I had talked to Conch Republic Divers (CRD) some on the phone. They had been recommended and were south of Pennecamp Park, which was an area that I wanted to see. It seemed that they had had a group of divers coming all week to look for lobsters. Apparently they had been doing well, but were going to Key West the next day and then diving again the day after. That seemed like something good for me, but I asked if they had any intention of diving the Duane. Cynthia at CRD said that she could look into it. Sure enough, they would be going out Thursday and were willing to dive the wreck.
The boat was nice and far bigger than need for 5 divers.
It is only a short trip out to the reef and the swell was
minimal. The water is clear and inviting. I could see that we
were just a bit south of Pennecamp Park and there were areas
where the reef was shallow enough for small waves to be
breaking. We all geared up as the boat travelled to the site.
The skipper came down and talked a bit about the dive.
If the current is bad and sweeps you off the wreck, you will
not be able to swim back to it, so surface. We are parked at
the float line that comes up from the bow. You descend it and
at the end of the dive, come up the float line at the stern
of the wreck. Keep together, don't touch, racheda, racheda,
racheda.
We all hopped off together and went for the float line
that came up from fron the bow of the ship. Nobody here was
clumsey. These were divers. One of the two women had a camera
with her. The ship could be seen from the surface and looked
about 60 feet deep in the clear water. It is also the biggest
wreck I had ever seen like this. As soon as we started down
we could see about 20 large barracuda in formation above and
to the side of the front deck. It's amazing how the just don't
seem to move from their position at all. I wonder what they
are waiting for.
The current was mild and when I got to the deck I had to
grab water and my BC inflator so that I would stop without
hitting the deck. I managed not to touch, but not all the
other divers quite avoided it. The deck was at 105 feet
instead of 115, which made me happy. That would make it a
textbook NITROX dive.
The front deck had a large hole in it that I recognized
as the base of a deck gun. It would have looked neet if they
had left it in place. Growth on the deck was still thin. I
don't know how long this ship has been submerged. I could see
some incrustations of coral, but I have no idea what they
would look like with a few years of growth.
The group moved to the superstructure. I pointed out a
large scallop to the diver with the camera, but it closed
before she had a chance to get a shot. Also, it was lacking
any brilliant colors like I have seen in the mantles of other
types of scallops that I have seen. She took pictures and the
rest of the divers looked through the open doors and ports.
We were not supposed to do any kind of penetration of the
wreck.
At one point a diver was looking in through a door, so
I decided to look in too. Sure enough, there was a school of
small fish of some kind, swimming around inside. I noticed
that we were under a stair well. The landing at the top of
the stair was trapping our air like it was floating
quicksilver. Maybe I'm easily amused, but I had fun looking
at this.
We slowly moved towards the back of the ship. We were
all cruising generally along the port side. There was not
enough current to cause any kind of a problem. Some divers
went high above the weather deck. Some went along the railing.
I decided to charge another barracuda that was on the deck.
It didn't move even when I got about 2 feet away. Neet looking
fish.
We continued to the back deck, where there is the body of
a winch. Most of the parts are stripped, but it was easy to see
that this had been a very big winch. As I went beyond that, I
saw what I think was the best view on the wreck. Look towards
the stern with the sun behind the conning tower. The top of the
tower is about 50 feet above the deck. It is a really beautiful
sight.
Before long we had all puttered back to the stern line. I
headed up first and found where I wanted to park at about 20
feet. Everyone else was following and hung out where their
various devices said that they belonged. The barracuda were
stationed where they belonged. Stops can be fun. We all ended
up on the surface hanging on to the float line.
For some reason, I ended up on the boat well before anyone
else. I climbed on and sat down where my tank belonged as they
request you do. They immediatly put a bungy on my tank, which
seemed like a good thing and probably was, usually. Unfortunately,
it was not such a good idea this time. I tend to get a bit illish
just after the end of the first dive. I did this time too.
Unfortunatly my tank was strapped down and I was still strapped to
it. Well, I got most of it past the back of the boat and the next
wave removed the evidence. Wow, that was a beautiful dive.