San Jose 6-20-10

Sunday, June 20th, we were destined to dive the Southern Lilian on the Atlantus with Geoff Graham's private charter. We had a last minute change in plans and decided to dive the San Jose instead. This ended up being the Atlantus' maiden voyage for the 2010 dive season. As we broke Atlantic City inlet we were greeted with fog and a solid 2-4' swell with the occasional 5' footer thrown in. Since we had a light load, Bill, myself, Kris Centrone (owner of The Dive Shop in Cherry Hill), and Brian Larsen (Captain), we decided to still go for the San Jose since it wasn't too far and the seas were supposed to lay down.

The San Jose is a freighter that sunk on Jan 17, 1942 via collision with the Santa Elisa. It is a large wreck that is broken up with some areas still intact. It is a good wreck for lobstering. It is also a silty wreck since it sits on a muddy bottom.

We arrived at the wreck in no time, the new engines in the Atlantus has the boat running a little faster this year. Brian hooked the wreck with ease and Kris was first to splash followed by myself and Bill. The surface vis was phenominal but as soon as we hit the thermocline around 80' it became darker, colder and the vis went to about 10'-15'. We were hooked in the bow along one of the bulkheads. I swam along a bulkhead and took a few pictures. I forgot my wide angle lens on the boat so, I didn't take too many pictures. I did notice that there were not many fish on this wreck. It was strange, there were areas with hardly any vis and then areas where you could see quite far??? We all agreed that these conditions persisted for all of us. My neck seal was leaking again, so I got wet and cold rather quickly. It was 45 degrees at 103'. I ended up with 25 minutes on the bottom before I headed up for my warmer hang. During my hang I shot some photos of Bill and Kris. Upon surfacing the seas were still a little rough so I was dreading climbing up the ladder. I actually got on the ladder fine but once I got towards the top, I made the mistake of taking my regulator out of my mouth to talk to Brian and BAMM a wave took me off sideways and I was back in the ocean. I was fine and just climbed that ladder again. I decided that climbing the ladder is the worst part of diving. Bill ended up with 1 lobster and Kris speared a real nice fluke.

Kris Centrone

















Bill









The surface interval passed quickly as we chatted about "diving". I was going to leave my camera behind for dive #2 but Bill convinced me to bring it along because he thought the vis would be better. He was right, the vis improved to about 15'-20' and it was brighter now that the sun was higher in the sky. I swam to an area of the wreck that had more relief and shot a few pictures. I only lasted 17 minutes and I was freezing so I went up. This time I tackled the ladder without a gliche. I felt great in the water today, slowly building my confidence... Bill got a piece of porcellin from a bowl or cup and Kris got a lobster.

Based on my recent dives and the reports of other divers, I have concluded that the vis has been better on the shallower wrecks. It seems that if you can stay above the thermocline the vis is good. I hope this rectifies itself before my next dive. The water wasn't as green as it had been and seems to be a little more bluer.

It was nice to meet Kris and to hear that his dive business is thriving. He told me all about the shops recent trips to the Bahamas and Utila. I am sure that we will see Kris again out diving someday. I'll also have to take a drive to Cherry Hill and check out his shop. We made it back to the dock quickly and then we were off to Father's Day dinner. We had Filet Mignon, Lobster and Crabs!

I am off to North Carolina next week and hope to get out diving, we'll see what happens. Then I will be diving the Varanger or N.Pacific on July 11th on Geoff Graham's charter...can't wait.