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TRIP REPORT June 15, 16, 17 2007
This past weekend, the MUTINY crew welcomed some new faces to the boat as
well as a whole bunch of familiar faces. June 15-17 saw a combined group
consisting of the MD Hydronauts Dive Club led by Sue Sepelak and another
group led by Bill Sarro from Scuba Hut Dive shop. I have personally dove
with many of these guests in the past while crewing on other boats and have
become very close to many of them. A very solid group of divers and very
trouble free for the crew. These guys definitely know their way around
boats and were a pleasure to host for the first time on the Mutiny.
Fridays June 15 started out with high expectations and a great forecast for
small seas and light winds. Capt. Al plugged in the Schurz, a club
favorite, but about halfway out we realized the weatherman lied. As the
seas built to over 4 ft., we decided to cut it short and stop at the Aeolus
to avoid the beating we were guaranteed to receive if we dared venture
further out. Mate Will Kirkman tied us in high on the bow and we were
pleasantly surprised to find warm water with about 40 ft. of vis. A few
sandtiger sharks were spotted as well as vast schools of amberjacks and
baitfish. The amount of soft and hard coral growth on the hull is
absolutely amazing being that the ship was sunk as an artificial reef less
than 20 yrs. ago. The "steel slingers" onboard did pretty well with Will
harvesting a very respectable tautog and Capt. Jim bringing back a flounder
and a very large African Pompano who made the mistake of coming in for a
closer look at the ruckus the flounder made going into the bag. Tommy Meeks
went along for the unhook dive to observe but was forced into action when
Jim had no hands free after stoning the pompano that would not possibly fit
into the catch bag.
After checking with other operators in the area by radio, we were enticed by
Leroy of the Captain’s Lady charter to try out the Hutton (Ario) with vis
reports of 40+ ft. and a lot calmer seas than we weathered during our stay
over the Aeolus. Will tied us in at the very bow of the shipwreck and
several more sandtiger sharks were seen as well as a large school of rainbow runners. Unhooking duties were aptly handled by Tommy Meeks and we motored
back to the Olympus dock with hopes of better seas tomorrow despite the
forecast looking even more gloomy with predictions of 10-15 knot winds and
3-5 ft. seas.
Saturday June 16 was a day to live for in Morehead City. With barely 1 ft.
seas at Rough Point, we knew we were going to have a banner day and Bill
Sarro was quick to point out that this was going to be a NAECO day.
Atlantis IV who beat us to the wreck called us with a vis report of 70-80
ft. and very warm water top to bottom. It always gives me great pleasure to
see the smiling faces of divers as they return from the depths of the Naeco.
This particular wreck has always been a favorite of most passengers and
crew alike and it is a real shame it can't be enjoyed longer since it is so
deep and no-decompression times run between 10-12 minutes. Will harvested 3
really nice groupers with one exceeding 36 inches and 20 lbs. Capt Jim popped
a smaller grouper as well. Although there were no reports of sandtiger
sharks, many extremely large, volleyball sized lionfish were sighted. A
large loggerhead turtle was also awakened from his brief slumber to find a
whole hoard of divers watching him nap. A little disconcerting was the
sighting of 10-15 spiny lobster carcasses, a sight that we also saw last
year. This is obviously the work of some lobster poaching operation which
will eventually threaten a species that is a diver favorite to photograph
and harvest on a legal basis.
A quick vote was taken topside, and not surprisingly, the tally was pretty
much unanimous to stay put for dive number two. A nice long surface
interval was enjoyed with the gentle seas and warm sun, a lot of snacks were
consumed, a lot of stories told, and one by one, everyone trickled back into
the depths to enjoy the Naeco for another brief moment in time. Although
run times on the second dive were drastically shorter, I was still greeted
by smiling faces as everyone came back from below with more stories of the
wonders of this beautiful wreck. Divers were treated to frozen margaritas
post dive compliments of Capt. Al's new generator which allowed the blender
to mix the perfect post dive libation.
Sunday June 17 was a day of change in the weather again. Initial reports
coming in from fishing charters who were already offshore dashed our hopes
of making it to the Schurz or Papoose and rather than testing our luck with
a straight south run, we elected to go southeast and hit the Hardees
artificial reef. We arrived shortly after the Olympus boat and found 40 ft.
of vis and a mild current but as divers returned from their first dive, the
current began to pick up a little. Reports filtered in from other wrecks in
the area, none of which were cause to move, and a vote was taken to stay for
our second dive on the Hardees. Many divers came back with bags and bags of
shells and Sandy Smith found an old friend who had gone missing for over two
years. Polycera chilluna, better known by the common name butterfinger
nudibranch, was first photographed and reported on the Hardees in 2004 by
Sandy and her persistence in identifying the species led her via the
internet to the sea slug forum chaired by Dr. Bill Rudman in Australia. Dr.
Rudman made a positive ID on the numerous pictures Sandy submitted and it
was found that this nudibranch was very similar to one found commonly off
the west coast of Spain as well as in western Africa. There were enough
morphologic differences in the NC specimen to warrant a new species and
Sandy was allowed to give the little guy his common name. Several more
specimens were subsequently found and photographed on the Papoose as well as
the U-352. Egg casings and juveniles were also spotted on the U-352.
Actual specimens of the nudibranch were requested by researchers in Spain
for genetic testing but a hurricane early in the season seemed to make the
fragile little invertebrates disappear and no sighting were made in the end
of 2004 and the entire season of 2005 and 2006. We were treated to a
reunion with our old friend and I am sure it made Sandy's day a brighter one
despite the rolling seas and stiff winds.
I wanted to personally thank each and every diver on the trip for having a
safe and enjoyable weekend. The crew of the Mutiny is dedicated to
providing a safe and non- restrictive dive service and to that end, we
willingly accept any suggestions and/or constructive criticisms. We
sincerely hope to see our old friends back as well as the new friends we
made this past weekend.
Submitted by Capt. Jim Smith
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