Varanger 6/27/09

The day couldn't be more perfect aboard the Atlantus and diving one of the best wrecks in NJ, the Varanger. It was a beautiful morning as Bill and I, Brian Roemer, Brian and Andrew Larsen headed out to the Varanger. During my first dive I jumped in without my camera because I just wanted to check out the wreck and try to have a calm and safe dive. As soon as I hit the water I debated whether I should go back and get my camera, the visibility was so spectacular that I don't know if I have ever since vis like this in NJ (at least 100'). The water was such a deep blue that it was like you were in some other place. The wreck quickly came into view and also the thermocline that was at about 130' and boy did it feel cold on the bottom, it was 47 degrees! This wreck is so massive. I have dove it a lot over the years but, I was never in this portion before and I still am not sure where on the wreck we were. The upper decking was as a depth of about 112' and the sand was 149'. This portion of the wreck was large and open so you could go inside of it with ease. There was also a large debris field that was littered with ling cod. If I had my camera I would have taken a picture of the ling stacked up along the sandy bottom perfectly laid out as if each fish had its own assigned spot. There was also quite a few abandoned lobster traps with lobster and fish in them waiting for us to free them. There was no current and the vis on the bottom was easily 40'-50' and it was light. I spent 25 minutes on the bottom and it was way too quick. The hang was warm (68 degrees) with no current at all. As I surfaced and got back on the boat, the reggae music was blasting which made the most perfect dive even better (I'm a huge reggae fan). Brian Roemer got some scallops and Brian Larsen speared some fish.

During the surface interval we all relaxed and did some fishing. Since the Atlantus also does fishing charters they had poles for whomever wanted to fish. We caught a few keeper sea bass for dinner.

The second dive, I was definitely taking my camera. Once we got to the bottom the boat had swung around and we ended up doing our entire dive on the upper portion of the wreck and there were lots of artifacts around for the taking. Bill got some brass (I don't even know what it is) and the others speared more fish and got more scallops. I just shot a bunch of photos and then it seemed like only a few minutes and it was already 15 minutes and time to leave. During the hang I took photos of everyone. This dive is so awesome and I wish I could have stayed longer.





















We had a nice leisurely ride back in and topped it off with some nice cold beers and a great dinner at the Back of the Bay Ale House. What a day, it definitely doesn't get better than this!!! All of us on board want to go to the Offshore Paddlewheeler so we scheduled it for July 14th and I can't wait. Call the Atlantus if anyone wants to join us!

Till My Next Adventure!!!!

1st Dive of the Season- Pauline Marie 6/20/09

I arrived at the dock to sunny skies and no wind. I was really excited about finally get out for my first dive of the year. This dive was planned by Geoff Grahamn as part of our Advanced Nitrox and Decompression Techniques class and I did not know what wreck we were planning to dive. This was also my first time diving on the Atlantus out of Atlantic City Gardiners Basin. Once the boat was loaded and we headed out to flat calm seas, we decided to go to the Atlantic City Artificial Reef and dive the Pauline Marie.

Also along on the dive was Bill (my dive buddy), Jeff Heim, Kathy Ondrasik and her daughter from Dudas Diving completing some of their course objectives; Henry and Dave from East Coast Diving whom were in our class and also John? (the rebreather guy).

The Pauline Marie sits upright in about 80' of water. Since it is an artificial reef wreck it is fully intact. For the first dive we were to practice removing our swing bottles, securing them and then reattaching them to ourselves. We then were free to have fun and just dive. As I splashed I felt a sense of calm and relief as I always do (I am one of those whom would rather be in the water than on the boat), the surface visibility was great and the water felt warm. The visibility on the bottom was about 25' and bright and the bottom water temp was about 55 degrees. I completed my objectives with ease although I am not good at working clips with dive mits. Then I proceed to swim around the wheelhouse and then penetrated into the lower wheelhouse. Since the visibility was good I spent time looking around inside the wreck for some good areas to photograph on my next dive. There were some large tau tag and lots of small sea bass. There were some large mussels but not many, the wreck is covered with lots of baby mussels. After about 27 minutes on the bottom I headed up and was happy that my first dive of the year went really smooth and I felt great.

Once on the surface, I accidentally dropped my goody bag while clipping it to the line on the boat. So if anyone finds a yellow bag with "Dixon" on it along with a light and wreck reel, please contact me. Geoff told me that I looked really good in the water and that added to my confidence of the dive. Then the rain rolled in and did it pour but, you are wet when you dive so it didn't bother me and the seas remained calm.

On my second dive I took my camera along with my two new strobes from SeaLife. To make a long story short, my old SeaLife 960 strobes would never fire underwater, only on the surface. I sent them back and they sent me two brand new Digital Pro Flashes, kudos to SeaLife. On this dive, we lost the brightness and it was dark on the bottom due to the rain on the surface. There was also a little surge on the bottom this time which made it harder to stay still and shoot photos. These strobes are amazing, you can shoot pictures constantly with no waiting for the strobes to recharge. They are however, really bright and even on their lowest setting I was getting photos that were over exposed. I should have thought to turn one of the strobes off but now I know for the next time. I spent only about 20 minutes on the bottom for this dive because I got cold. I shot a few pictures during my hang and was soon back on the boat.


Me on my hang


The Atlantus is an old boat but it has a large cabin which was great to have especially with the rain. The ladder was easy to climb and the mate, Shane was very competent at helping everyone up the ladder and to get their fins off and tanks secure. The Captain of the boat, Brian Larsen was really friendly and made everyone feel at home on the boat. I would recommend diving this boat to other divers and they definitely go that extra mile to make divers comfortable.

Back at the dock we offloaded and headed to the "Back of the Bay Ale House" for a few cold beers. I was glad that I had such a good time diving and can't wait till next week. We are going to the Varanger!


Cold Water Hard Coral


Sea Anenomes




Dave, Henry & John



Oh- yeah... I know the date on my photos is wrong, I forgot to program the date in my camera before hitting the water.