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Fellow Divers After nearly 8 months of planning the trip to the Billy Mitchell fleet took place.Several changes were made as the trip took place.The wrecks ( Ostfrisland 380 ft and Frankfurt 420ft )we had plan to dive were unable to find as the Loran C transmitter for our area was down and we only had the location of the wrecks in TD's , we tried to convert to Lat / Long but could not locate the wrecks as they had never been marked with GPS before . The wrecks lay 70 plus miles NE of Va Beach . The wrecks G102 350ft and V43 400ft were chosen , both are German Navy Torpedo-boat destroyers and were sunk July 1921 as part of the Billy Mitchell fleet. We departed around midnight on Wednesday and after 5 hrs boat ride began to look for the Ostfrisland , 1.5 hrs no luck.I made the choice of G102 to dive.Hooking the wreck would be the hard thing as it is so deep and small , only 312' x 30' x 9' , we got it on the second try. We ate a light breakfast and prepared to dive , Jackie Smith and Austin Trent would be buddies and Rick Atkins and myself would buddy up , I would lead.We would be followed down by Mike Scammon to 200ft to ensure gas switches were done and cover any problems, Rodney King pick us up at 200ft on the return and Dave Widen at 100ft and Becky at 30ft with Dave staying down with her to help.I chose a mix of 10/60/30 with deco gases 32/68 , 50/50 , 100 02 for both dives nothing fancy . We hit the water , at 200ft my right ear would not clear , I came back up to 160ft and my ear cleared , Rick went down and was there at the anchor waiting for me.As I came to the wreck he pointed at the hook it was in by one tine on an old pc of rope.I do not have anchor fear and it did not worry me , but I put another tine in the rope anyway.We began to look around vis was 40-50ft but dark , my light did the trick and things looked good , the wreck was covered with dog sharks laying all about , there was only about 5-8 ft of relief where we were hooked, my Beuchat DG read 349 , my UWATEC stopped at 328 but the timer kept working and depth returned working above 328 ft temp was 52 on the bottom , 44 mid range and 64 on top.Jackie and Austin had shown up behind me and began to explore the wreck . I pick up a slow moving Joanna crab to look at , we then moved over to one of the 4.1 guns and took a good look , 16 mins BT went fast and we started up.The deco went good until I hit the 70ft stop , I did my gas switch to 50/50 and my oring on the hose at the second stage blow.The safety diver (Dave Widen )moved in to help and my buddy did the same , a reg change was in order and was done with ease.The overall deco for me did not feel good , I can feel when I had a good deco and this was not a good one , weak alittle and tired , I had to rest , I had not sleep all night .Austin recoved a handwheel on this dive. We then moved to the wreck Ocean Venture depth 160ft all the support team dived this wreck and had a great time. The boat pulled the hook and the wreck V43 was chosen because of its depth of near 400ft , the only deeper wreck is the Frankfurt and we could not locate it without Loran C.I marked the wreck V43 and we hooked it on the first try.A dinner of steak and trimmings put us to bed early. The morning came with flat seas and light winds , a light breakfast was eaten , Rick had made the decision not to dive as he had injured his shoulder somehow.Three of us would make the dive , I will admit that the most stress I felt was during my gearing up for the dive , to not feel some kind of stress prior to a 400ft dive would put one in the shadow of being untruthful. I left the boat followed by Austin and Jackie , Rodney was already waiting to follow us down to 200ft , once I hit the water all stress was gone , this is were I feel at home.After hitting the wreck with a fast descent it was found that Jackie was not with us , he showed up a bit late but was OK.We were greeted by some very large fish , Austin said they were Snowy Grouper ??? We broke off to look at different pcs. of the wreck , we were hooked midships and the chain was tangled in the wreck , vis was around 100ft I could see a great deal of the wreck with my light , I went over the side to the bottom and looked at my BT 393 ft , I could see at that point what looked like the makings of the bow and the washout , the deepest part of the wreck.I did not need to go there to put my depth gauge to get the deepest reading as someone else has done.I could see another 5-6 ft could be gotten there , but why?Soon my time was gone and I started my assent followed by Jackie and Austin , I dived 380 tables and got out of the water ahead of them , but this was no race , not getting hurt is the goal.My deco went perfect and I felt great .Jackie recovered a small door sight glass with glass intact. We got back to the dock at 5:30 PM and I loaded my gear and went home to reload my gear to go dive Morehead ,NC with my Girl Friend for the weekend , we had a great time there diving the wrecks Papoose and Atlas on the crewboat Diver Down , Capt. Bobby Cox has been introduced to my long dive times before and makes it a great place for us to dive together . I will be placing a few pages of photos of all these dives on my web site in a few days and will post when I do. Thanks to all who went and helped set the dive up. Capt.JT www.capt-jt.com At 11:24 AM 6/26/99 -0400, you wrote: >JT - review for accuracy and comment or additions before posting. > >Captain J.T. Barker setup a charter with Lynnhaven Dive Center on the Miss >Lindsey out of Virginia Beach, VA to dive the Billy Mitchell Fleet off the >Virginia Capes. We had four bottom dwells: Capt. J.T., Rick Atkinson, Jackie >Smith, and Austin Trent and four safety divers: David Widen, Mike Scammon, >Rodney King, and Becky Spalding. The Miss Lindsey Crew included Captain >Charlie Salle, Mike Fanton, and Becky Spalding. > >The general plan include one safety dive escort to 200 fsw to assist as >needed and observe gas switches. The bottom dwells proceed to depth for the >planned dive. > >Monday, June 21, 1999: >Blown Out > >Tuesday, June 22, 1999: >Blown Out > >Wednesday, June 23, 1999: >Went to the boat 4 A.M. The wind was still blowing hard. Deferred to 8 A.M. >to check the weather guessers at NWS Wakefield, VA. The front was to move >through the area during the day. Blown Out early with a plan to leave later >that night. > >We left Southside Marina Wednesday night about 11:00 PM for the 70+ mile to >trip to the general area of the Ostfriesland and Frankfurt. The seas had >laid out a lot from earlier measured sea state and forecast, but it was >still a bit ruff. One of the Loran transmitters was down for repair during >our portion of the trip. We understand that it should be back in service by >the first of July. Both days the sea had laid out to flat seas with 2-3 feet >rollers and an occasional 4 footer (first day) to 1.5 to 2 feet rollers and >an occasional 3 footer (second day). Just enough wind to move the air a bit. >Just the kind of day to make you want to be on the water and diving! > >Thursday, June 24, 1999: >Becky made us a great breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, cheese and English >muffins. >The first dive was on the G-102 approximately 350 fsw. The first diver hit >the water at about 9 A.M. Austin brought up a valve handle with the stem. >Surface had about 65~70 feet of visibility with temperature of 62 degrees to >about 100~110 fsw. The mid water had about ~30 feet of visibility with >temperatures of 42 degrees. The bottom had about 100+ feet of visibility >with temperature of 52 degrees. Headed to the second dive site. Since I >was not one of the bottom dwells, I will let them provide first hand report. >The dive went off great with no incidents. > >The second dive was on the Ocean Venture at approximately 160 fsw as a fun >dive for the safety divers. David B. Widen, Mike Scammon, Rodney King, Becky >Spalding, and Mike Fanton made the dive. The dive included picture >documentation of the wreck and marine live, general exploring of the wreck, >and deco practice dive. The bottom visibility was about ~30 feet with bottom >temperatures about 48 degrees. Saw several very large Taug, a lot of small >sea brass, and a couple of eels. > >We moved back up to the Destroyer V-43, hooked it in preparation for the >next day's dive. We had a great meal of grilled steak and chicken, potato >salad, lettuce salad, and stuff. Another great meal by Becky's hand. > >Friday, June 25, 1999: >The third dive was on the V-43 approximately 400 fsw. The first dive hit the >water at about 8:50 A.M. Jackie brought up a small port hole for a door way. >The glass still intact. Great find. Surface had about 65~70 feet of >visibility with temperature of 62 degrees to about 100~110 fsw. The mid >water had about ~30 feet of visibility with temperatures of 42 degrees. The >bottom had about 100+ feet of visibility with temperature of 52 degrees. >Since I was not one of the bottom dwells, I will let them provide first hand >report. The dive went off great with no incidents. > >Once we had all the divers and gear on board, we headed back toward VB. >Becky made a super lunch of grilled chicken, potato salad, and all the >fixing. > >Return back to Southside Marina on Friday evening about 5:30 PM with fuel to >spare! > >Thanks to all the support and advice from Mike Hillier and staff at >Lynnhaven Dive Center in preparation, gas mixing, planning, and general >support; plus the super job and execution by the Captain Charlie and the >crew of the Miss Lindsey. > > > > ><< Send subscribe/unsubscribe/help requests to VBTech-request@ci*.co* >> > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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