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I keep trying to send this and it doesnt go, im not sure if it has made
it out yet, my apologies if its out here multiple times.
Al Marvelli
*** FWD Message begins**
I see I forgot to thank all the fine folks who made this trip possible
and for inviting me to attend. I would also like to say the Miss Lindsey
is a first class northeast style dive boat and i would encourage anyone
to take a ride on her if they get the chance. The local wrecks are
interesting in that they offer northeast ny/nj style wreckage and
tropical wtaer temps and visibility and a mix of aquatic life.
Al Marvelli
***original message begins***
Subject:
Mexicana Trip Report Long Long Long
Date:
Mon, 07 Aug 2000 00:11:34 -0400
From:
Al Marvelli <ajmarve@ba*.ne*>
To:
techdiver@aquanaut.com
I thought perhaps some of you might like to know how how my trip to the
Mexicana went, the rest can delete from here in.
As some may recall i was invited to attend a group dive on the Mexicana
by Capt JT Barker of Capt JT.com fame. I decided to travel to Vrginia
Beach Va USA to attend the lecture given by Jarrod Jablonski and dive on
the friday before the Mexicana dives as well. On the drive down hellish
thunderstorms broke out and it continued to rain until late fri night.
Jarrod's presentation on Thursday Aug 3 covered the general history of
DIR and its application in both cave and ocean wreck diving. He also
answered a q &a session and explained in some detail the features and
use of decoplanner software, at the request of the audience. He was
quite informative without ever seeming sales-pitchy.
On Fri Aug 4 I had booked a charter on the Miss Lindsey to a couple of
local wrecks and had the opportunity to dive in a buddy team with JJ and
Michael J Blitch. THe first dive was on the Brass Spike wreck, about 90
fsw. Vis was nice, about 30-40 ft and the water was relatively warm. I
was very impressed with JJ's degreee of skill at buoyancy control. He
seemed to be able to maneuver like a helicopter without ever hitting the
bc inflator. My northeast style finger walking seemed like the flailing
of an open water1 student by comparison. We circled the wreck in search
of lobster but found none. There were an abundance of eels and goosefish
in various holes. The second dive was on the Gulf Hustler, an intact
fishing vessel in about 70 fsw. There was a school of spade fish in the
stern.at the end of the dive several large amberjack swam around the top
of the wheelhouse. Mike Fantone recovered two spearguns and Mike Blitch
recovered a weight belt, despite my best efforts to assist him.
Before the night dive George Irvine and Pina showed up at the dock, MIke
Blitch introduced me to him. Contrary to established rumors George
doesnt breathe fire and is basically a regular guy, althought I thought
hed be taller. He is however built like a brick shithouse and anybody
who thinks he has a gut needs to open their eyes.
THat evening i went on a night dive on the wrek of the Tiger, several of
the divers got large fluke and lobsters despite the low visibility of
about three to four feet. I spent the dive teasing some large stone
crabs. THis was the one dive that most reminded me of northeast
NY/NJdiving.
When we got back to the dock some of the others began to arrive,
Christina Young, MIke Kane<fellow certified new york style tough guy>
and Capt JT were there making preparations for the trip. Rick Atkins
arrived with a mobile dive shop and the fun began. Some guy named Scuba
Steve had several horrible stroke rigs placed stragetically around the
boat's dive deck.The smell of fresh chum was too much so I changed over
my tanks and charged my batteries, eventually got to sleep about 2 am.
The boat arrived at the wrek at about 11 am or so, the boat was
festooned with double rigs and dacor/apollo scooters. Seems vbtech has
quite a fleet of these. I eventually got in the water with my mako, but
managed to forget my o2 bottle, and who of all people handed it down to
me but George himself <side note, in retrospect o2 was probably
overkill> I decended and was greeted by vis in the 40 to 50 ft range and
55 degree water at a max of 138 fsw. I scootered to the bow where a
large sea turtle was resting under the bow, i paused to watch him for a
minute, then continued around the wrek. I made three full laps in a 30
min bt, then went up. By the time i reached the 30 ft stop the wkpp
folks were descending as a group< just as the rest of us were decoing,
hmm rule#1 in action?> I had a pleasant hang, although i was worried
about hooking a jon line to the deco bar setup and managed to hit
someone in the head w/ my scooter as it hung behind me, never did
identify that person to apologize < sorry!>Capt JT scootered around the
group as we hung, waving hello.
I had cut tables for a 140 for 25, two hour SI and another 140 for 25,
but they called for divers at the 90 min mark, so i scrubbed the second
dive. On the way back in Becky the mate cooked some tasty chicken wings,
while a group of us chatted on the sun deck, enjoying flat seas and
sunny skies.
In general everyone was friendly and no major arguments broke out, that
I saw. Capt JT is quite a character and a very good diver, i look
forward to diving with him and his team in the future hopefully and I
thank them for this memorable trip. I would also encourage anyone in
that local area to get involved with the group, JT is very committed to
both diving safety and fun.
--
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