The Sunken Harbor Drop, Pt. 1

Pt. 1

Seas were forecasted 1 - 1.7’, but we encountered swells topping 2’ with great frequency. A strong current made for a swift voyage to our plot point, but made station keeping difficult at best. We need a firm hold to keep us on our spot, and with lots of sandy bottom beneath us, this becomes a more challenging task.

I tossed our anchor overboard up-current. With a loose anchor hold slowly dragging us away, I quickly dipped into the brine and swam to the anchor line to wrest control over where it would hold. Ease the weight up off the floor, maintain a course in current toward some rocks, while facing the opposite direction of said current to control movement with some precision. Like walking in an even gale with a full Zombie in hand. The anchor dropped into place, the capture was good and the hold fast and firm. Good, now we can safely do our work and move on.

The warm-up dive at the reef before this proved useful in determining current direction and setting expectations for this site. Visibility was very manageable, and the practice dives felt familiar and smooth. No sinus issues, no discomforts at all.

I spotted the buoy leading to our rig 40 feet below, and so I swam back to our vessel to fetch our barrels for the drop. The first bag floated well, so I pushed the air out through the opening and felt it sink heavily into my arms, an ideally ballasted bag.

It was 16:33, and the sea temperature a warm 81ºF. A good lung fill and I was holding, equalizing, folding and stepping deeper into the brine with a strong hold on our barrels, continuing to equalize as I kicked all the way down, past 12 feet, 17, 25 and into the doubled atmospheric pressure of -10 meters, 33 feet. Just a few more feet down, and a clear link on the station presented itself. I looked around, observing aggressive gray triggerfish observing me back and taking in this peaceful chamber of ocean in panorama. I clipped the bag to the station, and after I was satisfied it would hold and the job was done properly, left the triggers and the grunts and began the subliminally euphoric ascent to the surface.

At 16:36, repeat this process: Grab barrels, breathe up, jackknife into the depths and secure the barrels to the station.

Once our tasks had been completed, we could pick up anchor and move to another spot to enjoy the beauty of the reef and have a little fun. The anchor was wedged into rock enough such that pulling anti-current did not budge it, so another dive to free the anchor sent me to the bottom again. It came out with relative ease, as if to say, “No worries, I just missed you down here… “ and we were back topside in no time, off to enjoy the scenic route home.