Overnight with Ship Wrecks - Hogsty Reef

We got held up for weather at Great Inagua last week.  Ryan has been lobbying for a visit Hogsty Reef which is a volcanic atol in the middle of the Mayaguana Passage.  Basically an extinct volcano in the middle of the six thousand foot ocean.

NW Cay - Hogsty Reef

We waited two extra days and had a 36 hour window where the seas would be calm enough to anchor in the middle of the reef.  The goal was to dive some of the 6,000 foot walls on the edge of the reef.

We left Great Inagua at first light for the 36 nautical mile trip to the reef.  We got there just after 10 am.  There was a 3 foot swell inside the reef which made anchoring and launching the tender from the flybridge a near disaster.  We got suited up and were in the water by 11 am.  We immediately checked out the coral heads near Top Shelf that was anchored

Exploring the Sand Cayy

in 15 ft of water.  Nothing special there, so we headed for the walls.

There was over 120 foot visibility at the wall and the view was breathtaking.  Ryan tells me that usually a wall's drop off will start at 100 feet.  Hogsty's wall started at 45 feet.  I was thrilled to be able to dive down and look over the edge.  I couldn't help thinking of Crawford Notch in New Hampshire.  This was a lot like that wall, just when you jumped off of the side, you were suspended.  Very very cool.

Top Shelf With Wreck in Background

Ryan dove to 100 feet and started making Grouper calls.  This is a noise you make with your throat that sound like a grouper fish.  Immediately he had Wahoo, Jacks, Grouper and Reef Sharks all visiting.  He took pictures as he made a slow ascent to the surface.

After our diving and just before sunset Ryan and I made a trip to the small island called Northwest Cay.  The island is all sand, about an acre in size, with a concrete unlit marker.  There were hundreds of dead birds, so we figured this was another bird

WWII Liberty Ship - Aground July 1963

Liberty Ship Before Grounding

rookery for some sort of ocean going tern.

The sun was setting as we returned the tender to Top Shelf amidst the wreckage of two major ships and dozens of other hulls washed up on the surrounding reef.  I couldn't help thinking how many sailors lost their lives on this reef, and who was responsible for the navigational error.

Sunrise over NW Cay

We went to bed early because the 3 foot swells made it too difficult to read or do anything else.  We left the next morning at first light with a beautiful sunrise over Northwest Cay as we left Hogsty Reef on our way to Abraham's Bay at Mayaguana.