Diving the Spiegel Grove

by Russ Manhold

Just when you thought it was safe to go in the water……… the ominous early morning thunderstorms were subsiding and heavy rains changed to steady drizzle.

On Saturday morning, July 30th, the normally spectacular sunrise in Key Largo was muted by overcast skies as twenty USAers sloshed their way to Captain Slate's Atlantis Dive Center at mile marker 106.5. It was a bad omen when Captain Slate's staff failed to open the dive shop on time, causing dozens of eager divers to wait outside in the rain.

After the dive shop opened, more bad juju when we learned Nitrox was unavailable because of compressor problems. Not to worry, our always-optimistic group, under the skilled care and guidance of Ronnie Farr, loaded gear and tanks onto the Starfish Enterprise II, one of fourAtlantis Dive Center boats heading out that morning.

With customary dive briefings now completed, our group got underway for a planned 2-tank dive on the legendary Spiegel Grove. Most everyone is familiar with the Spiegel Grove, a 510-foot LSD (Landing Ship Dock), intentionally sunk in 134 feet of water near Dixie Shoals to create an artificial reef. Highest point on the wreck, depending on tide levels, is 55-60 feet.

Since her sinking in 2002, the Spiegel Grove had been lying on her starboard side. Recent wave and surge action from Hurricane Dennis miraculously righted the vessel, something conservationists and engineers failed to accomplish for three years.

 

As we approached the dive site, more bad juju. Our dive boat almost ran over two scuba divers, on the surface and lost. After circling to rescue them, we learned they were swept off the Spiegal Grove by a "ripping current". A few minutes later, we reunited the two frightened divers with their anxious dive group.

Because the Spiegel Grove is so immense, local dive shops have affixed a dozen or so mooring buoys around the wreck's perimeter, allowing many boats to dive the huge wreck simultaneously. More bad juju when our Captain and First Mate failed, repeatedly, to capture a vacant mooring buoy. Finally, tied off by a line from the bow, the buoy completely disappeared underwater at it strained to hold the dive boat steady in the strong current.

    

With some trepidation, we formed buddy groups and jumped into the water, grasping a tag line to prevent being swept away by the strong surface current. More bad juju when some divers found it extremely difficult to pull themselves from stern to bow, against the current, on a line attached to the mooring buoy.

Descending slowly on the mooring line, our group of twenty must have looked like monkeys trying to negotiate a greased flagpole. Upon reaching the wreck, several exhausted USAers elected to terminate the dive, returning as a group to the surface.

The remaining group of divers reached Spiegel Grove's superstructure at about sixty feet. Those with enough confidence to continue the dive grouped at sixty feet to compare notes on remaining air. Then, the heartiest divers released their firm grip on the mooring line, swimming hard against the current toward the deck thirty feet below.

On the deck of Spiegel Grove, we found the current somewhat diminished, most likely diverted by the huge ship's hull, now sitting upright on the sandy bottom. Several divers swam off in different directions, looking for critters or good camera angles.

        

All went well until it came time to ascend. We all knew the ONLY safe way up was via the mooring line. Regrouping at the mooring line, each remaining diver ascended slowly to fifteen feet for a safety stop.

After the group surfaced, it became apparent one diver was missing. For reasons unknown to this day, the Captain elected to remain moored to the buoy for almost 60-minutes before notifying the Coast Guard. At the Captain's request, three experienced USAers suited up, donned a second tank, and entered the water after quickly formulating a search and rescue
plan.

Several minutes later, the threesome returned to Starfish Enterprise II, having seen nothing to indicate our missing diver was below on the wreck. It was now apparent the diver had been swept away by strong currents, probably over an hour earlier.

After what seemed like an eternity, word came that a fishing vessel had sighted a scuba diver on the surface, over a mile away. A few minutes later, we learned the fishermen had rescued that diver. The Coast Guard arranged to meet the fishing vessel and transport the lost diver to shore.

          

Needless to say, our group was elated and relieved upon hearing the report. We could not, however, shake the sick feeling in the pits of our stomachs, knowing how close one person came to being a grim statistic.

Cruising back to Atlantis Dive Center, there wasn't much of the usual post-dive rhetoric. We'll not soon forget our 1-tank dive on the Spiegel Grove that last Saturday in June.

Some say "All is well that ends well." Perhaps this is true. We arrived back at Captain Slate's, followed closely by a Coast Guard vessel with our rescued diver safe on board. A large crowd gathered on the dock, including an ambulance crew and EMT's who promptly checked out, and subsequently released, our weary and fatigued USA diver.

A few minutes later, our group of twenty arrived at The Buzzard's Roost, a charming and quaint Key Largo watering hole. There we surrounded our "lost and found" USAer to learn, firsthand, the chronology of events leading to a near disaster. Long story short, our diver's life was saved by a diver alert marker, aka "safety sausage". Someone aboard the fishing boat spotted the inflated, bright orange surface marker, bobbing up and down, long before sighting the diver floating on the surface.

During the drive back to Broward County, many of us asked ourselves "Would we dive the

Spiegel Grove again?" For the most part, the answer was "Yes, given the right conditions." The Spiegel Grove has been, and will continue to be, one of Florida's premier wreck dives. With or without current, diving a wreck or a reef, it's important to "plan the dive" and "dive the
plan". Neither the Spiegel Grove nor the ripping current was the root cause of that incident.

It is fair to say Nils Jacobsen, Ronnie Farr, Angel Graces, Barbara Sheckler, Linda Ianniello, Bob Weybrecht, Larry Townsend, Kay Chung, Mary LePage, Larry LePage, Jose Miranda, Scott Plunkis, Ken Burgner, Russ Manhold, Julie Manhold, Clare Anthon, Bill Watts and friend, Bob Lucas, and Jill Pando are closer now than ever before. Under Sea Adventurers has always been more than a group of like-minded people who enjoy going down and getting wet together. We care for one another and consider ourselves family.

Thanks to Ronnie Farr for organizing the mini-trip to Key Largo and planning the Spiegel Grove dive. And special thanks to our rescued USAer who hosted a fantastic "Lost at Sea" party August 14th in Tamarac, inviting the other nineteen USAers to come wearing "safety sausages", signal mirrors, and flashing strobe lights. During dinner, the group enjoyed
watching "Jaws" and "Castaway" on DVD, fitting and appropriate considering the occasion.