Operation Lion's Den - Monday.... the odyssey continues

 \We got to sleep in a little late this morning. I was very happy until I realized that we are two hours later here than back home. So, our seven am boat call, it's still five am back home. Hmmmmm

The first dive was the one that I came all the way here for... The U-352. We arrived on station and the Captain gave us a very sobering speech. To the effect that there was a current so strong that we had just one chance to get in with negative buoyancy, swim down and grab the bow line. If we missed it, we would quickly be taken out to sea where we would drift until the dive was over and they could pull the anchor and search for us...an hour at least.

I was just fine until I jumped in and my regulator came off and left my mouthpiece between my teeth. So the choice was to try to make it back to the boat holding onto the line and drown, or let go and live, but be swept out to sea. So I make it to the ladder somewhat alive, sans regulator. Theresa shows up to and grabs me by the scruff, yanks my mouthpiece out, wrapped a zip tie on it and I was off again... once I vomited up all the sea water and scared pretty much everyone on the boat, embarrassing my self in the process.

So, back on track, and down the line. MONSTER current, so strong that the line is actually thrumming in our hands. The boat looms out of the depths. The current dissipates at depth and we are able to swim along it's length. I found myself picturing the old wreck and imagining the sailors that walked along her topside. Thinking about the young German boys that were her crew and the fear they must have felt as they suffered through the depth charges that damaged her inner workings and blew off her deck gun.  After scuttling the ship, most of the crew were captured, but 17 died during the battle   It was a very sobering experience. One that I would trade for the world.

Our second dive was as calm as the U-boat was nasty. The Indra, a 328 foot landing craft repair ship that is part of the artificial reef program, meaning that it was stripped and deliberately sunk as an artificial reef. It is upright and mostly intact. The entire length is covered with new growth, especially sea urchins. Their presence makes you pay very close attention to your position in the water.  Bump into one of them and you'll be picking their porcupine like quills out for weeks.

Being a shallow dive, we spent a lot of time on this one at about the 30-40 foot range.  While waiting on the ascent line our deco safety stop, we were treated to several species of jellyfish.  Some of them were being served as the main course for a number of small jacks. 

Tonight, the folks from Discovery Diving, fried up fresh caught (by us), halibut and lion fish, boiled shrimp and all the "fixins".  Ahhhh, better than the gourmet meals that I have had... well anywhere.  After dinner we were all sitting on the dock, dangling our feet in the water when we heard that though we were the dive shop's all time favorite group, we weren't the craziest.  So, it was nude snorkeling off the docks.  Hmmm wonder what the fish thought....?

Operation Lion's Den - Sunday

It was a beautiful morning. My first of the trip. Alarm went off at 5:30, slammed my forehead into the bunk 12 inches above my head, drop phone, hit head a second time retrieve phone from floor… okay, I’m up.

We all rush into our dive clothes and head to the dock for the first dive of the day, the Pappoose. Apparently, a number of our group became rather ill yesterday on the rough boat ride and chummed the fish. So, with the help of a couple of Dr. friends, we armed ourselves with scopolamine patches and set out.

High seas and rough currents foiled our plans once again to reach the Neaco, so the Captain diverted to the Papoose. a little over 2 hours after leaving the dock, we arrive and hit the water.

The visibility was fair at about 50 feet and a cool thermo cline around the 80 foot mark. The ship rests on it’s top, so penetration is a little tricky, with stairs that go the wrong direction and floors and ceilings reversed. Still, all in all, it was a nice dive. One that quickly got better when I cam across a group of about 20-12 full grown sand tiger sharks. These magnificent creatures ranged in size small(4-6) to large at about 12 feet long. Bodies big around oil drums and teeth sticking askew, these gentle behemoths are very curious about divers. It’s one thing to know that they rarely pester divers and another to remember that they could eat you in seconds if they wanted to. Collected some teeth and then it was time to go up.

Our next stop was the USCG Cutter, Spar. This was an intentionally scuttled ship that lies upright in about 90 feet of water. Mostly intact still, this is a great penetration dive, where you can go all the way to the hold in the bottom of the ship. Once again we were treated to a large group of sand tigers. These guys were REALLY big and I got to pet and stroke their humongous sides.

Long trip back to shoe with a group of tired divers. The scopolamine patches are doing their job, though I still decided to forgo any lunch.

Our afternoon was spent downtown again, look at all the tourist shops and having a late lunch.

Last night we did an amazing night dive where we were treated to a double drift dive . We entered the water at just the right time to be carried along the shore and then back to our starting point when the tide shifted. We saw rays (one played with us like a big puppy, snuggling up to us and running itself along our arms looking for food. Also, a few octopuses… octopi? Then about a ton of crabs, toad fish and more moon jellies then I have ever seen.

Some very tired divers hit the rack early. Tomorrow, the U-352! Woohoo!

Operation Lion's Den - Saturday




Doug Snores…..

8:45 am - Quick breakfast in Nashville and it’d off to the airport. Weather has lifted a bit and we have a narrow corridor to slip into Beaufort. Doug chose to forego breakfast, so I know he’s excited. Spirits are much better this am. Another smooth takeoff and we’re flying at 7500 feet, just above the clouds. The sun is shining, the birds are… well there aren’t any birds, but they would be singing if they were here.

Our group is most likely on station at their dive spot right now. I’m trying to be happy for them. Reflecting on life, I realize that diving is a lot like life. Sometimes it’s smooth and sometimes all you can do is keep your head above water. Regardless, we are on the way and our friends will be waiting for us.

9:08 pm - Well, it's been a long day. Made it to Beaufort without a hitch. Got our car and drove to the dive shop. Just as we pulled into Discovery Diving, we spotted our group pulling into the dock. Excitement and jokes all around as we catch up on the days events. There had been rough weather this morning, so our guys had to pick a dive site closer to land. This meant no lion fish, so the deck cooler was full of flounder and a big silver fish that looks subspecialty like a French Angel, though they assured me that they weren't.

The guys at Discovery were great. after a short trip downtown to shop and a few minutes to cool off (it is HOT here and 100% humidity), we reassembled at the dive shop for a pig roast and a few well deserved beers.

Tonight, bed and the first real night's sleep in days, tomorrow a deep dive to kill fish.

Operation Lion's Den - Friday, Part Deux

Where to start? Laugh, cry, cry, laugh? Once again, my dive trip has officially been upgraded to "Odyssey". Why does this stuff follow me around? It's a conspiracy, I;m pretty sure. There is a network of people who's only job is to lie in wait for me to go by. Most of the year, it's just getting in my way in traffic to piss me off to capacity, but when I get on a plane....

We land in Cape Girardeau and taxi up to the "terminal". Now usually there's a jump-suited guy with a reflective vest, headphones and those little glow flashlights standing in your parking spot. With the help of some arcane hand gestures, this helpful man directs you to your parking spot next to the FBO (gotta love aviation acronyms...).  Cape G, has a janitor in shorts, a black sleeveless Lynyrd Skynyrd tour t-shirt (we'll call him "Bubba". This dude "mossies" out onto the ramp and points a finger at a spot on the tarmac. Assuming that he wanted us to maneuver in that general direction, we taxi towards him till he gives us a 'stop' gesture and then saunters off, supposedly to finish swamping out the head.

The heat and humidity slams into us as we deplane. Inside the terminal, we find air conditioned comfort, southern accents and a massive Tupperware tub of homemade oatmeal cookies. Hours in the pilot's lounge, where I try to find a comfortable position in a lounge chair, I take a nap.  In fact, I've done a lot of napping.  I whill have a whole photo album of pictures of me napping by next week.  "Here's one of me, sleeping next to the Alamo....".

We research alternative routes to our destination in vain. The storm front is all along our flight path. We get a break at about 10 pm, and hustle out to the plane to make a mad dash to Nashville.

The night sky is clear and beautiful. The lights of the cities spread out to the horizon like amber Christmas lights. Calm skies ease us into Tennessee.

40 miles out of Nashville, we get the report that the storm opening has closed in front of us and we decide to be smart and layover here for the night. Rebbecca has assured me that they will not dive the U-352 without us, so with that in mind, I approach something akin to calm as we begin our descent into the Mecca of the south and the home of auspicious sites such as Dollywood and the Grand Ole' Opera.

Another ambiguous crew car and another random motel room.  We walk next door to a place called the "Waffle House".  Did you know that you can get waffles AND fried chicken on the same plate?  Doug is eating something called, "grits".  Doug is weird...

Operation Lion's Den - Friday AM

6:30 am - Okay, apparently gloating is not good karma.  It's beautiful here in Des Moines, but at breakfast, we found out that there is a big band of weather between us and the coast.  Sigh.... So we're sitting in Bennigan's, drinking coffee trying to find a route to NC via Venezuela.  CRAP, CRAP, CRAP!

2:14 pm - Finally, got off the ground with a flight plan that involves a twisty turny route to slip through the storms.  Didn't work.  Got as far as Cape Girardeau, Missouri.  Waiting for the weather to chage to continue in.  The airport cafe special is all you can eat catfish and frog legs.  Dear God....

Lion's Den - Thursday

It’s time for another dive trip Blog installment. This time to the Graveyard of the Atlantic off of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina.

This week, the NEWD Divers of Wyoming are heading to hunt Lionfish with the crew of Discovery Diving, out of Beaufort, NC. What started out as a guys weekend trip to kill lionfish, has turned into an all out spear fishing extravaganza. Each summer, the folks at Discovery Diving sign up charters and take intrepid spear fishermen out to the bones of famous wrecks like the U-35t2 and the USCGC Spar.

This trip is a slight departure form out usual dive outings, in that we are staying in the U.S. Accustomed to third world destinations, I had to constantly remind myself all week to not take every possible thing I might need for a week long trip to the outback. If I forget my toothbrush, I’ll just run down the street to K-mart and pick up a new one. Food will be recognizable and street signs will all be in English. (The Bonairian government is still shaking their head re: my driving exploits. Who ever heard of a freaking GOAT crossing anyway?)

The weeks leading up to the trip went fairly fast. Flying to NC just didn’t seem like a real trip until I realized that we were down to days rather than months or weeks. It’s been a long 4 months since we returned from Bonaire and it’s amazing shore dives. There will be quite a few differences this time around. For the next week I’ll be a paying customer, rather than a working dive master. That means someone else gets to worry about getting everyone on planes, missing luggage, hotel reservations and the dozens of other concerns that a trip leader needs to stay on top of. Me? I plan to sit back, relax and just enjoy the next week.

The other big difference between this trip and pervious ones, deals with the type of diving and the scenery. This is not a “Sit on the sugar sand beaches of a tropical island and sip rum based drinks while your tanned boat crew hauls your gear to the dive boat“ trip. This is the graveyard of the Atlantic, baby! Rough seas, rain and swells, blue water and low visibility are all on the menu. Not for the faint of heart, this is real diving. Average depths pushing the recreational limits, there won’t be miles of shallow, soft coral reefs to peruse. We’ll take a rough boat ride out to a wreck site, tie in to a mooring line and drop down 140 feet to the twisted hull of a WWWII causality. This type of diving separates the dive bum from the weekend floaters.

Luckily, one of our club members owns and flies a small private plane, so while the bulk of our group is just beginning a long 6 hour trip to Denver in order to catch a early morning flight to NC, I’m sitting in the co-pilot seat of a Cessna 210 cruising along at 12 thousand feet half way to DesMonies, where we will stop for the night and have a good meal and a cold adult beverage. While the others will deal with commercial ticket counters and TSA employees, trying to explain for the fourth time that the 40 pounds of dive gear crammed into a carryon isn’t anything that will explode, turn into a weapon or otherwise bring down a 727, we roll up to the plane, sipping Starbucks and toss our bags in the back 5 minutes before we taxied out and headed into a beautiful warm evening. I have half a dozen knives, spears and pressurized tanks about my person and no one cares! Awww, bliss.

So, Lionfish. A short tutorial. Indigenous to Micronesia and places warm and tropical, the lion fish problem in the US started because some idiot got tired of his private breeding pair and dumped them from his 100 gallon aquarium into the Atlantic. Now, a few years later, they are running rampant all along the coast and moving steadily south into the Caribbean. Each year they penetrate farther south and are upsetting the reef ecosystem as they go. Releasing thousands of eggs at a time, they proliferate. Having no natural enemies in these waters, and being totally unknown to the local species, they eat, seep and breed in astounding numbers. Every diver from New Jersey to Venezuela engage in a determined slaughter-on-sight attempt at decimation… pretty much to no avail.

If that wasn’t enough, these outwardly beautiful fish sport dozens of long sharp spines that radiate from their lacey fins. Loaded with a powerful neurotoxin, the sting of the lion fish is incredibly painful, if not deadly to humans. A boat captain who had been stung on a hunt, equated it to a white hot knife that sits in your flesh for two to three days before slowly fading. Suffice it to say, it’s a good idea to be careful.

We are beginning our approach into DesMoins. We’ll hitch a ride to the motel, eat a good meal, and get a good night’s rest.

Tomorrow, an easy flight to Beaufort. We’ll explore the town and scope out the best hot spots for after dive relaxation and wait for the others to show up. We have a class at the dive shop at 7 on how to safely harvest the fish and then we'll get our itineraries.

Oh, did I mention that while the rest of our group have to fly into Raleigh and drive two hours to get to Beaufort, Doug and I will land about two block from the dive shop? They will be jet lagged and car sore. We will be rested and on our third beer.

It’s good to be the pres…….