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I feel portholes should stay where they are for the enjoyment of divers still to come. Einar ----- Original Message ----- From: Michael Barnette <aocfishman@ho*.co*> To: <FLTechDiver@mikey.net> Cc: <techdiver@aquanaut.com>; <vbtech@ci*.co*> Sent: Monday, June 26, 2000 6:27 PM Subject: AUE Tortugas trip report - Part I > AUE Tortugas Trip Report > June 22-25, 2000 > > DAY 1 - Rhein Hamburg > > NOTE: We were able to get some INCREDIBLE digital footage of all these > wrecks, as well as some great topside images. The addition of these images > may take a while to add, but they eventually will appear as well as several > mpegs... > > The team started arriving in Ft. Myers around 5:00pm Thursday night and > proceeded to hump all our gear to the boat. After a pleasant dinner on the > beach at the Barking Shark, we headed back to further discuss our dive plans > and get some sleep. We awoke to find ourselves approaching our first > target, the Rhein Hamburg, in calm seas. The Rhein was a 454' long German > freighter built in 1926. At the outbreak of World War II, she attempted to > make it back to Germany from Mexico. Before making it out of the Gulf of > Mexico, she was caught by the Dutch Navy sloop Van Kinsbergen. The Captain > of the Rhein attempted to scuttle the ship by setting it afire, but before > it sunk the British cruiser Caradoc joined the fray and placed several 6" > shells into her hull. The Rhein Hamburg now rests upright and intact in > 250' of water. > > Knowing that we were only the second group of divers to visit the site, we > were all very anxious when we saw the massive profile appear on the bottom > reader. After securing the downline, running tables, and setting up our > gear, we all hit the water and headed towards the wreck below. There was a > healthy current, but the water was extremely clear and warm. As we neared > the bottom, the massive wreck came into view. We were hooked amidships > towards the rear of the superstructure. The forward kingposts, still > standing proudly upright, were visible 100'+ feet from the hook. > > I began exploring the wreck, heading towards the stern. The midships > superstructure had begun collapsing on itself; many of the vertical > bulkheads had fallen outward, leaving only support beams and the decks > remaining. Portholes were everywhere, a testimony to the lack of visiting > divers. Swimming towards the stern, it appeared this section received the > most damage due to the sinking; the masts were laying on the deck and there > was a large fracture about 70' from the stern. The stern, consisting of a > small house that contained what looked like the auxiliary steering station > and steering quadrant, was kicked over at an extreme angle towards the sand. > A neat skylight structure still adorned the upper deck of the house. > > I headed back towards amidships admiring the incredible wreck; she was well > encrusted and adorned with massive amounts of white telesto (a neat > pink/white gorgonian that forms large tangled clusters). The guys nicknamed > the forward cargo hold the "greenhouse" as this coral was so dense that it > draped down everywhere off supports and the edges of the decks, looking like > vines or ivy. I poked around in some of the rooms of the superstructure > finding numerous portholes and other brass artifacts. A solitary tub > remained on deck, its enclosing bulkheads having collapsed outwards. I also > happened to piss off a large jewfish that I hadn't noticed, which proceeded > to "thump" me several times as I digged around his house. Mark was lucky to > come upon a glass fresnel lens from one of the running lights. All too soon > we had to head back up, though we were glad to be able to do one more dive > on this great wreck later in the day. Back on deck we all discussed the > site with most agreeing that this wreck quite possibly was one of the top > wrecks Florida had to offer. There simply were just not enough superlatives > to describe this wreck. > Later in the day the current slacked up, making for a really pleasant second > dive. The fish really came out in force, apparently having hunkered down > out of the current during our first visit. I proceeded to recover a > porthole that was loose and close to the line, sending it up shortly after > hitting the deck. I swam about the midship structure a bit, checking out > the layout. The rooms of the upper deck were fairly open making for easy > exploration. I never made it to the bridge area which is a priority on our > next visit. As I was heading back to the line I happened upon another > porthole laying loose, so I went ahead and rigged it and swam it back to the > line. Satisfied with the dive I walked it up a bit and checked out the > wreck from above. The rest of the team was converging on the line to begin > their ascent so I let the porthole head up. After a few minutes I began to > feel the line vibrating again alerting me to the fact that something was > amiss. I looked up and saw the potholes heading back down the line. While > the Captain was securing the first porthole, he saw the second bag coming > up. Apparently the overpressure valve malfunctioned as the Halcyon bag > continued to spill gas after hitting the surface. Trying to deal with both > situations at once, the first bag (Carter bag) filled with water and became > too burdensome to handle and both portholes dropped back down the line. > > I managed to catch the top bag and shot enough gas into it to send it up > while Mikey caught the second bag and shot enough gas into it to send it up. > This time, the Halcyon decided to really crap out and burst its seams > about 20' from the surface. The Captain was ready for a battle this time > though, and quickly attached a safety line to the artifacts once they neared > the surface. The whole event was pretty humorous as it looked like a damn > porthole conveyor belt for a while during deco. We all hit the flat calm > surface laughing about the course of events. We secured all our gear and > began to fill our stages in preparation for the next day's dives on the > Araby Maid and U-2513. We dropped anchor for the night over the Araby Maid, > rocked by a gentle sea breeze as the sun dropped over the horizon. Captain > Jeff did some fishing that night, managing to land some nice mutton snapper > and amberjack, though it was always a race to keep the fish away from the > thieving barracuda. > > DAY 2 - Araby Maid and U-2513 > continued later... > > Mike > Association of Underwater Explorers > http://www.mikey.net/aue > > ________________________________________________________________________ > Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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