Dive Report: Tuesady 9/24/03 7 PM Belzona Tugs 1,3,2 and the Belcher Barge

Captain: Buck
Team A: Jody and Matt
Team B: Charlie and Andrea

Seas: 0-1ft
Current: zero
Visibility: 50ft after 15ft green layer on surface
Temp: 83 degrees
Mix: 32%, Jody 21/35 w/ 50% deco bottle
Depth: 80ft max - decreasing to 50ft at end of dive
Plan: Avg depth 70ft for 50 minutes
Ascent: 7 minutes

On the way out I predicted the ocean would be calm with no current after the storm moving through and causing a South current for a week. With Captain Buck we were free to drift some more wrecks in the 60-80 ft range. My predictions were right on as we positioned over the wreck. The trick is to know which way the current is running so you start at the right end. We planned to dive the three Belzona Tug boats starting in 80ft of water and ending at the Belcher Barges which are in 50ft of water. Andrea with her single tank would be the limiting factor and she would call the dive at 700 psi.

We geared up and went through checks and lined up at the back of the boat. Buck gave us a perfect drop and landed right on Belzona 1. The 4 HID lights at night descending to the bottom looks so cool. The upper deck of this tug was sheered off by Andrew and is laying in the sand next to the deck. I tied off the flag and we swam around the wreck. There were Glassy Sweepers up feeding off the wreck, Grunts in the sand. The surgonfish and parrotfish were tucked away in the corners sleeping. At the bow, in the debris, I found a beautiful Green Moray Eel. It was light green color and didn't have any nicks or scars, it was truly a beautiful fish!

I picked up the flag and headed for the rebar I found off the stern. The rebar acts as bread crumbs every 15ft or so pointing divers to the next wreck due West, Belzona 3. She was bigger and much more impressive. I wanted to swim inside the engine hatch, but there was rope dangling all over and I just don't need that hassle. I swam into the forward compartment hoping it would lead to the stern. I would have made it if I had a single tank, but I couldn't swim 10 ft on my side with dubs on, so I continued through to the outside. Up on the bow, Andrea and Charlie were sheparding a lobster with their HID lights. With all four on him, the bug didn't know which way to turn. Back to the stern to pick up the rebar heading North.

It was a couple hundred feet to the Belzona 2. This wreck was still in tact, but the center section looked like it was peeled open like a can a beans with a boy scout knife. I swam inside to penetrate and realized there wasn't any ceiling. What's the fun of that? Inside in the sand I found some anomies and starfish. There were flamefish and Glassy Sweepers all over this wreck too. These wrecks have been down for so long its interesting to see the sand is coming up over the freeboard. Back to the stern again.

Now the rebar took us NW to the Belcher Barge. We only saw the first of three 90ft long barges. We swam along one side admiring the billowing softcoarls that were picking food out of the water. I looked at a couple of holes to penetrate and had no luck. Then Jody pointed to the top of the barge, which was upside down, and showed me the huge opening to get in. It looked a can of soda with the pop top pushed in. I tied of the flag and headed in. There were lots of little creatures sleeping on the inside. There were two hatchways leading down the barge and at night, with no experience on these wrecks, I didn't see another way out besides the way in. We were 5 minutes away from our end time so I made a mental note to come back later. While its fun to swim inside the wrecks, there is very little fish our life due to the lack of light and nutrients not being carried in by flowing water. We met back at the flag and I saw a thumb to end the dive, don't know whose black gloved thumb it was, but it didn't matter.

I started bringing in the flag line, Jody switched to his deco bottle and Charlie started timing our ascent. I tied off the spool and it just hung in front of me, not moving, I love dives like this! I noticed everyone was up at 10ft, nobody told me. I caught up again and we finished the ascent. Floating in the calm ocean at night is so peaceful. This time we didn't have disco boats bearing down on us. Buck back up slowly and we got back aboard.

On the way in, the blowing night air was chilly, summer is over and its only going to get colder! Time to get that drysuit on order. Jody told me the story of Terry Helmers who is responsible for coming up with the rebar bread crumb idea and laying a lot of it out there. Most of the rebar is in shallower water because of the time it takes to navigate, lay the rebar down, and then work it into the sand. The idea is great compared to ropes or chains which get snagged, broken covered or moved. The problem is diving and maneuvering a pile a rebar into position form deployment and keeping it in a straight line to the next wreck. Its not as easy as it sounds. If anyone knows Terry I'd like to speak with him and see about rebarring some trails in the FTL and WPB wrecks. The Scutti, Tracey, and Mercedes make a perfect combo and location. So would Governors Riverwalk in WPB, though it is a little deeper.

We were back at the dock by 9:15 PM and home in bed by 10 PM. Another perfect night of diving.

--Matt

I asked Jody for some feedback on the report and got this...

Andrew told me that he likes to put in his logbook the SADDDD for the dive, which is essentially what you have here. The only thing I would change is to be more specific on the Deco. You could say any of the following:
Deco: 20/3 10/3

Deco: First stop 40ft 20/3 10/3

Deco: 40/1 30/1 20/3 10/3

Just to complete the de-brief for the dive; yes, we definitely blew it not being more assertive in getting you off the 20ft stop. We were also bad boys (and girls) not staying closer to you on the deco; generally the flag guy is supposed to stay as motionless as possible while everyone else stays near him. We also messed up by getting below you on the descent. The idea is that the guy with the flag goes down first and is always deepest, with the other divers shining their lights down past him so he can see that everyone is there without looking back. The problem with getting below the flag guy is that if he has a problem, the people below him might not notice and the group can get separated.

--Joel Svendson