We were again hitting the City of Washington, and this time I was seeing her from stem to stern. I stepped off the dive platform with my usual grace and form and slowly slid beneath the bright blue water. As I led out we looked around. I followed the slowly deteriorating sides of the ship. Low lying metal walls with distinct breaks showing where she broke apart as they tried to raise her.
There were low jagged walls and what appear to be encrusted bits of debris or machinery with not as many hidey holes as I am used to. Fish swam freely in and out and corals and sponges were taking hold where they please.
While fish abounded, no artifacts were to be found. I fanned for a minute to see if coal lay under the sand but none showed. I would have thought I was on a Jersey wreck if not for the 45 feet of viz and 83F water temps!
And yes. With my good ole Jersey training, I followed the outline of the ship from bow to stern and back, arriving at the anchorline just as I should be.
Our second dive was on a deeper reef called the Minnows. The reef fared better inthe deeper waters and while not in full bloom it was rich in colors and wore a healthy suppy of soft corals and sponges.
Barrel sponges and stagshorn corals were interspersed with brain corals sporting red and green christmas tree worms which love to be poked. really...they told me. Purple sea urchins were nestled in and several "quality" lobster were snuggled against the ledges. Alas there is a season for lobster here and this is not it. I pulled them out anyway...just for practice.
There were swimthroughs in the coral and portions reaching up in the water like towers of a castle dissappearing in the sunlight.
Peppermint shrimp with their longlegs crawled about and queen angelfish swam past. A crayon box of fish small and large skittered about. But alas still no eels. No octopus either. The summer is still young. We will see.