Kim Dixon's Wreck Diving Blog: Sea Hag on the Dina Dee

After returning from an awesome week of canoeing, camping, and enjoying he abundant wildlife in Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada with the family, I was looking forward to today's dive. Today was a girl's day of diving. My friend Jenn Washco and I planned to go and dive a boat and wreck that we do not dive on a lot. Something new and different. We ended up choosing to go out on the Dina Dee out of Barnegat Light which was an open boat. When we arrived, it was decided that we would be diving the Sea Hag since it was Chis the Mate's favorite wreck. It had been a real long time since I dove the Sea Hag and frankly did not remember the wreck itself other than it was a pretty dive. Chris and Capt. Roger told me it was impossible to get lost on this wreck since it is "basically a circle in the shape of a boat".

The Sea Hag sits in 87' of water and was a wooden sailing ship. It remains mostly intact although it is deeply imbedded into the sand. The bow sits up pretty high with about 15'-20' of relief and is very picturesque. The stern is broken up a bit but has lots of holds for fish and lobster.

Small Winter Flounder

Spikes on the wreck

The ride out was a little bouncy and therefore, once we anchored up Jenn and I were anxious to get in the water. The visibility on the surface was endless and the water column was filled with salps and small jellyfish. At about 60' we passed through a brownish cloud of silt that cleared once you were on the bottom. The vis was about 25' with decent ambient light. The bottom temp was real warm...51 degrees. We were anchored in the extreme stern and decided to follow the edge of the hull as far as we could. I took photos and Jenn proceeded to locate some lobsters but was scared to grab them for fear of being bitten. There was schools of sea bass everywhere, lots of winter flounder and some larger fluke too. I even saw an oyster cracker. My memory served me well this was a pretty wreck and has a little something for everyone. My dive lasted about 30 minutes and it was time to head up. Both Jenn and I had only one set of doubles for the day so we needed to conserve air for our second dive. I wish I could have stayed down longer, it was too nice to leave and head up so soon!

Jenn Hanging!

The Sea Bass were so vibrant in color

Most of the divers came up with fluke or sea bass and there were a few lobsters boated. Since the conditions were good we decided to stay for a second dive instead of relocating. Now let me tell you how classy this boat is... Jenn and I were busy catching up with each other when Capt. Roger walked over with cheesecake for us on fancy plates and silverware. Where else can you go diving and have cheesecake delivered to you?? It turns out that most of the guys on board were members of the Wreck Raiders and they always bring good sweets. It sure was a nice treat!! We also had a whale breach off the side of the boat which makes the day that much more special.

For my second dive, Capt. Roger told me to take a swim and head up to the bow because it would be nice for photos. I took his advise and swam all the way to the bow, I kinda left Jenn in the dust and I knew she wouldn't mind. The bow was perfect for photos however, by the time I got there it was time for me to turn around and head back so I didn't run out of air. So, I only took a few pictures of this area. The swim back was against the current and boy did I huff and puff and wear myself out. I felt like I almost wasn't going to make it back to the anchor but, I did.

Today was the perfect girl's day out diving. It was topped off with a beer at the dock, fresh fileted fish and Capt. George gave Jenn a lobster to take home. We decided that us girls will have to do this again sometime this summer. Thanks to the Dina Dee for a beautiful day!!!