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| | TRIP REPORT MUTINY AUG. 19, 2006
We had a great day diving on the Mutiny. Dove the U352 (only boat on the wreck!) and the Aeolus (stern section-great dive). Capt Al, Capt Girl and their crew did an awesome job and were very accommodating. The only thing to top the Mutiny crew was the actual diving itself. As soon as you splashed in you could see the whole sub below you. So cool. Viz was just great. You could not ask for more. Saw some nice queen angels on the U-boat stern. A moray eel was making home up towards the bow and a sting ray was cruising across the sand. Great dive. Second dive was on the Aeolus (and great viz again!). Sandtigers, pompano, and spade fish were cruising the wreck.
Here goes a short 30sec clip from the U352.
Jason B.
www.ncdivers.com We had a great trip. You could not have ask for better conditions, a better group of divers or a better boat and crew. Capt Al and crew ran a very good charter. The crew was very helpful and great to go out with. If you plan to dive the MHC / Atlantic beach area, be sure to check them out first. Jason summed up the dives well. Tom said it best, on the boat Saturday, when he said it was going to be an EPIC Dive day. He was 100% correct. It was NC Diving at it very best. The highlite for me was being able to see the U-352 as soon as I splashed in. If only I had checked my camera batteries. The vis on the sub never changed from the surface all the way to 110fsw.
The Aeolus was a great dive. I wish I would have brough 2 sets of tanks. The wreck is broken into 3 pieces. Jason and I check out a few of the many swim throughs and spent some time checking out the sharks.
Here are 2 pics of Jason heading into the Aeolus. 
Bob B.
www.ncdivers.com
TRIP REPORT MUTINY AUG. 25-27 The Mutiny crew welcomed some old faces from PA, MD, and VAand some new faces from the NC Divers group for the weekend of Aug 25-27. Kudos to Joe Dubose and Scubaventures out ofWinchester VA for sending us some able divers as well as a contingent from PAincluding “Divemaster in Training” Don Reams and his lovely wife Robin(formerly known as “pukums”…… but thanks to a liberal dosage of ginger root andcalm seas, she had her first uneventful day in years while enjoying the sceneryfrom somewhere other than hanging over the railings!) Friday started off with great skies, greatseas, and an uneventful trip to the USS Schurz. The hooking duties went to our newest crew member, Will Kirkland, whodid his usual good job and tied us in to the davit and reported back avisibility report of 60 ft. with a mild current. As usual the Schurz was absolutely socked inwith massive schools of baitfish scurrying away from the attacking amberjacks. An oscillated frogfish was reported as wellas several eels, toadfish, and the normal contingent of tropicals. After the successful unhooking duties wereperformed by DMIT (divemaster in training) Reams, the decision was made, due tothe mild current to try another site and the Aeolus was selected. When we arrived, seems a lot of the otherdive operators in the area had the same idea as there were already two boats onthe Spar and one on the Aeolus, with the Mutiny and another Discovery boat onthe way. Will tied us in to the breaknear the bow and our divers were treated to a somewhat crowded dive site withabout 50 ft. of vis and that nagging current. Several large sand tigers were spotted along with many warygrouper. Day two added two able divers from the ncdivers.com forum,Mike and Barry. The initial plan was tohit the U-352 but we were warned off the wreck by other operators whoexperienced some pretty stiff currents the day before and the decision was madeto venture out to the Papoose. Again,the trip was uneventful with 2 foot seas and slightly overcast skies. Again, will tied us into the break just aftof the bow and reported a very mild current with 70 ft. of vis. Our divers were treated to multiple sandtiger shark sightings as well as a sighting of the resident sandbar shark. Several lionfish were spotted as well as acollection of various tropicals, queen angelfish, and eels. Capt. Jim spotted a full grown octopusnestled in a little crack less than three feet from the tie in and also sawseveral African pompano, one of which will have a small bruise on the“bulletproof” gill plate which ably deflected a parting shot as he and Donniebegan their ascent after the first dive. Will harvested a very respectablegrouper in the 18-20 pound range and Capt. Jim also scored a nice one, albeit asmaller version of Will’s grouper. During the surface interval, the skies cleared, the sun poked out, andthe decision was made to stay put since we had the wreck to ourselves and theconditions were superb. A nice longsurface interval was spent sunning, eating lunch, and comparing sightings fromthe first dive. The second dive on thePapoose was even better than the first for most of the divers since the brightsunlight added even more visibility to an already great dive site. Day three started off with expectations of visiting the BoxWreck followed by a trip closer home to the Hardees artificial reef but MotherNature had her own thoughts about our final destination. Upon leaving the inlet, most of the otheroperators began reporting back to us that the seas were building by the hourand that several localized squalls with lots of wind and rain were making thejourney offshore less than comfortable. Our track to the southeast towards the Box Wreck was very pleasant forthe first hour, but as the seas picked up and the winds really began to howl,Capt Al decided enough was enough and the decision was made to pull up short onthe Hardees. That decision turned out tobe a great one. Will tied us in high onthe bridge and reported back vis in the 60-70 foot range with no current. The hunters in the group had a field dayshooting at, but mostly missing grouper with one exception. Capt Al, in full view of most of the diverson the hang line, popped a very respectable grouper which came to life justprior to entering the bag. He escapedinto the wreck with Capt. Al close behind. A few expletives were uttered but the hungry barracuda took it all instride and I am quite sure had a very tasty meal after Capt. Al began hisascent. A second dive was made on theHardees with several sightings of octopus, vast schools of barracudas, andloads and loads of shells and sand dollars. The crew and owners of the Mutiny would like to thankeveryone onboard this past weekend for a very safe and enjoyable weekend. We try our best to meet or exceedexpectations of our passengers and welcome constructive criticism. The quality of the divers we have seen latelymakes it all worthwhile for the crew. Agood group makes our jobs a lot easier and more enjoyable. We would also like to welcome to our staff, avery capable mate, Will Kirkland. Willhas been working in the diving industry most of his adult life and is a verytalented artist to boot. His ability tofix just about anything that breaks has earned him the respect of both theCaptains and the owners of Mutiny. Wewould also like to welcome Don Reams to the crew. Don is in the process of obtaining hisdivemaster rating and will continue “learning the ropes” on future trips. As always, we appreciate your business andhope you continue to support our new venture.
Capt. Amy | | |
