08/01/08-08/10/08 The first week of August has been very busy for The GO-BETWEEN. In this last week we visited the Zane Gray, the Advance, the Jackson, and the U-85. The visibility was variable this week from 10 to 70 ft. On the Advance we were treated to 20 ft while the U-85 gave us 50 ft of visibility on the 7th and on the 10th we had 60 to 70 ft visibility. The bottom temperature was a stable 67-69 this week on all the wrecks while the surface temperatue varied but hovered around the mid seventies. The surface coditions were also very cooperative with an average of 3-4 ft swells for the week. On the wrecks we had large schools of Spades and Amber Jacks. We were visited by Barracudas on the Advance, the Jackson and the U-85. Wreck fish sightings included Taugs, Sea Bass, High hats, Blennies, Triggers, Queen triggers, Conger Eels, Oyster Toads and we also had a pod of 25 Porpoise visit us on the Jackson. One of the divers saw the Juvenile Sand Tiger this last Friday. I was begining to think it had moved to another location due to lack of sightings but it was sighted off the port side of the wreck by the engine room. Mike and Nick were with us this week to take an intro to wreck course which they passed with flying colors. Congratulations to both of you and we look forward to seeing you in the future, we have some great wrecks to show you.

08/12/08-08/20/08 Over the last ten days the GO-BETWEEN has made 7 trips out to the wrecks of the Outer Banks. We visited the Advance, the Jackson, the U-85 and the Mirlo. The conditions have been holding with an average of 20-30 ft on all the wrecks except the Mirlo were the visibility was 60-70ft, more on that below. We had one call trip when we went to the Advance and had a 1 knot current at the bouy, we then tried the Zane Gray to find 1ft visibility. The swells have been a very comfortable 2-3 ft with lofting winds holding around 5-10 kts. We've had visits from a pod of Dolphin while on the Advance, some turtles at the Jackson, Spades, Amber Jacks, Barracudas. On the 15th while on the Advance we counted 13 Barracudas around the bouy. We've had a number of large schools of Baitfish on the Jackson and the Advance. With this summer we've seen some strange weather patterns with the winds coming from the E and SE that have brought some interesting dives. The water continues to change bringing new animals and conditions to the wrecks everyday.

08/16/08 The problem I'm having today is how to describe probably the best dive of the Season. We departed early to go to the Mirlo, a tanker that has been identified as a number of other ships 22 miles south of Oregon Inlet. It was originally know as the Green Bouy wreck due to the bouy that once marked the shipping channel. This marker sank some years back and lies off the wreck, it can sometimes still be found in the sand. This wreck is locally well know for photography due to the large numbers and excellent variety of fish often found there. We ventured out to the Mirlo with baited anticipation, the conditions on the surface couldn't have been better as the GO-BETWEEN sliced through the 1-2ft swells from the NE. On route we encountered a couple of rain squalls that dampened the deck but not the spirits of the divers. Three miles from the site we came through the weather into perfect surface conditions. Once on site we dropped the wreck anchor and hooked on the first try, with the anticipation rising we sent the DM down to tie in the hook. The divers were anxiously milling around the stern of the boat looking into the blue water promising anything to gaurantee great conditions. The DM took about 14 min. to complete the task, he broke the surface with the biggest smileof the season, the conditions were perfect. The water temperature from top to bottom was a fantastic 78 degrees, visibility top to bottom a very nice 60-70ft. There was a mild current of about 1/8 a knot but well within diving limits. After a quick briefing the divers eagerly made ready for the dive. While the divers were egaring up we were visited by a Logger Head turtle a couple of times almost as if it was checking out the visitors to his home. One by one the divers entered the water to begin thier exploration of the Mirlo. She sits in about 120 ft of water but the relief begins at 85 on the stern and goes to 118 in the mid-ship debri field. It has three distinct sections begining with the stern, it runs forward to a boiler assembly, decking which appears to be sitting on another boiler assembly, a very diversified debri field and then the bow section which is upside down. The total length of the wreck has to be around 300-400 ft. It's seldom been visited in the last few years and there's plenty to see. One of the many points of controversy on this site is the deck gun mounted on the stern. It was originally first identified as the Ciltvaira, then as the Mirlo and then as the San Delphino. Or something like that LOL. To make matters even more confusing it is thought to have landed on the wreckage of a light ship that used to be stationed there. All this however leads to a great dive site with plenty of wreck to see. Cameras and video tapes abounded as the dive teams entered the water to make their first dive. On the wreck there were great schools of baitfish, Amber Jacks, lots of Barracuda and more tropicals than you could shake a stick at. I saw one of the most amazing sea slugs sliding over some coral, it had a dark base color with flourescent pink patterns. During the two hour surface interval we exchanged stories of the dive while we ate burgers and hot dogs. With even greater aniticpation we started the second dive with plans to see all the things that were missed on the first dive. I shot some very nice video which will be posted on the site soon. This has to be one of my favorite wreck sites. I only wish we came here more often. If your looking for a great site with limited travel time to shoot some fabulous pictures or video this location will not disapoint. Now I just have to wait until we visit her again to continue the exploration.

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