Dive Report: Hydro Atlantic
Sunday February 21, 2000
Reef Cat

By: Mike Rodriguez

Four divers dove the Hydro Atlantic today, Washington's Birthday, off
the Reef Cat.  The dive was originally scheduled for 9am.  I woke up
to a phone call from the charter operator telling me that the dive was
postponed due to boat trouble.  That was fine by me!  I'm not a
morning person and welcomed the opportunity for a little extra sleep
before the dive.  We finally left the dock around 12:30.

The captain took us north along the intracoastal to the Boca inlet
instead of crossing the Hillsboro inlet which is the usual route.
He did this due to the likelihood of rough seas and a strong headwind
from the north.

The ride up the intracoastal took about an hour.  It was a pleasant
ride and nobody minded the extra time.  It was sunny and we relaxed
on the boat and talked.

At the Boca inlet, we headed out to sea.  The forecast was for four to
six foot waves, but it was mostly less than three feet.  The
cold-front that passed the night before made it breezy, but the wind
hadn't whipped up the ocean yet.  The air was about 75F compared to
80F yesterday.  The water was blue and about 75F.  On the bottom it
was about 72F.  There was almost no current at all.  I still had
trimix 15/50/35 left over from the attempted dive on the Bill Boyde
and the successful dive on the Sucre yesterday.  I calculated I had
about 150 Ft3 still left-over which was plenty for the dive today.
With 50% helium, my END on the deck (145 feet) where I planned to
spend most of the dive would only be ~60 feet.

The Hydro Atlantic is just outside the Boca inlet, so I geared up just
as we exited the inlet.  A few minutes later, the captain dropped a
grapple hook onto the wreck.  I volunteered to go hook the wreck and
unhook it at the end of my bottom time.  The captain set us up and I
jumped followed by the other divers.  The grapple hook ended up in the
sand just off the starboard side of the wreck.  I pulled it up and
hooked it on the side of the wreck then went exploring.

There was only the slightest current, but the visibility wasn't as
good as I was expecting; it was perhaps 40 to 50 feet.

I swam toward the bow and just aft of the bow in one of the holds I
saw a tight school of about 50 sergent-major fish.  They were fun
to watch in the confined space.  I really need to bring my camera
on this wreck more often.  Every time I dive here I find something I'd
love to photograph.  Anyway, I watched the school for about five
minutes, then continued toward the bow where I one of the other divers
was attempting to salvage an anchor he'd found.  I helped him attach
and fill a lift-bag, then moved away as it took the anchor to the
surface.  Next I headed to the tip of the bow and watched for about
15 minutes the perpetual school of fish that hang out there.  I had
about 11 minutes of bottom-time left, so I reluctantly left the
bow and hovered at deck-level just off the port side of the wreck.  I
let the gentle current carry my back toward the stern.  It took about
eight minutes for the current to bring me back to the grapple hook.
I used the remaining three minutes to swim around the stern, then
back along the port side and back to the line.  I saw one of the other
divers and signaled that I was unhooking as planned and heading up.
He joined me on the line as we drifted off the wreck and snagged the
hook on one of the loops in the line.  I couldn't see the other two
divers and was wondering where they were, but it turned out they were
already docoing on the line above us.

Deco went normally for everyone and we were back on-board a while later
warming up in the sunshine.  We took the short route back on the ocean
and were back at the Hillsboro inlet in about 30 minutes.

Everyone had a great dive.  I'll have to remember to bring my camera
next time I visit this wreck.