“I came just about as close to death as a man can get and still come out breathing. The place was Mexico; a man-eating shark was staring me right in the eye.“Johnny Weissmuller
Again with the early stuff. Message was “Dive is on. Be at Clarks Landing Marina at 6:30 sharp“. The problem is that I did not know exactly where at Clarks Marina to be at 6:30 in the morning. Luckily Jim, our Jack of all Trades, fearless leader, dive buddy, mate, trip organizer and bottle jockey was at the dock and waving me in to the slip of the Blue Fathoms.
We were short a few in our group this morning but were still 4 strong besides Jim with Al, Al, Dave and myself.
Captain Tony walked me over to the Ships Store and let me buy him a cup of coffee while we waited to see if anyone else was going to show. The cashier informed me the coffee was free, a courtesy of the marina. Aha, it was going to be one of “those “ dive days.
The wind had picked up a bit and there were cornrows of fluffy clouds in the sky, and the seas were light and gently rolling as we headed out to the Hankins. Another wreck I have never dove on (there are a lot of those).
There are a number of late 1800's wrecks that go by some variation of "Hankins". No one is quite sure why. The most likely explanation is that they were all originally charted by some fishing boat captain who is now forgotten except for his name.
The "Big Hankins" is the remains of a large unknown circa early to mid 1800’s schooner. The wreck consists of a series of low walls and some machinery piles and wooden planking . This vessel probably sunk in the late 1800s or around the turn of the century judging from the design of the anchor. It is fairly spread out and sits in 75-80 feet of water.
When we arrived at the site there was no surface current so it was decided not to use a Carolina Line, everyone could easily navigate to the ball and down. My legendary navigational skills being what they are, our fearless leader made the executive decision that I would get towed over to the down line to ensure my timely arrival. Good decision, worked like a charm.
Al went in first and tied in and the Styrofoam came up and the pool was open. The remaining Al and I budded up and rolled over. I was towed over to the ball and down I went. We were tied in to a low portion of the wall of the wreckage and there was a slight current and about 15-20 foot of visibility. I tied in my reel and led the way (don’t laugh, I can follow the string back, we wont get lost). The first thing we came upon was a large fish that looked like a rock and blended in almost perfectly. During the surface interval I asked about it and it was thought to be an Ocean Pout, but upon looking at some pictures, it definitely wasn’t. It looked more like a cross between a Sea Robin and a Monk fish. Either way, I had to poke it.
We headed out along the low wreck wall which was covered in assorted sealife and I stayed close to the sand looking in all the crevices and holes to see who was home, and hopefully grab me some dinner. This was at times difficult as my reel would unwind as I swam along and just when I wasn’t expecting it....it would stick and stop me dead in my tracks and BOING me back a foot or two. This had to look pretty amusing to Al who was watching from behind.
In several of the holes along the sand I found large crabs dug in and looking defensive, but no lobster. Along the length of this section were numerous areas where a portion of the wall had collapsed providing large caverns perfect for hiding fish. Shining our lights in these areas, they were filled with sea bass and tautog, many of them a size of interest to our spear gun toting friends.
We ran out to the end of the wall, hitting an expanse of sand and turned to come back, my reel of course jamming. And then it happened. I couldn’t believe it. I looked up and there it was, I started pointing and making OoooH!!! OooooH!!! bubble noises with my regulator. Right in front of me.....on the other side of the wall......just swimming along...... I saw my first SHARK!!!!!! I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT!!! It was 20 feet long, it was just like in Jaws, teeth the size of Ginsu Knives.....well maybe not, but it was soo awesome. I was excited..... And Al? He was looking the other way. And then.... It was gone.
We headed back to the line looking around and in and under hoping I had missed where all the lobster were congregating but to no avail. And my reel, well it got the best of me and so I just started winding it up like a big ball of string, I would deal with it on the surface.
We came up the line, over to the ladder and up. This ladder a new experience for me also with the platform on top and having to pull your fins through and jump down.
We snacked and talked and relaxed during the SI waiting for Dive 2. The wind started to pick up and the waves came in a little harder but was still doable. We must have been slightly off balance, possibly with too much tank weight on one side of the boat because every time I stepped on the starboard side of the boat, it pitched and listed to the side. Jim reserved comment on my observation and told me to suit up and get in the water.
Something was up with my tank, only 2000lbs but we couldn’t find any leaking so it would be a short dive. Over the side and when I surfaced....I was at the ladder. Our mate for all seasons quickly located me and brought me back to the downline and we were on our way. This time at the bottom Al ran the line and I went sight seeing, again hugging the sand and poking and peeking around. Reaching the end of the wall we turned and came back to the line and I headed up as Al continued to look around. As I did my 3 minute hang, I could see Als bubbles coming up from beneath me, growing huge as they ascended. I amused my self watching my reflection in the bubbles as they approached, it was really entrancing and I wished I had a camera with me to capture the images.
Once back on board we waited for Jim to untie from the wreck and come on up. While I came home empty handed there were several lobsters and some nice sea bass brought up. The ride back in was a bit choppy but it looks like we got the best day of the weekend in for our day on the water.