RAD Diver
Contributor
Well Drewski, me & a few others made a daring attempt to head out Friday night to try the depths of the Mexicana on board Capt. JT's "Under Pressure".
With a departure time of 9PM, but with the weather guesser's not being able to really get a handle on things JT put off leave time til Midnight or maybe even 6AM Saturday.
We then get the call that we will try 9 & see what happens.
None of the divers are Fair Weather kind of guys so we cast off with the hopes of it dying down before we get on site.
We were set to do a night dive on the 1800 line wreck 1st on the way south, but JT lets us in on an unknown site that he has been trying to get to & wants us to try it. We are unanimous with the decision to try it. So we ditch the 1800 wreck for the time being.
7 hours later we pull up on site watching it come into view on the depth finder, but it is casting an unusual shape. Drewski is sure it has a net draped over it. So we hook it & catch a quick nap to await Sunrise, don't want to get tangled in a net, much less in the dark.
The next morning we are up & ready to go, but had come unhooked, so the attempt was made to get back on it. For such a large object it was quite allusive to the hook, but finally it held. Trey (mate for the trip) jumped & was to send up a cup when the pool was open.
Some white debris came floating by & I thought it was the cup, but upon closer look it was not. Then JT announces that the pool is open. I ask about the cup & he said Tyler saw it come up in pieces, but I told him what I saw & with the site of Trey's bubbles coming back to the surface, everyone stayed on board.
Trey gives us some bad news, there is netting just hanging at 60 ft for as far as he could see, the anchor went over it & was in the sand, no wreck to be seen. Trying to get the hook back it became tangled in the net, Trey had to go cut it out, no small feat & 1 that most divers should not try.
JT wanted to get us diving, so we were told to get out of our drysuits as the trip to the Mexicana dive would be at least 2 hours away.
I went back to bed. I awoke & asked how far away, Drewski said 1 mile so I got up & said I would start to get ready, & he said good thing I was to do the tie in. Trey had spent too much time at depth on the 1st attempt at 140fsw to do a tie in at another site at 140fsw. I got ready in record time.
Andy (Drewski by the way) would follow me down, I forgot to take a cup, but figured when I didn't come back all was well. I tied in & got my reel set to go so Andy could find me, vis wasn't too bad at 20-30ft. I was surprised by him showing up before I got 20 ft away. No video camera, that explains a lot. We run down the port side to the stern, a stiff current makes it a good swim, make a turn & head back lots of large Jacks, some nice Togs & some of the biggest Seabass I have ever seen.
We get back to the tie in & Andy signals he wants to hit the bow. I check my time & think I am good for the trip across with the current, but will need to give myself some extra time for the push back across into the current. Which I did & was back at the anchor at 29 minutes 1 ahead of my scheduled 30. Ascent & deco goes well & we board. Max depth 126ft so with my deco schedule set for 140 I was good to go.
After 2 hour SI, some hot dogs & hamburgers, I was ready for round 2. This time Andy would be bringing his Video so we planned to head down the starboard side, once again I would run a reel & he would follow it to me. Kind of a long line buddy system.
I got to the stern & dropped to the sand to see the 1 blade of the prop not sanded in, 138fsw to the sand here. After getting back up to the deck area Andy was there & with the current we floated back quite quickly. I untied my reel & went to explore the triple expansion engine & boilers. I actually swam through the engine. After the boilers it was time to go, I relayed this to Andy, he flashed me OK & I started up to complete my deco. He was right behind me.
We were set for a 3 hour SI & to dive it 1 more time in which I planned a complete exploration of the bow before untying , but as I was lying in my rack another diver had boarded saying something was amiss with the rudder on the "Under Pressure" I gave it not a 2nd thought until JT came into the cabin & said everyone get their gear on. Oh sh!! that did not sound good.
JT worked some magic on it with a little help, but the 3rd dive was out of the question & Trey (who didn't get to dive it at all) was sent to untie. That is why I was going to untie so Trey could get in a good dive while we were on our SI.
Time to head home. Back to bed for me.
Seas started out a bit on the sporty side, but now they were just some large swells with a good interval so it was worth the trip.
I awoke & noticed it was dark so I got up to see how it was going, JT reported no problems & asked me if I was going to dive the 1800 line wreck as a night dive I just shrugged, no one else was too thrilled about the prospect either, but Trey the mate wanted a shot at some bugs. I said if we got there I would jump.
Well 3 from the charter (myself, Jim Young & Ryan Mc.) was doing the dive along with Trey. Andy decided against it.
Trey threw the hook & JT went to the bow to set it. He came back quite annoyed with just a piece of rope in his hand. The anchor broke free. 1 of our group (Ryan) decided that was enough, now it was just 3 of us doing the dive.
JT rigged another anchor & hooked the wreck, Trey jumped to tie in & go hunting, now just not for bugs , but for the anchor also.
JT had us wait until he saw Trey move from the anchor, then we were given the OK.
I jumped & waited for my buddy to splash & then headed for the bottom.
We got there & never saw anything, vis was less than 2 ft. I almost ran right into Trey, thinking his HID light was the strobe set on the anchor, which you couldn't see. I was there 2 minutes & decided to call the dive. I told Trey since I was to untie & wanted to make sure he did the deed when he got back.
Jim Young, my buddy, wanted to run 5 minutes each way to check it out & I agreed. I tried to find someplace to hook my reel to, but there was nothing but jagged metal, Jim started after Trey, so I went to follow him, he turned pretty quick & gave me the thumb to end the dive.
But we battled Mother Nature & seemed to come out with a draw, which the way it has been going lately I was happy.
Now to only hope things get better for our next trip in 2 weeks to the Ocean Venture.
With a departure time of 9PM, but with the weather guesser's not being able to really get a handle on things JT put off leave time til Midnight or maybe even 6AM Saturday.
We then get the call that we will try 9 & see what happens.
None of the divers are Fair Weather kind of guys so we cast off with the hopes of it dying down before we get on site.
We were set to do a night dive on the 1800 line wreck 1st on the way south, but JT lets us in on an unknown site that he has been trying to get to & wants us to try it. We are unanimous with the decision to try it. So we ditch the 1800 wreck for the time being.
7 hours later we pull up on site watching it come into view on the depth finder, but it is casting an unusual shape. Drewski is sure it has a net draped over it. So we hook it & catch a quick nap to await Sunrise, don't want to get tangled in a net, much less in the dark.
The next morning we are up & ready to go, but had come unhooked, so the attempt was made to get back on it. For such a large object it was quite allusive to the hook, but finally it held. Trey (mate for the trip) jumped & was to send up a cup when the pool was open.
Some white debris came floating by & I thought it was the cup, but upon closer look it was not. Then JT announces that the pool is open. I ask about the cup & he said Tyler saw it come up in pieces, but I told him what I saw & with the site of Trey's bubbles coming back to the surface, everyone stayed on board.
Trey gives us some bad news, there is netting just hanging at 60 ft for as far as he could see, the anchor went over it & was in the sand, no wreck to be seen. Trying to get the hook back it became tangled in the net, Trey had to go cut it out, no small feat & 1 that most divers should not try.
JT wanted to get us diving, so we were told to get out of our drysuits as the trip to the Mexicana dive would be at least 2 hours away.
I went back to bed. I awoke & asked how far away, Drewski said 1 mile so I got up & said I would start to get ready, & he said good thing I was to do the tie in. Trey had spent too much time at depth on the 1st attempt at 140fsw to do a tie in at another site at 140fsw. I got ready in record time.
Andy (Drewski by the way) would follow me down, I forgot to take a cup, but figured when I didn't come back all was well. I tied in & got my reel set to go so Andy could find me, vis wasn't too bad at 20-30ft. I was surprised by him showing up before I got 20 ft away. No video camera, that explains a lot. We run down the port side to the stern, a stiff current makes it a good swim, make a turn & head back lots of large Jacks, some nice Togs & some of the biggest Seabass I have ever seen.
We get back to the tie in & Andy signals he wants to hit the bow. I check my time & think I am good for the trip across with the current, but will need to give myself some extra time for the push back across into the current. Which I did & was back at the anchor at 29 minutes 1 ahead of my scheduled 30. Ascent & deco goes well & we board. Max depth 126ft so with my deco schedule set for 140 I was good to go.
After 2 hour SI, some hot dogs & hamburgers, I was ready for round 2. This time Andy would be bringing his Video so we planned to head down the starboard side, once again I would run a reel & he would follow it to me. Kind of a long line buddy system.
I got to the stern & dropped to the sand to see the 1 blade of the prop not sanded in, 138fsw to the sand here. After getting back up to the deck area Andy was there & with the current we floated back quite quickly. I untied my reel & went to explore the triple expansion engine & boilers. I actually swam through the engine. After the boilers it was time to go, I relayed this to Andy, he flashed me OK & I started up to complete my deco. He was right behind me.
We were set for a 3 hour SI & to dive it 1 more time in which I planned a complete exploration of the bow before untying , but as I was lying in my rack another diver had boarded saying something was amiss with the rudder on the "Under Pressure" I gave it not a 2nd thought until JT came into the cabin & said everyone get their gear on. Oh sh!! that did not sound good.
JT worked some magic on it with a little help, but the 3rd dive was out of the question & Trey (who didn't get to dive it at all) was sent to untie. That is why I was going to untie so Trey could get in a good dive while we were on our SI.
Time to head home. Back to bed for me.
Seas started out a bit on the sporty side, but now they were just some large swells with a good interval so it was worth the trip.
I awoke & noticed it was dark so I got up to see how it was going, JT reported no problems & asked me if I was going to dive the 1800 line wreck as a night dive I just shrugged, no one else was too thrilled about the prospect either, but Trey the mate wanted a shot at some bugs. I said if we got there I would jump.
Well 3 from the charter (myself, Jim Young & Ryan Mc.) was doing the dive along with Trey. Andy decided against it.
Trey threw the hook & JT went to the bow to set it. He came back quite annoyed with just a piece of rope in his hand. The anchor broke free. 1 of our group (Ryan) decided that was enough, now it was just 3 of us doing the dive.
JT rigged another anchor & hooked the wreck, Trey jumped to tie in & go hunting, now just not for bugs , but for the anchor also.
JT had us wait until he saw Trey move from the anchor, then we were given the OK.
I jumped & waited for my buddy to splash & then headed for the bottom.
We got there & never saw anything, vis was less than 2 ft. I almost ran right into Trey, thinking his HID light was the strobe set on the anchor, which you couldn't see. I was there 2 minutes & decided to call the dive. I told Trey since I was to untie & wanted to make sure he did the deed when he got back.
Jim Young, my buddy, wanted to run 5 minutes each way to check it out & I agreed. I tried to find someplace to hook my reel to, but there was nothing but jagged metal, Jim started after Trey, so I went to follow him, he turned pretty quick & gave me the thumb to end the dive.
But we battled Mother Nature & seemed to come out with a draw, which the way it has been going lately I was happy.
Now to only hope things get better for our next trip in 2 weeks to the Ocean Venture.
