New Depths and Epic Conditions

 2 weeks ago we were blessed with the best inshore dive conditions I have ever seen, which isn't saying much because I have only been diving for a year or so. However many people who have been diving for a very long time said they had never seen it that good.

  It was Friday May 21st, the day after the night dives, my hunting buddy and now roommate headed out to the Alexander Ramsey. It was kind of ironic that the 1st time that we met last year, we "tried" to dive this wreck. Neither of us knew our ass from our elbow as far as freediving was concerned then. This day was to be a much different experience. Alex has reached depths of over 100' and took the Performance Freediving Instructors intermediate course in Ft. Lauderdale last October. In April I took the basic Freediver course offered by Evolve Freediving here in Wilmington NC.

 I have been experiencing some sinus issues that have held me back as far as my depth goals have been concerned. I could not get past 33' during my course, which left me very disappointed, but not discouraged. I can't explain why, but for some reason I feel the need to hold my breath and dive as deep as I can and hunt for my dinner.

 Not having a GPS or a depth finder on the boat makes it difficult to find a shipwreck. Luckily there is a buoy in the vicinity to mark the artificial reef. It still is not easy to find though. I knew that if we could find the buoy I could find the ship, I have done several dives there on SCUBA with friends and on the Aquatic Safaris boats. Still no guarantees though.

 There were 2 boats fishing the area when we arrived, our buddies were on one of the boats and said they were on the wreck. It rests in around 45' of water, the top of the structure lies around 20'-25' from the surface. I looked over the rail of the boat to see a sight that I will never forget!

 Peering down into the ocean was like looking into a fish tank, you could clearly make out the wreck and even see fish swimming, keep in my mind I was still on the boat! Freediving is more or less meditating, as excited as we both were, we knew we had to stay relaxed and keep our hearts from racing. After actually getting into the water, I knew how special this day was going to be! You could see the bottom, 45' below. Offshore visibility like this is common, actually this would be mediocre, but only 3 miles from the inlet this is incredible!

 I dropped down to the wreck to check the anchor and was blown away, it was as if the wreck was alive. Well it is, being covered with corals and plant life, fish were everywhere, though most of them very small. We practiced the one up one down technique and shared a gun. The gun was attached to a float and a 50' line. The visibility was so good that while I was on the surface, I pulled on the line to alert Alex of a decent sized tautog behind him. Thwack! Dinner!


 We were comfortably hunting in the 25' to35' range in and out of the wreck. I swam under a ledge of the midsection of the ship and poked my head around an opening to see another tautog. Could this be my first fish taken from a wreck? Yup! Put a great shot on him and pulled him out of the wreck to the surface. It was not the biggest fish I have ever shot but, it felt great! I finally felt like a real spearfisherman.

 Another really exciting thing happened as I swam the fish back to the boat. I was knifing the fish to "silence" it, and had a feeling. I threw the fish in the boat and climbed in the stern of the 17' Pioneer, just in time to see the 4' Sandbar Shark literally inches from my fins, which were dangling in the water still. Awesome! It was a close call with the tax collector, but my fish came home with me!

 We made a lot more dives that day. I touched the sand at 43', my new personal best. The accessibility of this wreck leaves it extremely over-fished. We did not see too many fish that were worth shooting. What a great day! I  got to practice the skills that I learned in my basic freediver course, saw some beautiful marine life and explored a wreck while holding my breath.

 Alex and I made the full circle from our first trip to the Alexander Ramsey less than a year ago. This trip was different, we knew what we were doing, we dove the wreck, we hunted the wreck, we are Freedivers now, not snorkelers!

Thanks for reading and stay tuned for further postings! The rest of the weekend had epic conditions, this was just Friday!

The Night Dive Part 2

 So it was dark now, the wind was subsiding, and we were gearing up for our night dive. The moon was not quite full but it was still bright. Once again I was the first to hit the water, I was very excited to see the underwater world in the dark. For those of you that are unfamiliar with diving, we did have lights, and we also had glow sticks attached to our tank valves so the instructors could keep track of the divers. I knew in seconds that this was not going to be like anything I have done up to this point in my life.

 Descending down the anchor line to the wreck through the army of non-stinging jellyfish, was the most surreal experience of my life. When the jellyfish crossed paths with the light beams it was mesmerizing. The best way I can explain it is that each one had what appeared to be 4 different electrical currents running through it, with each current being a different color. Humans will never be able to come close to recreating the beauty that our oceans do!

 Being the first one on the wreck again, and also knowing that the sharks were there, I was very alert and the jellyfish were not on my mind anymore. I scanned in every direction to make sure that nothing was sneaking up on me. Atlantic Spadefish were covering the Hyde. I had absolutely no idea that this species of fish got so large. They were everywhere, and they were not shy, I guess they knew that we would not eat them but the Sand Tiger Sharks that were hunting certainly would.

 Our group of six divers explored the wreck, this time not going all the way to the bottom, we stayed on the deck of the wreck. To my dismay I only saw one shark on this dive, but they were there! As a group, we covered our lights and let our eyes adjust to the dark. From a depth of around 65 ft. you could make out the moon, which I thought was amazing. Waving your hands around produced the phosphorescence, a very psychedelic effect.

 Heading back towards the anchor line we swam through a school of Spadefish that created a blackout, or I guess a fish out. One of the larger ones swam into my mask and almost knocked it off. The fish were everywhere, I actually felt bad, because we were guests in their house, and shining lights all over the place. Time to ascend now...

 I'll never forget breaking the surface and seeing the moon, stars, black sky and ocean. Truly a special experience! The 18 mile trip back to Wrightsville Beach was perfect, I was hoping that it would never end, but then I ran out of beer! Back at the Bridge Tender Marina we unloaded all of our gear, and beers started flowing again. Almost like an angel appearing from heaven Chris walked down the dock with a Pizza from Slice of Life. I can say with confidence that those 2 slices of pizza were the best I have had since I moved away from New York 8 years ago.

 If swimming with sharks at night sounds fun or just diving in general, please contact Aquatic Safaris & Divers Emporium. You won't regret it!

http://www.aquaticsafaris.com/

                            

The Night Dive Part 1

So last Thursday, May the 20th, I did something I never thought in a million years that I would do. I got on a boat and headed 18 miles offshore to go diving with sharks at night. I went on the Aquatic Safaris 1, a 48' Island Hopper. Leaving the dock at 5:30 pm, I was a bit nervous. This dive was to be part of my Advanced Open Water PADI certification. The plan was to do the first dive before it got dark, which was to be a deep dive. After an hour long surface interval and watching the sunset over the ocean we were to do our night dive.

 The dive site was the Hyde, which was sunk by the NC Division of Marine Fisheries as part of the artificial reef program in 1988. Built in 1945 as an ocean going hopper dredge, the Hyde is 215' long. It's primary purpose was to keep waterway open for naval vessels. Being built during wartime it is one of the few dredges to have armor and gun crews on it. The Hyde saw service in the Atlantic and Pacific. Now she rests in 85 feet of water sitting upright making it one of the most spectacular dive sites in the area.

 Our first dive was planned to go to the sand, which my computer clocked at 82', then swim around the deck of the ship before making our way back to the anchor line and slowly surface. The visibility was in the 60 foot range. Immediately entering the water you could see the top of the structure from the surface 55' below. I was the first to get down the anchor line and get to the wreck. The amount of life was incredible! I was in awe! Waiting for the rest of our group I scanned the area for what I knew was there but no sighting yet. Once the rest of the divers joined up with me, we swam over the edge and dropped down to the sand. Brad showed us how the light does not penetrate enough to make out colors. He shined his light on the side of the wreck which lit up the corals in beautiful colors. 

 Heading for the stern of the ship we were greeted by a massive school of Amberjacks. The fish were all 20 lbs. and up! After letting the school pass we turned the corner and swam behind the stern, immediately I saw a Gag Grouper. Then gazing right I saw my first Sand Tiger Shark. He wasn't too big maybe four feet. He was beautiful, so graceful and calm. Unforgettable!

 Having to get to a shallower depth before we went into decompression time, we went up to the deck of the ship, which was around 60'. More sharks were waiting. Again amazingly graceful and calm, they did not seem to be bothered by us strangers at all. I hovered over the biggest one, which was maybe 6', for what seemed like an eternity. Sharks are the most misunderstood creatures on the planet. The beauty of these animals is incredible. I will never forget looking into the eyes of what used to be my greatest fear, and dare I say enemy...

 Upon surfacing we discussed our experiences, watched the sunset, and got seasick. Night was upon us. Time to go back underwater with the sharks. Stay tuned for The Night Dive Part 2. Thanks for Reading!