Cornelius Hargraves 8-7-21

 

    My last dive was 8-10-19, just about 2 years ago to the day.  I do not think I have ever been out of the water for so long.  I really missed diving and my dive friends a lot through this pandemic and it feels great to be back!!  

    Today we were bound for  the Vizcaya but, upon arrival, two boats were on it and were fishing.  We therefore, opted for the Cornelius Hargraves which is adjacent to the Vizcaya.  The Cornelius Hargrave was a  four mast schooner that was built in 1889.  It met its demise on October 30, 1890 when she collided with the steamer, Vizcaya.  I last dove this wreck on July 3, 2015 and wrote a blog post about it if you want to go back and read it.  

    The Independence II tied into the windless at about 79' and more or less had only one direction to head.  The wreckage is low lying but, was loaded with sea bass.  The bottom was moving everywhere, so full of marine life.  The visibility was about 30' and the bottom temp was  54 degrees..  I spent a little while getting re-accustomed to my dive gear and then started taking photos.  I was taken by how vibrantly blue some of the sea bass were.  

I spy an eye!

I see a lobster hiding..

My dive was relaxing and uneventful which is exactly what I wanted after being out of the water so long.  I can't wait to head out again!  Looking forward to many fall dives!

    

  

Gulftrade Stern 8-10-19

Today was an early departure, we were off to the Gulftrade Stern aboard the Independence II.  The conditions on the surface were calm and I did notice that the sunrise is getting later.. We had a nice  ride out to the wreck filled with chatter about salty wisdom, and were lucky to beat the fishing boats to the wreck and tied in before 8 am.  

There were a lot of divers that were planning to spear fish today and as a result, I waited for all of the spearfish divers to be towards the end of their dive before I splashed.  I did not want to be in the path of divers learning how to spear!!

 

The Gulftrade stern was a tanker heading for New York with a cargo of fuel oil when it was torpedoed by the U-588 on March 10, 1942 in the mid-ship breaking the tanker in two.  The stern section sits in 90 feet of water about 8 miles from Barnegat Inlet.

I have always enjoyed diving this wreck and today would not be the exception.  It is a good wreck for photography and fish.  Once I splashed just ahead of Arthur Vaccarino whom also did not want to be in the path of the spearfishing divers, the water was very green with some bioluminescent and the occasional jellyfish.  At about 30'-40' I hit the thermocline and went into the very cold water for this time of year.  I had about 46 degrees on the bottom.  Once on the wreck I noticed that there were no divers to be found so I headed off to the pieces of wreckage in the sand and began taking photos.  There was a lot of particulate matter in the water column however, when you are shooting photos you tend to forget this fact at times, and I thought I was getting some great shots of the tons of sea bass on this wreck.  I would find out later that the particulate matter effected a lot of  my photos.  Anyway, I enjoyed photographing the sea bass, ling cod, and a lobster that was tucked away in a pipe.  

I stayed on the bottom as long as I could before I was so cold it was time to head up to warmer waters.  During my hang I tried to photograph some jellyfish but the water was too green so, they just blended in.  Up on the surface, lots of door mat sized fluke came up along with sea bass and lobsters.  

I had a great day and realized that 1/2 the season is over an I have only been out on 4 dives.  I need to get out here more often because I truly love it!  Hoping to get out next week somewhere and then if I can fill my tanks with Trimix, I hope to get out on the 56 Mile Wreck which is my new favorite wreck since I first dove it last year.  A shout out to the crew of the Indy, thank you for always helping me load and unload my heavy tanks, ti is much appreciated!!  Be Safe!!

 

Stolt 8-4-19

Today we ended up on The Stolt Dagali again, I am not complaining, I enjoy this wreck and had a great day out diving.  We were headed for the Algol but, there was a fishing boat on top of the wreck so we diverted to the Stolt which is a close good option.  This year I have not been out diving much for various reasons but mostly health, so it felt great to get in the water.

The wreck is covered in small mussels which allows for abundant food for lots of fish.  I also noticed that since I was on the wreck a few months ago there are lot of starfish have moved in to feast on the mussels.  I recall a few years ago you could not find any star fish due to the star fish wasting disease.  It is nice to see that they are coming back and thriving! 

The visibility was only about 15' today and it was cold on the bottom, 49 degrees.  I spent my dive as usual, shooting photos and it was not long that my hands were becoming numb.  My dive was very relaxing and peaceful...

Once I surfaced, it was a smorgasberg of fish, we had lots of flatty's, sea bass, lobster, monkfish and the elusive cod.  It had been a long time since I have seen someone spear a cod.

Thanks to the Indy crew for a nice day!  Looking forward to next weekend!

Stolt 6-1-19

Well it has almost been a year since I posted to my blog.  I did not have a lot of time to post last year and hopefully this year I will find more time.  In looking at my blog, I see I didn't even post about my dive to the 56 Mile wreck last year, it was one of the best dives I ever had and hope to get there again  this year.  I had tried to dive that wreck for years and it was worth the wait!

I went out over the weekend with Gotham Divers on the Independence II to dive the Algol.  Upon arriving at the Algol a very large fishing boat was double anchored right on top of the wreck so we moved over to the Stolt Dagali and joined the Gypsy Blood  dive boat whom was already anchored on the wreck.   I had heard about the epic visibility on the wreck last week but, today it was only about 25' which still is not bad. 

The wreck this year is covered with tiny mussels.  I am always amazed how one year the wreck will be carpeted with sea anemones and another year it is covered in mussels.  There were some sea anemones but not as much as in prior years.  I looked all over for nudibranchs but, they were elusive.  I took some photos however, one of my flash diffuser fell off when I splashed so the lighting was not ideal.  The water is deep green and the temp was in the low 50's.  It did't seem too cold but, then again I was warmed up from swimming on the surface from the Independence II to the Gypsy Blood's Carolina line.

Stony Coral

I did see some large Tautog, they were on top of the wreck letting the current run through their gills.  Perhaps the limited open season for these fish has resulted in the population increasing because there was definitely quite a few on the wreck.

There were mussels and winter flounder boated.  Everyone seemed to have a great day of diving and I sure was happy to be back at it!!  Be Safe...

Gulftrade Stern 7-19-18

Today we were destined to the San Diego for the 100 year anniversary of her sinking but, the Navy squashed that plan and we ended up on the Gulftrade Stern.  This was my 2nd dive of the season, my first dive was a few weeks ago on the Granite wreck and it was a great dive, tons of fish.

I was the first diver in after we were tied into the wreck and we were greeted with decent 25' visibility which made for easy navigation.  I immediately noticed that there was not as much fish on this wreck as there had been on the Granite wreck.  In fact there was hardly any fish at all.  The wreck was heavily covered in larger mussels which crowded out the hydroids and sea anemones.  I spent my dive shooting photos and swimming around the edge of the wreck where it meets the sand.

 I spotted an oyster cracker and absolutely tormented him by taking lots of photos.  I just couldn't seem to get the lighting correct, perhaps because the water was cloudy...not sure.  After, blinding the oyster cracker with my flash I thanked him for his patience and moved on.  My dive was good, felt nice to be underwater. 

Bart P. Malone

You never quite know how the loss of a friend will effect you until they are no longer with us.  Bart passed doing what he loved...scuba diving on December 3, 2017.  The out pouring of amazing words of kindness and love from the dive community is a tribute to who Bart was to so many of his dive friends.  He had such an effect on so many people that it is truly admirable.  He had an effect on me and I am grateful that I was able to share life with him on dives and as a friend.

I met Bart through my passion, diving and I don't even remember our first initial meeting but, when he was on the dive boat we all knew it.  Bart was not what you call an neat or organized diver and his gear was always sort of everywhere. It left me often wondering, does he know what he is doing underwater?   I became better friends with him through our mutual connection at the NJ Maritime Museum.  I would volunteer there along with my son, Matt when he was young and he always took the time to share some of his wisdom with Matt.  Matt is an avid surfer and therefore, Bart started calling me Surfer Mom.  It was Bart whom convinced me to set up a rotating display of artifacts and photos at the museum.  He always praised my photography really encouraged me to display my photos of marine life on wrecks.  I was his go to person for marine life identification and he would email me these cryptic photos from all over the place and ask me to identify the species.  This was difficult at times because sometimes he would tell me they were from NJ when in fact they were from the Bering Sea or England.  He would share his presentations with me long before he presented at shows such as BTS and Boston Sea Rovers and ask for critiques.  If you have ever been to one of Bart's presentations you would not realize how much work and effort he really put into them because he always seemed disheveled, just like he did when he went diving.  Truth be told, Bart dove more than anyone I know and dove the Andrea Doria more than most people including just last year at age 70.

The Bart that I really enjoyed was the caring and kind side of him.  He was a gentle soul and would not intentionally hurt anyone.  After my dive accident a few years back, he would call me to check up on me on subsequent dives to see how I was doing and feeling getting back in the water.  He did't have to call me, he did because that is who he was.  IT was of great comfort to me and it helped me to get through a tough year.  He also knew that I have wanted to become a rebreather diver and he was not silent about him not wanting me to pursue it.  As you all know, I did become a certified Meg diver and Bart was not happy with me about that.  He was trying to keep me safe but, I knew that rebreathers are here to stay and they would allow me so much more for deeper dives.

I too know that I left a mark on him and I mean that literally.  Bart invited me to dive on the RV Explorer a few years back and I was very grateful because at the time, I really missed diving wrecks off of Cape May.  At some time during the trip Bart fell and cut his leg and was bleeding everywhere.  He blamed me and said he was looking at my "ass" and that caused him to lose his balance and fall.  He then went into detail of why my "ass" was so perfect.  Most girls would get quite upset hearing such things from a guy but, this is a perfect example of who Bart is, take it or leave it.  Turns out he needed stitches and would complain about his Boo Boo on his leg that was all because of my "ass" for years after.  This was the same trip that I found an ornate artifact and he knew exactly what it was and said he had the 2nd one and would give it to me if I cleaned my artifact up and made it shine.  I was so happy that not only would he give me his artifact to pair with mine but, that he knew what it was, and also gave me a photo of it from a book about the wreck.

In the end, there are so many Bart stories that will live on for a very long time. I miss him already.  He often shared his secret to diving to the old age of 71...hang with younger divers, it will keep you young.  Cheers to you Bart for living such a full life, the dive community lost a great person and I lost a friend I will never forget...

Megalodon Rebreather Certification

 Its has been a long time coming...I finally was able to take a Megalodon Rebreather course with Becky Schott of Liquid Productions Inc. to become certified on the Meg15.  I have been wanting to switch over to a rebreather for a very long time and the main reason it has taken me so long is having two children in college.  The funding just was not there.  As soon as Becky advertised another class that was local (Dutch Springs, PA), and it was also in September (warm water), I knew this was my chance.  I still do not own a rebreather therefore, I decided to take the course to insure that I could pass the course and that I felt comfortable on the rebreather prior to investing so much money in the rebreather itself.  I therefore, rented a Meg15 which is the unit I hoped to purchase over the winter.  I would then dive a couple of weekends in the spring in the quarry so that I would be all set for next dive season in the ocean.

The academics of the course was the 1st two days and while they were long days, it was not too bad.  I must admit I was panicking prior to the class because I was overloaded with work and did not feel I would be able to retain any new information.  A call to Becky calmed me down!!  The next 3 days we were at the Quarry.  On my first day at the quarry it was hotter than hell.  I couldn't wait to get in the water.  However, of course I had to be the 1 student that couldn't get through pre-breathing the unit.  I have a low lung capacity and simply could not make the lungs move enough to direct my breath through the unit.   In came Leon to the rescue, he suggested I pre-breathe while walking around with the rebreather on and this would make my lungs breathe.  Well it worked!  Once I was through that and underwater, I felt much better.  The heat was truly unbearable.  Each dive we had drills to perform in which some were easy and some required more practice.  It was not easy to learn to operate a unit and then on top of that to be able to remember all of the "boom" scenarios and how to solve a problem.  I can see that in time these drills will be 2nd nature but, in the beginning it is just a lot of information with not much time to process it.  I also had trouble at times with buoyancy since I have a Bare neopreme drysuit that is difficult to keep buoyancy in check.  I think my next drysuit will be one that does not have neopreme even if it keeps me warmer.

I was lucky enough to have Wally from Chicago in my class whom was in my opinion, very good in the water which helped the class to run smoothly.  I learned so much from this class and could not be happier and more proud that I did it.  I was definitely out of my "comfort zone" and can see how it will take sometime to get back to deep diving in a rebreather.  I am really looking forward to getting my own unit and diving it next summer!  I also cannot thank Becky enough for her patience with me and for sharing her vast knowledge of the Meg with me!!

Lilian 8-27-17

Today Gotham Divers charted the Independence II for the elusive 56 Mile wreck and for the 5th time, the sea conditions were such that we had to change our destination to the Lilian.  Everytime I am scheduled for the 56 mile wreck we are blown out but, at least today we had a plan B...We still left the marina very early to beat the incoming weather and also to beat the fishing boats to the wreck. It turned out to be a fantastic day and an awesome dive.

The tie in was pretty quick and I was the first to splash when the pool was open.  I wanted to get in quick so that my decompression was calm since the seas were already picking up.  Once I splashed I saw that finally the blue water gulf stream was in and the viz to about 75' down was at least 70'.  I love it when these conditions arrive in NJ!!  On the bottom the viz as about 25' and there was a lot of particulate matter in the water column.  Photos would be difficult today.  I did not recognize where I was on the wreckage but once I was on the surface I found out we were in the bow.  In the past I had always been near the boilers and the large plates of wreckage.  Today it was more broken up and I swam out to the various pieces in the sand.  I noticed that again this wreck was covered in nudibranchs but, they were much larger than anywhere else I have seen in the Northeast.  I did have a hard time shooting photos of them since it was pretty dark on the bottom and there was so much back scatter from the particulate matter. My camera also seemed to be having some focusing issues too.

The nudibranch blends in pretty good on this photo

 After taking a bunch of photos, I swam around to some other areas and all of a sudden I felt like the whole bottom of the ocean was moving.  I was all alone and there were tons of ling cod and flounder swimming everywhere and it felt as if they were swimming towards me.  It was so cool but also a little creepy.

I was on the search for the ocean pouts that I have photographed many times in the past on this wreck but, since I was not on the area of wreckage with the plates they were harder to locate.  I did find a few and they were definitely camera shy.

 I then swam upon a lobster carcass that was all cleaned off and the claws that were yet to be eaten.  The culprit was a lonely crab.  He must of had quite a meal and was guarding the left over claws from other fish and me!

It was pretty cold on the bottom at 46 degrees and after a while my hands were pretty cold so I headed up after about 25 minutes.  The thermocline was around 45' and it was in the upper 70's during the hang.  My hang was nice with little or no current.  However, I did have a minor regulator issue and computer issue when switching gases but, I managed to work through it without panicking..
I did manage to shoot some photos of other divers heading down during my hang..

Damien

Add caption

Scott

Up on the surface there were flounder speared and lots of lobsters and other tasty items from the sea.  It turned out to be such a great day and everyone had fun!!