Dive Report: Carysfort Deep Date: Sunday morning May 29, 2000 Boat: Diversity Captain: Keith Weston By: Mike Rodriguez Six of the usual AUE guys showed up at the boat in Key Largo, Florida Sunday morning to dive a site known by local fishermen as the Carysfort Wreck, so named for its proximity to the nearby Carysfort Reef. The site is about 280 feet deep and in an area known for high currents. No record of a shipwreck could be found for that location. As far as anyone could find out, the site had never been dove by anyone, so the team was anxious to find out what it was. We loaded the boat and were on our way under a beautiful clear sky with air temperatures around 80F. There was a light breeze and the ocean was calm. I was diving trimix 13/55/32 with 50% and 100% oxygen for decompression. When we reached the site we found beautiful blue water, but the current was running fairly strongly to the northeast. Everyone crowded around the bottom finder as the captain ran a search pattern until a distinct bump showed up; there it was! The plan was for our support diver to drop in first and tie off a floatline to whatever was down there, then the rest of the team would use the floatline to get down. The captain positioned the boat for the drop, then our support diver jumped in as the rest of us watched his bubbles on the bottom finder. It didn't take long to see that his lead up-current had been insufficient to reach the wreck before being blown past it; he, unfortunately, ended up doing a 300 foot sand dive. Once we spotted his lift-bag, the rest of the team prepared for our dive. This time, rather than 'eyeball' the current, I used a little science. We positioned the boat over the dive site, the put it in neutral for 120 seconds, the length of time we estimated it would take the team to reach the bottom. There was no significant wind yet the GPS read about 2.6 knots. At the end of the interval, we determined our distance from the wreck and asked the captain to run on the reciprocal radial up-current the same distance, then call the drop. Everyone geared up and four of us hung off the transom as the captain began the run. The remaining two divers would follow us on the second drop. At the predetermined distance, the captain called out and we dropped in. We were on the bottom before my bottom timer ticked two minutes. The surface temperature was near 80F, but it was very cold on the bottom at 57F. My 3mm summer wetsuit crushed thinner by the depth did nothing to help. This mass of cold water shows up below about 260 from time to time in Florida. The good thing about it is that the visibility in the cold water is usually outstanding; on this dive it was around 200 feet! As the team reached the bottom, we instinctively spread out in a line across the current to maximize the coverage of the bottom and increase our chances of spotting the wreck. I was at the far right side of the formation. We let the swift current carry us along the bottom rather than try to swim. The bottom zipped past beneath us as some jacks showed up to take a look at us. Next I started to notice some beer bottles and other trash pass by below us, then more jacks; I figured we must be getting close. Suddenly, the character of the sand to my right changed from clean and white to a darker color with some growth on it. I squinted in that direction and thought I saw a darkish area in the distance. We were passing the area so I swam hard perpendicular to the current and saw the dark area become more distinct; I knew I'd found the wreck. I dropped to the bottom at 280 feet and dug my hands into the sand to stop my movement, then I signaled the rest of the team with my HID light. I clawed my way cross the sand all the while shining my light behind me so the rest of the team could home on it. At the wreck, I moved up to the deck and held on in the current with one hand as I continued to shine my light in a circle toward where the rest of the team would be. Within a few seconds, everyone was there. The wreck was spectacular to see in the 200 foot visibility. It is a small freighter about 150 feet long. It looked like it had been down several decades and was heavily encrusted so we were unable to read the name of the ship. The wheelhouse is at the stern. We entered it, but it was stripped of artifacts. I saw no portholes or machinery anywhere, so I don't think it is a natural wreck; more likely it was scuttled. There were lots of fish all around the wreck including the usual friendly jacks, several large snapper, and even a few big groupers; no wonder this site is popular with the local fishermen. Everyone continued to explore the wreck and even from the tip of the bow I could clearly see the divers at the stern. We all rallied near the wheelhouse as our bottom time ran out, then we drifted off in the swift current. I shot a liftbag on the way to our first deep stop, and the team began decompression which was uneventful. I was grateful when our decompression stops finally entered warmer water and more so when I boarded the boat to warm up in the sunshine. Once on the boat, I found out that the support diver had never seen any hint of the wreck. He did an abbreviated bottom time then deco and returned to the boat. The team of two divers who jumped after us also made it to the wreck. They were diving Gavins and reported that when they spotted the wreck, they turned the scooters into the current but it was so strong they had to kick with the scotters to make any headway. The team had a great dive and although our support diver didn't make the wreck, we will be back soon when he'll get another chance.