Up at 4 AM Meet Rick at 5 AM and head to Ft Myers. With time to spare Rick and I stop for breakfast on the way to the boat. We meet Ann and Mike and get on the Key West Express (KWE) for our run across the gulf. The Gulf is flat calm and the weather is wonderful. The KWE is a jet driven catamaran with three levels. We drop our heavy bags off on the Galley/Main deck for storage and head upstairs for the trip. After a quick survey we found the best spot on the boat for the four of us. It is a table with four facing chairs on the starboard side of the boat forward in the cabin. Low traffic and great A/C. A blanket would not be a bad idea. There is food not the best and DRINK from water to burbon on the boat. When we arrived in Key West we were met by the Double Tree Resort (DTR) for the ride to Stock Island and Hurricane Hole Marina and Ecoscuba. We met George and Steve and we had the boat to ourselves. Load up and go.
We headed out of Hurricane Hole and straight south to the Vandenburg. There were two other boats hooked up to the mooring balls when we arrived. A Live aboard and another boat. They had people in the water. While hooking up we looked down and could see the wreck. WOW 9o feet of vis. Geared up and ready to go George emphasizes that we need to hang on the tag line!!!
It is hard to describe the speed of a 4 knot current but let me put this into perspective. The mooring balls were leaving a considerable wake. Once we were in the water the goal was to drift back on the tag line to the mooring ball of the vessel behind us. All five of us were in position and had to swim the tag line to the mooring ball to hit our descent line. With an amazing amount of teamwork we finally got to where I could grab the mooring line and bring both the tag and mooring lines together in a death lock. The other divers swam/crawled over me to the descent line.
We rested a little and then headed down. The only way to go anywhere was to pull hand over hand down to the crow's nest. Once there we got into the eddy current behind some structure and had a great dive. My dive time was 19 Minutes. It was the hardest descent that I have ever had, and it was a great dive. We swam through one of the dishes, then went over the side swam up the outer gangway forward. We dislodged a very large Goliath Grouper and waved at some Barracuda. Then it was up and around the structure to our mooring line for the ascent. Amazingly my snorkel stayed with me and my mask was stuck to my face when I came out of the water. This was a fantastic, exciting and tiring dive. When we got back on the boat everyone agreed that it would be better to hit a shallow reef out of the current.
Only three quarters of a mile back towards Key West is a nice finger reef that we had an nice 55 min dive with little current and lots to see.
Steve the boat captain did a great job and George the Divemaster lead us on two great dives for the first day.
Then we headed back to the marina and left our gear on the boat for the next day. Steve and George suggested that we eat at Hurricane Hole for an off the path great place to eat. They were right! The hotel shuttle picked us up and took us back to get showered and changed. Once we were all pretty and smelling good we hopped the the shuttle for Hurricane Hole for dinner. The food was delicious, the drinks were generous pours and the service was excellent. Oh and the desserts, mmmm mmm mmm!!! Back on the shuttle and to bed.
The Hotel was great. Not only did they pick us up and shuttle us around but they stored our bags when we were diving and the service at the hotel was great too. The beds were very comfortable and they provided us with coupons for the breakfast buffet. More great food.
Day two: Sleep in and have an awesome breakfast. Check out of the hotel and ride the shuttle to Hurricane Hole for our 10 AM charter. Now on Saturday George said that he would not be there for Sunday because he had a prior commitment... That was changed because he liked diving with us so much and he and Steve took us out again to the Vandenburg. This time we moored on the second to last ball and drifted back to the last ball. Now I have a story to tell.
The current is a mere 2 knots. The dive briefing calls for us to drift down the tag line and then head down the mooring line behind us and meet the group on the wreck. George hits the water and takes up the DM monitoring position. I hit the water, grab my camera and start my drift. Wanting to conserve air I decide to let go of the tag line within 20 feet of the mooring line and head down to 15 feet to wait for the rest of the group. I am on target and hit my mark and hook and elbow to relax and wait for the rest of the team. Once settled I look up and see Rick off of the tag line facing away from me (remember I am hanging on the descent line in a 2 knot current) and he is fiddling with his camera. Did I mention that there was a 2 knot current? In my head there are several scenarios flashing by.... Hmm, you know Rick did go on the Dry Tortugas trip and he really had a great time, maybe he is heading back... Cuba is nice this time of year... Is there something nice to see beyond the stern of the Vandenburg? Now none of these things really seemed to be the right answer. Rick then looks my way, as I am holding the descent line with my left hand and extending my right hand out to help him make the hook-up. Surprisingly my arms are not long enough to bridge the gap. My wife would be surprised because she says that I have gorilla arms... So the only thing I can do is hook a fin on the descent line and (as Ann put it do the flying Whale Linda... I am not sure who she is but you can ask Ann) reached with my right arm and this is what I see. Sorry Rick. Rick has his knees bent and fins still and is trying to swim with his arms to reach me. Did I mention that there was a 2 knot current? I reach him and give him the universal index and middle finger wiggle to indicate that he should kick his fins... now the pressure on my hanging foot is too much and I release my foot hold and start kicking. Still wiggling my fingers to Rick. Kicking as hard as I can our progress in not in the forward direction. So I let go of Rick (again sorry Rick) and grab the descent line. I then do the original and left hand on the line I reach for and grab hold of Rick and pull then push him onto the descent line... I am thankful that my cats have taught me about balance and extension. Now everyone is here and we head down to the rounded stern of the Vandenburg. Once we are all in the eddy of the structure we head forward on the starboard side of the ship and were greeted by lots of bait and bigger fish flying around the awesome wreck. As we ascended we did a small swim through and hit the port side and found the equipment that Rick used to work on when he was in the Navy just a few years ago. We made our way back up the the crows nest and headed back to the surface. The best dive yet of the trip.
The final dive of the trip was amazing Steve put us in on the forward most mooring ball and then moved the boat back to pick us up at the stern. We headed down to the bow and looked down to the sand an mooring chains. As we turned to ride the current aft on the port side of the deck we were greeted by the largest Nassau Grouper any of us had ever seen, 150 to 200 lbs too much? I first thought that it was a Goliath but it was a Nassau, of course this is the dive that Rick and I left the cameras on the boat. We then crossed the cavernous elevator shaft just forward of the bridge and arrived on the starboard side of the ship. As the others took the stairs I floated up and met them on the deck outside of the bridge and we entered the bridge and went out through the collapsed port ceiling of the bridge. Snaking our way back and through and over the aft elevator shaft that falls to the keel at 145ft deep (no we did not descend the shafts). We worked our way back to the crows nest and headed for our safety stop. By far this was the best dive of the trip. I really can't put it to words.
We headed back to Hurricane Hole and had lunch and beverages. The food was great again. The shuttle picked us up and took us to the KWE for our amazing ride back to Ft Myers. During the sunset on the boat I saw my first green flash when the sun dipped below the horizon. I was in bed by midnight. Great trip with great people.
Special thanks to Ann, Mike and Rick for being great dive buddies. Rick KYFF....
Also thank you to George and Steve At Ecoscuba in Key West and Melanie and Debbie at the Double Tree Resort in Key West for great customer servic
Carl
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