North Carolina - October 2006

Made the long drive from South Florida to North Carolina. I started the drive on the 5th. The plan was for three days of diving from October 6,7,8. Each day we faced the uncertainty of a rough ride, but it was relatively painless once we arrived on site.

Friday - Dive 1 - the Schurz
We tied up to the site, and the current was challenging. The sun was out and conditions above water were perfect. Below, the currents were pretty strong, the crew estimated 2 knots. The safety rigging under the boat was due for a good workout. The wreck is more debris field than shipwreck, the reel is a must-use for this dive.

Friday - Dive 2 - The U-352

Check out this page for its history... I'll let the video speak for the dives...





Saturday - Dive 1 - The Indra
Weather conditions called for 3-5' seas, and the crowd was expecting the worst from the weather. Unfortunately enough, the calls for "sunny and warm" fell on deaf ears for the first half of the day as overcast clouds and a cool breeze fell upon the area... The Indra is an artificial reef that has been down for a number of years, as represented by the amount of coral growth. The main deck is non-remarkable, as the gems of this wreck lie in the decks below. Large cut-outs have been prepared for divers to easily penetrate swim-throughs through most of the wreck.

Saturday - Dive 2 - The W.E. Hutton (possibly the Ario?) The weather gods must have heard the calling as the sun decided to peak out and make its presence known. The wind was still blowing, but the 3-5' seas never materialized in-shore as anticipated as we experienced calm 1-2' conditions for the day...

We loaded up the boat Sunday morning and made our way to the fill station at Olympus to pick up tanks. The captain then made the call that it was going to be too rough to run that day. When we got to the dock, the rain was coming down - hard, and the tide was still coming in. The gangplank was easily nearing a 50 degree angle... It was a challenge unloading people and gear, I decided to leave my doubles on the boat until after it settled down some and we headed back to the Fisherman's Inn for a few hours sleep and a VERY lazy day.

This was my first group trip with the folks from SingleDivers.com, a wayward home for single and married but buddyless divers. The boat was the "Good Ship Mutiny (aka the Diver Down II).