Who is doing what for a New Years Day Dive?

[Vtach]

Well, we got out on the Len-Der today for the first dive of 2006.  The weather was forecast as waves less than 1 foot in the morning and building in the afternoon.  Jerry was taking us out to a new wreck he had found early in 2005.  Jerry identified the wreck as the "Transfer" and said it was a two masted schooner barge that was scuttled in 1911.  The trip out started out well with minimal waves and warm temperatures.  Jerry informed us on the way out that the wreck was not buoyed and we need to drop a shot line and send a diver down to hook the wreck.  A little bit of messing around but the wreck was hooked on the second attempt.  During this time the waves were building into the 1-3 category.  The wreck was in approximately 120 feet of water so we planned an easy 30 minute bottom time with 28/30 backgas and 50% deco gas.  While dropping down the line, we could see the whole wreck from about 70 feet.  The tie in point was amidships on the port side.  We headed aft towards the stern and worked our way around the wreck.  The wreck is relatively flat with no penetration opportunites but there is quite a bit to look at in regards to ship construction.  There was a fair amount of equipment and miscellaneous items to be seen, we even found some sort of flanel looking jacket or shirt that was poking our from underneath the hull ribbing.  We continued on through the dive and at the 30 minute point we were amidships looking for the ascent line.  Visibility was still in the 30-40 foot range but the line we came down was no longer there.  We gave each other the "WTF?" look and started to head up using the shot line.  While hanging during deco, I could look up and see the surface but no Len-Der.  I also see that those easy little 1-3's have turned to 3-5's.  Well, it is obvious now that the mooring released and Jerry is somewhere overhead but I remembered that the shot line had a fairly small buoy and it may be difficult to see.  What the hell, shoot a bag.  After a 30 second bout of clusterfu**ery, I got is squared away and sent it up.  We were finishing up deco and finally seen the Len-Der coming in.  Once on the surface, we headed over to the tag line and started getting ready to get back on the boat.  By now Jerry had shut off the engine and the Len-Der was parallel to the waves.  She was rolling around pretty good and the occaisonal wave would break over the port side.  Not too bad getting on the boat but it wasn't a cakewalk or "walk of cake" either.  Jerry did a great job of getting everyone picked up and safely back on the boat.  Once back on board Jerry said that he knew right away he lost the mooring and kept motoring in a wide circle around the area waited for divers to surface.  It is a very interesting feeling to look up during the 20 foot stop and see no boat in sight knowing you are 5-8 miles from shore.  All in all a great day, great adventure and much better than internet diving. ;D

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.