[ParrotHead]

Gary - The wrecks are well known. They are the Hutton, Suloide & Indra. I have dove the Hutton and Suloide but not the Indra. The Indra was sunk in the early 90's as an artificial reef. I'm looking over my dive log and I see many dives on the Hutton or Suloide in May and few in April. Water temps will be in high 60's/70's in May. Visibility is usually around 30' but can be better (I have one dive I recorded 60' on the Hutton) and of course it can be a lot worse. They are in 60-70' and have lots of wildlife on them. Sometime in May sounds fine - keep me posted - right now I'm wide open that month. I'm making some dives down this way in April and I'll be in Africa half the month of June, so May sounds good. You coming down Memorial Day week-end?

Mike, I figured we'd pick up the topic here. Might even fet somebody else's attention/comments.

Have you done any spear fishing? I haven't and I'm not sure I want to intenionally "chum" while I'm swimming/diving. I've dove with sharks and cudas, but it as always made me nervous. I would rather not have to look over my shoulder all the time.

 

[Topsail Angler]

I have done some spearfishing although it's not usually my primary focus when diving. I use a float with a big saftey pin like device attached to it - that works as the fish stringer, then I attach a 20' line to it which I fasten to my gear with a q. That way the fish are well away from me should a toothy critter decide to have lunch on me. If you aren't comfortable with that, I have no problem leaving the speargun at home. With thousands of dives under my belt, I just enjoy being underwater.

 

[Topsail Angler]

Mike, Memorial Day weekend is a usual "going home weekend". Might even be able to make it an extra long weekend.

60's-70's....brrrrr! Does your favorite dive shop rent full wetsuits? All I have that I can still wear is a shorty. I guess I'm spoiled with tropical/carribbean waters that are around 85.

I'll look up the wrecks to get familiar. Sounds like bottom fishing hotspots. Is there a problem with that? Can folks fish off the "dive boat"? Never done it or seen it, but Seabiscuit might be interested if that's a possibility.

Yes, most diveshops rent wet suits. You might want to find a shop nearer to you as the shop I use is in Sneads Ferry - I can pick one up but it would be better if you tried it on first as size labels vary widely with wetsuit makers.

The dive boat in this case is my boat, I always take a fishing pole with me. Sea Biscuit is welcome to join us depending on how many divers we end up with (most likely will just be three of us divers so there would be room for a fisherman too).

Diving here in NC is wonderful but the conditions aren't always as ideal as in the tropics. Hopefully we will have calm seas and clear, if not warm, water.

 

[ParrotHead]

Like I said before, I am by no means an expert diver. I probably made a total of 20 dives and only a few of those are "logged". I just got certified on that trip to Mexico. All my other dives were either recreational dives Down Island (Carribbean) or places where they cared more about your $ than your certification or safety when I was in the navy. I always went with experienced divers, but still not the safest situations. Anyway, all of the diving I've done has been around coral reefs covered with angelfish, damsels and turtles not artifical reefs laden with gag or snapper. So, the spear fishing opportunity wasn't there. If you wanted to do it on this trip I wouldn't object. I've never done it and it could be interesting to observe.

Seabiscuit, may not even be interested. He's kinda partial to the skinny water in the WO, just thought I'd ask. I'll mention it to him and he'll probably seeit on here.

 

[Topsail Angler]

PH - no problem on the diving experience, I have been diving for over 25 years and have thousands of dives under my belt. If conditions are not right, we won't dive.

As to spearfishing - we'll play that by ear then.

 

[ParrotHead]

Just found a couple decent websites for wrecks. Here's one http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com . They all look pretty interesting. I really like the idea of the Indra. I think the AR Programs up and down the coast are great. I'd like to see this one as it has been there for 14 or 15 years and seems to be flourishing. AND from a couple of the sites it sounds like a flounder magnet.

 

[Topsail Angler]

Yeah - I want to see that one too. I usually like to do at least two dives on a trip. The three of them are within 2 miles of each other so we could do two dives on the Indra or switch for a second dive to the Hutton or Suloide. We don't have to decide till we get there.

By the way, last year's hurricane took the main deck of the Indra off and "set it down" beside the hull. So it is very open now plus you can still dive on the deck.

 

[ParrotHead]

I read another article about the Indra. It seems it a great spot for diving and flounder gigging. Now that don't sound fair. AND it is the site of an annual "Underwater Bike Race" !

 

[Dave B.]