Mike,

Is the bell and other artifacts being donated to a museum, or are they going
to rot in a box in a basement?

ss
----- Original Message -----
From: Michael Barnette <aocfishman@ho*.co*>
To: <FLTechDiver@mikey.net>; <vbtech@ci*.co*>;
<techdiver@aquanaut.com>
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2001 7:27 PM
Subject: AUE weekend dive report - part two


> AUE Weekend Trip Report
> May 25-28, 2001
> Day Two - Rhein, Araby Maid, Oil Wreck
>
> Our group woke up early on Sunday in anticipation for another dive on the
> Rhein.  Again, a layer of grey clouds limited the amount of light in the
> water column.  Regardless, visibility was stunning.  I splashed to find
> incredible blue water with unlimited visibility; I could easily see the
> diveboat above and wreck below while at the 150-foot depth.  I proceeded
to
> the starboard side and dropped down to the sand to inspect for debris.
The
> majority of damage appears on the starboard side towards the middle of
where
> the boat and promenade decks used to stand.  I was surprised to see little
> material on the bottom aside from some metal plating that appears to have
> flaked off the hull.  I eventually headed up to again look about the
forward
> section of the superstructure to inspect for bridge remains.  After
looking
> around for a while, I dropped down through a large hole into the boiler
> room.  Much of the centerline area joining the boiler and engine rooms are
> full of collapsed material from above.  However, one may slip down through
> the maze and get to the access areas that run alongside these sections.  I
> observed several gauges mixed with material that is falling down from the
> decks above.  One partially buried artifact grabbed my attention, though
it
> will take a return visit to excavate it fully.  I decided to head back
> through the upper sections and over the porthole graveyard back to the
hook,
> ending my dive early around 24 minutes.  The others soon regrouped at the
> line and the hook was pulled so we could drift off the wreck for deco.
>
> Our attention now turned to the wreck of the Araby Maid (II).  The Maid
was
> a three-masted schooner built in 1868.  She was the second vessel under
that
> name and, like her predecessor, was owned by William Thomson & Company of
> Leith and Edinburgh.  She spent most of her time in the Far East moving
> about China and Japan.  In 1903, the Araby Maid was sailing in the Gulf of
> Mexico when she was involved in a collision that resulted in a large
> v-shaped gash in her portside bow.  She came to rest upright and intact in
> approximately 220 feet of water.  I was hoping to return to find and
recover
> the ship's compass after recovering the ornate binnacle on our last trip.
> As we anchored up, large freighters and tankers passed close off our bow
and
> stern, reminding us how the Araby Maid met her fate in these busy shipping
> lanes.  We slipped in some fishing before our second dive of the day.
> Captain Jeff soon hooked into a very large blackfin tuna that he
> successfully boated.  He hooked several other tunas, but they successfully
> worked free of the line, though several large amberjack were not as
lucky...
>
> We eventually dropped into stunning blue water with absolutely no current.
> Massive amounts of fish rose to meet us as we descended to the wreck.  At
> around the 150 feet depth, the visibility dropped from the infinite blue
> waters above to a more subtle 100 feet on the bottom with a slight
> brownish-green tint.  I immediately swam towards the stern and dropped in
> between the weather deck supports to get at the lower deck level.  I saw
the
> area I found the binnacle but did not see anything obvious protruding from
> the deep oyster shell hash.  I began to dig through the mess immediately
> reducing visibility to zero.  There was a good amount of fine silt mixed
> with the shell hash which complicated my efforts.  I opted to work other
> areas while this settled a bit and pulled along the ship's lower deck.  I
> observed large amounts of unidentifiable brass fittings, many heavily
eroded
> from their century-long immersion.  Heading back to my work area, the lack
> of current prolonged the sediment suspension.  I picked around a bit and
> found some brass drawer pulls and other miscellaneous artifacts but sadly
no
> compass.  I worked on another unusual and ornate brass artifact when Joe
> dropped in to make sure I was okay.  Apparently, the stern looked like it
> was on fire with the billowing sediment cloud appearing like smoke wafting
> over the stern of the vessel.  Realizing I was not trapped and struggling
> but just foraging as usual, he waved and continued his exploration of the
> wreck.  I headed up towards the bow to meet the rest of the team and them
> out into the sand to observe the three large masts that are laying off the
> starboard side.  Content with the dive, I slowly worked over to the hook
and
> started my ascent.  While the dive was good, the decompression was great.
> Back in the insane blue water visibility, we were all amazed by the scene
we
> were confronted with during deco.  It was like fish soup!  Massive schools
> of amberjack circled us as we ascended around the upline.  Schools of
> massive permit swam around in the distance, while horse-eye and almaco
jacks
> were also represented in abundant layers.  Large, single crevalle jacks
> would slide in and out of the melee, while schools of little tunny and
> rainbow runners would zip around in contrast to the slowly circling jacks.
> The abundance of jacks replaced the ever present barracuda that were
forced
> to the outer fringe of visibility.  The massive flocks of fish followed us
> all the way to our 30-foot stop, by which we had drifted far enough away
> from the wreck to dissuade them from following further.  I have never seen
> that many fish in one viewing!  Aside from the lively marine life, aside
> from my brass trinkets Andrew managed to find a very nice intact wine
bottle
> laying amongst the wreck.
>
> After securing our gear, we motored on flat seas toward the Oil Wreck, an
> unidentified war casualty (tanker) that rests in 145 feet of water.  The
> group fueled up on dinner with hopes of a repeat performance of last
year's
> night dive on the Oil Wreck.  On that dive, our group swam amongst no less
> than 5 turtles all resting in close proximity on the wreck.  As we began
to
> gear up, several sea turtles approached the bright lights of the boat.
The
> pleasant company of the turtles were soon displaced with many, many small
> sharks that zipped around the stern of the boat.  I would not have
believed
> it if I had not seen it myself, but there were probably *at least* 20-30
> 1-meter long sharks that we could see zipping around the stern of the
boat.
> Captain Jeff managed to catch several of the buggers and they looked quite
> feisty.  Undeterred, our group geared up and splashed into the water,
though
> strangely no one really wanted to go in first...
>
> I followed Andrew down the line as his HID lights from his camera soon
> dimmed in the increasingly murky water on the bottom.  This wreck is not
> known for stellar water quality and we soon found perhaps 20 feet of
> visibility.  We were soon joined by numerous jewfish as we played about
the
> stern half of the wreck.  Several jumbo black and red grouper were spotted
> sleeping amongst debris, as well as copious amounts of large cowries that
> inched along the wreck surfaces.  The group poked about the engine rooms
and
> large boilers for a while, entertained by the numerous invertebrate and
fish
> species that dwell on the wreck.  After our allotted divetime had come and
> gone, we all began working our way up the line only to find a more
menacing
> threat than the deadly sharks seen earlier.  Around 40 feet we were joined
> by several red squid as they zipped around us.  The squid were a harbinger
> of the danger that soon followed.  In short order we were totally
enveloped
> by a massive school of swarming cigar minnows.  For the remainder of our
> decompression we were pelted on our faces and bodies by these crazy silver
> fish.  It was a strange feeling when these spastic fish worked under your
> backplate and crotch strap.  I think we were all laughing pretty hardily
as
> we tried to avoid getting thrashed by these small critters.  It was a
great
> finish to a great day.
>
> Continued...
>
> Michael C. Barnette
> Association of Underwater Explorers
> Because it's there...somewhere...maybe.
> http://www.mikey.net/aue
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.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'.

Navigate by Author: [Previous] [Next] [Author Search Index]
Navigate by Subject: [Previous] [Next] [Subject Search Index]

[Send Reply] [Send Message with New Topic]

[Search Selection] [Mailing List Home] [Home]