What Happens When Cave Divers Head to the Ocean?
It's not very often that Dive Rite cave divers taste the salt of the ocean and when we do, it is typically with much teasing and harrassment from our ocean-loving friends. They can't wait to see cavers finning through the blue abyss! Find out what happens when Dive Rite's Jerry Murphy dives the shipwrecks of the Rhein and Araby Maid off of Florida's Gulf Coast. Click the title to read the full story. by Jerry Murphy
A last minute opportunity gave Ryan Meyer and me a chance to dive some deep wrecks off the Gulf of Mexico. It’s not every day that you get invited to dive the Rhein and the Araby Maid. These are two of Florida’s premier wreck dives; so we jumped at the chance, packed our O2ptimas and headed for Rick Pitt’s marina in Fort Meyers Beach.
We arrived to the hassle and bustle of divers loading gear on board the Ultimate Getaway, an impressive 100 ft liveaboard. The evening brought on the usual array of festivities and friendly banter. Our trip leader, Jim Joseph of Fantasea Scuba in Port Charlotte started with a friendly rivalry with, "What do you call a technical diver that gets seasick?" The answer came as a chorus from all within earshot, "A cave diver!" (Hint: Ryan and I were the ONLY cave divers on board) We knew we were in for a good trip!
Jerry explores the Araby Maid (Steve May)
The Rhein is a 453 ft long German freighter that was scuttled and burned by her crew in order to avoid capture at the start of World War II. She sits 125 miles offshore, which meant the journey out was an overnight trip. Come morning we were safely tied into the forward hold of the wreck and ready for action.
With the O2ptima breathers already prepped all we had to do was suit up, jump in and begin the 250 ft (76m) descent. The wreck is home to a variety of marine life and the size and number of fish was simply mind-blowing. But it was sad to see the wreck itself deteriorating at such a rapid rate. Hurricanes and the passage of time have resulted in great changes. Only 4 years ago the kingposts were still vertical, now they have a definite list to starboard.
During the surface interval Jim mixed gas for all of the open circuit divers. Thanks to the steel 27 ft3 tanks on the breathers we had plenty of gas and were able to relax after lunch while everyone else scrambled about until it was time to suit up for the next dive.
The next day we moved to another wreck, the Araby Maid.
The Araby Maid is much smaller at 194 ft and was a sailing cargo bark. It sunk in 1903 in a collision and has been lying at the bottom of the ocean for over a hundred years. Unsurprisingly most of the superstructure has long disappeared, however it remains an amazing dive. You can still spot the masts lying off the starboard side of the wreck and a giant anchor which lies just off the bow. The load of timber in the hold is still evident; giving about four feet of clearance to swim in. We were the first ones to hit the wreck and had some close encounters with a large black grouper, which almost ran me down!
Right: The Araby Maid masts and anchor. (Steve May)
It was a great trip, with fantastic diving, complete with some epic deco hangs; all of which was made easier thanks to our O2ptima Rebreathers.
AND most importantly of all………..no cave divers got seasick!