Beaufort NC May 28-30, 2005
A small group from the Atlantis Rangers spent Memorial Day weekend diving off Beaufort NC. The water was a little cooler than expected with very noticeable layers. Seas were lumpy on Saturday but calm for the rest of weekend. Viz varied from normal to very good. Thanks to some creative routing, we even avoided most of the holiday traffic.
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Discovery Diving
We booked our charter with Discovery Diving last January – Sat and Sun aboard the 16 passenger crew boat Sea Quest II and Monday aboard the 6-pack Captains Lady. We also reserved Discovery’s west lodge for inexpensive bunkhouse accommodations. We released spots on the boats we couldn’t fill by the end of April, but held onto the lodge. Apparently other groups also released spots and we all had plenty of room on the boats.
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Getting on-board the Seaquest II
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SATURDAY
Gun from the U-352/b>
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On Saturday we requested a trip to the U-352 to satisfy the curiosity of Ranger VP Ray Feldmann. The water seemed cold on entry but we found a reverse thermocline at 60’ with 70F water from there to 120’. Opinions on the viz varied, but I’d say it was only about 40’. We enjoyed the usual variety of small sea life plus some large morey eels, rays, and good size grouper. The ascent put use back into colder water and also a moderate current, so we were happy to finish our safety stops and get back aboard.
Seas were rough enough on Saturday to send a few passengers running for the rail (not Rangers, of course) and we were happy to head inshore for the second dive. The Capt hooked the bow of the Indra, an old Navy LST sunk in 65 fsw as an artificial reef. Water was in the low 60s from the surface to the bottom and viz was 20-30’. The Indra is a good place to practice penetration and navigation skills and, as Robin discovered, a good place to find sharks’ teeth
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SUNDAY
Ray and Friend
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Sunday was absolutely the best day of the weekend. We started on the Papoose, a 410’ long tanker sunk in WWII and now lying upside down at 120’. The water was again cool on entry but comfortable on the bottom and the viz was a good 80-100’. The Capt hooked us at the “big break” and we were met by sand tigers as soon as we reached the bottom. Schools of spade fish and jacks flashed back and forth. Despite the good viz outside, I took the opportunity to take a quick peak inside the stern portion of the wreck and to show some other divers a swim through from the smaller forward break to the bow.
The majority of the boat wanted to stay on the Papoose for the second dive, but a few divers convinced the Captain that they had booked the trip with an assurance that it would go to the U-352. (We wouldn’t have gone there on Saturday had we known). While the submarine can be interesting it doesn’t have enough unique features to be worth repeated dives. On the positive side, the viz was much improved over Saturday and we got a good overview of the wreck while descending. I popped into the forward hatch just so I could get my buddy to snap a picture of me emerging.
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| MONDAY
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On Monday there were just four of us on the Captains Lady. With a long drive home in mind, we opted for a short day with two dives on the Hutton, another tanker sunk in WWII. The Hutton lies at 70’ but has very little relief other than the boilers. The Captain told us we were hooked near there, but although I recognized some landmarks from previous dives, we did not locate the boilers. Water was in the low 60s on the surface and at the bottom with a noticeably warmer layer in between. Viz was about 20 feet horizontally but better vertically. We rehooked for the second dive and although we approached the same landmarks from the opposite direction, we still didn’t find the boilers. We enjoyed the multitude of small fish and took advantage of the calm seas decent viz and lack of current to practice free ascents.
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Davem Robin and Steve on the town in Beaufort
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Wrapping Things Up
The Maryland residents on this trip quit trying to leave Washington on I-95 long ago. Going out of Greenbelt, we took 295 to the Indian Head Hwy and cut over to Rt 301 at Waldorf. Coming home we found an even more southern connection 301 (Rt 225) that we think avoids congestion around St. Charles. I think we have found the current optimum escape route to NC diving. In the past we have picked up I-95 north of Richmond, but on this trip, we took Rt 301 all the way to the I-295 Richmond bypass. On the way home we know that route helped us avoid an hour plus back up in Ashland. Finally, we tired a new route into Beaufort, picking up NC 101 in Havelock and skirting the busy road into Morehead City. I can’t say all our new routes really save much time, but “discussing” them sure helped to pass it.
Report by Steve Smith
Photos by Ray Feldmann
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