Maurice Tracey 6-12-11

Today I went out on the Independence II with Helen Bilinski and the Diversion Group (10 divers) to dive the wreck called the Maurice Tracey.  The Maurice Tracey was a steam powered collier.  She sank on June 17, 1944 almost 67 years ago to the day when she was rammed by the liberty ship, Jesse Billingsley.  Today the wreck sits in 70' of water.

Superstructure of the wreck

We were all hoping for good conditions today since the crew of the Indy indicated that the seas were snotty the day before and it appeared that the winds had calmed.  It did calm a bit but, there were still some large swells that made the boat rock n roll.  Once we anchored over the Maurice Tracey it wasn't bad at all but, a few of the divers opted not to dive due to the sea conditions.  Like I have said before, this boat has a set up that makes it easier to dive in rougher conditions because once you do a giant stride off the back you are at the carolina rig leading right down to about 25'. Even today, with a pretty good current and large swells, it isn't difficult to get under and out of the angry sea on the surface.  Once I was under it was apparent that the great visibility that has been prevalent this summer is still here.  It was a quick descent to the bottom and Dan Martinez had tied us into a high piece of superstructure.  The vis was about 20' or more, a little cloudy, a small surge, and the most apparent thing was that the water was much warmer, I had 53 degrees on the bottom and 58 degrees on the surface.  It is amazing how an increase in a few degrees makes a world of difference.

This wreck has two large boilers with lots of low lying wreckage around them.  I was taking photos again but notices that this wreck was kind of mute when it comes to color.  There is a type of hydroid that has blanketed this wreck completely and gives it that grayish color.  I believe the vegetation is known as garland hydroid, but I am not positive, in any event it is not the best for photos.

Garland Hydroids (Sertularia) blanketing this wreck

I swam out past the boilers and went out in the sand looking for smaller pieces of the wreckage.  I thoroughly enjoyed my dive especially since I was warm, I poked around, looked at the large sea bass and smaller bergals and also tried to locate some lobster.  I guess toward the end of my dive I was enjoying taking my photos so much that Capt. Dan was poking me in the head with his spear and I didn't even notice.  He couldn't believe that I didn't feel him poking me...I ended up with about 30 minutes on the bottom before I went up.  I only brought 1 set of tanks with me today so I made sure I left enough air for a second dive.  I used about 1000 psi during my 30 minute dive and hang...not bad.  Once I was up on the surface, the lobsters and speared sea bass started coming on board.  The lobsters were all a decent size and it was nice to see quite a few caught.  Everyone enjoyed their dive.  Today there was a barbeque of hot dogs and Helen's famous peorgies.  One of the reasons I enjoy diving with this group is the food, there is always lots of food.

Northern Stoney Coral

There was a smaller crowd that did a second dive, I think there was only 4 of us that went in.  I tried to convince those that sat out on dive #1 that it is worth going in but I didn't get any takers.  My second dive I headed further out into the sand and ended up out in the extreme stern of the wreck.  I tried to take some photos of the large sea bass but since everyone was spearing fish they were real skidish and made it almost impossible to get close enough for a good photo.  Their coloration is really rich in blues this year and would make for a cool picture.  Maybe next time.  I ended up with a little shorter dive, 25 minutes because I was cold but it was great.  More lobsters and fish were boated and everyone had something for dinner.

Pink Hearted Hydroid

As Helen said, I was the female representative today, since I was the only female that made it into the water.  I was happy to take on that role!!!.  While out diving today, I was missing my daughter's horse jumping competition and I wanted very much to be there with her. She placed first in one event and second in the other two.  I am so proud of her.  Sometimes I feel guilty being out diving while missing important events with the kids but, I think it teaches them to be independent and that life goes on without mom around.  I know they admire my diving and they know how happy it makes me so, they too see and learn from my example.  In the end its a win-win for all.

Me coming up from another awesome dive!!

Always Smiling!!

 Well, not sure when my next dive is as of yet, I'm taking off for a week of wilderness canoeing in Ontario, Canada.  Til my next wreck diving adventure...Be Safe!

San Jose on the Atlantus 6-6-11

Captain Brian Larsen of the Atlantus Charters called me just a few days ago and asked if I wanted to join him to check out some numbers and go diving for fun.  I told him I was diving on Sunday, June 5th and didn't think I would be able to get air to be able to dive with him.  We actually have 8 sets of doubles but most of them were empty....  Well, the nice guy that Capt. Brian is, he said he'd hook me up with some tanks.  So I decided what the heck, I'll leave my responsibilities of the real world behind and go diving for a second day in a row. It turned out that since the dive on the Pinta yesterday was so shallow, I was able to do two dives on one set of doubles so, I had another set to bring with me today. We headed out later than usual so we could all sleep in a little, and when we broke the inlet there was hardly a ripple in the ocean.  It was an eerie flat calm.  We went to check out numbers for two wrecks and found something small but, in the end decided to head over to the San Jose since it was the closest wreck to where we were.

The San Jose was a passenger freighter that no sits in 110' of water.  It sunk in January 1942 when it collided with the Santa Elisa. It is a great dive for artifacts, lobster and fish.

When we arrived at the wreck the Miss AC was on it with a fishing charter but, they were on the extreme southern end of the wreck so there was plenty of room for us to anchor up and Capt. Collette had no problem sharing the wreck.  Since there was only a few of us today, Tim, Henry, Mike, Capt. Brian and I, I was in the second team to dive.  The reports from the first group in were of awesome vis and what a great dive.  Capt. Brian and I splashed together and I was taking my camera and he was going to spear fish.  The vis on the bottom was again about 30',  seems to be the norm everywhere this week.  It was cold though, another day of 43 degrees.  Yesterday I lost one of my flash diffusers so as I settled in take some pictures of this wreck, I was getting bright spots in the photos, that coupled with the fact that this wreck is a little deeper than yesterday's dive and thus a little less natural light, I was finding it hard to get a decent photo.  I didn't spend too much time fussing with the camera, I just took off looking for artifacts.  I have been on this wreck so many times and I never seem to orient myself but today with this vis, I was able to cover some ground and get a feel for the layout.  I call it a messy wreck because there is just pipes and things everywhere.  When I surfaced it was so hard to believe that the day before, I was in such a 4'-6' sloppy sea and today, it was so calm, no current, and the diving was almost effortless.  In fact, during the surface interval they were all fishing and it felt like you were not even on a boat.

Hmmm...some diver must of taken a valve from here on a past dive...

Henry came up from his second dive telling us that he found some brass which we quickly named "Irish Gold". He left it at the anchor and asked Capt. Brian to send it up and they could share the artifact, 1/2 the year at one house and 1/2 at the other, they even negotiated weekends and holidays.  So, as Capt. Brian and I splashed for our second dive, I left my camera on board, I was going to check out the wreck some more and then, we were sending the artifact up the anchor line before we went up.  Henry found a large pipe valve that said "Luxenheim" on it.  It was a nice find!  I of course found nothing :(

I wish I was able to take better pictures of this wreck but, I inherently have bad luck with photos on this wreck.  It is a silty wreck and even with good vis, the silt always compromises the photos. Maybe someday it'll work out and I'll get some decent photos of it.

Both dives today were so relaxing and carefree, but that wasn't only from the great conditions in the ocean it is the auroa of the Atlantus Dive Boat.  It is always a laid back good time on that boat.  I was just one of those perfect days to play hookey from all your responsibilities.

Mike

Tim

Capt. Brian Larsen, Henry & Mike with the "Irish Gold"

 I am supposed to head out again this week to the Maurice Tracey and I hope the conditions prevail.  This is going to be one outstanding dive season if these conditions hold up.  Once I got home, I got another invite to play hookey next week..hmmm do I do it again???

Flat Calm!!

Pinta 6-5-11 on The Independence II

Photo of me on the Pinta taken by Alek Peterson

So many baby mussels!

                                     Today the forecast was for 2'-3' seas and I was scheduled to go on the Independence II to the wreck of the Tolten.  I have fond memories of past dives to this wreck and was really excited to go back to it especially with my newer camera.  When we headed out of the inlet we were not greeted by 2'-3' seas but rather 4' seas with close periods and as we headed towards the Tolten the seas grew larger.  After a lengthy discussion and vote by those who were warranted as having voting rights, we changed the destination first to the Gulftrade Stern then, we completely switched directions and went to the Pinta.  I tried to dive this wreck at the end of last year and ended up going for a boat ride to the wreck because when I jumped in my regulator would not stop free flowing therefore, I never made it to the bottom.  I have heard from a lot of people that this is a great wreck to dive.

The Pinta was a Dutch freighter carrying teak lumber on May 8, 1963 when it was struck broadside by a British freighter, SS City of Perth.  Today the Pinta remains partially intact and it is very easy to navigate.  Once we arrived at the Pinta I lagged behind the other divers so I that I could get a visibility report and it was reported that there was great vis.  I was planning on only doing one longer dive since it was pretty rough and I felt pretty beat up from the ride out there.  This wreck is in about 80 feet of water so I figured I could stay until I got cold.  As soon as I splashed I could see that the vis was just incredible.  I cruised around the wreck for a few minutes to orient myself and then settled in to take some photos.  This wreck is so full of marine life and it is just beautiful to look at.  Alek Petersen and I were both taking photos so I took a few of him and he took a few of me and then we parted to focus on shooting the wreck.  Since the vis was about 25'-30' my pictures appeared to be coming out well.  The bottom temp was 43 degrees so my plan of doing a longer dive was not going to work out because after 20 minutes I could no longer feel my fingers.  I do wish the North Atlantic would warm up just a few degrees.  Once I was back on the boat most of us came back with issues of frozen fingers. As you can see by my photos, this is a pretty wreck!

 

Since the conditions on the bottom were so awesome and the surface conditions were awful, I decided to go ahead and do a second dive.  The vis improved even more...I was at a depth of 46' and I could see Alek on the wreck.  I spent the second dive taking more photos and exploring this interesting wreck.  This is definitely a wreck that I'd like to visit again..There are both low lying areas and areas of high relief.  It is just a neat wreck and I like it a lot.  The ride home was smoother sailing and I am now pumped for my dive out of Atlantic City tomorrow!!!!  There will also be a lot more photos posted on my facebook..

Alek Petersenhh

Alek & Igor