Cool Jellyfish!
This week started out great with two nice dives on the Moonstone on Monday, and then it went downhill from there. I was blown out of the India Arrow on Wednesday which is a dive I was looking forward to doing all year. With 5'-8' seas it wasn't mean to be. I was really disappointed so, I contemplated diving the S-5 on Friday as a substitute but, for various reasons and my own indecisiveness I did not go. Those that did dive the S-5 said conditions were excellent and they all had a great dive. I was so upset that I gave up a perfectly good opportunity that I contacted Capt. Roger of the Dina Dee and got on their dive today along with South Jersey Dive Club. We were destined for the Magnolia or Chappara but, there were boats already on those wrecks so, we went to the Yellow Flag. I never dove this wreck and it is some sort of schooner that sits in 76' of water.
It has been a long time since I've been on the Dina Dee and it was nice to see Capt. George and First Mate Chris. I ended up meeting a lot of very nice people from South Jersey Dive Club and enjoyed their company.
After Chris tied in the hook, I splashed into horrible murky water that quickly opened up to an easy 30'-40' of vis on the bottom. It was however, cold, 47 degrees on the bottom and 58 degrees on my hang. I managed to stick it out for about 30 minutes before I was cold enough to head back up to the boat. I took a lot of photos since the vis was so good and spent a lot of time chasing the red jellies and taking their pictures. This wreck is pretty scattered and has lots of cross beams for fish and lobster to hide. Chris the mate was spearing fish and at one point he spooked a winter flounder that nearly hit me. Once he settled to the bottom, stunned, I tried to take a picture of it but it got up and took off for the sand. There were 10 divers today and this wreck is not so big so, I swam out to several pieces out in the sand to get away from the "crowd'. There were lots of fish on the out pieces that perhaps were scared off the main wreckage by other divers. I really enjoyed my dive and was glad I came.
Once back on the boat there were several lobsters and a few sea bass speared, including Tricia's barnacled lobster that looked prehistoric. There were some divers in which this was their first ocean dive, it was great to see how much they enjoyed it and they were so enthusiastic, its been a while since I've seen that. It made me feel great to be there and be a part of it.
On my second dive, I swam out to one of the distant pieces of the wreck and took a lot of photos. I took so many photos that my scan disk was full and I couldn't take anymore. I then just spent my time exploring this wreck. Its amazing how you can easily map a wreck in your mind when the vis is so good. I ended up with about 25 minutes for this dive and it was time to head up. At the end of the trip Capt. George was having Tricia and a some others draw out the wreck so that they would remember the layout of it for future dives. Not a bad idea...
Mr. CrabbieWe were back at the dock by noon. Fate brought me to the Yellow Flag and it ended up being an amazing day and I'm glad I decided to go. Thanks to the Dina Dee for a great day of diving!
3 comments:
kim your pictures are great and it was a really fun dive it was my first jersey dive and evrybody was great have a great day freddy
Freddy- I didn't realize it was your first NJ dive, you should have told me and I would have taken your picture so that you would always remember it. I'm glad you liked it and had fun, it was a really nice day and I'm glad I was there to share it with you. Hope to see you out there again someday!
thanks kim
Post a Comment