Today I went out on the Independence II with Helen Bilinski and the Diversion Group (10 divers) to dive the wreck called the Maurice Tracey. The Maurice Tracey was a steam powered collier. She sank on June 17, 1944 almost 67 years ago to the day when she was rammed by the liberty ship, Jesse Billingsley. Today the wreck sits in 70' of water.
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| Superstructure of the wreck |
We were all hoping for good conditions today since the crew of the Indy indicated that the seas were snotty the day before and it appeared that the winds had calmed. It did calm a bit but, there were still some large swells that made the boat rock n roll. Once we anchored over the Maurice Tracey it wasn't bad at all but, a few of the divers opted not to dive due to the sea conditions. Like I have said before, this boat has a set up that makes it easier to dive in rougher conditions because once you do a giant stride off the back you are at the carolina rig leading right down to about 25'. Even today, with a pretty good current and large swells, it isn't difficult to get under and out of the angry sea on the surface. Once I was under it was apparent that the great visibility that has been prevalent this summer is still here. It was a quick descent to the bottom and Dan Martinez had tied us into a high piece of superstructure. The vis was about 20' or more, a little cloudy, a small surge, and the most apparent thing was that the water was much warmer, I had 53 degrees on the bottom and 58 degrees on the surface. It is amazing how an increase in a few degrees makes a world of difference.
This wreck has two large boilers with lots of low lying wreckage around them. I was taking photos again but notices that this wreck was kind of mute when it comes to color. There is a type of hydroid that has blanketed this wreck completely and gives it that grayish color. I believe the vegetation is known as garland hydroid, but I am not positive, in any event it is not the best for photos.
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| Garland Hydroids (Sertularia) blanketing this wreck |
I swam out past the boilers and went out in the sand looking for smaller pieces of the wreckage. I thoroughly enjoyed my dive especially since I was warm, I poked around, looked at the large sea bass and smaller bergals and also tried to locate some lobster. I guess toward the end of my dive I was enjoying taking my photos so much that Capt. Dan was poking me in the head with his spear and I didn't even notice. He couldn't believe that I didn't feel him poking me...I ended up with about 30 minutes on the bottom before I went up. I only brought 1 set of tanks with me today so I made sure I left enough air for a second dive. I used about 1000 psi during my 30 minute dive and hang...not bad. Once I was up on the surface, the lobsters and speared sea bass started coming on board. The lobsters were all a decent size and it was nice to see quite a few caught. Everyone enjoyed their dive. Today there was a barbeque of hot dogs and Helen's famous peorgies. One of the reasons I enjoy diving with this group is the food, there is always lots of food.
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| Northern Stoney Coral |
There was a smaller crowd that did a second dive, I think there was only 4 of us that went in. I tried to convince those that sat out on dive #1 that it is worth going in but I didn't get any takers. My second dive I headed further out into the sand and ended up out in the extreme stern of the wreck. I tried to take some photos of the large sea bass but since everyone was spearing fish they were real skidish and made it almost impossible to get close enough for a good photo. Their coloration is really rich in blues this year and would make for a cool picture. Maybe next time. I ended up with a little shorter dive, 25 minutes because I was cold but it was great. More lobsters and fish were boated and everyone had something for dinner.
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| Pink Hearted Hydroid |
As Helen said, I was the female representative today, since I was the only female that made it into the water. I was happy to take on that role!!!. While out diving today, I was missing my daughter's horse jumping competition and I wanted very much to be there with her. She placed first in one event and second in the other two. I am so proud of her. Sometimes I feel guilty being out diving while missing important events with the kids but, I think it teaches them to be independent and that life goes on without mom around. I know they admire my diving and they know how happy it makes me so, they too see and learn from my example. In the end its a win-win for all.
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| Me coming up from another awesome dive!! |
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| Always Smiling!! |
Well, not sure when my next dive is as of yet, I'm taking off for a week of wilderness canoeing in Ontario, Canada. Til my next wreck diving adventure...Be Safe!
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