What started out to be just a "night dive" on the World's largest artificial reef, the USS Oriskany, blossomed into the most magical and spiritual dive of my life. I had assembled a group of divers, who were part of an original dive team devoted to having a good time under the water when their off time would permit.

One member of the dive team, however, was missing. His name was Ray Jones and he had succumbed to a heart attack last year. We had vowed to make a memorial dive in his honor every year to mark the anniversary of his death. Ray's widow had donated one of his dive computers, an Edge Orca to be left on the site as a living memorial in his name. Each of us wrote Ray a small note on the face of the computer, and then placed a fresh battery in the housing.

A year had past, the sea was calm, the moon was full, the site had been chosen, the time was right! At 6pm we met at my boat, the "Y KNOT?", a 29' Catamaran with twin Yamaha 200's and loaded the gear.

We decided to make our first dive on the submerged Chevron oil rig 2.2 miles from the Oriskany. This would allow the Moon a chance to gain some altitude and provide a little more ambient light for the dive.

After our first dive, we arrived at 9:30 pm directly over the sub-surface buoy attached to the yardarm of the Oriskany 70 feet below. My brother jumped into the ink black water with mask, fins, and snorkel and secured our line to the buoy at 25 fsw.

We hit the water and made our descent through the darkness to the smokestack at 80 fsw. After forming a circle and all of us holding the computer directly over the dark abyss, we released it at the same time. It skipped off the sides of the smokestack and gathered speed and dust particles to its final resting place, deep within the bowels of the ship. We held the circle in prayer for a moment, and then dispersed to all points of the compass, each of us to reflect on the experience in our own way.

The wreck was alive with the fish and crustaceans not normally seen during daylight hours. The visibility was a good 80' and the ambient light provided by the full Moon overhead was sufficient enough to dive without a light! Baitfish and small squid swam nervously through the clear dark water with no current to alter their course. Small crabs scurried about in their search for food, you could almost hear them saying "hey!, hey!, hey!" as they jockeyed for position.

When our lights were on, the backlit surface of the wreck seemed alive with color. Soft corals and algae have already taken hold and continue to grow after only four months. A Peppermint Shrimp was surprised by one of our group, who quickly took his picture, no doubt blinding the little guy temporarily.

After forty minutes of exploring every nook and cranny, it was time to make our way back to the sub-surface buoy line. Making our stop at 25' we hovered, lights out, absorbing our surroundings and reflecting on the dive. It was truly a magical experience, one that will live on in each of us for the rest of our lives.

I have dove this magnificent wreck many times, but it was a totally different dive at night. One that everyone should experience at some point in his or her life.

Safe diving,
Capt. Dave Mucci

Comments:

	Posted by WillyVolk, Oct-11-2006 @ 05:19 AM CDT For a former military diver, Mucci certainly managed to write a moving trip report. Nicely done.
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