Dive Report: RBJ
Date: Saturday Afternoon February 24, 2001
Boat: ReefCat
Captain: Jim Mims

By: Mike Rodriguez

Three of the Association of Underwater Explorers (AUE) core divers
and one out-of-town diver arrived for the dive on the RBJ Saturday
afternoon.  The RBJ is actually two wrecks; the Corey N. Chris, a
130 long US Army dredge was sunk as an artificial reef in May 1986,
then in may 1988 the Ronald B Johnson (aka RBJ), a 226 foot long
freighter, was sunk and, *by mistake* landed right on top of the
Corey N. Chris.  Both now sit upright in the sand at 260 feet.
Together they form a unique and interesting dive with two
swim-throughs where the RBJ sits on the Corey N. Chris.

The day was sunny and windy when we started loading the boat.  The
air temperature was around 80F.  We knew it would be bumpy on the
ocean, so everyone was suited up before we exited the Hillsboro
Inlet.  Out in open ocean the seas were running about four to five
feet; even the rinse bucket had four foot waves in it.  :)  The ReefCat
was easily up to the task, though, and we made good time to the site
of the wreck.  I was diving trimix 15/49/36 with 50% and 100% oxygen
for decompression.

At the site we tried to hook the wreck, but we were unsuccessful due
to the difficult current and wind combination.  The AUE gang
volunteered to take the hook down and the captain set the boat up for
the drop.  I grabbed the hook and the team hit the water; we were
on the wreck about 90 seconds later.  I snagged the line near one of
the kingposts, then we took off exploring.

We did the obligatory swim-through under the hull of the RBJ, then
the three of us took off our fins, dumped buoyancy, and went for a
walk on the bottom.  It was surreal as we walked single-file under
the RBJ then around its stern in the amazing visibility approaching
200 feet.  There was no current, so walking around on the bottom was
easy.  Everyone was laughing out loud as we walked merrily along.

Near the stern, one of my buddies invented a new extreme sport:
Deep Ocean Wreck Climbing.  He grabbed a stray line hanging off the
wreck and proceeded to scale the side of the RBJ as if rapelling a
rock wall.  I put my fins back on and hovered up over him to watch
the show, grinning the whole time.

After a while, the three of us took off toward the engine room.  I
I stayed outside looking at the fish and enjoying the outstanding
visibility as my buddies took a quick tour inside.  When they exited,
we ascended to about 220 feet and swam back toward the line at a
leisurely pace.  Near the line we met one of the other divers who had
just arrived.  We waved as he passed, then we started up the line for
our decompression.

During the shallow portion of the decompression my buddy spotted
something very rare off southeast Florida: a tiny seahorse hanging
onto a piece of gulfweed.  We watched it for several minutes as it
drifted in the water column.  Seahorses are unusual in that the male,
not the female, gives birth when a female deposits her eggs into the
male's pouch.  Two to three weeks later, the young are born.  After
he gives birth, the male usually becomes pregnant again right away.
Baby seahorses have it pretty rough; on average, only two of the
thousands of young a mating pair produce ever reach maturity.

Eventually, we had to leave the seahorse as we continued our ascent
and boarded the boat.  Everyone had a great time and on the way back
to the dock, we planned our dive on the Hydro Atlantic the following
morning.