September 27-28-29, 1996
Its Friday afternoon, we have gathered to sail the Gulfstream Falcon to the Florida Keys in what promises to be an unforgettable experience in wreck diving.
Some of the passengers have already called to advise that they will be arriving late due to reasons beyond their control ...... so much for our early bird special plan to dive the Doc de Milly on a twilight dive. We, then opted for a sail directly to Key Largo along the inside reef to avoid the heavy easterly seas that had built since Wednesday and a fastidious 20 knot wind ...... so as to make an easier ride. The trip, as expected, was smooth and under a gorgeous full Harvest moon with clear skies ..... what more can be said!! We reached our anchoring destination in the early morning and nobody felt like taking a dip at that time since we had started "getting wet inside".
Early morning Saturday we enjoyed a hearty breakfast while the vessel reached the wreck of the Bibb, a 330' CoastGuard Cutter sunk 140' below. To say the current was ripping is a gross understatement ...... it was blowing !!!! The first group aborted the dive because they could barely hang on to the current line. Admittedly, it was well above normal strength, which is to be expected when you dive during a spring tide right on the perigee and in a perfect alignment ...... remember we had an eclipse Thursday night (which, alas, some of us were lucky enough to watch and enjoy from the upper deck of the Falcon). BTW, there is an article in this site regarding how the moon, its phase and the tides affect the tidal current and therefore ...... our diving. It was published in SOURCES, NAUI's Journal of Underwater Education, and explains precisely the relations between these factors so important in our diving plans ...... yeah, NOW you tell me about it!!
The second and third group were able to handle the strong current and managed to make the dive ...... or should I say, struggled to complete it. Of course, upon surfacing, we find some disgrunted divers who were not happy they missed it ...... whoa, sorry guys!! Let's move on to the second target, the Duane. Local dive vessels are attached to all three buoys at the Duane ...... should we wait for one free buoy or go to our alternate?? ...... Crocker Wall ...... a beautiful reef which drops off perpendicularly from 40 ft to 80-90 ft, not much of a wall, but it serves the purpose. We voted for Crocker since marine life is very active around there. We saw three gigantic eagle rays "fly" 20-30 ft above us. Visibility wasn't that great (40 ft max), as we were almost at low tide time ...... but at least the current had eased to slack and we could do our deep and shallow deco on 50 and 80 percent Oxygen Nitrox with minimum effort.
Back on schedule ...... next is the Eagle, then take the Duane Sunday. Second strike ...... the GPS coordinates published for the Eagle ARE WRONG!!!! We couldn't find the buoy until we phoned to a scuba center on land who supplied us with an approximately position that helped us, after a good search, find the submerged buoy marking the wreck.
Ready, set and GO!!! We are under and at the Eagle Wreck ...... my favorite because it is so open and marine life is so abundant. Everybody completed this dive succesfully and are happy now! Compressor is cranking and filling tanks for the next dive although there are plenty of extra tanks; we want to make sure nobody misses a dive due to unfilled tanks. We are on a roll!!! We watched the sunset over the palm trees as we move to Hens and Chicken Reef for dinner, shallow night dive or both as we prefer. After anchoring, most of us opted to shuttle to Isla Morada on the 20' tender for some serious pillage and plunder. All you can eat seafood at the Whale Harbour for only $19.95 is a bargain few of us could reject ...... sorry, the commercial was unintended and I swear to have no relations with them, except that I stuffed myself with seafood as I haven't done since last Christmas ...... rumors I had ten plates are totally unfounded!!! Back to the Falcon and some very serious sleeping ...... too tired to do anything else ...... after all, the three dives were exhausting and recuperation was in order. We were right over the reef, so whoever wanted to dive could have, but apparently got discouraged by the partygoers or had to much to eat to go diving.
Sunday morn, we wake up anchored at the Duane, the wreck we missed Saturday and there is nobody around but us ...... all of the wreck is ours to play. Right after a very light breakfast, the first group jumps in (same as yesterday) and immediately aborts the dive due to a super strong current ...... feeling of deja vu? Wouldn't you settle for a nice comfortable drift dive??? ...... Naaahh!! Second group jumps in followed by the third group just to discover that the current IS STRONGER, MUCH STRONGER than yesterday ...... WHOA, DON'T LET THAT LINE GO!!! Everybody out safe. Not only the current is overwhelming, but the seas are now near 6 feet and building. Another change decision to make ...... should we dive in nearby Molasses Reef and return to Miami following our southward footsteps (or rather, wake) inside the reef or keep the main plan to move to the Almirante Wreck or the Ultra Freeze on the way back ...... sailing on the outside of the reef ...... and its building seas, notwithstanding the threat of an undomitable current again???? After a belly- satisfying full breakfast, we opted to make a tranquil dive in one of south Florida's most beautiful reefs, Molasses ...... but surely not the super wrecks we came for.
The return sail was anything but quiet. All in all, we made the Bibb and the Eagle Wrecks, two fairly deep and very good reef dives ...... most of us did not do any night dives, as of their own choice ...... a wonderfull full-moonlit cruise down and had gourmet dining. We did some of the diving we came for, but not as much as we expected. Some due to the weather, missed coordinates delayed another dive and our own option to either make or not to make the night dives. Some divers felt they did what was considered appropiate and fully enjoyed the trip. Others were not satisfied with the dives they missed (???). One unanimous agreement was that the food was excellent and abundant ...... just what many of us don't need 8-)) ...... and it was healthy.
I, for one, fully enjoyed all my
dives, currents and all, ate enough for a week
and plan to jump into the next trip to be offered in November. If we
can match it with a quarter moon in apogee, maybe the neap tides
will let us enjoy our deep wreck dives to the fullest ...... since we now
have the right GPS coordinates. 8-))