I just got back from another great day of diving in paradise (as
originally coined by MG).
We are going to dive the Texas Tower 4. It has a sad history with loss
of life. Here is a link that describes it along with photos and how it
went down. Renowned underwater movie maker Al Giddings (?) did a docu
about it not too long ago.
http://www.njscuba.com/shipwrecks/texas_tower.html

Since the boat was to depart at 3am, I dropped off most of my dive gear
and sleeping bag around 12noon. That way, my bunk was 'reserved' and my
gear in an easy location to get to the dressing table. I arrived at the
boat about midnight to join a couple of friends at Otto's, a local
watering hole on Freeport's Nautical Mile. After a beer or 2 (they did
not serve the nonalcoholic stuff I drink, so I suffered with the 'real'
stuff), we drove back to the dock and prepped our gear. With ear plugs
installed, I called it a night and slept till we got close to the dive
site, about 7am. I brush my teeth and wait to hear from the mate that
ties in about where we will be (depth), if there is current, and what
the vis is like. The report comes back that we are tied in at about 140'
with vis a dark 40' (the skies are cloudy, no sun). Suited up with my
double steel LP98's pumped to 3500psi and slings, I plunge into the dark
blue ocean. Descending to the wreck, I notice that it has collapsed a
lot since my last trip here about 5 years ago. This thing is HUGE. With
parts looming out of the darkness, it has an Erie look about it. Touch
down at about 135'. I explore some of the rooms on my way to the bottom.
All the rooms have their equipment removed, but they are abundant with
anemones and growth. The bottom is about 187'. I don't spend much time
there, the bottom temp is a Mike Gray 40 degrees, and I really can't
wait to get to warmer waters above the thermal.
Going up the line, looking back down at one of the immense broken
support legs reaching to 90', I can't help but remember the sad history
of the Texas Tower. My prayers go out to the families of those that lost
loved ones to the sea.
At my final deco stop, there were a few tropicals hanging around us. I
guess they thought we would take them home to a nice warm tank. A couple
of small pilot fish were there also, and they accompanied me back to the
ladder of the boat, swimming under me as if I were some 'shark' or
something.
The second dive went almost like the first, except that I didn't go to
the bottom, but stayed around the 150' depth. Deco was piling up fast,
and the thought of just hanging for another 40 mins didn't appeal to me.
All in all, we all had a great dive and a great time.
On the trip, it was a few of the usuals that I dive with regularly and
some people from Village Divers in NYC. A great bunch of divers.
Thanks to the Captain and crew of the Sea Hunter III.

Tony