Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008

***ScubaDadMiami*** · 25th February 2008, 03:50

Five S.C.R.U.B. CCR divers boarded the Safari Diver, operated by South Florida Diving Headquarters, for a run out to the Hydro Atlantic wreck, located off of Hillsboro (northern Broward County), Florida, in approximately 170 feet of sea water. As far as Winter diving goes, the weather could not have been any better: 86F degrees in the air, and the seas were almost completely flat. We had received word of some cold thermoclines on the bottom, but we were outfitted and ready to deal with that.

The Safari Diver has some important makings for technical diving. However, in other aspects, it misses the mark. The ladder is as good as you will find, and hand-holds have been extended onto the platform to make boarding quite easy even with a full kit. On the other hand, the boat offers no shade for divers that are on the bench seat, which makes sitting in a drysuit in the South Florida sun no fun at all. Also, the tank racks are made for typical tank configuration, which will make many rebreather divers have to find ways to bungee down their rigs. Most disappointing was the fact that the boat carried a mixed group, with two divers on single tank open circuit, and the remainder of the divers on CCR. More on this last component later.

After about 30 to 40 minutes from leaving port, we pulled up to the wreck, finding two boats with fishing lines dropped below. After a small skirmish with one boat in particular, we hooked onto the wreck, received our briefing, and we were ready to hit the water.

CCR dive plans ranged from 30 to 40 minutes on the bottom, and we carried ample bail out gas between each team member of the two teams (one of two members, and one of three members). The dive master tied onto some structure approaching the 110 foot depth mark.

While the weather above was perfect, the conditions underwater were less than perfect but certainly good enough to dive. Current was probably running more than one but less than two knots. Visibility was fair, probably about 40 feet or so, which is typical for the Winter.

My team was first to jump in, and I led down to the superstructure, where the three of us stopped to make sure that everyone was okay to proceed with the dive. So far, so good.

It has been a few years since my last dive on the wreck, and I had heard that all of the good penetration of the past had been lost due to collapsing structure. So, I really had only planned on briefly peeking inside here and there to see the last glimpses of where I used to roam below decks. To my delight, the collapse has actually opened up some more places in the wreck, and the team wound our way through various areas, touring the inside of the wreck.

There were definitely some thermoclines as we moved from area to area. The coldest temperature I found was 64F degrees. (Later, while on deco in the shallows, the water was 74F).

Everything was going to plan as we started our ascent up the anchor line. That's when the fun began.

While in the middle of our deco stops, at about 60 feet, I started noticing that the anchor line was no longer holding at a stable depth. I had been on a dive where this had happened before, I and suspected what was confirmed shortly after. The float ball on the line was descending from the surface. Apparently, the boat, for some reason unknown at the time, had untied from the line, and now the ball was not bouyant enough to hold the divers in the current.

By this time, the second team of divers had just caught up to us. (They were just arriving at the deeper stop while we were finishing up two stops, 20 feet, above them.) Seeing the ball coming down, I signalled everyone with my light, and I gave the "shoot a bag" signal. At one point, I tried approaching the team, pulling out my lift bag, hoping that we could just shoot one bag for everyone, but communication was less than ideal, and we gave up on this plan.

Everyone shot bags though the swirling current made staying at a consistent depth during this time difficult. This thing with the float ball could not have happened and a more inconvenient time!

Seeing all of the bags go up, the DM entered the water to check on everyone, and we signalled that we were all fine but that we had become separated during the drift. We finished the remainder of our deco, and we climbed aboard the boat.

After the fact, we found that a rain squall had come through, churning the surface waters and reducing visibility during the rain. The open circuit single tank divers informed the crew that there was nobody on the line below them, and the crew thought that they saw a lift bag in the distance. So, the boat let the float go to see if we had shot bags and drifted. The float ball was not large enough to keep the line afloat to the surface, causing the excitement for the dive.

Arriving back at the dock, we tried a new establishment for dinner. We invited Netmage to join us for the post-dive festivities since he can't dive for a bit post-PFO repair.

All in all, we had a fun dive. Inasmuch as this is not the first time that a float ball has been pulled under in strong current, we hope that all boat operators will reconsider whether they "have big enough balls" for their dive customers.

mempilot · 25th February 2008, 04:33

Good dive today. A little exciting late in deco, but good none the less.

Just a note to point out about the mix of divers on the boat. It was not private charter, so this is the way it goes. It wasn't ideal to have 2 recreational OC divers onboard.

Padipro and I descended last. I was shooting video, and so I decided to follow Scott down through the skylights and into the engine room. It was very dark and pretty low viz today. My light was kind of stuck in focus beam, so my video is a bit tunnel visioned. Oh well. After the engine room, we moved to the aft cargo hold, and then to the forward cargo hold and bridge. There was a defineate thermocline at about 150 fsw. I'm glad I was diving dry.

At the end of about 30 minutes of BT, we started up. We should have unhooked from the wreck, but since there was a DM onboard to come back down, we didn't. The reason we should have is that the current picked up significantly since our drop. What started at a light 1/4 knot on descent turned into a 1 knot on ascent. It may have even been closer to 1.5 at the surface. This, and the five divers on the line, dragged the small surface ball under. Bad news. The first team of three drifted off the line shooting bags. Scott and I stayed on the line until we had about 6 minutes of deco left. The ball was 20fsw under, and the bow line that was detached from the boat was flailing at about 15fsw. We decided to blow a bag, finish the deco, and surface away from the line. If I had just untied from the wreck, we could have drifted together on a motionless upline. Stupid me, but it hadn't been briefed, so I didn't want there to be any surprises for anyone above.

Diner with the group at Cosmo's was fun, and I look forward to getting back on the Hydro again soon. SFDH runs a decent boat, but you have to make sure they understand you only want your group onboard. They will do with only 4 CCR divers. We'll make sure next time. Aria is a knowledgeable captain, and Robert, the DM, is very helpful. Like Howard said, the boat isn't really setup for CCR, but none really are. I'd recommend bring a small plank to sit your rig on, and a couple of bungee straps to custom tie it to the rail. That would make it work fine.

For now,

Mem

PCDiver · 25th February 2008, 15:25

This story reminds me of our dive on the Al Qamar. The shotline was attached to a very small bouy. This bouy was then connected to a zodiac. We had planned to do our deco on the rope. This worked fine until the Egyptian boat driver decide to bring someone back to the main boat.

In an instant the bouy came down to 7 meters. So we ended up with a nice long drift deco of around 100 minutes.

mempilot · 25th February 2008, 16:02

Quote: (Originally Posted by PCDiver)

This story reminds me of our dive on the Al Qamar. The shotline was attached to a very small bouy. This bouy was then connected to a zodiac. We had planned to do our deco on the rope. This worked fine until the Egyptian boat driver decide to bring someone back to the main boat.

In an instant the bouy came down to 7 meters. So we ended up with a nice long drift deco of around 100 minutes.

That is exactly the same story. There were a few none deco divers that influenced the 'decoupling' from the boat.

Like Howard, I don't like mixed dives.

**sfldiver** · 25th February 2008, 16:28

There's not much more to add, because Howard and Eric did a great job of covering all of the specifics surrounding our dive yesterday.

It was once again a great day of diving with the Florida S.C.R.U.B.'s - Seriously, how can we not have had a great time when the seas are flat and the outside temperature was in the mid to upper eighties in February! With that in mind, the information I downloaded off of my VR3 indicated the water temperature was 62.6F within the wreck and 68F along the entire deck of the wreck - BURRR! Keep in mind, I was wearing a 3mm suit; fortunately, as a result of the advanced warning I received from fellow RW pals about the impending cold weather, I did fortunately add a 5mm vest, so it was bearable! However, with over 130 minutes of run time, I was starting to get a bit chilly near the end of the dive!

Alright, yes, yes, yes, we are spoiled here in Florida, so I'm not trying to rub it in, because I know many of you out there live in northern climates and don't have it as nice as we do. So feel free to jumb on a plane, drive your cars, hitchhike or do whatever you need to do to come down to Florida and we'll be glad to share the nice weather with you and join you on a dive!

Normally, I have a bunch of top-side and underwater photos to share of our adventures with all of RW; however, due to technical difficulties with my camera equipment, I only have top-side photos to share today, but I hope to get my camera problems resolved and have the underwater portion of out trips well documented by the next time. One additional note, Tim (Netmage) was also with us at the post dive meal/debriefing, but kindly sactraficed himself to take the photo for us, so you won't see him in the last photo, but he was there - Thanks Tim! Enjoy!

debersole · 25th February 2008, 16:44

Thanks for the report and the photos, guys. I wish I could have been there. It's good to hear that Tim is following doctor's orders (mine!) and staying out of the water.

Doug

**sfldiver** · 25th February 2008, 16:55

Quote: (Originally Posted by debersole)

Thanks for the report and the photos, guys. I wish I could have been there. It's good to hear that Tim is following doctor's orders (mine!) and staying out of the water.

Doug

I nominate Doug the official cardiologist and medical officer of the Florida S.C.R.U.B.'s! Doug, that should give you an excuse to get away from the office and go diving even more often!

MarcLaukien · 25th February 2008, 18:38

Quote: (Originally Posted by mempilot)

That is exactly the same story. There were a few none deco divers that influenced the 'decoupling' from the boat.

Like Howard, I don't like mixed dives.

How can anyone even do a non-deco dive on the Hydro??

JCdesign97 · 25th February 2008, 19:28

Quote: (Originally Posted by MarcLaukien)

How can anyone even do a non-deco dive on the Hydro??

You took the words right out of my keyboard, Marc - I was wondering the same thing!

Sounds like you guys had a good and somewhat interesting day. Glad to hear that you made it out and had a good trip. Nice work on the report and pics, as always ... and I'll refrain from any commentary on the 'cold water' diving!

netmage · 25th February 2008, 19:47

Quote: (Originally Posted by debersole)

Thanks for the report and the photos, guys. I wish I could have been there. It's good to hear that Tim is following doctor's orders (mine!) and staying out of the water.

Doug

Week 1 was easy..., come check on me in 4-5 weeks I'll be standing in line at the methadone clinic...

25th February 2008, 03:50	#1 (permalink)
*ScubaDadMiami* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 2,132	Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Five S.C.R.U.B. CCR divers boarded the Safari Diver, operated by South Florida Diving Headquarters, for a run out to the Hydro Atlantic wreck, located off of Hillsboro (northern Broward County), Florida, in approximately 170 feet of sea water. As far as Winter diving goes, the weather could not have been any better: 86F degrees in the air, and the seas were almost completely flat. We had received word of some cold thermoclines on the bottom, but we were outfitted and ready to deal with that. The Safari Diver has some important makings for technical diving. However, in other aspects, it misses the mark. The ladder is as good as you will find, and hand-holds have been extended onto the platform to make boarding quite easy even with a full kit. On the other hand, the boat offers no shade for divers that are on the bench seat, which makes sitting in a drysuit in the South Florida sun no fun at all. Also, the tank racks are made for typical tank configuration, which will make many rebreather divers have to find ways to bungee down their rigs. Most disappointing was the fact that the boat carried a mixed group, with two divers on single tank open circuit, and the remainder of the divers on CCR. More on this last component later. After about 30 to 40 minutes from leaving port, we pulled up to the wreck, finding two boats with fishing lines dropped below. After a small skirmish with one boat in particular, we hooked onto the wreck, received our briefing, and we were ready to hit the water. CCR dive plans ranged from 30 to 40 minutes on the bottom, and we carried ample bail out gas between each team member of the two teams (one of two members, and one of three members). The dive master tied onto some structure approaching the 110 foot depth mark. While the weather above was perfect, the conditions underwater were less than perfect but certainly good enough to dive. Current was probably running more than one but less than two knots. Visibility was fair, probably about 40 feet or so, which is typical for the Winter. My team was first to jump in, and I led down to the superstructure, where the three of us stopped to make sure that everyone was okay to proceed with the dive. So far, so good. It has been a few years since my last dive on the wreck, and I had heard that all of the good penetration of the past had been lost due to collapsing structure. So, I really had only planned on briefly peeking inside here and there to see the last glimpses of where I used to roam below decks. To my delight, the collapse has actually opened up some more places in the wreck, and the team wound our way through various areas, touring the inside of the wreck. There were definitely some thermoclines as we moved from area to area. The coldest temperature I found was 64F degrees. (Later, while on deco in the shallows, the water was 74F). Everything was going to plan as we started our ascent up the anchor line. That's when the fun began. While in the middle of our deco stops, at about 60 feet, I started noticing that the anchor line was no longer holding at a stable depth. I had been on a dive where this had happened before, I and suspected what was confirmed shortly after. The float ball on the line was descending from the surface. Apparently, the boat, for some reason unknown at the time, had untied from the line, and now the ball was not bouyant enough to hold the divers in the current. By this time, the second team of divers had just caught up to us. (They were just arriving at the deeper stop while we were finishing up two stops, 20 feet, above them.) Seeing the ball coming down, I signalled everyone with my light, and I gave the "shoot a bag" signal. At one point, I tried approaching the team, pulling out my lift bag, hoping that we could just shoot one bag for everyone, but communication was less than ideal, and we gave up on this plan. Everyone shot bags though the swirling current made staying at a consistent depth during this time difficult. This thing with the float ball could not have happened and a more inconvenient time! Seeing all of the bags go up, the DM entered the water to check on everyone, and we signalled that we were all fine but that we had become separated during the drift. We finished the remainder of our deco, and we climbed aboard the boat. After the fact, we found that a rain squall had come through, churning the surface waters and reducing visibility during the rain. The open circuit single tank divers informed the crew that there was nobody on the line below them, and the crew thought that they saw a lift bag in the distance. So, the boat let the float go to see if we had shot bags and drifted. The float ball was not large enough to keep the line afloat to the surface, causing the excitement for the dive. Arriving back at the dock, we tried a new establishment for dinner. We invited Netmage to join us for the post-dive festivities since he can't dive for a bit post-PFO repair. All in all, we had a fun dive. Inasmuch as this is not the first time that a float ball has been pulled under in strong current, we hope that all boat operators will reconsider whether they "have big enough balls" for their dive customers. __________________ Howard Packer IANTD CCR Instructor Miami Beach, Florida CCRDiveTraining.com Last edited by ScubaDadMiami : 25th February 2008 at 03:55.
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25th February 2008, 04:33	#2 (permalink)
mempilot Eric Stadtmueller Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 1,472	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Good dive today. A little exciting late in deco, but good none the less. Just a note to point out about the mix of divers on the boat. It was not private charter, so this is the way it goes. It wasn't ideal to have 2 recreational OC divers onboard. Padipro and I descended last. I was shooting video, and so I decided to follow Scott down through the skylights and into the engine room. It was very dark and pretty low viz today. My light was kind of stuck in focus beam, so my video is a bit tunnel visioned. Oh well. After the engine room, we moved to the aft cargo hold, and then to the forward cargo hold and bridge. There was a defineate thermocline at about 150 fsw. I'm glad I was diving dry. At the end of about 30 minutes of BT, we started up. We should have unhooked from the wreck, but since there was a DM onboard to come back down, we didn't. The reason we should have is that the current picked up significantly since our drop. What started at a light 1/4 knot on descent turned into a 1 knot on ascent. It may have even been closer to 1.5 at the surface. This, and the five divers on the line, dragged the small surface ball under. Bad news. The first team of three drifted off the line shooting bags. Scott and I stayed on the line until we had about 6 minutes of deco left. The ball was 20fsw under, and the bow line that was detached from the boat was flailing at about 15fsw. We decided to blow a bag, finish the deco, and surface away from the line. If I had just untied from the wreck, we could have drifted together on a motionless upline. Stupid me, but it hadn't been briefed, so I didn't want there to be any surprises for anyone above. Diner with the group at Cosmo's was fun, and I look forward to getting back on the Hydro again soon. SFDH runs a decent boat, but you have to make sure they understand you only want your group onboard. They will do with only 4 CCR divers. We'll make sure next time. Aria is a knowledgeable captain, and Robert, the DM, is very helpful. Like Howard said, the boat isn't really setup for CCR, but none really are. I'd recommend bring a small plank to sit your rig on, and a couple of bungee straps to custom tie it to the rail. That would make it work fine. For now, Mem __________________ Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"
(Online)

25th February 2008, 15:25	#3 (permalink)
PCDiver Submerge Productions Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Belgium Posts: 971	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 This story reminds me of our dive on the Al Qamar. The shotline was attached to a very small bouy. This bouy was then connected to a zodiac. We had planned to do our deco on the rope. This worked fine until the Egyptian boat driver decide to bring someone back to the main boat. In an instant the bouy came down to 7 meters. So we ended up with a nice long drift deco of around 100 minutes. __________________ >>>>> www.submergeproductions.com dedicated to promoting technical diving >>>>> Check out our dive show video interviews and Wreck dive videos >>>>> Now also on iTunes and Zune
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25th February 2008, 16:02	#4 (permalink)
mempilot Eric Stadtmueller Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 1,472	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by PCDiver) This story reminds me of our dive on the Al Qamar. The shotline was attached to a very small bouy. This bouy was then connected to a zodiac. We had planned to do our deco on the rope. This worked fine until the Egyptian boat driver decide to bring someone back to the main boat. In an instant the bouy came down to 7 meters. So we ended up with a nice long drift deco of around 100 minutes. That is exactly the same story. There were a few none deco divers that influenced the 'decoupling' from the boat. Like Howard, I don't like mixed dives. __________________ Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"
(Online)

25th February 2008, 16:44	#6 (permalink)
debersole Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Dolphin Azimuth Other Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Classic Kiss Dolphin Azimuth Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Lakeland, Florida Posts: 225	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Thanks for the report and the photos, guys. I wish I could have been there. It's good to hear that Tim is following doctor's orders (mine!) and staying out of the water. Doug __________________ www.debersole.com
(Online)

25th February 2008, 16:55	#7 (permalink)
sfldiver S.C.R.U.B.'S Photographer Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pompano Beach, FL Posts: 792	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by debersole) Thanks for the report and the photos, guys. I wish I could have been there. It's good to hear that Tim is following doctor's orders (mine!) and staying out of the water. Doug I nominate Doug the official cardiologist and medical officer of the Florida S.C.R.U.B.'s! Doug, that should give you an excuse to get away from the office and go diving even more often! __________________ *Currently piloting & shooting...* Dive Rite O2ptima FX Rigged w/ a Dsix Custom Aluminum Frame, Nomad Wing, Transpac Harness and VR3 Computer w/ VPM-B/E & a 4th Cell Sensor Link.* Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera *Rigged in a Patima-PDCH 2008 G9 Aluminum Housing w/ an Inon UWL-100 Achromat Wide Conversion Lens, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses and 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes.
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25th February 2008, 18:38	#8 (permalink)
MarcLaukien Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Optima Other CCR Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: South East Florida Posts: 202	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by mempilot) That is exactly the same story. There were a few none deco divers that influenced the 'decoupling' from the boat. Like Howard, I don't like mixed dives. How can anyone even do a non-deco dive on the Hydro??
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25th February 2008, 19:28	#9 (permalink)
JCdesign97 My unit can beat up yours Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: PA, USA Posts: 385	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by MarcLaukien) How can anyone even do a non-deco dive on the Hydro?? You took the words right out of my keyboard, Marc - I was wondering the same thing! Sounds like you guys had a good and somewhat interesting day. Glad to hear that you made it out and had a good trip. Nice work on the report and pics, as always ... and I'll refrain from any commentary on the 'cold water' diving! __________________ Cheers, John Cogan
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25th February 2008, 19:47	#10 (permalink)
netmage Tim Owens Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Dec 2005 Location: Coconut Creek, FL Posts: 521	Re: Trip Report: Hydro Atlantic Wreck 02/24/2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by debersole) Thanks for the report and the photos, guys. I wish I could have been there. It's good to hear that Tim is following doctor's orders (mine!) and staying out of the water. Doug Week 1 was easy..., come check on me in 4-5 weeks I'll be standing in line at the methadone clinic...
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