Normally I don’t go so long without getting my gills wet, but being landlocked this fall season has been both a blessing and a curse. On the upside, since my last dive in late July, I arrowed my first Whitetail Deer, I surfed some really good hurricane swell, and I represented the IN-SEA Brand at both the Surf Expo and the DEMA Show. Unfortunately, I also developed Central Serous Retinopathy in my left eye, battled and lost an ownership dispute concerning the web address and had all of my camera equipment stolen from my house.
What better way to remember why I got into this business than a dive at an old favorite spot in my own backyard! In Wrightsville Beach we have more shipwrecks offshore than we can count, hence the moniker Graveyard of the Atlantic. Some were sunk intentionally as artificial reef, others didn’t demise so peacefully- victims of storms or the Nazi Artificial Reef Program. They are covered in fish, but in NC you have to go deep and brave rough seas and crappy visibility more often than not. But that’s what Team IN-SEA is born and bred on!
Last Sunday we left at dawn and were back at noon with our limit of Gag Grouper, courtesy of a bloodthirsty Greg Finch. Rounding out the group were Alex Llinas, Joe Sheridan and Chris Brooks. Hunting these fish requires laying on the bottom around 80′, grunting and swishing up sand, then protecting your prize from holing in the wreck or getting nabbed by a shark. Sounds fun right?!? Come join us sometime…
-Ryan McInnis
Thanks to Sporasub for the new neoprene keeping me warm, Smith Optics for protecting my moneymakers, Diver’s D\Lyte for the liquid fortification, REEF Photo for the magic machine and Howler Bros for being awesome!
