Saturday morning greeted us with calm weather and flat seas, so Independence II chartered by The SCUBA Connection headed out to the Maurice Tracy. Everyone was excited to get in the water for one reason or another either to try out some new gear, test out old gear after a long winter, spearfish, lobster, explore and even to finish rebreather training.  For me, this was my first ocean dive of the year - and first time taking the camera in the ocean.

During my descent to the wreck, I could feel water leaking into my left (dry) glove.  I was too excited to abort but I knew my hand would get cold quickly.  Luckily, the glove had slipped off the ring and I was able to reposition it once I reached the wreck and continue with my dive.  We were tied into one of the large boilers. I spent time near the boilers positioning the strobes and adjusting the camera settings. Once satisfied, I headed out to do some exploring. Since another dive team was kind enough to run a wreck line, I followed it looking for some subjects. Plus it saved me from having to run my own line.  Convenient for me since I left my wreck reel on the boat :(

The other dive team turned out to be Jim and Yuri with a pole spear looking for some fish or lobsters. Sean was also in the vicinity looking for some dinner and found a large sea bass hiding under one of the plates. After borrowing Yuri's pole spear, there was a lot of commotion coming from the two divers in the vicinity of the plates.  Turns out, the spear pulled off the pole and was stuck in some poor fish!  The spear was recovered while Jim and I were laughing at the scene.

I lasted about 45 minutes on the bottom before I couldn't take the cold on my hand. During the course of my dive, I took lots of pictures, but wasn't happy with the results.  I have picked a couple to share but need to keep practicing. Each dive is a learning experience for me and this one was no different.  Stay tuned for more!