Dive Report: Northern Light Saturday February 26, 2000 Diversity By: Mike Rodriguez The "core group" of local Ft. Lauderdale tech divers dove the Northern Light today off the dive boat Diversity out of Key Largo. The forecast the night before wasn't ideal, and it rained on my home in Boca Raton overnight. By morning, I could see trees rustling in the wind. I was a little worried that the trip might get canceled. I checked the weather forecast on the Internet, and it said we'd have two to four foot seas today. These forecasts seem to be a little science, a little art, and a little hyperbole, so I figured the weather wasn't going to be too bad after all. I was proven right. At the site we found a light current, maybe 1/4 knot. The seas were about two to three... if you looked really hard, you could occasionally imagine a four foot wave going by. It was sunny, and the air was warm - about 78F. The water was about 75F and had a beautiful dark blue color. I was diving trimix 21/32/47 with 50% and 100%. The depth in the sand is about 190 feet. Last time we dove here about two weeks ago, the crew tried unsuccessfully to snag the wreck with a grapple-hook. Unfortunately, the way the wreck is laid-out with half of it up-side-down there isn't much for a hook to snag. The exception being, of course, all the fishermen's anchors that litter the bottom at this site. :-) Given this, we decided to have the captain set us up then we'd drop in with the hook in-hand. We agreed that if we came within sight of the wreck and couldn't snag it, we'd let the float-line go and swim to the wreck, then do a free ascent on a lift-bag at the end of the dive. There was a small fishing boat on the wreck today, so the captain had to maneuver carefully to get us in position, then we jumped. I had the hook and with my wings empty and the extra weight of the hook I was at 150 feet in 60 seconds according to my bottom timer which records depth every 10 seconds. I felt like a brick! At this point, I spread out my arms and legs to add drag and I added enough gas to my wings to become neutral while still carrying the hook. I could see the wreck's dark outline but it was too far away to reasonably swim 300 feet of line all the way there. I turned to look at my buddy above me and once I was sure he could see me, I released the hook as I dumped enough gas from my wings to return to neutral. My buddy and I then swam to the wreck and began a great dive. Even before we were on the wreck, I saw a bull shark in the distance about 80 feet away. The visibility was probably in excess of 100 feet! As I reached the ship, I was just astonished by the incredible abundance of life on this wreck. I was here two weeks ago and couldn't believe how many fish inhabit this wreck. Today, the fish density was just as I remember. Schools of jack, pompano, yellow-tail, snapper, barracuda, and many other species all around us. I shined my 50W light at the schools of pompano and watched as their shiny skin reflected much of the light back at me. Even before this school past, another zipped by in the other direction. Then another, or maybe the same, bull shark swam by not 20 feet away. It shied away and disappeared around the broken end of the bow as I tried to keep up with it. I planned to go inside the wreck again on this dive and my buddy agreed to follow me. I swam toward the stern along the starboard side of the ship then realized the entrance I was looking for was on the port side. A bull shark swam past and over the inverted hull to the other side; since the opening I was looking for was on that side anyway, I pointed the shark out to my buddy, then followed it over then hull. By the time I was on the other side, the there was no trace of the shark... they're so fast! Once on the port side of the ship, finding the opening was easy. As I entered the large vertical opening, my buddy pointed out a porthole with glass intact, then followed me in. My buddy is not cave trained but was careful to avoid the silt on the bottom, so the water inside remained perfectly clear. As I passed the spot where a chunk of the ship fell and clobbered me on the shoulder last time I was here, I paused and looked up to see if there was anything else getting ready to fall. There wasn't, so we continued. I rounded the first turn and looked around. My buddy was behind me and we paused here for a moment. There's a lot of stuff all over the bottom and spending a little time digging here might turn up some very interesting artifacts. On the bow-side of this room is a bulkhead with an opening into the the engine room. We passed through the opening and examined the large boiler and the remains of the three-phase steam engine. I looked around and saw an assortment of machinery in a tangle on the bottom. At this point, rather than retrace our path, we exited through an opening near the floor that lead to the deck on the bow. As I exited, I saw two bull sharks swimming by about 15 feet away. I tried to point them out to my buddy, but he was still exiting the ship and didn't get to see them. We hung out for another five minutes in the area near the winch on the bow just enjoying all the fish. It looked like something out of a Disney World ride. There were so many fish and so much motion it almost seemed artificial. Most of the fish were edible; someone into spear fishing would really have a great time here. We made one last pass toward the open end of the bow on the port side to take a look at the portholes. I counted five, three of which have the glass intact. There are probably lots more that I haven't had time to locate yet. As our bottom time came to an end, I prepared my lift-bag and reel. Just as we left the wreck, a member of the species "Supportes Diverum", which is so rare in Ft. Lauderdale where I most frequently dive, arrived. Unfortunately, our support diver didn't get to jump in until about 20 minutes after we did, so by the time she arrived we were leaving. She was a little disappointed to get only a five minute dive, but I guess it was better than nothing. Next time she'll probably just follow us down. As the three of us drifted off the wreck, I shot the bag and began deco. During deco at 100 feet I could still see the bottom in the excellent visibility. It was nice to swim around during deco and still easily see the other divers in the distance through the clear water. Around our 20 foot stop, the other support diver jumped in with a snorkel to check on us. A while later we were all on the boat discussing this wonderful dive and drooling over the possibility of being the first divers ever to visit the ~330-deep Vitric in a few weeks. The Northern Light is truly one of the best and least well-known technical dive sites in Florida. It's got something for every tech diver. It's deep but not so deep that it's inordinately dangerous. It's loaded with pretty fish if you like to look at or photograph them, and it's loaded with edible fish if you like to shoot them. It's got portholes and other goodies if you're into collecting artifacts. It's got consistently outstanding visibility and while the currents at this site smack in the middle of the gulf-stream can be formidable, it can sometimes die down like it did today and make for an easy, relaxing dive. The wreck is only seven miles from land so if there's ever an emergency, help isn't far away. The Northern Light has a lot of character and a colorful history if you enjoy that kind of thing. This wreck truly has something for just about everyone! As usual, the crew of the Diversity and the people at Divers City were great. I had a wonderful time and am looking forward to returning here in a few weeks. Maybe I'll bring my camera next time.