So this past weekend, I had the opportunity to dive the Oriskany - it was great. In case you are not aware, the Oriskany is a Vietnam era air craft carrier that became an artificial reef some 20 odd miles off the coast of Pensecola. It lies in 215 feet of water with the flight deck at 135 feet and the top of the tower at 70 feet. It is a very popular dive site off the gulf coast.

I went on a charter out of Orange Beach Alabama. The boat takes about 2 hours to get to the site, but the weather was quite nice (not rough at all). When we arrived, we were forced to wait some time. There were already about 8 boats tied into the site and no real room for us. The Oriskany has several underwater buoys that boats can tie to. Most choose to tie to a buoy attached to the tower so that the divers can choose to just go to 70 feet instead of the flight deck (much deeper). This means that all the boats are crowded around the same point.

We are finally in position to get going on the dive. I think I was third in the water, behind two other guys. The visibility was only so-so, about 50-60 feet (which isn’t bad, it’s just that I expected more for the Oriskany). At a suggestion of an experienced person, I proceeded down the side of the wreck below the flight deck. There are some really cool structure-balcony things there (not sure what they are officially called). Also, there is a path in that area that goes all the way through the wreck and through the hanger, but I told my wife I wouldn’t get crazy and get some wicked deco time (maybe the next time). Note: I have been diving for quite some time (since 1992). In the era of 1993-1997 I was extremely active in diving. I completed both technical deep air (diving to 220 feet on air - wouldn’t recommend that) as well as full cave (cave diving is so awesome). The point is, going below the deck was well within my experience and comfort level.

The tower is pretty nice. All the doors have been removed and it is pretty clean on the inside. I have never been on a wreck that is only about 2 years old (underwater). When I got back up to the top of the tower, it was pretty crowded. Apparently, many divers just go down to the top of the tower and don’t go any deeper. They make sure to touch the wreck so that they can later get the “I dove the Oriskany” t-shirt. I guess this is better than them all going to the deck beyond what they are comfortable with. At the top of the tower, you have an important decision to make - which line should you take up? There are like 5 to choose from. Choose poorly and you will end up at the wrong boat and owe someone some beer. I thought I remembered someone saying that our particular boat would put a sign on the correct line. I saw one line with a tag and another line with a rubber chicken. Was the rubber chicken the “sign”? Maybe, maybe not - I could not remember (I was too excited on the way down). Then I saw a black-and-yellow line and remembered ours being that one (I choose correctly). Back on the way up, I did the “safety-line tango” trying to stay at my safety stop for a significant amount of time. I eventually gave up being kicked in the face and just floated off the line (the current wasn’t too bad).

Back on the boat, I could see all the activity on the other boats (because it’s like a parking lot up there). There were many boats with “tech” divers on there. I saw several divers with doubles and deco bottles. There were two with dry suits. I saw one rebreather. The Oriskany is like the Mecca of tech diving in the gulf. An experienced friend said that many of these “tech” divers take all this stuff, but don’t go past the flight deck. I guess that is enough to get the t-shirt though.

The second dive was a lot like the first. I did not go past the flight deck, instead I searched for shovel-nose lobsters (which someone suggested had been down there). I can’t pass up free food. Of course I found none. I was mostly looking on the tower and it is likely picked over quite well.

Overall, a great day of diving. Also, there was a guy who made a video of the dive. He said he would put it on youtube, but I have not found it yet. Funny thing, he did it with his cell phone. He had purchased one of these dry-box enclosures that was clear. He turned on the video camera on his phone then closed the box. It was an interesting experiment, but I am not sure I would try that with a $400 phone (not sure what kind of phone it was). If I find that video, I will post it.

Post Notes (notes for non-divers)
I realized that I used some technical terms in the above narrative. Let me explain a couple of things. (this is a mini diving tutorial)

• Pony bottle: This is a smaller tank that is usually carried on the side of the diver (rather that the back). It often is used to carry a gas different than air - such as oxygen or 80% O2 and 20% N2.
• Decompression and Deco Stops: When a person goes down to a depth, the pressure increases. In order to breath, the gas supplied to the lungs must be delivered at the same pressure as the environment. The result of this is a very high pressure of nitrogen (the primary element in air). This nitrogen is not used by the body in the breathing process, it is normally just exhaled. However, at high pressure, it is absorbed into the tissues (just as it is at normal pressure). This is not a problem. The problem is when the diver moves back a lower pressure and the built up nitrogen comes back out of the tissues. If there is a lot of nitrogen build up and the change in pressure is too fast, it can come out as bubbles. These bubbles can cause all sorts of problems (know as “the bends”). So, in decompression, the diver stops at a particular depth to allow the gas to come out of the tissues at a slower rate before ascending. This is called a deco stop during a decompression dive. Actually all dives are decompression dives. A time is calculated so that the time the diver is at depth absorbing nitrogen is such that the diver could continuously ascend at a constant rate and have the nitrogen safely off gas.
• Decompression Gases (oxygen): If you breath a mixture with less nitrogen (like 80% O2) then the pressure of nitrogen that you are breathing in is much less than that in the tissues. This makes the nitrogen come out of the tissues faster. But...since the pressure is still high, the nitrogen does not bubble. The one problem with oxygen is that it is toxic at high pressures. Basically, you could breath pure O2 to about 20 feet. Deeper than that and you greatly increase your risk of induced convulsions.