was determined to find this wreck on my own.

After lugging my tanks down to the water and battling my gear with the flag and a light surf, we were on our way. I towed the flag while Pensacolanewbie kept us on track with a due south heading off the beach, and behold there she was!! My pre-dive Whiskey Wreck finding dance had worked after all!

The depth of the structure ranged from 9 to 19 feet! The dive was awesome!! Well, there were just a couple fish, no flounder, and nothing crawling. But as my 2nd daytime dive on the Whiskey and so much relief, there was plenty to explore on our hour dive. :cool2:

Viz was between 3-10 feet so it was pretty crappy but we stayed close and never lost each other. The surge was there also but not too bad. Water was 62. I wanted to snap a few pictures but the viz was too poor so we only have pictures of each other.

Lastly, my favorite... hopefully the beach and this tank setup will never coexist again!

Have fun scrolling because of those large pictures! mwahaha!

 

[GLENFWB]

Great job Stasia. So, how much relief is there on the wreck now?

 

[algulfdiver]

Great job Stasia. So, how much relief is there on the wreck now?

She said "The depth of the structure ranged from 9 to 19 feet! " so that would be 10' if my math is right.

 

[GLENFWB]

Thanks Gary...I missed that. It sounds like it is worth diving again.

She said "The depth of the structure ranged from 9 to 19 feet! " so that would be 10' if my math is right.

 

[jimdiverman]

I took the Nomad out to the beach in Panama City last year, and it like to kill me. Too much weight hanging out of the shallow water. If the walk were not so long, it would not be so bad, but having to lug those tanks through the water is brutal. I love the SM in the caves, but salt water (at least on the Gulf side) has me leaning to back mount, even if its doubles.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Great report, I've got to get back out there while the going is good! 62F?! Ugh, time to break the hood out I guess.

 

[cmufieldhockey8]

hehe yes 10 feet of relief

 

[denisegg]

Hey...that sounds like single Hp100 and wetsuit....7ml that is

 

[cmufieldhockey8]

Anybody know the history of this wreck? Has it always had lots of household junk? Right now it has a standing lamp like you would use in your living room, what looks like an old metal headboard and stuff that doesn't look like it was on the wreck originally? Could that stuff have come in with various storms? Right now there is about 10 feet of relief, but I understand that is much more than in recent weeks or months. I guess that could account for the relative little life on it.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Yes, before Ida, there was maybe 1-2' of relief for two stretches of 10-15'. The junk you found on the wreck is just random crap that has been kicked around out in the gulf until it found something to wash up against(the wreck). Items just wash around the bottom until they find relief to wash up against, since this part of the gulf is pretty much a desert as far as relief, what little wrecks we have end up catching large quantities of junk being pushed around aimlessly.

The Whiskey Wreck is also called the Mail Wreck. Its a Norwegian Lumber Barque/Derrick Barge that carried lumber and mail, and rumor has it, Whiskey during the prohibition. Although I believe the latter part of that is mostly urban legend than anything else - sure its fun to relay anyway. Hurricane of 1906 washed her into the sandbar where surf overtook and sunk her, as well as many other boats(including the West Beach Paddlewheeler). Anywho, thats the Whiskey Wreck in 30 seconds.