Hey Everyone,

I've had a cancellation on a June 21 - 27 Dive trip to the Grave Yard of the Atlantic this coming summer.     If you're interested in joining the trip please contact me ASAP at matthahn@charter.net     Here are the details:


Background:/P>

Right on our front door step, just miles off the East Coast, WW II raged while the general public wondered why the eastern sky was light with fire and the beaches covered with oil.     Shortly after Pearl Harbor, the German Navy launched the largest naval assault ever against our merchant marine shipping.  The  Operation " was called Paukenschlag", or Operation Drumbeat, a continous stream of u-boat attacks (like the beat of a drum) against any and all merchant vessels.   It was an attempt to shut down the supply route to our Allies in Europe.  Without the public knowledge, it almost succeeded!     Merchant Marines had the highest casualty rate of any service in WWII with an average of 1 in 26 killed in action!    We now have the opportunity to dive many of the ships Sunk by the attack and even a few of the Attack U-Boats./P>

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Some wrecks we've dove in the past and that we'll probably try to dive again are:/P>

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Aerolus – A Cable Layer that was sunk as an artificial reef in 1988.  Hurricane Fran tore her into pieces in 1996.  Considered by some to be a “Dark Wreck”.  Easy to get lost on, but, very nice wild life and Sand Tiger opportunities!/P>

USS Schurz: The USS Schurz is a 295 foot long World War I cruiser that is in 110 feet of water with the highest part, the boilers, rising to about 100 feet. About 28 miles south of the Beaufort Inlet, it usually takes about an hour and thirty minutes to reach this dive site after leaving the inlet. It is sometimes called the "World War I wreck". The wreck is spread out on the sandy bottom. If you look under the deck plates, you can still see rifle ammunition in clips of five. There is a deck gun lying in the sand. Some of the sighting mechanisms have already been recovered./P>

U-352 - A German U boat with a terrible reputation for a bad aim. On numerous patrols it peppered merchant ships with Torpedoes but never managed to hit a thing! In June of 1942, it shot (and missed) the wrong ship... it happened to be the Coast Guard Cutter Icarus. After 5 depth chargers viola!!! All us Great American Divers now have a wreck to dive! /P>

Atlas - Now this is a cool wreck! It was a gasoline transport sunk by the U-552 in April of 1942. Its a pile of wreckage and is frequented by HUGE Sand Tiger Sharks... They're harmless as Nurse Sharks (well almost) but they sure look like they got a business end to them! They like cloaking themselves in schools of silver sides and will swim within feet of you just minding their own business. /P>

CaribSea - Hmmm the last time I saw a Lionfish was in the Indo-Pacific region (Australia)... Then I saw 20 of 'em on this wreck... From what I understand a couple of aquarium owners released a female and a male and they some how found themselves alone.... and well now we have lots of Lionfish! A couple of them were as big as basketballs! /P>

Here's a web site with a lot of info about all the wreck possibilities! http://www.nc-wreckdiving.com/shipwrecks.html/P>

Probably the coolest thing going is the Sand Tiger sharks, shark tooth hunting,  and of course the history of all these wrecks./P>

North Carolina has over 500 ship wrecks (That’s why it’s called the Graveyard of the Atlantic) within 30 miles of Morehead City so we will probably NOT do any wreck more than once unless the group wants too!BRBackground:
 /P>

The trip will be June 20 - June 28st.  Dive days will be June 22, 23, 24, 25, 26 and 27th.   We'll head out early on the night of the June 20th arrive the next afternoon in Morehead City and dive on Mon-Sat.  /P>

Cost, $660 for the 6 days of diving, plus tanks/gas fills.   Hotel is approximately $50 per person per night for hotel.   I've got a block of rooms reserved for us at a cost of $89/night plus tax (each room sleeps 2).    They also have a "bunk room" that sleeps 6 at $149/night plus tax, but, we'll need 6 people willing to "shack" up with each other.   So, estimate the cost at around $1010 plus cost of gas/transportation to get there.

Schedule:

Schedule: June 21 - 28
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Depart St.Louis Area:              June 20 8:00 PM
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Arrive Morehead City:     June 21 3:00 PM
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Days 1 - 6 Diving            June 22,23,24,25,26,27th 7:00 AM – 3:00 PM
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Depart Morehead City:    June 27 4:00 PM
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Arrive St. Louis Area:             June 28 10:00 AM


Thanks,

Matthew Hahn