Clear blue water and the gentle hum of the generators breaking the silence of the early morning hours. The wind gently blowing across the deck creates the only other sound. As the sun rises, the water surrounding us shimmers and shines. The sleeping explorers start to stir as the sun rises further from its slumber over the horizon. Soon the boat will be active with divers getting ready to plunge into the crystal clear waters of the Florida straights. Our Florida wreck diving trip once again finds us over the final resting place of the MS Rhein a causality of the Second World War. The German freighter was sacrificed by her crew in December of 1940 when they set her afire rather than allow her to be captured by the US Navy. This stunning wreck lays in 240 feet of water with her kingposts reaching upwards to 140 feet. Now the home of large schools of fish and goliath groupers, the MS Rhein is seen by few divers.
Today, ten divers (two on open circuit scuba and eight on Closed Circuit Scuba) diving from the M/V Spree had the privilege of visiting this long forgotten piece of history. This is to be the fist of many historical wrecks this group will be visiting. According to Michael Barnette in his book, The Shipwrecks of the Sunshine State: During 1940 much of the world was focused on the growing hostilities in Europe. However, numerous countries had yet to enter the war, preferring neutrality to a repeat of the bloodshed they encountered in World War I. While the American population opted to ignore and isolate itself from the “European problem,” the Roosevelt Administration recognized that Hitler was a clear and present danger to national security. While neutral at the time, the United States government fully supported Great Britain and her allies. The Declaration of Panama, adopted on October 3, 1939, ordered belligerent nations to stay out of a 300-mile neutrality zone off the coasts of the United States and Latin America. However, this declaration was unilaterally enforced and never applied to those countries fighting the Axis powers. Neutrality Patrols were established in order to assist with the war effort against Germany, while the United States remained “officially” neutral. The MS Rhein was a 439-foot long freighter, built in Hamburg, Germany, by the Hamburg-America Line in 1926. The latter half of 1940 found the freighter in the neutral port of Tampico, Mexico, separated from the safety of German waters by the expanse of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, both filled with prowling Allied warships. November 29, 1940, also found a U.S. Neutrality Patrol consisting of the destroyers USS Simpson (DD-221), USS Broome (DD-210), and USS McCormick (DD-223) on station off Tampico. At 8:35 a.m., the Rhein and Idarwald, another German merchant ship, were observed leaving port and steaming south, staying within Mexican territorial waters. The USS Broome pulled anchor and slowly shadowed the German freighters. On December 7, 1940, the USS McCormick was ordered to relieve the Broome and keep the Rhein under surveillance as she steamed east towards the Florida Straits and the open Atlantic. As the Rhein steadily approached Florida, the USS MacLeish (DD-220) was given emergency orders and hastily sailed from Key West at 2:05 p.m. to rendezvous with the McCormick in the Gulf of Mexico. At 3:50 p.m., the Dutch man-of-war Van Kinsbergen, sailing under the British flag, was sighted by the MacLeish and informed of the approaching German freighter. The two warships sped westward to rendezvous with the McCormick and intercept the Rhein. Nearing the Dry Tortugas, the 6,050 ton Rhein was finally intercepted by the Van Kinsbergen on the morning of December 11. As the U.S. warships moved off, the Van Kinsbergen turned on her spotlights and fired a warning shot across the bow of the Rhein. With no escape possible, the crew of the Rhein attempted to scuttle their vessel and set fire to the ship. A boarding party from the Van Kinsbergen attempted to salvage the freighter but abandoned efforts due to the fire that raged out of control, as well as armed resistance from the German crew. After the skirmish, the MacLeish reported observing an empty lifeboat riddled with bullet holes and stained with blood. That afternoon, the HMS Caradoc arrived to receive the German prisoners from the Van Kinsbergen. The Caradoc then proceeded to fire 22 six-inch projectiles at the still-burning freighter, eventually sending her to the bottom at 3:56 p.m.
The waters were calm but there were currents all the way down to the wreck. The group made two dives on the wreck, with Richie and Dan finding a number of artifacts inside the vessel; most of which they left for future divers to find. Carrie told Richie that she already felt like she lived in a Bennigan’s Restaurant so he could only bring home china and glass – no brass! Our next stop the highlight of the trip for our avid group of soon to be transformed treasure divers ( treasure fever seems to hit all of the divers when they watch, as Captain Frank puts it “Pigpen I and Pigpen II digging in the wreck and coming up with portholes, deck prisms, a door lintel, a saucer, and other goodies. True to form treasure fever did hit and the divers elected to remain on the Araby Maid for two days. Not everyone was successful with their treasure collecting, Bernie Chowerdy and his student were forced to abandon the porthole they had been working on and Ian only came back with some incredible video of the wreck (of course that is the only treasure he was looking for).
After leaving the Araby Maid, our cure for treasure fever, we moved on to the wreck of submarine U2513. According to Michael Barnette: The U-2513 was a Type XXI German U-boat built in 1944. Boasting a length of 252′, she was the most technologically advanced U-boat built during World War II. Advanced sonar capability, greater torpedo delivery (6 bow tubes), greater depth range, and a hydraulic torpedo loader allowed for total reloading in 12 minutes. Known as an “elektroboat,” she could stay submerged for a greater period than her predecessors due to her robust battery supply. Unfortunately for the German war effort, the Type XXI U-boats were introduced too late in the war to make a difference; only 12 Type XXI boats were cruise-ready by the end of the war. The U-2513 was eventually towed 23 miles northeast of the Dry Tortugas to be sunk as a target by the destroyer U.S.S. Robert A. Owens on 7 October 1951. Supposedly Navy divers visited the wreck in the 1950s, but recreational divers did not visit her remains until almost 1990. She now sits in 214′ of water with damage fore and aft of the conning tower. Part of her sail lays in the sand off to the starboard, with hedgehogs (anti-submarine weapons) residing on the port side. Captain Frank on Deco
It was a beautiful day for a dive with calm seas, 100’ visability and very manageable surface currents. This is a beautiful wreck with fish all around including some very large Goliath Groupers. After one dive it was time to move closer to Key West and a night dive on the newly sunk Vandenburg.
According to Captain Frank’s trip report: … after an 8 hour steam, we arrived at the Vandenberg. Mel got in to set the sideline in zero current. By the time it was set, current was ripping. The Vandenberg has been populated by some pretty cool fish, but the highlight, at least for those on deck, was the ocean sunfish, or Mola Mola that came to visit. It was a small one, about 3 feet fin tip to fin tip. It hung out at the boat for a little while, then wandered off to do fish things.
The next morning Captain Frank put it best, “Saturday morning dawned bright and clear, with a screaming current. No one could swim against it. Melanie used all of her wiles and tricks to put in a sideline, and off we went…. Er… Off we looked and said “Ummm… Maybe another cup of coffee. This was not a “sporty” current but rather a ripping current.
The divers relaxed, lounged, and watched divers on the local day boats try and battle the ever increasing current. At around 11:00 the current had slacked and divers began hitting the water. Like Captain Frank, Dave and I went exploring the wreck to determine its usefulness for future training trips. Captain Frank’s conclusion “…I went to the sand at 157 feet, and sure enough, you can do an advanced nitrox and deco procedures class here.” Dave and I swam the entire wreck, ducking inside from time to time to escape the currents and to improve our view since the visibility was poor due to the currents. I think we decided this will be a good location for future training trips. There are a lot of spots to duck out of the current that do not violate standards for no penetrations as well as a number of good penetration routs for a penetration course.
As with all of my trips with Captain Frank, it was a fun and exciting trip with a lot of good diving. I can’t wait for next year’s wreck trip…I am already signed up.
Ann and Eric Keibler joined Mrs. Bubbles (Kathy Lawrence) for a day of diving at the car wash. A good time was had by all as balloons and bubbles were passed out.
is a long way from sunny Bonaire.But this is where I find myself today.As I noted yesterday, “lost” is what people I know at the show, think of when they see me.Perhaps I am a little lost because there is a lot of coverage of the New Jersey Wreck diving and I really have no first hand knowledge of it nor do I plan or learning more about it while being underwater – it is cold and dark with currents and potentially rough seas.There seem to be so many more places to go in the world that I have decided to postpone my visit to these waters until I run out of places to see.
So what is this all about?Well, Beneath the Sea is a consumer trade show in New Jersey.It is well support, well attended and probably the largest retail show in the US.There are booths from all aspects of the diving community – manufacturers, travel destinations, dive retailers, educational companies, certification agencies and the peripheral groups.So who did I talk to at this show?
Keith – Sunset House, Grand Cayman – Their year has been off but more importantly, their bookings have been different.He said that people seem to be booking at the last minute.They have gone into months with a 4% occupancy and then they are relatively full the last three weeks of the month.Everyone seems to be looking for travel deals, is afraid to commit too far out and schedule things at the last minute.
Frank & Melanie Wasson – This is a new show for them but it has been interesting.There seems to be a lot of interest in their offering but no commitments yet.Of course they sewed up some deals they were working on before arriving and they generated a lot of interest.Frank said he felt it would be a week or so before they would know the net results of the show.However, they did feel it had been a good show – good enough to try it again
Evelyn Dudas – Dudas’ Diving Duds – Coming off her PFO reprair surgery last year, she has been taking it easy with her diving only doing a few one or two hour long dives with limited decompression.So far she has had no symptoms.She said they have been busy and Michael has a lot of travel in the works.She has been traveling a lot, mostly to Florida for some diving and visiting her daughter.
Dave with Leon in Inner Space systems Booth
Leon Scamerhorn & Jerry, Inner Space Systems Corporation – They are in a good position right now since they have a number of new product offerings and customers wanting them;Business has been steady and while they have seen some slowdown in rebreather sales, they are still getting new orders.Both Leon and Jerry feel that this year will be a good year for ISC and that the economic problems will not impact their business too negatively.
Kim Smith – Jetsam technologies – The KISS rebreathers remain in demand primarily because of the price point. Kim said that they have been very busy assembling rebreathers since the first of the year.They were busy at the show and in talking to Kim it would appear that she feels that 2009 will be a good year for rebreather sales.
Tamara Thompson, Technology in Depth (VR Technologies) – Their booth was very busy and in talking to Tamara, she has been doing a lot of diving already this season and it seems others are diving a lot as well. She indicated that the sales of a of the new VRx computers are doing well as are the rebreathers.
Curt Bowen, Advanced Diver Magazine – Curt has been working hard integrating the operations of Advanced Diver Magazine and Rebreather World along with various diving expeditions. He said it is funny, people keep asking him to do things forgetting that someone has to actually put the magazine together. He seems to have a guarded optimistic outlook for the year.
Mike Fowler, Silent Diving Systems – He indicated that things had slowed a little but that they were still busy and shipping rebreathers. Their big seller is now the Evolution + which incorporates the Inspiration scrubber with the Evolution electronics and 2l bottles. He feels that the year will be fine and they are looking for a good year.
Tom Mount, IANTD – Tom realizes that this year will be difficult for some of their dealers but feels overall there will be a steady growth in the rebreather training, especially when the more recreational rebreathers (e.g. Poseidon)come on line. IANTD has been working on upgrading their training materials and creating some of the technical diving’s best courses.
Joe Diuri, IANTD – Joe is very excited about the new materials that the agency is producing. He is especially excited about the new instructor training materials that he has been working on. According to Joe, they will “change how we train instructors” in the future. He has a positive outlook for 2009.He feels there will be some changes both positive and negative.
Pete Nawrocky, Dive Rite – Talk about a guy who is high on diving. Pete is traveling with the Dive Rite booth to consumer shows all over the US as well as traveling with the Dive Rite Tech Tour. Wherever he goes, Pete is talking diving, from the cold dark dives of the New Jersey shore to the gin clear caves of Florida, Pete will tell anyone who will listen that they should be diving! Of course, Pete will also tell them that they should be diving in Dive Rite equipment! As far as this year goes, Pete will tell you that it will be whatever you want it to be. You just have to get out and go diving and take people with you.
Big Wave Dave, DEMA – It is always nice to visit with Big Wave Dave; he loves the scuba industry and his energy in contagious. He said they have had the pool out working at various shows and there still seems to be a lot of interest in scuba. The hardest part is for the retailers to capture the interest and turn it into a committed diver.
So what else did we do?Well other than shocking people by being in New York, Dave and I attended a few seminars, looked at a portable recompression chamber, dreamed about going diving in Komodo, ate some fabulous meals in the City, and talked about diving and what we wanted to accomplish this year.
The 2009 diving season will be an interesting year, full of scary points, disappointments and really cool moments. While the economy will influence our business, Ann, Dave, Ashton and I as well as our entire staff have elected not to participate in the downturn, instead we are focusing on the 90%+ people who are still working and need hobbies, diversions and fun things to do.
Lost – at least that is what the people I knew thought when they saw me at this year’s Beneath the Sea show in New Jersey.It was common to hear “what are you doing here?”I had a number of reasons for coming to this show this year, among them were to try and find some connections to some students for our Expedition Trimix Course in Grand Cayman this summer.
Friday evening found Dave and I in a presentation by Dr. Gozum about Personal Decompression Strategies.He has been looking at a number of Decompression & Doppler Bubble studies all the way back to the 1940’s.In looking at the raw data, he found that there three groups of divers in these studies:
Divers who never got bent, no matter what was done to them
Divers who sometimes got bent and
Divers who always got bent
His theory is that were individuals that are resistant to DCS.In looking at their Doppler readings, even when they showed a high number of bubbles, they exhibited no signs of DCI.While this population represents a small part of the study, he felt that it is an important finding.
One of the things he advocates is performing Doppler studies on yourself to determine a safer decompression routine for yourself.Since the actual Doppler devices are $400+, a baby ultrasound device ($100) can be used.These less expensive devices have a larger head and are not generally reparable but give reasonable readings to begin a study.
Another point he made is that studies have shown that post dive exertion has lead to DCI.After a dive a diver may show no signs of DCI, and after doing something strenuous, i.e. pulling up an anchor, mneung equipment, etc the suddenly developed DCI.For this reason he recommends refraining from strenuous exertion after a decompression dive.I have seen this exact situation in a diver who because of pride issues moved equipment and immediately began showing signs of DCI.It took a table 6 ride in the chamber to confirm the hit and eliminate the pain.
In talking about this with Larry Elsevier later that evening, he felt that the results could be skewed by the individual diver’s metabolism.According to Larry, in a study at the university of Southern California (he thought) it was shown that DCS was not detected in divers who had 7-8 glasses of water 24 hours before diving but DCI was noted in divers who did not consume water the prior day.The study concluded that an individual’s metabolism, affected by dehydration, played a significant role in the incidence of DCI.
Further, he noted that in some studies while some people did not note any of the traditional signs of DCI, some reported feeling funny.In some cases, this funny feeling was a precursor to more serious DCI symptoms.
In talking with Tom Mount in our Expedition Trimix course, his experience has been that especially on deep dives, what works is not necessarily what the formulas say to do.“You have to listed to your body” and be aware of signs that tell you things are not quite right.By being in tune with yourself, you can modify your schedule to try and get things back in balance before continuing.He calls this Intuitive Decompression.I have been on dives when I felt that I needed to elongate a stop beyond what the computers were telling me to do.I also know that Ann has felt the same way on some of her dives.She will even tell you she “feels the nitrogen” and gets an overwhelming feeling that she needs to pause and spend more time at her current depth.
What does this mean to divers?The first thing we should know is that decompression is not an exact science. There seem to be a number of factors influencing the elimination of inert gasses and the possibility of developing symptoms of DCI.The importance of proper diet and hydration play a major role in preventing DCI as does individual physiology.While there are some individuals who are resistant to DCI, there appears to be a far larger number of diver’s susceptible to DCI.Prevention of symptoms may include using Intuitive Decompression, to modify your decompression schedule depending on how you feel underwater.Additionally, if is important to avoid post dive exercise when possible, especially if you “feel funny.”
Harvey Sisco and Wade Sparks completed their CCR Cave class with Lamar Hires of Dive Rite. Congratulations guys!
Our Florida wreck diving trip once again finds us over the final resting place of the MS Rhein a causality of the Second World War. The German freighter was sacrificed by her crew in December of 1940 when they set her afire rather than allow her to be captured by the US Navy. This stunning wreck lays in 240 feet of water with her kingposts reaching upwards to 140 feet. Now the home of large schools of fish and goliath groupers, the MS Rhein is seen by few divers. 
Our next stop the highlight of the trip for our avid group of soon to be transformed treasure divers ( treasure fever seems to hit all of the divers when they watch, as Captain Frank puts it “Pigpen I and Pigpen II digging in the wreck and coming up with portholes, deck prisms, a door lintel, a saucer, and other goodies. True to form treasure fever did hit and the divers elected to remain on the Araby Maid for two days. Not everyone was successful with their treasure collecting, Bernie Chowerdy and his student were forced to abandon the porthole they had been working on and Ian only came back with some incredible video of the wreck (of course that is the only treasure he was looking for).
Ann and Eric Keibler joined Mrs. Bubbles (Kathy Lawrence) for a day of diving at the car wash. A good time was had by all as balloons and bubbles were passed out.
