Dive Report: Araby Maid Date: Saturday Morning June 24, 2000 Boat: Nauti Gal Captain: Jeff Hunter By: Mike Rodriguez We arrived at the Araby Maid the night before after two great dives on the Rhein Hamburg. We were awakened to breakfast and a warm, sunny summer day. The seas were virtually flat and the water temperature was around 78F. The air temperature was well into the 80s, and there was a very light breeze. After eating, everyone relaxed a while to give the sun a chance to light up the bottom. By mid morning, though, we were anxious to go diving and everyone started gearing up. The Araby Maid was a wooden three-masted schooner built in 1868. It sank in a collision in 1903 and now rests upright on clean, white sand 220 feet down. The boat was already anchored over the wreck and we had a floatline set up. There was no current at all, so when I was ready, I just dropped into the water and descended next to the line to the bottom. I was diving trimix 18/41/41 with 50% oxygen and 100% oxygen for decompression. As my buddy and I reached the bottom, I was swarmed by a huge school of small fish. They were so dense I couldn't see anything around me. I was enjoying the experience and held my breath to avoid scaring the fish away. Eventually, they parted and I could see the wreck once again. I dropped to the sand and watched for several minutes; the swarm of tiny fish weaved and dodged all around the wreck as my buddy explored near the stern. Numerous friendly jacks circled around above me curious as always. After a while, I swam forward along the port side and saw a big hole in the hull; from the shape, it was clear this was the reason the ship sank. Further forward just off the bow I saw the ship's anchor in the sand. I rose to deck level and hovered over the ship studying its construction. The deck itself has long since vanished, but the heavy wooden cross-beams are still there. The three masts were all snapped off at the base and are off the starboard side. There was no trace of the sails which wasn't surprising considering how long the ship has been underwater. As my bottom time ran out, I hovered over the wreck looking at several jacks, groupers, and other large fish swim among the wooden cross-beams near the deck. The visibility was very good at nearly 100 feet. At my first deep stop I could still see the other divers on the wreck clearly which made for an interesting diversion during the boring decompression. Later, during our shallow stops, we were further entertained by Captain Jeff who was fishing from the boat above us. We watched as he'd hook a jack or a snapper and reel it up. Most of the time, the fish would be torn to pieces by hungry barracuda long before Jeff could get his catch to the surface. When our deco was over, we boarded the boat and relaxed in the sun watching Jeff fish and waiting for the other divers to surface. Later, everyone had lunch then we pulled anchor and motored over to the U-2513 for our afternoon dive. So far, the three-day trip to the wrecks of the Dry Tortugas and the Marquesas was going wonderfully and everyone was having a great time. We were all glad for the great weather and looking forward to several more wonderful dives in the next couple of days.