Today I was invited to dive with Mike Barnette Barney, the founder of AUE, on his boat a 25 ft Parker named Endeavour. We meet up at the Ft. Desoto ramp at 0700 and I was introduced to the rest of the dive team: Dago Mike, Kenny and Veronica Roni. All are experienced Tech & Wreck divers. I'm experienced as a wreck diver but still a novice as a tech diver so I was feeling a bit out classed. The dive plan for the day was to run offshore about 30 miles to dive the Pilsbury in 110 FSW, work our way back in to the Sulfur Barge in 90 FSW, The Tramp Steamer in 60FSW, and then look for the wreck of the Belmont in 30-40 FSW. The best of plans can sometimes go astray as was the case today. After launching the boat Barney discovered about 50 gallons of fuel had disappeared ( victim of an Oklahoma Credit Card/siphon hose). With a front moving in the weather was unsettled so with a less than full fuel supply and unsettled weather, we decided to forgo the long ride and start with the Tramp Steamer and keep an eye on the weather. We arrived at the Tramp Steamer around 1000, Kenny, Roni and I splashed first to beautiful 40-50 ft vizibility and swarms of huge barracuda and a 200 lb goliath grouper. The wreck and surrounding area was full of gag grouper, mangrove snapper and grunts and none seemed very concerned with divers. After a 40 minute dive we surfaced and Barney and Dago Mike splashed in with CCR rebreather for a 45 minute bubbleless dive.
When they returned we had a short conference and with the skies turning progressively black decided heading home was the smartest course of action. We returned to the ramp at 1400 unloaded the boat, loaded it on the trailer and said our goodbyes until the next trip. A wonderful day with a great group of divers. I hope we do this again soon.
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