RAD Diver
Contributor
I went out with JT on board the "Under Pressure" this past weekend.
1st dive was on a set of #s JT got from a fisherman who wanted to know what was down there in 150 fsw. We tried to dive this last year, but what ever is down there is covered in net & the hook got caught in the net & silted out the whole site, so this time we will shot line it. The shot line would consist of a 50lb weight, an anchor, 300ft of line & a big float ball.
Once I was on the bottom I would tie in to the wreck & send the weight up on a lift bag to signal that we were tied in & the pool was open.
What did we find, well that is up for discussion, with the net attached high & not much on the sand there was little to see, but it did have some big Sea Bass & huge Tautog, plus some lobsters with 2 of them coming up weighing over 13 lbs a piece.
Everyone did their dive & the decision was made that a 2nd dive on this site was pointless & we would head over to the Mexicana.
Once there I jumped to tie in, the Mexicana is a great dive in 140fsw, broke just forward of amidship with the stern sitting upright & the bow twisted & sitting on its port side a little over 40ft away. Once I got to the break I could see the entire bow, vis had to be an easy 60 ft, what a great dive, I hated to call it, but I did & am glad I did, I forgot to reset my computer & to add my deco gas. So my V-Planner had me with a 47 minute runtime, but my computer didn't clear me until it hit 64 minutes. I know I was clear, but really didn't want to bend my computer so early in the trip.
JT checked the weather & decided we could stay on site for a night dive before heading back toward Va. Beach. Everyone settled back for some rest or to watch a movie.
Night finally came, but I would need to be last in the water this time so I could untie. It seemed like forever before we saw everyone's light on the line before I got the OK to go.
The wreck looks great at night, a bit spooky, but is totally different than in the light. I spent 20 minutes on the bottom when I decided to unhook. I'm glad I cut it short. The current shifted & made the untie a bit difficult. The hook was caught in some netting & I needed to cut it out. When I finished I rode the anchor over the wreck & when I tried to replace my knife I missed & dropped it to the sand. I dropped the anchor & it landed right next to my knife, I slid down it & scooped it up.
Saved my knife, but incurred 15 minutes of Deco. OH well.
On our way back we decided to hit the 1800 Line wreck on Sunday morning, we arrived at about 3am, JT wanted to hook the wreck & make sure it held, so we put 2 anchors on the line, & we got it on the 1st try. Time for some rack time.
Sunday morning had a beautiful sunrise & I was a bit disappointed when JT announced that the hook pulled, I had to pull the line & retry. Got it again on the 1st try. I suited up quick & jumped to tie us in.
On the bottom I found 15 to 20 ft of vis, which was way better than the last time when we had less than a foot. I made a large run around the wreck from the boilers to the prop & even out into the sand. Where I found another piece of debris with an 8lb lobster hiding under it, I had no bag so I left it to grow some more.
A very nice dive except my drysuit leaked from the start, must have rolled my neck seal, & a patch job on my drygloves failed, but it happened on the last dive, so it wasn't too bad.
A beautiful weekend on the water on the best dive platform out there. Add some great divers & nice people & it doesn't get any better than that.
If you have never dove with JT you are missing out on a great dive experience. Add Cape Hatteras & it doesn't get any better than that.
Capt JT's Wreck Diving Site - Diving Hatteras NC and Virginia Beach VA
1st dive was on a set of #s JT got from a fisherman who wanted to know what was down there in 150 fsw. We tried to dive this last year, but what ever is down there is covered in net & the hook got caught in the net & silted out the whole site, so this time we will shot line it. The shot line would consist of a 50lb weight, an anchor, 300ft of line & a big float ball.
Once I was on the bottom I would tie in to the wreck & send the weight up on a lift bag to signal that we were tied in & the pool was open.
What did we find, well that is up for discussion, with the net attached high & not much on the sand there was little to see, but it did have some big Sea Bass & huge Tautog, plus some lobsters with 2 of them coming up weighing over 13 lbs a piece.
Everyone did their dive & the decision was made that a 2nd dive on this site was pointless & we would head over to the Mexicana.
Once there I jumped to tie in, the Mexicana is a great dive in 140fsw, broke just forward of amidship with the stern sitting upright & the bow twisted & sitting on its port side a little over 40ft away. Once I got to the break I could see the entire bow, vis had to be an easy 60 ft, what a great dive, I hated to call it, but I did & am glad I did, I forgot to reset my computer & to add my deco gas. So my V-Planner had me with a 47 minute runtime, but my computer didn't clear me until it hit 64 minutes. I know I was clear, but really didn't want to bend my computer so early in the trip.
JT checked the weather & decided we could stay on site for a night dive before heading back toward Va. Beach. Everyone settled back for some rest or to watch a movie.
Night finally came, but I would need to be last in the water this time so I could untie. It seemed like forever before we saw everyone's light on the line before I got the OK to go.
The wreck looks great at night, a bit spooky, but is totally different than in the light. I spent 20 minutes on the bottom when I decided to unhook. I'm glad I cut it short. The current shifted & made the untie a bit difficult. The hook was caught in some netting & I needed to cut it out. When I finished I rode the anchor over the wreck & when I tried to replace my knife I missed & dropped it to the sand. I dropped the anchor & it landed right next to my knife, I slid down it & scooped it up.
Saved my knife, but incurred 15 minutes of Deco. OH well.
On our way back we decided to hit the 1800 Line wreck on Sunday morning, we arrived at about 3am, JT wanted to hook the wreck & make sure it held, so we put 2 anchors on the line, & we got it on the 1st try. Time for some rack time.
Sunday morning had a beautiful sunrise & I was a bit disappointed when JT announced that the hook pulled, I had to pull the line & retry. Got it again on the 1st try. I suited up quick & jumped to tie us in.
On the bottom I found 15 to 20 ft of vis, which was way better than the last time when we had less than a foot. I made a large run around the wreck from the boilers to the prop & even out into the sand. Where I found another piece of debris with an 8lb lobster hiding under it, I had no bag so I left it to grow some more.
A very nice dive except my drysuit leaked from the start, must have rolled my neck seal, & a patch job on my drygloves failed, but it happened on the last dive, so it wasn't too bad.
A beautiful weekend on the water on the best dive platform out there. Add some great divers & nice people & it doesn't get any better than that.
If you have never dove with JT you are missing out on a great dive experience. Add Cape Hatteras & it doesn't get any better than that.
Capt JT's Wreck Diving Site - Diving Hatteras NC and Virginia Beach VA
Made for a nice dinner I'm sure.
