The Sheridan

Far across the ocean,
Far across the sea,
A faithful jelly doughnut
Is waiting just for me.

Its sugar shines with longing,
Its jelly glows with tears;
My doughnut has been waiting there
For twenty-seven years.

O faithful jelly doughnut,
I beg you don't despair!
My teeth are here with me, but
My heart is with you there.

And I will cross the ocean,
And I will cross the sea,
And I will crush you to my lips.
And make you one with me.

~Dennis Lee~

Excitement was in the air, a wreck dive, a real wreck dive in the Gulf and I was going. It is hard to explain why I feel the way I do, but wreck diving is special to me.

To know the history, no matter how slight, to see the remains and put it whole again in your mind….they become real and fire the imagination and feed the soul. Real people walked her decks, events played out below her decks, tragedy and history, stories and sights sometimes beyond the imagination. And finally they rest on the ocean floor and sea urchins walk the decks, large fish hold court in the empty holds, barracuda circle the broken rails and feed upon small fish trying so hard just to survive. And creatures, ones others only get to imagine, lay hidden among the nooks and crannies just waiting to be found as these once proud ships melt slowly into the oceans floor. I love these dives.

Fall, or at least Florida’s version, has arrived and as I drive in the early morning hours towards the marina I see … green. No changing leaves on the trees to shades of rust and brown, the yellows and reds of chrysanthemums do not dot the sleepy yards, no new palette of color to herald in the change of seasons and passing of time. I miss this.

But my mind changes focus as I approach the dock for Tanks A Lot and the Cantankerous. I am diving, a real wreck, and Jonny is bringing donuts….. and coffee….. and familiar faces will be on the boat….. and there will be donuts….. did I mention the donuts?

As I load my gear onboard I call out morning greetings to MissD and Captain Mike and Captain Heidi. Bob and Tracey arrive with their students for the day. There are new faces, Verne and Javier, soon to become new friends. And then Dave pulls in with his new Nitrox cert….. but no donuts. Hmmmm. No donuts, no cookies, no tic tacs, no gum….just a nitrox cert. Hmmmm.
Finally Jonny arrives….with coffee….. and donuts….. boston creme donuts….. they have no holes…. donut holes are such a waste of space….. life is good….. let the day begin!

We all climb aboard and Captain Mike takes our picture, takes several actually. I am still somewhat shy being new to the group and hang back a bit, but I think he got me in one of them. We will see.

The ride out is a long one, 2 hours and as we lose sight of the shoreline conversations turn to diving and dives past. The time passes quickly, donuts are eaten and soon we are approaching our first site…… the Sheridan.

In 1951, Ira S. Bushey & Sons, Inc., of Brooklyn, built a 180ft tugboat, the D. T. Sheridan. For 35 years she moved barge and boat and finally, based out of Tampa in her final years, her job included hauling barges to New Orleans and the Caribbean. As sleeker, stronger and more fuel efficient barges moved in to take her place she sat for several years in a shipyard before being donated to the Pinellas County Artificial Reef Program.

On November 17, 1986, she was towed 20 miles out off of Clearwater, to Pinellas Reef #2, and sunk, without the usual fanfare of blowing the holds, by simply opening her valves. She came to rest upright and intact with her propeller in the sand at 80 fsw. This reef program uses a mix of materials shapes to provide the most diverse habitats and you will find the Sheridan surrounded with an array of tires and cement culverts which add its diversity of sea life.

Jonny, Meg and myself once again joined forces, like the 3 musketeers of diving, or maybe not, were Moe, Larry and Curly musketeers? Anyway, at their urging I quickly joined them on the wet side of the boat and we were on our way down to a fish pokey time on the Sheridan.

The water was 84 F and while visibility was in the 80 foot or so range, the water had a slight green tint to it. Moon jellies are flat jelly fish resembling both a sand dollar with their teardrop center markings and a round table set with a centerpiece and fringed cloth. They are clear in color and the dozens that floated round the wreck gracefully flapped their “fringed” edges in unison as if being blown by a sudden fall breeze. A few small sea nettles made their way round near the anchor line and large shiny barracuda circled round as we made our way through throngs of small baitfish.

The Sheridan sat, as promised, the lone prop lying half buried in the sand while the rest of the tug sits upright though slightly off kilter as if listing to with the swells above.

Bait fish swarmed the upper structures and I find it ever amazing that you can swim through hundreds of them and never get bumped. Why weren’t people blessed with such agility. I can’t walk through a near empty Publix without someone bouncing off of me.

As we make our way round the structure I am antsy to see inside. I imagine the crew scurrying along the narrow walkways flanking the wheelhouse and swells of water clearing the gunwales as the lone propeller spins its way round moving tug and barge forward through the water. I am antsy to see inside, imaging the crew living and working on this spartan workhorse of a vessel. As Jens and Dave peek in porthole shaped openings I duck into a doorway to have a peek myself. I am in a small barren room with another doorway ahead, through that opening I can see ambient light and move forward figuring to poke about and emerge the far end right next to my dive buddies.

Who but I could choose to explore….. the head. Yes, through that tantalizing opening was a small narrow room, barely wide enough for a swarthy broad shouldered mate with 5 o’clock shadow covering his strong square jaw to turn both ways. And there filling the small narrow alcove of this space was ….intact porcelain. A potty, sans seat, bolted securely to the deck and harboring naught but small coral, sponge and an errant tiny fish thank goodness. And through that second door, another small room with the sink, long since fallen from its berth on the wall, laying haphazardly on the floor. I need not use my imagination here a minute longer and exited the doorway meeting my own crew and moving on with our dive.

A few yards off in the sand I come across an anchor….a gift for the captain!!! A rescue and salvage!!! But alas, while there is little to no growth on the anchor, but the chain and rope hold a whole new neighborhood in the making. While they are relocated a few feet, they remain below the water. Another time I will surface bearing gifts. It will happen…..it will happen.

MissD made a great find along one of the outer stairways….. a small octopus blended in almost perfectly and inching his way along. How very cool. And Captain Heidi led me to the hiding place of a scorpion fish….. absolutely amazing…… so much to see.

Jens and I dropped down in the hold, two levels to the bottom and….. as I spun in a circle looking for a place to go, to get out of the way, Jens who was patiently hovering just above my head got tired of waiting and squeezed in past me and circled also….. nowhere to go. Oh well…This must have been the engine hold, the oil run engine long ago removed. And so we make our way out and onto the line and up to water’s surface.

Our next stop is just 100 yards away, the U.S.C.G. Blackthorn.