We took advantage of the great weather and went out on our own boat to dive the Gloria Wreck. I have a lot of new gear that I wanted to insure was working properly (two new regulators, new dive underwear, new tanks and a new computer) and I am also having a lot of anxiety about diving at all this year. So, I decided I'd pack everything and go along for the ride and see what happens. As we broke through Little Egg Inlet we were greeted with Lake Atlantic seas and the water was the prettiest aquamarine color with awesome surface vis. We passed two majestic sailboats on their way north, and they looked so tranquil. I grew up in a family whom sailed and I personally never took a liking to it but, this morning it looked so peaceful and relaxing. These were all signs that it was going to be a good day.
It is a quick 30 minute ride from our dock to the wreck and there were literally no boats out there other than the two sailboats we passed. We had wind against the tide so it took a few tries to hook the wreck. I was not ready to dive so Bill spalshed first while I stayed on the boat to contemplate whether or not I was capable of diving. Bill came up with two nice lobsters and he raved about the great visibility and told me it will be worth my while to go in and dive.
I then decided to go for it and I suited up...I don't know what came over me but I started to panic and felt like I couldn't breathe...I slowed myself and started to doubt that I should get in the water. Bill talked me through it and I don't know how he did it but, he got me to splash. The cold water and the great vis snapped the anxiety right out of me and down the anchor line I went. The Gloria is in 70' of water so in no time I could see the propeller rising high off of the bottom, we were anchored in the stern for sure. Once on the bottom I sat there going over all of my equipment and noticed right away that my older TUSA computer was not working. It was scrolling through Dive, Dive Log, Dive Plan, Time all by itself and was not registering that I was in the water diving. I played with it and could not get it to stop. This is why you always need a back-up and thankfully my new NiTek back-up computer was working fine. My new Aqualung Legend regulator breathed effortlessly and it has a cold water mouth piece that covers your lips, I did not like this option on the surface but boy what a difference it made in the 48 degree water on the bottom. My lips were actually warm! As I sat on the bottom going over all all my gear I said a prayer to keep me safe during this dive and the 2010 season.
I was ready to now go about my dive, I followed the propeller shaft to the larger debris field and took advantage of the 35-40' vis to get my bearings and memorize parts of the wreck. I came across a sort of building structure that I never saw before...maybe the wheelhouse?? It was taller than me, had pillars and a roof. Well, it had the largest sea bass and black fish swimming inside of it. The wreck was also covered with the smallest lobsters I've ever seen, there claws were not even as long as my thumb and they appeared to have no fear since they were walking around out of their holes. Once I got to the main wreckage area I noticed that there were no mussels at all on the wreck when normally they are there. I wonder why that is? This wreck has some serious digging potential and we will be back a lot this year to uncover some areas. The winter storms did uncover some areas that I don't recall being there last year. I know there are artifacts to be found here.
I ended up with about 22 minutes on the bottom before I was getting cold and decided I should go up. I did a nice longer hang and the water temp at 15' was 49 degrees, not really any different from the bottom but the vis was better, had to be at least 50'. My new fourth element underwear did keep me as warm as can be especially since my neck seal leaked and I was drenched. Once on the surface I played around with the weights to make sure I was closer to neutral buoyancy, I used only 800 lbs of air on my dive so my tanks were still really full therefore, I know I'll have to make more adjustments on another day. I opted out of the second dive but Bill dove and got a another lobster. We were back at our dock by 1pm with lobsters for dinner!
As the 2010 dive season begins, I am reminded that life is unpredictable, as I again hear of the loss of another female diver in NJ. This really hit me in the gut and I became very anxious about diving in general and the goals I set for this summer. In my struggle to deal with my emotions involved with diving, I reached out to some fellow divers for some reassurance that I would be safe diving this summer. The kind words from Mark Hennessy and Jeff Heim insured me that I am a good, safe diver and I will be fine. I am glad that they were not shy and spoke up because it was what I needed to hear to give me the push to get in the water. It meant a lot to me, especially because they are long time veteran divers and instructors. My husband of course always supports me but, he has to, he's my husband. It was he however, whom convinced me to get on the boat and get out there today. I owe him so much for doing this and putting up with my anxieties. I can't imagine life without diving. I have met so many wonderful people through my diving and I have had numerous divers reach out to me to say that they love my blog and can feel my passion for diving through it. I am so happy that when I needed some support there were divers there to help me in return. I will persevere!! Safe Diving...
