May 22nd, 2010
The Scuba Connection chartered the Independence II on Saturday, May 22nd. The original destination was going to be the Gulf Trade, but it was decided to stay inshore. We chose to hit the Cranford Ferry. A short ride out and we arrived....to find the Gypsy Blood already hooked in and diving. Capt. Jim let Capt. Dan join them and we hit the water shortly after. Sea's were flat and the sun was shining. Surface viz was about 15', but viz on the bottom was about four feet. Bottom temp. was 46 degrees or so depending on which computer I checked. I had a 41 minute runtime with a shallow max. depth of 54 feet. My partner was Alex, who lost me due to the terrible viz. He almost shot a bag to surface, but found (the other) Mike still down on the wreck with a reel, and he was able to find the anchor line. During my tour of this wreck, I was surprised to see a free swimming eel that I was able to get on video using my Liquid Image HD mask (video to be posted later after I edit it). There was very little in the way of sealife, with the exception of a few black sea bass hunkered down along the wreckage.
The second dive was on the JoAnn, which is part of the Axel Carlson Reef. Viz was much better, with at least 20'. The sealife on this dive was amazing. HUGE Tog (Blackfish) and lots and lots of Black Sea Bass. Alex and I did a few swim through's and spent about half an hour just poking around the intact Tug. I cut the dive short since the 50 degree water was pouring in my right arm and it was not very comfortable. I guess I need to check out my drysuit again.
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