Dive Report: Va Beach - Kurn

[Glock Diver]

Wil, thanks for the report. Might dive with those guys next time I go back up to VA to see family.

Dumb question, since I've never seen lobster diving that area- was it spiny tail lobsters you caught or cold water lobsters?

 

[Wil]

The lobsters we're taking are the cold water lobsters. It's best if you take them at night when they're foraging for food. During the day they're hiding out under hull plates, in holes, etc. Va harvest regs are no smaller than 3 3/8 inches, no females larger than 5 1/4, no egg bearing females and the catch limit is 100. Yes, 100. Oh, and you don't have to measure them in the water (like Fla). No special permit or license, except a SW fishing license. No closed season.

Most that we took were between 3 3/4 and 5 inches.

 

[Kevin_K]

LMAO Will Mickey #!%&## Spilane #!%&## ain't got nothin on you!! Once again another fun filled day of freedom diving. Great diving with you Will and Ted, Andy, Randy and Mike again. Always fun and lots of laughs!!
I can't add anything to what's already posted except "S Drills" pay off big time!! :cool2: Glad I was there for ya skipper. You would have done the same for me.....wait...you did!!

Until the next time. Be safe and well. Thanks again Skipper!!

Kevin

 

[Kevin_K]

LMAO Will Mickey #!%&## Spilane ain't got nothin on you!! Once again another fun filled day of freedom diving. Great diving with you Will and Ted, Andy, Randy and Mike again. Always fun and lots of laughs!!
I can't add anything to what's already posted except "S Drills" pay off big time!! Glad I was there for ya skipper. You would have done the same for me.....wait...you did!!

Until the next time. Be safe and well. Thanks again Skipper!!

Kevin

 

[MikeMarlow]

Sounds like a good time was had by all. Can you post the info about the charter operation. I tried to google it with no luck.

Mike

 

[Wil]

Mike,

I don't run my boat for charters, just diving with friends. Perhaps when I retire from the Navy, I'll get back into chartering dive trips. For the last few years it's been for fun. I leave out of Little Creek Inlet (near the Bay Bridge Tunnel).

If you're interested in chartering, Dive Quarters runs a Parker 25 (Pelican II) dive charter through their shop (757-422-DIVE). Cap'n Dave is a friend of mine and runs a very professional operation. Often we'll meet up on the wrecks during the course of the diving season. Pelican II departs out of Rudee Inlet (South Va Beach). There are others in the area; Lynnhaven Dive Center and Under Pressure with Cap'n JT.

We've got a lot of wrecks to dive off the Virginia Capes. Everything from WWII liberty ships, tankers, and frieghters lost during the war or sunk as part of Virgiia's Artifical Reef project to other marine losses, like Clam vessels and other wooden sailing vessels. Most diving runs in the 60-110 ft depth range.

Safe Diving,
Wil

 

[MikeMarlow]

Mike,

I don't run my boat for charters, just diving with friends. Perhaps when I retire from the Navy, I'll get back into chartering dive trips. For the last few years it's been for fun. I leave out of Little Creek Inlet (near the Bay Bridge Tunnel).

If you're interested in chartering, Dive Quarters runs a Parker 25 (Pelican II) dive charter through their shop (757-422-DIVE). Cap'n Dave is a friend of mine and runs a very professional operation. Often we'll meet up on the wrecks during the course of the diving season. Pelican II departs out of Rudee Inlet (South Va Beach). There are others in the area; Lynnhaven Dive Center and Under Pressure with Cap'n JT.

We've got a lot of wrecks to dive off the Virginia Capes. Everything from WWII liberty ships, tankers, and frieghters lost during the war or sunk as part of Virgiia's Artifical Reef project to other marine losses, like Clam vessels and other wooden sailing vessels. Most diving runs in the 60-110 ft depth range.

Safe Diving,
Wil

Wil,
Thanks for the info, and I'll have to check them out once I get my dive gear back from household goods. :depressed: This is going to be a long few months being dry.

Mike

 

[CaptJT]

While many may know the wreck as the Kurn or Kern I have had it listed on my site for years as the Tug Tercel. I never really bothered to go look for any details of the wreck with many dives to her I had already figured it was just a nice dive for fish and lobsters.....sometimes. I don't know how it got to be called the " Kurn" which hinders info about the wreck. A local dive shop has a history of changing the names of wrecks from time to time to vary the perceived dive sites they go to, often it sparks interest for those who have never heard it called the new name and sign up to go.

So goes it with the Brass Spike, when I first dived it we called it the "no name" wreck and when the LDS finally got the numbers it was changed to the Brass Spike because of the spikes used to build it. You may have also seen wrecks called Ice Barge, Coral Castle, or by some other name and when you dive them they kinda look the same. :chuckle: If you don't know you tend to go. Fisherman also have a bad habit of naming wrecks they find by what wreck is near the spot on the charts. Not a great way to ID a wreck.

Really you should go dive anyway, once you start saying I've already dived it, it is usually the beginning of the end.
Anyway I thought everyone may want the info here it is on the Tug Tercel aka Kurn, hope it is correct I can't find anything else but repeated stuff. But there are several sites which are way incorrect.

USS Tercel (AM-386) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MSF-386 Tercel

dive safe

 

[Drewski]

I swear to God I did a post on this before, but DANG if I can find it...

Gasoline Tanker (AOG) Photo Index

USS Kern (AOG-2) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Note the beam width of the two ships... Kern = 48, Tercel = 32.

I think it's the Tercel, and, given it's blown apart state, sinking as a target makes sense.

So where did the "Kern" come from?

 

[CaptJT]

Andy until I'm proven wrong it is the Tercel, once you do a number of dives to it that's all it can be. The width and length of the Kern is far to much. Then there is no record of the Kern being sunk around there. There is record of the Tercel so really what else could it be.