Labor Day Weekend Dives

It's the morning after Lee and I have completed four more dives and I can truly say I'm extremely hooked on diving. The underwater experiences we had keep running through my head like a video on continuous loop 24/7. It's like my mind, body and spirit cannot get enough of exploring the underwater world so few get to see in person.

On Saturday morning, we went down two times on Barracuda Alley; appropriately named due to the large volume of huge barracuda that occupy this artificial reef. Just a short hour-long boat ride off the North Myrtle Beach coast lies this sunken barge surrounded by sunken APVs (Armored Patrol Vehicles). At a depth of 63 feet, the visibility was around 20 feet. While Lee spent time digging for treasures buried under the sand, I took a tour of the site with Chris; a diver we'd crossed paths with on previous dives.

My first dive was not that much fun as my weight belt came off while at the bottom. But all divers know there are good dives and bad ones (on occasion). Thanks to Chris and another diver, I was able to put it back on and continue my dive for a bit longer.

The next three dives I completed were amazing and fun. The fish were gorgeous and I was able to explore the structures with ease. Lee and I hooked up with Dave Bush on both Barracuda Alley and the Sherman. Dave and his buddy Ted had cameras, so I'm able to share with you some of the things I saw. Here are Ted's photos; notice the octopus shots. Here are Dave's photos on the Sherman. And here is a photo of me while diving with Dave. Yes, that's me at 53 feet on the Sherman in this photo ------------>>>

Before I end this blog, I must say thank you to another new dive acquaintance, Don Cox. He was one of the dive master candidates on our Sherman trip on Sunday. Not only is he an interesting guy (I love to hear his Irish brogue), but he dove in and rescued my fin when it came off during my jump off the back of the boat during dive four.

Upcoming Dives

I'm very excited as we will be doing four dives this weekend; two on Barracuda Alley and the other two on the Sherman (for a second time). With a maximum depth of 63 feet, Barracuda Alley is an artificial reef that consists of a 140 foot barge, adorned with concrete piping and steel A-Frames for divers to swim through, and a dive platform for training, all nestled comfortably close to a platoon of armored personnel carriers.

Diving the Sherman

We had two wonderful dives on the S.S. Sherman (formerly known as the Princess Royal) off the coast of North Myrtle Beach. The Sherman is 52 feet to the bottom. The visibility was 40 feet and the water was warm at around 80 degrees.

I dove with Dive Master Cameron Sebastian of Coastal Scuba to complete my O.W. dives 3 and 4. He was an excellent trainer and gave me a tour of the site from bow to stern. During the dive I saw three southern stingrays with massive wingspans. (If you were to raise your arms out from the side of your body, their wings would span from fingertip to fingertip.) I also saw a Queen Angle Fish, a school of fish circling around me like you see in the movies and around 100 barracuda just hanging out like they were waiting for a bus ride. There were other sites like a horseshoe crab, a cucumber looking fish, starfish, hermit crabs. I'm in the process of searching for more information about all the marine life I saw.