Dive Report

Yesterday’s dive on the Spiegel grove was very interesting, if somewhat brief. I was diving on air while my two buddies were on Nitrox, although they were diving an air profile. The result of this was that our bottom time was limited to my bottom time, although they absorbed less nitrogen into their bloodstream by virtue of their breathing a mixed gas. Total bottom time for this dice was about 30 minutes. Max depth was 103 feet, although we pretty much stayed between 70-80 feet. Air consumption is quite rapid at that depth so I was watching my SPG pretty carefully. The ship is in excellent condition and is sitting upright on the bottom. Visibility was only about 30-40 feet and the current was a bit strong but nothing like last year. We explored from the wheelhouse toward the bow on the port side and then briefly crossed over the top of the superstructure which is about 85 feet across. A ship the size of the Spiegel Grove requires at least 10 dives to see, more if you’re interested in penetrating the wreck which wasn’t on our agenda. There is something about shipwreck diving which blows reef diving out of the water, so to speak.

The second dive of the day was on another wreck, the Benwood. During WWII the order was given to merchant ships to cruise without navigation lights to make them a less attractive target to German U-Boats. While this strategy protected the ships against U-Boats, it failed to protect them against other merchant ships who were also running with their lights off. The Benwood collided with another merchant vessel in 1942 while it was cruising from Tampa to Norfolk Virginia. Desperate to save the sinking ship, the Captain of the Benwood deliberately ran her aground in shallow water off Key Largo, where she proceeded to sink. Several years later, deeming her a hazard to navigation, the Army Core of Engineers blew up what was left of the ship, creating a pleasant dive site chock full of marine life and remnants of the superstructure sitting in about 30-40 feet of water. There are many hooks and holes in the old wreck which harbor a variety of lobsters, moray eels and parrotfish. A picture of the Benwood wreck is to the left. All in all a very pleasant dive. I’ll post about my other two dives from yesterday when I get back from diving the Duane this morning.