It was a great day to be on the water. Dock time 7:00am and we were off.
Our first stop was the Avocet, a 247ft long, 40ft wide clamshell dredge built in 1943. Intentionally sunk in May of 1991, the wreck has a breach spanning its beam, separating the hull into two sections. The most forward section of the bow rests in 117fsw of water while the rearmost section of the stern sits in 110fsw, with about 45ft of relief at her tallest point. Strangely, today there was not a lot happening on the wreck. Minimal wildlife with just a few Cobia and AJ’s hanging around in the moderate current. Always a great dive though.
Enjoying the ride during the SI
The next stop was the Ocean Wind Tug. Sunk in January 2016, this 87′ long tug rests in 80fsw about 10 miles from the pass. On this dive, the wreck was covered in schools of silversides, entire cities of blennies and more arrow crabs than we could count, although we did miss out on Buddy, the resident Goliath Grouper. During the dive, we were also treated to a slumbering octopus, decorator crabs, turtle grass anemones, sponge anemones and spent some time visiting the hundreds of beaded sea stars surrounding the wreck down in the sand.
After a nice smooth ride back to the dock for battery changes, tank fills and belly fills, we were back at it again, this time at one of our favorite sites out of Pensacola, the Brass Wreck. A 250′ long vessel believed to be a 19th century wooden schooner and thought to weigh over a thousand tons with four masts, the wreck has never been positively identified and it’s unknown how it found its way to the bottom in 90fsw. All that remains of the ship are the ballast materials, decking, anchors and ribs. The wreck’s name comes from the many large brass pins that stick out from the ship’s ribs like tree limbs.
We were greeted by eels, toadfish, coral shrimp, clams and almost zero current at depth. The dive was a little dark due to the layer of green water toward the surface, but as always, it did not disappoint.
After some hydration and a relaxing SI, we dropped in on the Tex Edwards, a mostly intact deck barge resting in 75fsw. The entire dive was spent surrounded by schools of Tomtates and silversides, but the highlight of the dive was two Starry-Eyed Hermit crabs having either a fight or a Barry White moment.
