Miami Project Dives the Dantor

After mentioning this wreck to Jody a couple of times, his curiosity was peaked enough to make the journey. 4 weeks of calms seas has been a real treat this summer. We loaded up the boat and make the 1 hour trip up to Broward county. This wreck was 1.5 miles North of Tenneco Towers.

Blue Water, calm seas, and no current made for a hard time hooking the wreck. After the boat settled, the first team jumped in the water. They were diving 30% on a "recreational" profile for 20-25 minutes. Jody and I were diving 21/35 on a technical profile for 30 minutes. I had O2 for deco (under filled tank I wanted to use and refill) and Jody was using 50%.

The hook was 25 feet off the starboard side. There was a slight current making work of loading the Gavin worth it once again. We headed up to the bow and were greeted by 100 Atlantic Spade fish. They swam around us and posed for a picture at the bow.

The wreck itself was small with little structure. The traditional winch at the bow was missing, and so was the juvenile fish life that usually surrounds it. After a few photos I dropped to the sand at 130ft for up angle shot. While there I found three Jack Knife Drums in the sand.

We headed thru the barren cargo hold. A few butterfly fish along the sides and that was it. One bulkhead separates the cargo hold and I "keyed" myself in the passage way trying to get thru with large canister light and deco bottle. I Rolled on my left side so the bottle would hang down to get thru.

The stern had two entrances on either side to the engine room. I looked around with my dive light to check for Goliath Groupers and enter the large area with the scooters. There was no need to leave them outside. Lots of grunts swam around the pipping in the floor and sides. Some of the markings were still readable.

We ascended thru the large opening to the crew deck. It was open and barren. Nothing to look at except the growth around the portholes. We headed out and back to the cargo hold. A school of 2ft long African Pompano with their long trailing fins were off the Starboard side. The left as I tried for a photo. There was no use in pursuing them on the scooter.

We headed out over the top of the bow section. I looked as if the bridge had been removed from the wreck before it was sunk. Some juvenile fish life, but not much.

We scootered back to the Anchor and shot it to the surface on a lift bag for the other team to recover. At 70ft we shot a lift back and drifted off the wreck. The deco was meditative as there was nothing moving in the clear blue water. I left go of the spool and just watched it bob every so slightly in the calm see. Jody and I just hovered, motionless. We could tell just from the sound of out bubbles that everything was just fine between us.

For practice we did a "6 Up" meaning 6 minute ascent from 20 ft. Not a problems, as we got close to the bag 20 1 inch juvenile bar jacks swan between us. They were very cute! I love deco fish.

Overall the 4 year old wreck has nice growth and good fish life that have not seen too many divers. While the wreck itself if bland, the fish life more than makes up for it. Next time I'll take a boat from Port Everglades and save the 1 hour boat ride.