After years of trying to get out to the wreck known as the Sommerstad (Virginia) we were finally successful yesterday. The NOAA forecast for Saturday called for 2-3' and was way off where as conditions yielded 4-7' seas. With some quick planning by Capt. Dan of the Independence II, he delayed our Sunday departure from 3am till 5am with hopes that the seas would lay down as predicted by NOAA. As we left in darkness and broke the inlet, the seas had calmed quite a bit..however, as we got further offshore the seas grew and there was a moment that we contemplated turning around. The general consensus was that we came this far lets push on. Once we anchored to the wreck, the seas laid down to about 2' and finally 1-2'. Thus we finally made it to the Sommerstad!
The Sommerstad is a freighter that all literature states as resting in 180' of water but, none of the divers today got over 168' and I personally did not get deeper than 160'. On August 12. 1918 the Sommerstad was sunk by a torpedo fired by the U-117. It was reported that the torpedo just missed the bow and then surprisingly turned around and hit the freighter mid-ship. This wreck very large and today we were tied in adjacent to the large boilers. I will add that the Captain located the wreck within minutes and the crew had us completely tied in within 8 minutes which was outstanding!
Today I was not myself, my health has suffered a lot this year and I was not at my strongest today. I almost did not even go today but, I did, and I am so happy that I gathered up the strength to go. Since the ride out was bouncy and we were taking the swell into the beam, I certainly was feeling a little queezy.. We had to wait on the boat until all of the divers were up before we could splash which in the end was a good thing. It gave my queezy stomach time to calm and we also were able to hear all the reports of visibility, current and water temp. prior to making our dive. Everyone said this wreck was awesome and had very large lobsters and on top of that the largest cod anyone had seen. There were multiple cod 4-5' in size laying about the wreck and under the plates of the wreckage. Reports also advised that the stern section is still intact and has quite a bit of relief. Everyone also commented that the water temp was very cold and did not warm up until about 20-30' and there it only warmed to about 52 degrees, mind you this came from all the rebreather divers with heated vests. This meant, it will be a very cold dive for me.
Finally, it was my turn to splash and as I did I was slammed with that current, luckily I grabbed onto the swim platform and was able to pull myself to the carolina rig. As I descended I got the feeling that I was not comfortable due to the current and just not feeling the best. I continued on but, kept pausing trying to decide it I should turn around. My last pause was at about 120' and I could see the wreck, I said I'm here lets do this. Once on the bottom the visibility was about 50' and it was dark but as your eyes adjusted it was not too dark. The boilers stood up high and the wreck was scattered about in what seemed to be an endless debris field. This wreck is heavily fished as shown with the huge amount of of monofilament all over the wreck. You needed to control your buoyancy on this dive and stay above the wreck to avoid entanglement. The thought deep, dark, and dangerous come to mind. Bill headed off hunting for cod and lobster and I settled in to take photos and video. However, my camera would turn on but, none of the key buttons would work at depth. It worked fine on the surface but, not on the bottom. This upsets me because these types of dives can be once in a lifetime adventures never to happen again. It certainly would be nice to have a few pictures to memorialize it. Oh well not today, and I certainly hoped that the GoPro brought in as a back up was functioning at depth. I found a lobster tangled in fishing line and showed it to Bill and he tried to free it but was unsuccessful. I did not see any cod on my dive but I also did not look hard for them. I spent my dive looking for any kind of artifact. I thought I saw two portholes but, could not get close enough to confirm that they were indeed portholes. As far as I know, artifacts have not been brought up from this wreck to positively identify it as the Sommerstad and I know everyone today was looking for something to positively identify it. Before long I was freezing cold and thinking how miserable the hang is going to be so I started to make my way up. As I was decompressing in water that was 48 degrees, memories of diving in the cold Nova Scotia waters came back (see my Blog Archive for March 2010). The water today and on those dives of the past was very cold with little or no relief in the shallower stops. Today, even the warm up to 52 degrees provided some relief. I know now that if I am going to continue to dive these deeper dives I need a heated vest so that I can safely off gas. The hang was not easy due to the current so I was trying to find something to occupy my thoughts and/or do to pass the time and I remembered what Brandon said about his hang...Brandon claimed he saw some seahorses on blades of sea weed that floated by so I was on the lookout for them. I did not see any sea weed, seahorses or any fish at all during my hang. Maybe Brandon's gas mix was causing his to hallucinate about dancing sea horses around him...Hmmm you have to wonder lol.
Back on the boat were lots of lobsters and tales of how exciting everyone's dives were. Captain Dan kept asking if I liked today's dive, I said, "YES" it was an awesome wreck and we need to come back again next summer! Most of us only did one dive today including me. It is better to do one safe dive that push yourself on that second dive is my motto... The GoPro video of this dive came out but, I do not have time to edit it as of yet, I will post it in the near future. Here is a link to Wayne Fisch's video that he did of his dive yesterday with his student Ray. He must of stayed up real late last night to edit this so quickly but he did a great job!!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAsnFIHME7U&feature=plcp
I almost forgot that prior to splashing a whale passes by and was jumping out of the water which was awesome to see. What a summer of diving, stings rays, dolphins, sharks and now whales!!!
I will be taking a two week break from diving as I head this week to Maine for a camping and canoeing vacation with the family. When I return I am looking at diving the N. Lilian again and the Bidevind.. I do have to admit that this dive season I have had great luck, the weather has been very cooperative, I have only had 1 blow out, lets hope that my good luck continues through the fall! Be Safe :))
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