Chincoteague VA, Regina S May 27 to 29, 2006

Since Professor Jeff Johnson (mid-Atlantic technical dive teacher extraordinaire) kicked me out of school, pools, and East Coast quarries by allowing me to graduate from my CCR class – this weekend I was now off to the open ocean for my first independent dives on my new Optima rebreather.  This dive report is proof that I returned safe and sound!

Signed up for this weekend were Penny B, Doug B, Matt, Ron, and myself.  Ron’s wife Toni also came down to hang out with us. We got down to Chincoteague on Friday evening and it was already sounding “iffy” for Saturday.  It was one of those marginal weather forecasts where if it’s on the low side of the forecast, it will be lumpy but do-able.  But if it’s on the high side, you’re better off staying at the dock.  By Saturday morning, there was no better info, so we headed to the dock to meet up with Capt Bobby.  We all talked it over a bit at the dock, and then finally Bobby said he thought we’d be better off not going.

While we were there, many of the usual Chincoteague dock crowd showed up for their first visit with us for the season.  Shawn was there early to chat about his new boat which he plans to use to take vacationers on harbor tours.  He is a local certified diver, but only goes to far off, warm locations and never really dives in his own back yard.  So he is a regular visitor with us to see what the real “local” dive crowd is up to.  The “Scallop Man” also showed up. He stops by at the beginning and end of each day to either trade freshly speared fish for scallops or sell them outright to us.  Ron is one of his loyal customers which is why we probably get so many visits from him.  Doug got a chance to catch up with Bill, who is a local fisherman who is docked next to the Regina S with his little workboat and gill nets.

Since we weren’t diving, we spent the day over on Cedar Island shell and fossil hunting courtesy of the Buckley’s.  Doug had to make several runs across Metompkin Bay to get the whole group over and back.  It was a bright and sunny day, with just enough breeze to keep us all comfortable.  Ron and Matt had a bunch of nice whelk shells on their return.  I got a nice fossilized crab.  That evening, Capt Bobby and his wife Debbie came over for dinner and we all had a really great time.  

Sunday we got up and the forecast was better so we headed off shore.  It was 3 to 4 foot seas with temps at about 53 deg on the bottom – warmer than we were expecting.  It was definitely a “shake down” cruise for everyone on board.  The first ocean dives for the season always are!  Vis on the wreck was pretty good. Ron got a 12 pound tautog on the first dive with a little help from Matt who pointed him out!  Penny and Ron each got some nice black sea bass as well and Doug a couple of lobster.  My first wreck dives this weekend with the CCR are still part of the learning curve, which I suspect will last most of the season. So I believe it will be a little while before I’m spear fishing again. 

Sunday evening a deep fog began to roll in and it was still hanging on Monday morning.  We called Bobby and decided to wait a few hours to go out and see if the fog would burn off.  By the time we got to the dock, the fog was still thick out over the ocean, so Bobby called the day and we packed up and headed home.  The news paper the following week had a story about 5 boating accidents off Chincoteague that weekend due to the fog and operator error. One Carolina scallop boat went through a set of gill nets, almost hit the fisherman and continued up onto the beach at Wallops. Another collided with a tug and tow in the fog. After reading the article and hearing the dock stories, we were happy Bobby made the right decision, although it is hard to sit at the dock on a flat day. 

Overall, it was a great combination of all the things you expect from the first dive weekend of the season – LOTS of catching up with old friends and some diving thrown in for good measure!