Dive Report: Northern Light
Date: Sunday Morning March 19, 2000
Boat: Diversity
Captain: Bob Borselli

The Northern Light, also known as the Elbow Wreck because of its
proximity to the Elbow reef, was a Great Lakes steam freighter
built in 1888.  The 300-foot long ship sank in a storm in 1930.
It was positively identified in 1989 and is rarely visited by
divers.  Its colorful history, abundant sealife, and location in
the warm, clear waters off Key Largo make it one of the best technical
dives around.  The Northern Light, at 190 feet deep, is easily within
the reach of any experienced trimix diver and every time I dive
here I wonder why it's so infrequently visited.

Two other divers and I dove the nearby Vitric in the afternoon the day
before and this day the same group was ready at the boat by 8am.  We
discussed the weather as we loaded our gear.  The weather the day
before had been excellent but the forecast for this dive was not as
good.

As we left the mangrove-protected waters around Key Largo we found
that the forecast three to four foot waves showed up as predicted.
We bounced across the ocean and reached the site about 30 minutes
after leaving the dock.  It was a bit cloudy with air temperatures
close to 80F.  The water looked clear, though, and was about 77F.
There was a light north current.

The three of us were geared up and ready before reaching the site.
This was my third dive on the Northern Light, and I was anxious to get
in the water.  We held on at the transom as the captain lined up the
boat, then we jumped in.

As I hit the water I noticed there were thousands of little
rust-colored things in the upper 20 feet of the water column.  I was
sinking far too quickly to get a good look at them zipping by, so I made
a mental note to try to find out what they were when we returned to the
surface.

About a minute after jumping in the water we were on the inverted
stern of the Northern Light.  The third diver in the group, as
planned, swam out over the sand looking for goodies.  I watched him
swim away as I gauged the current; it was about a half-knot.

At this point, I was on the starboard side with respect to the bow,
and I needed to get to the opening on the port side.  The laminar
flow of water over a curved inverted hull moves more quickly than
the free water above it, so I swam up about 10 feet over the hull
to get out of the faster flow and finned up-current to the port side.
I dropped near the sand and entered the wreck then looked back to
make sure my buddy followed me in.  Next I began looking for a good
tie-off for the permanent line we planned to put in the wreck.

The inside of the Northern Light is fairly big and has numerous small
openings for light to get in, so a permanent line is really way
overkill.  We'd discussed this on the surface and decided to put
one in anyway, though.  My buddy handed me the reel, and I found a
convenient tie-off point.  It was far enough inside the opening to make
the line difficult to see from outside so it wouldn't entice divers to
enter the wreck.

I placed the line in the first room heading toward the stern,
around a few obstacles, and through a bulkhead into the engine room.
I continued to an opening near where the stern impacted the bow and
ended the line near an exit.  I swam back and checked the line-arrows,
then we exited and swam toward the bow as we admired the abundance
of fish all around us.

As our time ran out I looked for the third diver who'd swam out
into the sand at the beginning of the dive; there was no sign of him.
I later found out that he'd come back to the wreck after searching the
sand for about 15 minutes.  Since my buddy and I were inside the wreck
at the time, he didn't see us.  He'd planned only 15 minutes bottom
time, so at that point he shot a liftbag and left the wreck.

My buddy and I drifted toward the stern as I prepared my liftbag.
Off the stern I shot the bag and we continued our ascent.  We drifted
away and as the wreck disappeared from view we noticed a dark area
in the sand below us.  It was about 15 degrees to starboard of the
centerline off the stern and a few hundred feet away.  We were too
shallow to make out what it was, but it looked interesting.  Next
time I dive the Northern Light I plan to leave a few minutes early
and take a closer look at this.

Around the 20-foot stop I saw the little rust-colored thingies I'd
noticed on the way down.  They were tiny jellyfish about 5mm across.
They had no tentacles and even when they brushed up against exposed
skin,  it didn't hurt.  This was good because there were so many of
them all around us that direct contact was unavoidable.  I noticed
they were all swimming in the same direction and a quick check
of my compass determined it was due-south.  I played with a few
of them during decompression to break up the monotony, then I surfaced
and boarded the boat.  The ride home was fast and pleasant in a
following sea.

Everyone had a great time and the crew of the Diversity was as
helpful and attentive as ever.  The Northern Light is really a
great wreck.  It's not too deep, it's got artifacts, fish, and
great visibility, and it's not far from shore.  I always wonder
why it isn't crawling with divers every weekend.

We're planning another trip here in the next few weeks; maybe some
of the local couch-divers will come out and dive with us next time?
I hope so...