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2009 Dive Reports Jan 14-15 2009: The day after it snowed enough
to shut down the bridges here in Carteret County, Feb-Mar 2009 December 2008 April 2009May 2009
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| Location | Visibility | Temp | Comments | ||
| May 10 | Papoose Sub |
40 30 |
72/68 70/68 |
Good shark activity on the Papoose, and the water is warmer than it would be up north! | |
| May 11 | Box Wreck Hardees |
35 30 |
73/69 72/68 |
Not much current today, and also not much wave action on the lingering swell. | |
| May 12 | Aeolus Spar |
35 | 68/72 | Somewhat warmer on the bottom... | |
| May 16 | Sub Spar |
35 40 |
71/69 71/68 |
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| May 17 | Aeolus Bow Spar |
40/20 | 72/69 | That's not my dog... What do you call a seasick Frenchman? Le'Spew! |
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| 5/17 Video Clip | |||||
| May 23 | Schurz | 60' on top, 35' on the bottom | 74/73 | Seas were a little sloppy, but underwater it's always nicer. Some noticable current on the wreck. We now offer valet parking for scooters... |
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| May 24 | Hardee's | 45' | 72 | Who says Octopus don't bite? Friends don't let friends play with 8-legged creatures! Maybe the guys who dove with a Hall of Fame diver have let it go to their heads! ; ) | |
| May 25 | Naeco/Papoose | 100'+ 70' |
77 | The wreck was visible at 45' and you could see the whole wreck at depth- clearer water on the bottom, one diver described it as 'high-definition' visibility! Every year the deck structure is getting weaker- storm swells are having an impact. A line of squalls pushed us in-shore to dive the Papoose. Somewhat less visibility, but sharks and rays kept things interesting. | |
| May 26 | Spar/Aeolus | 50' | 73 | Sharks are always interesting, and they usually cooperate on these wrecks! | |
| May 28 | Lobster Rocks | 80'/60' | 76 | The boys from Charlotte strike again! Their lobster
prowess remains unmatched. |
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| May 29 | Schurz/ Sub | 60' | 74 | Pretty dives on both locations- lots of fish and blue, clear water. | |
| May 30 | Naeco Sailboat |
80' 60' |
76-77 | The DJ at Jack's just said what? Somewhat swelly on the ride out, but after the first dive the wind and waves faded out to reveal nice, calm seas. Good conditions on both dives. |
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| May 31 | Box Wreck Ledge |
80' 70' |
76 |
Another day of calm seas, and nearly no current.
Lionfish are so abundant on the Box Wreck that it seems to be covered
with them- on the wreck and in the sand. A few BIG octopus reside in the
rocks. |
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| Location | Visibility | Temp | Comments | ||
| June 1 | Schurz Sub |
80' | 75/74 | ||
| June 2 | Papoose Spar |
60 40 |
75/74 |
Nice dives- with a bit of fishing in-between. Catching Mahi is always a treat on a dive charter! |
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| June 3 | Box Wreck Hardees |
80 50 |
77 76 |
A good current isn't unusual in this area, but the vis is good and the divers know, "don't let go of the down-lines!" | |
| June 4 | Papoose Spar |
80 50 |
77/76 | Some new divers came down mid-week, and the Papoose/Spar are easy to repeat. Much less current on these southern wrecks. | |
| June 6 | Box Wreck Hardees |
80' 60' |
76/75 74 |
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| Treasures!
The Hardees wreck is great for seashells. Fishman John has quite a system for retrieving fish for his aquariums! |
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| June 7 | Schurz | 60' | 76/74 | Bruce's fishies 6074seas June 7 video clips 6086rolly June 7 |
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Have the pilings really been here for 30 years? |
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| June 13 | Box Wreck | 90-100 | 78 | Since the lionfish rodeo put on by Discovery Diving, the population of lionfish on the Box Wreck is greatly diminished. | |
| June 14 | Naeco Stern | 100', 80' on the bottom | 78/77 | An overheard comment: "that lionfish is kinda small... " And the response: "Well, I eat brim!" LOOK! THERE! wow. When we see mahi, FISH. |
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There's a frog in my stuff. |
That's a fabulous look, Fireball! |
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| Luke Jumping June 14 video clip | |||||
| June 15 | Naeco | 80' | 79/76 | There is no better place to start a week of diving than the Naeco! Ever wonder what kind of responsibility a group leader has? |
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| June 16 | Schurz | 80' | 79/77 | As always, a good dive on the Schurz. Great visibility, despite the rainy, overcast conditions. | |
| June 18 | Papoose Sailboat |
100' 80' |
78/77 | WOW. Great vis on the Papoose. Some swell and wind kept
the boat unsteady, but it was still a great day. 6339bob June 18 video clip 6348swell June 18 video clip |
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| June 19 | FarEst Tnkr Duhamel |
80'-50' 15' |
77/74 76/74 |
The Far East Tanker is still quite sharky. It's amazing to see how large the engines were on this ship. Diving the 'Due" is gambling with vis- this time it was good enough! | |
| June 20 | Naeco Stern Sailboat |
90'-70' 80' |
79/76 | A huge school of about 20 cobia were following a big
stingray cruising the wreck. Did anyone see that pink bird? While hanging over the Sailboat, the divers were buzzed by both a small blacktip shark and a small sandbar shark. There were also a couple of Wahoo off in the distance. |
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| June 21 | Papoose Sub |
90' 80' |
79/75 |
Albacore- catch and release. Nice dives on both wrecks. 6368mahiIN June 21video clip |
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| June 22 | Papoose | 100', dropped a bit on the 2nd dive | 78/75 | Getting in that last early-morning text... The first dive of this week was great- not perfect seas, but fantastic vis on the wreck. A few sharks hanging around the big break area. | |
| June 23 | Normannia Cassimir |
100' 80' |
79/77 80/77 |
Calm seas on the way out, and on the way home. Great vis on both wrecks- scooters made it easy to tour both of the wrecks. The Aquatic Safaris boat was also anchored on the Normannia- with a few Atlantis Friends (Diehards!) on board- we'll see them in August on the pink boat! | |
| June 24 | Proteus Duhamel |
100' 10-5' |
80/78 78/77 |
Again, calm Seas. A great day to travel to the Proteus! Some breeze picked up on the way home. The Caribe Sea had poor vis, so we moved on to the Duhamel- also poor vis, but we dove it anyway. While very different from the Proteus, still an interesting dive. | |
| June 25 | Naeco Bow Schurz |
100' 100' FANTASTIC VISIBILITY- like hi-definition! The blue water went all the way to the bottom! |
80/77 | Before and after. Yummy! Little Rachel is excited about the NC wrecks! 6387calm1
June 25 video clip |
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| June 26 | Schurz | 80' | 80/76 | A good dive today, but the seas were somewhat sloppier than the week has been so far. Anyone ever been beat up by a spadefish? |
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| 6415notcalm June 26 video clip | |||||
| June 28 | Cassimir Ledge |
80' | 80/74 | The WR2 was really pretty again today. Calm seas made the ride simply fantastic! A few lobster were collected on the ledge- there's more to NC diving than just shipwrecks! |
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| June 29 | Schurz Sub |
99' 60' |
80/76 | A sloppy start to the day made the ride out a bit
restless, but as the day went on, the wind petered out and waves
diminished substantially. Excellent underwater conditions persist. Idea of the week: if prone to seasickness, bring mouthwash to freshen up after chumming! Fantastic! |
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| June 30 | Naeco Papoose |
99 60 |
80/76 | It's one thing to know they're out there... yet another to have the evidence in the palm of your hand. Yes, that's a White Shark tooth- probably the upper left front- likely the 3rd tooth from the middle. No kidding. This is likely from a 15' shark. | |
![]() Within a week before finding the above tooth, this photo was said to have been taken by a fishing boat out near the Papoose. Uncanny. |
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| Location | Visibility | Temp | Comments | ||
| July 1 | Box Wreck Hardees |
80 70 |
81/76 | Choppy seas made a course to the Box Wreck an easy ride- moderately strong current, but great vis and lots of action on both wrecks. | |
| July 3 | Schurz | 80 | 81/78 | A bluespotted coronetfish is hanging out on the wreck.
Some big lionfish still remain after a recent rodeo event. The water is
nice and warm! Did someone lose a nice stainless anchor with the chain attached? |
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| July 4 | Lobster Wrk Cassimir |
80 40 |
81/76 83/73 |
Beautiful conditions on the Lobster Wreck- frogfish, lionfish and lobster! On the WR2, the bottom conditions were rather different- cool and lower vis. Who needs a refresher course in navigation? | |
| July 5 | Papoose Spar |
70 40 |
80/76 | Sharks hanging out above the wreck posed for photos- but more were seen on the Spar! A nice Mahi got in the boat.... |
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| July 7 | Schurz Spar |
60 40 |
80/76 | Lots of fish on the Schurz- but bigger schools- not the
baitfish that can hide the wreck. Who would rather fish from the boat than dive with sharks on the Spar? (we let the stinky go). |
How uncommon is it to catch the Back half of an albacore while trolling around the Spar? |
| The USS
Nassau- a Tarawa-class amphibious assault ship passes us by
offshore. She is the last of that class of ships, and has been in
service since 1979. See more photos,
facts and history on its official website. |
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| July 8 | Papoose Sub |
50 50 |
80/75 | A noticeable current ran across the Papoose, stirring up the vis a bit. Less current on the Sub-both good dives. A good size wahoo was caught while fishing between wrecks. |
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| July 10 | Spar | 40-45' | 78 | The little guy on that bow is what Larry must have been like as a kid.... and the SNACKTABLE this week has been phenomenal! Harry can fit 3 week's worth of dive gear in the Porsche- he travels well! |
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| July 11 | Proteus Caribe Sea |
50-60' 40' |
80/76 78 |
A fantastic day to the Proteus- especially with Jade's cookies (some people get very possessive with Jade's cookies!) Great conditions as well on the Caribe Sea- nice big sharks hanging around and a small frogfish was filmed- in HD no less! | |
| July 14 | Papoose Schurz |
50' | 79/73 | Our first Canadian group has arrived, and they brought Obama's souvenir cookies from the Moulin de Provence bakery in Ottawa. Although the forecast for the week seemed dire, the first day was fantastic- both on the surface, and below! | |
| July 15 | Caribe Sea | 35-40' | 80/78 | Another 'against the forecast' beautiful day. Lots of shark's teeth were found on this wreck, and it was worth making 2 dives on. Mike from the Midnight Express snapped this picture of Bob in front of the boilers while diving. "Hey, honey- will you pick up that shark's tooth for me?" |
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| July 16 | Spar | 40-45' | 78/76 | ||
| July 17 | Spar Indra |
50' 45' |
79/76 80/78 |
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| Although the food is good here, no one wants to end up at breakfast! | |||||
| July 19 | Naeco Bow Naeco Stern |
70' | 80/76 | What a great system the boys have developed for spearing lionfish! "L.E.A.K." (Lionfish Extractor Apparatus Keeper)- awesome! |
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| July 20 | Box Wreck Hardees |
45-50' | 80/75 | A shot of the causeway as the boat departs in the morning, (and we all love Tammy's cookies!) We left the afternoon weather behind when going home. |
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There was a touch of weather offshore today, but off in the distance. The dives were good- not much current and lots of marine life. Don't they call that a 'spearless' gun? ; ) |
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| July 21 | Naeco Schurz |
80' 60' |
80/76 | But this wahoo got away... Great sea conditions for day 2 of the week- both above and below the surface. |
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| July 22 | Caribe Sea | 25-30' | 81/77 | Lower vis than we're used to, but everyone made 2 good quality dives. MANY sharks teeth were brought up, and at least 8 LARGE sand tigers were cruising around just under the hang line. The guys in that center-console fishing boat took our advice and headed in-shore just in the nick of time... that storm cloud enveloped the wreck just after we left! | |
| July 23 | Naeco Schurz |
50' 60' |
80/79 80/76 |
An overcast day, but we still made it to the Naeco. A moderate swell kept the boat somewhat rolly. Vis was a little better on the Schurz... |
Mmmm... lemon Tammy cookies! |
| July 24 |
A turnaround day... this is the wrong view for so early in the morning! |
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| July 25 | Papoose Sub |
50' | 80/77 80/75 |
A light swell remains from yesterday, but the vis was good and there were a few sharks around. The engine room area of the Papoose is very interesting. Great dive on the Sub! | |
| July 26 | Aeolus Spar |
50' | 80/76 | The Aeolus is a wreck-lover's wreck- one of Rachel's favorites! That bait-ball with the sharks in it is still hanging over the Spar. | |
| July 28 | Spar | 50' | 80/79 | Unfortunately, the weather has NOT been cooperating this week! But our dive on the Spar was quite memorable. It's a good thing that there is so much else to do while staying here at the beach! | |
| Location | Visibility | Temp | Comments | ||
| August 1 | Schurz Spar |
60--40 50--20 |
80/75 79/74 |
A rather interesting day! We delayed departure (unwittingly inviting a swoop down cookie snatch from Bud!) while the weather cleared somewhat, but then before reaching the inlet... the Coast Guard requested we let them perform a 'Safety Check!" (and who could turn down that invitation?) After another 1/2 hour, we were off to the deep. | |
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| August 3 | Schurz Spar |
50-60' 30-40' |
79-75 | A little rainy today, some wave action and a slight current, - all in all a great day to go diving! | |
| August 4 | Naeco Stern Schurz |
60' 50' |
80/75 | One of those days where the top half is murky, then the vis clears up on the bottom. (We'll take that any day!) | |
| August 5 | Spar | 40-50' | 80/77 | The Spar is such a crowd-pleaser these days, let's do it again! | |
| August 6 | Hutton | 50--30' | 79/70 | Conditions in-shore were too good to pass up today. A bit cool on the bottom, but decent vis and -wow- great bottom time! | |
The "Hutton Turtle", "Wave Action," and "Fishing back to the dock!" |
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| August 7 | Papoose Aeolus |
20-25' 30' |
79/77 | The vis is stirred up on the Papoose, seems that an upwelling is coming around again. The Aeolus was relatively clear compared to the Papoose. | |
| August 8 | Lobster Wrk Ledge |
15-20' 20-30' |
79/68 79/73 |
Oh No! It IS an upwelling! Rumors that it was cold and murky down SouthWest were correct. A distinct layer of thick murk was mid-water, and on the bottom were those particles we call 'rusticles'. Layers of varied vis kept the descent very suspenseful. But despite all of that, the Lobster wreck was a good dive! We even saw a sea-snake slithering around on the engine, out in the open. | And the Spearfishers could still see far enough to bring home dinner... |
| August 9 | Box Wreck Duhamel |
30 5-7' |
80/73 74 |
A significant current on the Box Wreck combined with lower vis made it a more challenging dive. We took a chance that the Duhamel might be decent, but it wasn't quite what we would have wanted. But the advantage on the Duhamel... it's small and shallow and hard to get lost! | |
| August 10 | Schurz Spar |
35 50 |
80/76 | A conundrum- less vis on the wrecks further offshore! The Spar was much more clear than the Schurz. Go figure! | |
"The photographer" in action... and views of the MExp crew at work! |
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| August 11 | Hutton Indra |
40' | 80/77 | We heard that the vis on the Schurz was only 5' today, so... if the vis is better and the bottom time is longer... dive in-shore! But do be sure to dodge the jellyfish. Those 3-5' tentacles can really sneak up on you. | |
| August 12 | Spar | 50' | 80/76 | Such a crowd-pleaser! The vis is great out to the Spar, but beyond that, it's significantly less. Those sharks know how to pose for photos! | |
| August 13 | Papoose Aeolus |
80--15' 35 |
80/76 80/75 |
The day started out slick-glass calm when we left the dock. |
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| Still not much better vis offshore yet. When getting ready to leave the Aeolus, a front was approaching- as it passed the clouds were rather impressive. So that's what the back of a front looks like. It was truly mesmerizing. Not much wind in it, but it looks very intimidating. | |||||
Now we know... when it's eerily calm in the morning... remain aware. |
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| August 14 | Suloide Titan |
35-40 15-20' |
79/73 | Again some intimidating clouds approached, and again not much wind in them. In-shore is still full of those long-tentacled jellyfish! | |
| August 15 | Ledges | 60--25' | 80/71 | The Charlotte boys are back, and they want more lobster! Lower vis on the bottom doesn't slow them down, and these particular ledges are rather easy to navigate. Dinner at Island Grill- don't miss it! | |
| August 16 | Ledges | 40--15' | 82/70 | We tried some newer areas, and the guys haven't lost their touch! | |
| August 17 | Indra | 40' | 79/73 | ||
| This might have been the slickest, glassiest day of the year so far. Fantastic conditions in so many ways... looking off the edge of the boat, you could see the wreck and divers on the bottom. A big stingray with an entourage of cobia was cruising around and around... | |||||
| "Bill" is cruising up the eastern seaboard...large swell and deep surge has made the visibility not worthy of diving. | |||||
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| August 26 | Sub Hardees |
50' | 82/82 | WOW! Thanks, Bill! Vis has recovered quickly offshore, and the water is WARM from top to bottom. A noticable current, but that's OK!! | |
| "Danny" is cruising up the eastern seaboard... how strange- 2 storms, same track! We got more rain from this one. | |||||
| Aug 29 | Aeolus/Spar | 0-1' | ? | Reports have it that the morning of/after Danny passes by, there's no vis. | |
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