Day 1: U-352
The U-352 is a German submarine that sits in 100' of water and was sunk by the Coast Guard Cutter "Icaraus" on May 9, 1942. The sub was discovered by George Purifoy whose son, Bobby was the Captain of our boat, the Olympus this week. Other than the S-5 in NJ, I have not dove on any other subs (U-boats). As I splashed into the deep blue water, I could immediately make out the sub below. It is impressive to see as you descend. I was also so mesmerized by all the schools of fish on the wreck itself. Once on the bottom I quickly swam to the conning tower to photograph and take video of it before all the other divers arrived.
I then swam towards the stern and circled around rudder where there was torpedo tube and then swam along the top of the the entire sub. I found some angel fish and sea cucumbers and took photos and video of them. Other divers saw a manta ray and a sand tiger shark but, I did not see them. I found an octopus camouflaged into the wreck too.
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| Mr. Octopus |
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| Sea Urchin |
The bottom temp was 77 degrees, so much more comfortable than my more familiar NJ waters. I think I was one of the first divers down and also the last one to come up. At the end of the dive I felt privileged to dive this historic sub that effected so many lives during WWII. My grandfather was a Merchant Marine during the war and the ship he served on was torpedoed by a German sub. His ship was carrying war supplies and as it sunk it turtled taking the lives of almost all those on board. He was one of few survivors. He recalled slipping and falling backwards and as a result ended up on the opposite side of the ship and eventually fell to the waters below. He hung onto a piece of wreckage for a day and a half in shark infested waters before being rescued. Once he was rescued he was brought to French Guyana to recover. He told stories of the sharks nipping at him and how he had to keep kicking them away. He had nightmares of the sharks trying to attack him for the rest of his life, he also always wondered why he was one of the few that survived that day, this troubled him emensely. I guess that is one of the reasons I am not fond of diving German sub's. During my hang I was in awe of the massive barracuda hanging effortlessly right next to me throughout my entire hang. I like to think he was my friend and didn't want to eat me. This was one of those dives that it is nice to do once but in the end, it's just a pipe in the sand that probably caused a lot of destruction during the war....
USCG-Spar
This wreck is an artificial reef that was sunk right next to the Aeolus in June 2004 and it sits in 110' of water. The wreck was a Coast Guard buoy tender and it sits upright and is easily penetrated.
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| There were tons of Spade fish on this wreck. |
This wreck is also known for its sand tiger sharks. One of the reasons I wanted to dive in NC was to dive with sharks, I've always been wary of them and wanted to overcome my fear. Just because they are fast and have huge sharp teeth does not mean they are any different than all the other fish in the ocean. We were anchored in the stern and once I was on the bottom I headed towards the wheelhouse which is where the sharks like to hang. I did not see any sharks initially but, was in awe of the large amount of Spade fish packed into the wheelhouse. As I swam through them they were so thick you actually pushed them out of your way. This was so cool. I then head over the bulkhead of the wreck towards the sand when I spotted a large sand tiger shark not too far from me. I shot video of it and then it disappeared. I checked out the holds on the deck and didn't actually swim the entire wreck, I kind of hung in one area checking out the marine life. I enjoy watching the bait fish swirl around in packs and at times getting so thick that you can't see through them. My hang included a token barracuda and more bait fish. It was the end of an awesome first day of diving wrecks in NC. I can't wait for tomorrow...we are diving the Papoose (W.E. Hutton).
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| I loved looking up at all the bait fish, it was so very cool! |
Day 2
Papoose for two dives:
This wreck was known as the Papoose until recently when it was officially identified as the W.E. Hutton, sits upside down in 125' of water. It is a 412' freighter that was torpedoed by the U-124 on March 18, 1942. This is one of the wrecks that I desperately wanted to dive this week. As soon as I splashed and began my descent, I notices 3 very large fish that had a blunt head and were quite large and impressive, I wanted to take their picture but, I assumed there would be more on the wreck. I was wrong. I found out later that these were Mahi Mahi and only 3 of us saw them because they took off as soon as all the divers began descending onto the wreck. At least I was blessed with seeing them! We were anchored in the middle of the wreck near the break and I was going to dive the deeper bow section first. As soon as I turned the corner towards the massive opening into the wreck, I saw a whole bunch of sand tiger and black tip reef sharks swimming in and out of the dark inside of the wreck. The problem was there was so much bait fish that it made it difficult to see through them and to get any photos of the sharks. I didn't hang around long here long, I proceeded towards the bow. I saw some lion fish and spent some time checking them out and then more sharks appeared. They were all around me and I was just in awe. I stayed calm and faced my fears. I was right, they are just like any other fish swimming in the ocean.
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| The upside down Papoose |
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| Sand Tiger Shark |
During the second dive, we were heading to the stern but the current picked up and made that too tough of a swim for me so, I dropped down to the sand and waited for the sharks to come out from under the turtled wreck. I had so much fun taking photos and video of the sharks...it was the highlight of my week. As soon as I got out of the water a huge hammerhead came up chasing 3 turtles and put on quite a show...wish I was still on my hang to see that...there is always tomorrow!! This is one wreck I would like to come back to...
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| Purple Sea Urchin Arbacia punctulata |
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| Yellow Cheek Wrasse Halichoeres cyanocephalus |
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| Hairy Cucumber Sclerodactyla briareus |
Day 3
USS Shurz-
This wreck is a US/German Freighter that sunk on June 21, 1918 when it collided with the SS Florida. It actually has an interesting history. The Shurz was originally a 255' German gunship named the SMS Geier that was built in 1894. In 1914, the U.S. seized the ship and renamed it the USS Shurz. During World War II it was a German target because they did not want their own ship to be a factor in their defeat. The USS Shurz did not meet its demise however until its collision with the SS Florida. It now sits in 110' of water and most of the wooden decking has rotted away and what is left is lots of machinery including the boilers, anchor, rudder and cannons. I loved this wreck, it is not often that you dive on a wreck with cannons.
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| One of 3 cannons that I saw on this wreck |
There was plenty or marine life like all the wrecks I've been to this week. Captain Bobby warned us to be careful because the bait fish can become so thick that it disorients you and you end up lost unable to find the anchor line. Since we've had 100' of viz on most of our dives, I found it difficult to believe what he was saying until it happened. I was swimming right next to the boilers when the bait fish came through, I couldn't even see the bottom and distinguish between wreckage or the sandy bottom..all you saw was tons of fish in every direction. Luckily I kept swimming towards where I thought the edge of the wreck was and eventually I swam out of the bait fish swarm and did not get lost. There were quite a few lion fish on this wreck and I spotted a cleverly disguised octopus.
We all were planning on staying on this wreck for two dives however, one of the fellow divers today was commissioned on the USCG Spar and he wanted to dive it. So we all conceded to dive the Spar again for the second dive. It is not often that you get to dive a wreck with someone that was actually commissioned to it. We are going to come back to the USS Shurz tomorrow. There were lots of artifact recoveries going on that needed one more dive.
USCG Spars- The current was ripping across this wreck from port to starboard and made it very difficult to make and headway but, I managed to swim around the bow. I saw a few sharks including one that quickly snatched up a fish right next to me and I got it on video. The speed that he turned and grabbed the fish scared me and I decided I better move along. I spent time following a school of large jacks and then I saw a ray in the sand and followed him for a while. Evidently other divers saw a school of rays and I missed it. This wreck is quite large and it was nice to come back to it and hit another portion that I did not get to see the other day. Another beautiful day of diving topped off with a few beers on the sundeck as we drove back to the dock with flat calm seas.
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| Spade Fish |
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| Immature Grouper |
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| Sea Bass |
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| Barracuda |
Day 4- Blow out...4'-6' seas..praying we get out tomorrow. I spent the day checking out the seaside city of Beaufort and really enjoyed a day alone just wandering around. I spent a few hours at the beach since it was so hot and I really needed to cool off in the ocean. However, the water is so warm it really is not refreshing at all... The humidity makes it really unbearable down hear in southern NC. A large group of us gathered for dinner at Clawson's in Beaufort and we all had a nice time. The wind is dying as I type this and I know tomorrow we will manage to get out for one more day of diving!!
Day 5
Although the wind died and the seas somewhat laid down and we were actually going to head out to dive...which I was happy about.. However, it does not take much to kind of upset me and hinder my cheerful spirit. I don't know what it is with men and diving but, this sport is load with egotistical....well need I say anything else. I arrived on the boat to find a certain male putting his tanks in my "spot". This boat is set up with a spot for your tanks and a cubby below for your equipment. I had my gear stowed in the cubby overnight and my tanks were on land being filled. Today there was about 6 or so walk-ons..Well like I said this "certain male" put his tanks in my spot. I politely told him that I had been in this spot all week can he please move over to one of the empty cubbies so I can fit in my tanks. He said where are your tanks? I said I was just about to go get them, they were getting filled. He said, well this is my spot now and would not move. This guy clearly was never taught common boating etiquette. On this particular bench there were other divers that I was diving with and this effected all of us. My friend Rick, agreed to relocate to make room for my big doubles. I swear that no matter where I go with diving, I am taken advantage of by these type of characters... My spirit was not broken and later on in the day, shall I say this man got his karma. They always do get their karma...do onto others is always in my mind!!
We were planning on heading back to the USS Shurz to recover artifacts that we were working on. However, due to storms in the area, we were not able to make it to that wreck so we stopped at the Aeolus which is a little closer to shore and was also not located within the storm area, thus no lightning and calmer seas.
Aeolus-
This wreck is a 409' tanker that was sunk in 1988 as part of North Carolina's reef program. When they sunk it, it was actually turtled or upside down. During hurricanes in 1996 the wreck was up-righted and twisted so much that it now sits in 3 separate pieces. Captain Bobby informed us that this wreck has had a huge amount of sharks on it this summer so I was excited. This wreck sits in 125' of water and my plan was to stay relatively shallow so to increase my bottom time. I swam along the edge of the wreck when I finally went onto the top deck and notices some yellow and blue blennies. I did research on blennies when I was in college so of course I had to stop and shoot some video of them coming in and out of their "blennie condos and also to take photos. I love watching these little critters and before I knew it I spent 15 minutes just checking them out. I finally said I better move along otherwise I will miss the rest of the wreck.
I dropped down to a lower deck and notices a type of soft coral that I had not seen all week.
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| Just as I took this shot, a ton of silt stirred up from a shark that bumped me. |
USCG Spar- We ended up back at the USCG Spar again today for reasons to do with the "certain male" that gave me problems earlier in the day and the other divers with him. Without going into detail, they were not qualified to dive the Shurz or other wrecks in the area. I was a little disappointed but, this wreck is fun and I was planning on going out in the sand in search of the rays so, I was happy. I never found the rays but I did find myself on the stern alone with a 3' reef shark that kept swimming around me and looked right in my eyes. I shot some nice video of him and enjoyed just sitting there watching him. Since I was so pre-occupied, I forgot that the deck of this wreck is literally covered with shark teeth and I had wanted to grab a handful to bring back for my kids. Thankfully John Paoli and his nephew Christopher picked up a bunch and gave me some to bring home. Also on this last dive of the week I finally figured out to shoot my camera in a cloudy setting instead of <25' blue water and as a result, my pictures came out nice with the forefront lit and the back round deep blue. I guess I'll know for next time.
After out last dive we went out for a great seafood dinner and quite a few cocktails. We booked a boat for next year and I can't wait to come back. We had the nicest group of divers all week that made my vacation away from my family very enjoyable. Plus I did 8 dives over 5 days, not bad for NC. I took more video than photos this trip so, I will post the videos of this great trip soon...
Now its back to NJ Wreck Diving...I have lots of exciting new wrecks to dive coming up in the next few months including the Somerstadt (Virginia), Varanger, Southern Lilian, and Cayru...stay tuned!!!
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