Captain's Blog

Monday's charter, May 31.

Memorial Day brought us, with the exception of returning favorite Kent Winquist, a group of divers brand new to the Mutiny.  I love it when this happens!  Anxious to show our new friends (some of them volunteer divers with the Virginia Aquarium and Marine Science Center, www.virginiaaquarium.com) a great day, we headed south to the Schurz.  The day looked to be a good one, the seas cooperative, and we looked forward to seeing one of our favorite wrecks.  I dropped Captain Al amidships, and after a bit of maneuvering, we were tied in.  The conditions were a bit confused on site.  A cool layer of murky water (71 degrees) approximately 10’ in depth covered the surface, limiting visibility at the hang line.  Descending to the wreck, the clarity opened up and temps warmed to 75 degrees in the water column.  On the bottom, it cooled to 71 degrees with vis 50 or so feet horizontally and a mild current running the length of the wreck.  As usual, the bait fish were thick and made it difficult at times to see.  Amberjack worked them back and forth and I wondered at one point if I was going to be rammed by some fast moving predator in the buffet line.  One very large ray covered itself in the sand on the starboard side and I giggled to myself because he obviously thought he was invisible…or perhaps he was just avoiding his own taxing social situation.  The grouper continued to taunt the spear fishermen, and only Nick Pinnock managed to snare a catch…a good sized wahoo.

Everyone was happy to stay for two dives, having just gotten acquainted with the wreck.  The current had picked up a notch, and we were visited by an Atlantic spotted dolphin at depth, something I’ve never seen before (it was a weekend of firsts for me, having seen the manta ray on the hang line earlier in the weekend)!  Several crabs were out and about, and only one small sandtiger was seen.  Nick’s brother, Duncan, snagged a red snapper, giving the Pinnock brothers the only conquests of the holiday.

Thanks to Sonny Alejo for rounding up a great group of divers!  It was a rockin’ Memorial Day, and our gratitude and appreciation go out to all our military folks past and present who have sacrificed in service to our country.  God bless them.

Submitted by Captain Amy Broughman