We went diving on the Spiegel Grove first. We tied up to the ball anchored to the port stern of the ship. There was little current and the visibility was good. There were a few Golioth Groupers and a very large Hogfish on the wreck. I didn't go to the sand this time but did find 102' on the deck. The next dive was on the Duane. The water was clear, deep blue here with a good current running. The first divers to get in had almost no luck swimming against it. Scott rigged a 'Granny Line' which allowed us to pull ourselves forward against the current to the down line. Going down the line was a little slow as we had to wait on Aaron who was messing with his camera. It was my first time on the Duane and it was great. The visibility was stellar, yeah; and I left my camera on the dive boat, boo. The current wasn't too bad down on the deck where I found 103'. Again I didn't go to the sand. We covered most of the boat, using the structure to block the current. The Duane was one of the last few wrecks I had to dive in the Keys to have been on all of the major wrecks. The only wrecks left are the Bibb and the Benwood. Today I pick up a new crew of divers...SLS041611A. Keep checking for updates all next week.
Friday, April 15, 2011
Heavy Metal Dives
Yesterday was a good day for diving. The weather was great and the seas were down. We had a staff dive for Advanced Open Water Divers, or above, on two wrecks; hence the name Heavy Metal dives. We decided on the Spiegel Grove and the Duane, both located in the Key Largo area. The USS Spiegel Grove (LDS-32) is a 510 foot ship that was sunk on 17 May 2002. The US Coast Guard Cutter Duane (WPG-33) is a 327 foot ship that was sunk 26 November 1987. Both wrecks are in great condition with lots of fish and coral. My dive buddy was Alex Bergstedt, my most trusted dive partner. 
We went diving on the Spiegel Grove first. We tied up to the ball anchored to the port stern of the ship. There was little current and the visibility was good. There were a few Golioth Groupers and a very large Hogfish on the wreck. I didn't go to the sand this time but did find 102' on the deck. The next dive was on the Duane. The water was clear, deep blue here with a good current running. The first divers to get in had almost no luck swimming against it. Scott rigged a 'Granny Line' which allowed us to pull ourselves forward against the current to the down line. Going down the line was a little slow as we had to wait on Aaron who was messing with his camera. It was my first time on the Duane and it was great. The visibility was stellar, yeah; and I left my camera on the dive boat, boo. The current wasn't too bad down on the deck where I found 103'. Again I didn't go to the sand. We covered most of the boat, using the structure to block the current. The Duane was one of the last few wrecks I had to dive in the Keys to have been on all of the major wrecks. The only wrecks left are the Bibb and the Benwood. Today I pick up a new crew of divers...SLS041611A. Keep checking for updates all next week.
We went diving on the Spiegel Grove first. We tied up to the ball anchored to the port stern of the ship. There was little current and the visibility was good. There were a few Golioth Groupers and a very large Hogfish on the wreck. I didn't go to the sand this time but did find 102' on the deck. The next dive was on the Duane. The water was clear, deep blue here with a good current running. The first divers to get in had almost no luck swimming against it. Scott rigged a 'Granny Line' which allowed us to pull ourselves forward against the current to the down line. Going down the line was a little slow as we had to wait on Aaron who was messing with his camera. It was my first time on the Duane and it was great. The visibility was stellar, yeah; and I left my camera on the dive boat, boo. The current wasn't too bad down on the deck where I found 103'. Again I didn't go to the sand. We covered most of the boat, using the structure to block the current. The Duane was one of the last few wrecks I had to dive in the Keys to have been on all of the major wrecks. The only wrecks left are the Bibb and the Benwood. Today I pick up a new crew of divers...SLS041611A. Keep checking for updates all next week.
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Man I love reading your blog. I got certified while working at the Brinton Center last summer ad can't wait to get down there again. I'm hoping to either come up to Islamorada and dive with y'all more or at least get out to some of the wrecks and Looe Key in the lower keys. Your blog is giving me ideas for all over the place though!
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