Wow what a wreck!!! I have waited a long time to be able to dive this wreck and it was worth the wait to say the least. After diving the Varanger the day before, we looked at the forecast and decided to head offshore again and dive the Miraflores.
The Miraflores was an unknown freighter that was torpedoed by the U-432 on February 19, 1942. In recent years this wreck was identified by Gene Peterson. It tells a really interesting and empathetic story that is best reflected by his own words of the discovery...
S.S. Miraflores Click the link for the full story.
This wreck sits in 165' of water although my maximum depth was only 150' and it was one of the better dives that I have done in my lifetime!
We left under calm seas and humid hot weather and headed offshore with a group that has been diving together for quite some time and it provided for a fun and exciting day.
Joe and Sean tied us in within minutes and I was going to be in the group that pulled the anchor so, I was restlessly sitting on the boat for a few hours while all the other divers did their dives. Since it was so hot there were a few of us that went swimming to cool down during the wait. Finally after what seemed like an eternity, it was my turn to get dressed and splash. We had reports of bad visibility up top but great viz on the bottom and Sean said take my camera. There was a current on the surface but it was nothing like the Resor a few weeks back. I could see the wreck at 110' and we were anchored right adjacent to the boilers. First thing I noticed was this wreck was loaded with fish unlike the past few dives. The visibility was about 40' and it was cold like the Texel. I swam around the boilers and out towards the sand. I started to take photos but due to the extreme heat up top and the extreme cold on the bottom, my camera lens fogged, the moisture munchies were not doing their job! I shot a few photos anyway but knew the fogged lens would make the photos cloudy. So I spent most of my dive checking out the wreck. This wreck is really beautiful, it has the high boilers and the props sticking out of the sand which makes for great visual reference. There were tons of ling cod and ocean pouts. In fact one ling cod kept coming for my mask and I had to keep pushing it away.
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| This guy just would not leave my lens or my mask alone! |
Once we surfaced, I found that everyone had a great dive and there were possible artifacts found that would be left for another dive. There were both lobsters and scallops boated on this dive too!!!
When Capt. Dan picked me up from the ball, I climbed on the boat and once I got on the platform I fell and got my fin caught and twisted my ankle..Thanks to Joe Rogers and Ben Roberts, the lifeguard whom helped to free my foot and get me on my feet again! It is quite painful today so I will be off to the doctor to make sure I didn't break anything and that it is just a sprain. If my ankle it ok, I will be back out diving on Friday...not sure of the destination as of yet but, this sure has been a great week of diving for all of us on the Independence II!
Here are a few pictures but you can clearly see the fogged spot in the middle of them all, some dives are mean to be remembered in your mind and cannot be captured in pictures or video.
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| Not sure what all the pink sponges are called..never saw them before. |
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