Arundo, May 12, 2012

As I awoke to a brisk clear morning, I am fully aware how lucky I am to be able to go out and dive the Arundo today.  Like many other divers, I work-out at the gym several days a week over the winter trying to maintain good health and physical condition with the hopes that I am blessed with the capability to enjoy another summer of wreck diving in the North Atlantic.

Today I decided to do only 1 dive and the objective was to be safe and gather some scallops for my graduation party that I was hosting with my dearest friends after the dive.  My friends have put up with my countless hours of studying on the beach for the past few years, helped out with juggling my kids when it conflicted with my grad school classes and the least I could do is get them some fresh scallops.

The forecast was for 2-3' seas and I think it was a solid 1-2', just beautiful for the ride out to the Arundo.   Since Bill was doing the tie-in, I took my time suiting up and splashed quite a while after he went in...I passed him as he was doing his hang.  I asked how the vis was in "sign language" and he gave me the thumbs up.  I went down nice and slow and noticed there was no thermocline and it was cold but not that bad, I was comfortable and dry.  There was a fishing boat anchored on the wreck when we arrived so we anchored in a section of the wreck that I am not familiar with.  It was a high piece and there seemed to be about 25-30' of relief in this portion of the wreck.  Once on the bottom I  did a quick check of my equipment and noticed my computer was not showing that I was diving, good thing I always carry two.  I tied off my wreck reel and headed down into the sand to search for those scallops.  The visibility was a solid 30', it was nice and clear..  The first thing I came across besides empty scallop shells was a Northern Red Anemone.  I have never seen one of these before.  It was all alone in the sand and I was so upset that I did not have my camera with me.  It had such vibrant shades of red, and was simply stunning.  Next time I am on the Arundo I will go in search of another one.    I swam pretty far out into the sand and did not see a single living scallop.  I decided to reel in and to head in the opposite direction.  I ended up in an area with lots of wheel axels and a large cargo hold area.  I spent the remainder of my dive exploring this area.

Northern Red Anemone

Before long about 20 minutes went by and I decided to head up, I did not want to have a long hang since the ocean is not warm and balmy as of yet, although I had 48 degrees on the bottom and 51 degrees on my hang which is not bad for mid May.

Once on the surface, I found out that there were scallops and lobsters to be had, I just did not venture far enough off the wreck to find them.  Everyone on board agreed that the calm sea conditions, lack of current and great visibility is rare for this wreck on the edge of the mudhole.   Everyone did a second dive to take advantage of the great conditions.  More scallops and lobster were boated on the second dive and the visibility improved to 30-35'.  Also during the surface interval, the guys had fun teasing me, Bill put a brittle star on my leg without me knowing and Capt. Dan said "Kim, what is that on your leg?"  I looked down and screamed so loud thinking it was some large spider creature.  They all got a kick out of my reaction,  and had some laughs...Ha Ha the jokes on me!!

Now that one dive is under my belt, I can at least say that I dove once in 2012!  I unfortunately will not be able to dive for sometime due to personal reasons so, I am extremely thankful for this great day out on the Arundo.  To all fellow divers and friends, please post trip reports and photos because I fully enjoy hearing how everyone's dive was.  With good luck on my side, I am hoping to be back in the water in a month or two...until then..BE SAFE!