6/12 Friday, U-85; Headed out to U-85 boat today in preparation for the U-701 dives this weekend. This wreck is an excellent introduction to the structure and features found on the U-boats of WWII. The conning tower and most of the pressure hull are visible and can be used to learn the structure aspects of U-boats. On this day we had a 3ft swell with S/SW winds hovering 5-10 knots, the top visibility was about 20ft with a temperature of 77. The bottom visibility increased to 35-40 ft with a temperature 51 degrees. All the usual suspects were on the U with numerous reports of Spades Taugs, Eels, Sheepshead and Black Sea Bass.

6/13 Saturday, U-701, Day 1; Departed at 7am with a light SW wind and rolling 2-4ft seas. Had a nice long ride out and arrived on site finding clear sunny skies and clear blue water on the surface. Due to the currents it took a while to finally get moored to the site, but the report from the divemaster was amazing..... 125+ ft of vis, 71 degree water, and much of the wreck was uncovered! Surface and bottom currents were minimal, but mid water currents were 1.5-2kts. There was an enormous school of Amberjacks (over 200 fish), large and small Sandtigers, Groupers, Tunas, large Barracudas, Crevalle jacks, and small tropical fish along the wreckage. At the stern of the vessel the port rudder and propeller were uncovered, and the hull could be followed up to the conning tower, deck gun, and bow exposed by the shifting sands.

6/14 Sunday, U-701, Day 2;We departed the dock at 6:30am and headed out over nearly flat seas, but a blinding fog. The surface visibility was no more than 200-600ft for the first 15 miles of the journey south, but we ran the radar and kept a vigilant watch as we cruised out towards the U-boat. Once we got south of Wimble shoals the fog began clearing the we noticed flying fish popping out of the boat's wake.
Once again we arrived on the site to find clear blue water and nice sunny skies. The divemaster went in to secure the mooring, and came back with an unbelievable report. Huge amounts of marine life, 150+ ft of vis, 75 degree waters, and minimal current top to bottom! There were amberjacks, barracudas, large and small Sandtigers, Grouper, Crevalle Jacks, Tunas, and tropical baitfish covering the wreck. We had a max depth of 124ft at the stern, 122 feet at the bow, and most of the wreck between 100 and 115 feet. The Sand Tigers were incredible and beautiful. There were at least 75 juveniles and 8 to 12 foot adults, fantastic, even better than yesterday! During the surface interval, as we ate hotdogs, the winds started to shift to the NE and building to 10+ kts. As the winds began shifting the seas started building along with the surface currents. Visibility on the bottom had reduced to 90 feet and cooler water was mixing in. As we began the run home the winds from the NE continued to slowly build, causing 2-4ft waves. The boat made it back to Broad Creek around 4pm and were all still pumped from getting to dive some of the best wreck diving in the World, and the Outer Banks has it to offer!
Good group of divers with us both days.

6/19 Friday, The Jackson; Today we dove the Jackson in a sea with 2-4ft Easterly swells and a light SW breeze. We had partial cloud cover after some brief early morning showers. The currents had picked up a bit on the site with multiple levels of water mixing. The Temperature on the bottom was around 53 with 30ft visibility. Divers spotted Taugs, Sheepshead Spades and Black Sea Bass. Two excellent dives.

6/24 Wednesday, The Advance; We had a light breeze from the W of 5-10kts, with a 2-4 ft swell running from the E in the morning but as the day continued the conditions calmed to 2-3 comfortable rolling swells. The top water had a temperature of 70 with a very nice 50ft visibility our divers found the thermocline @ 40 ft. The bottom conditions were interesting with a mid level moderate current and a mild bottom surge. The temperature on the bottom was around 57 with 30ft visibility. On the wreck were ample Spades, Taugs and a very large school of Amber Jacks. Another fine day of diving the Banks.

6/25 Thursday, U-85; The 85 gave us a very nice day of diving, The winds were from the W at 10 knots with an E rolling swell of 3ft. The condition remain stable with the surface water being 75 degrees with approximately 60ft visibility. The bottom at 90 ft cooled to 53 with 40ft visibility. There was some mixing in the mid level water column with Spades, Sheepshead, Taugs and Black Sea Bass swimming around the wreck.  

6/26 Friday, Zane Gray; With building seas we ventured out to the Zane today with a SW wind averaging 5kts. The surface was warm with temperatures around 70 and visibility of 40ft. On the wreck was a moderate surge with a temperature of 63 and visibility of 20ft. On the wreck we spotted schools of Ambers, Spades, Oyster Toads, Sea Bass, Taugs and a 3ft Sandtiger. All in all not a bad day of diving. This is an excellent wreck for conditions that are closing in. It sits close to Oregon inlet which makes for a very fast trip out and back.

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