Dive Report: Clinton / Miller Lite
Date: Saturday Morning November 4, 2000
Boat: ReefCat
Captain: Jim Mims

By: Mike Rodriguez

The usual group of AUE divers showed up at the dock Saturday morning
to dive the Clinton and possibly drift to the Miller if conditions
allowed.  The boat was running late so after loading my gear, I got
out my lawn-chair, shade umbrella, and MP3 player, then sat around
talking and listening to music for a while.  Eventually we got
underway and were treated on-site to excellent diving conditions.
The sea was running less than two feet with a very light south
current.  The water temperature was 80F and the air was about 84F.
There was a light breeze and the sun was shining.  There were dozens
of boats out that day enjoying the great Florida weather.  I was
diving trimix 22/26/52 with 50% and 100% oxygen for decompression.
My bottom time was 45 minutes.

The Clinton is not often dived, though I've been fortunate to have
been there several times recently.  It's a barge about 180 feet long
and is a kinda double hull design almost like a catamaran.  The bow
and stern of the two hulls are square, not the typical pointy shape.
Each of the twin hulls has two big rings near the top and bottom
that probably held anchor pilings at one time.  The two hulls provide
numerous opportunities to penetrate the wreck which has long, silty
corridors.  The wreck sits upright in 165 feet of water.  This is
a fun dive and I'd recommend it to anyone who hasn't seen it before.

Once the captain hooked the wreck, we geared up and jumped in; we
were on the bottom in less than a minute.  The visibility was fairly
good; around 80 feet or so.  As I approached the wreck, I saw a rope
strung directly across the ship running roughly northeast-southwest.
Before we jumped in, a private dive boat was in the area apparently
trying to anchor.  I thought for a second the line on the wreck was
their anchor, but as I got closer, it became clear that it was not
an anchor line; it was a lobster-trap line.  One trap was hanging on
the line about 20 feet off the bottom right next to the wreck.  Our
line was draped over the north side of the wreck and laying in the
sand.  I picked it up and secured it, then followed the lobster line
out to the south a few hundred feet past several traps.  Only one
trap had a single unfortunate lobster in it.  I followed the
lobster-line back to the wreck and spent a few minutes looking
around, then I decided to go look for the Miller Lite, a 180 foot
long refrigerated cargo ship which is a few hundred feet north
and slightly west of the Clinton.  I tied in a reel and swam off
on my compass.  After a long swim against the light south current
I saw the vague dark shape of the Miller.  I finally reached the
ship and tied in my reel, then swam the length of the ship and took
a quick look in the engine room.  I didn't have much time left at
this point so I returned to my line and reeled back to the Clinton.
It was eerie to be over the sand in the middle of open ocean with
only a thin line connecting me to the Clinton; I felt like a fish.
Fortunately, the light current helped me get back quickly.  I
stowed my reel and did a quick head-count as our group departed the
wreck and started up the line which we left secured to the bottom
for the next group of divers who were to follow us onto the wreck.
About 10 minutes into our deco, the next group passed us on the way
down.  The lead diver asked me if the line was on the wreck and I
confirmed to him that it was.  They continued down and we lost sight
of them below 100 feet or so.

The rest of our deco went well and we were back on the boat a while
later warming up in the sunshine since, although the water was warm,
the breeze on the surface made us a little chilly.  I guess now that
the water temperature has dropped down to 80F it's time to break out
my drysuit.  :-)