Oil Wreck (Ayuruoca) 8/21/11

I knew that since this was my 25th year as a diver it would be a special one but, it has been better than my greatest expectations!!!  Today I was going to dive the Somerstad (Virginia) but the weather forecast was not suitable for such a long trip offshore so the destination was changed to the Ayuruoca (Oil Wreck).  If you follow my blog you already know that I have been trying to dive this wreck for a long time and for various reasons, I really thought of this wreck as my personal "Andrea Doria" of dives.  So when I heard the night before that our destination was changed to the Oil Wreck, instead of worrying all night about it, I just resolved to the fact that something will happen and we won't actually get there like so many other attempts over the years.  I was resolved to either being completely blown out or going to some other wreck closer to shore.

Well, I had good luck on my side this time.  As I drove up to Point Pleasant I noticed there was little or no wind..when I got to the dock,  everything was on for the Oil Wreck.  

This wreck is a 468' Brazilian freighter that collided with a Norwegian vessel General SS Fleicher in the fog on June 6, 1945.  The freighter was carrying trucks, jeeps and other wartime vehicles.  This wreck got its name as the "Oil Wreck" because it has always leaked oil and you can see the sheen of oil on the surface.  The wreck sits today at a depth of 160'-170' and is known for dark and poor visibility.  It is also heavily fished so it is covered in monofilament.  It is known as a 2- 3 knife dive.

We were all aware that the weather was supposed to get worse as the day went on so we were all advised by Capt. Dan that we were only staying for one dive and to be ready to roll as soon as we anchored up.   So far, the entire ride out and up until I splashed the sea conditions remained calm but, you could feel the wind picking up.  I typically dive alone but due to my anxiety about this wreck I was diving with my husband Bill today.  Actually, for some reason a calming came over me and I felt like this was just another wreck. I think the comeraderie and antics that were going on between Brandon, Bedford, and Mark helped to lighten the anxiety...they were quite comical to watch.   I was ready to go in before Bill so I splashed and said "see ya on the bottom".  Prior to my splashing Brandon had come up and said that the surface visibility was awful but it cleared up at about 40'.  I was glad he shared this information because when I splashed the visibility was so bad that I practically hit Joe Rogers hanging on the line.  It was very clear that this algae bloom that is in the news was in full force here.  As soon as I hit about 40' the water cleared but it also became darker and darker.  The algae bloom was preventing the sun from penetrating.  Finally at about 133' I could see the strobe and eventually the wreck.  We were anchored into the lifeboat davit on top of the wheelhouse.  I could see about 25' but it was really, really dark and took quite a while for my eyes to adjust.  Once Bill got on the bottom we headed out in a direction away from the other divers.  We swam along the wheel house and Bill pointed out the porthole backing plates that are still in place and eventually we hit the deck behind the wheel house.  Bill found a lobster here and I managed to get tangled in the ever present monofilament.  I tried to swim out of it but that did not work.  Bill saw my predicament and tried to break the line with his hands and pulling at my legs.. he was not gentle, and I felt like he was trying to rip my leg off...I realized I needed a knife but, as I was reaching for mine, Bill took his out and freed me.  This wasted some time and I felt like I just got down there and it was time to go.  We were on the bottom for about 30 minutes.  As I ascended I realized that the dive wasn't all that bad and I had not reason to be so scared of it.  It is not an easy dive at all but, I did it and I did it safely. The long hang was torturous with the lack of visibility, it really through off my bearings but, there was no swell or current which made it far better than it could have been.

Back up on the boat, Sean found the coolest bottle that looks like a wine decanter or cordial bottle.

Sean and his bottle, Photo by Deep Expeditions

We were going to do a second dive on the Cranford but as we motored in, the seas really picked up so we headed for the inlet instead.

Back at the dock we rescheduled the Somerstad (Virginia) so perhaps I will still be able to dive that wreck too.  I want to thank my husband Bill, Capt. Dan, Sean and Sue for supporting me today.  They all knew that I was anxious about this wreck but, they also believed in me and knew I could do it.  I owe them big time for their support!!

I have to also add that I did this dive with two minor complications,  as you know I have had drysuit issues this year, well as I suited up my next seal split again...it felt tight enough so I dove with it.  I actually bought a brand new Bare XCD2 drysuit but have not had a chance to use it in shallow water and didn't fell like I should use it for the first time on this dive.  So, I made it through most of my dive and it wasn't until I was ascending that my seal gave out and I started to flood.  That was issue #1, the other issue was, I was sick, I had been in bed the day before with swollen glands and I felt a  cold was coming on.  As I type this I have gotten worse and have a bad cough and lost my voice.  I was determined to dive the Oil Wreck and I was not going to let a cold  or a leaky drysuit ruin my opportunity.  I guess today I am paying for it but, I am so happy I accomplished my goal yesterday!!!! 

Joe Rogers, ready to tie-in

Brandon, always cutting edge!

Brandon & Joe heading down to ti-in

 I will never forget my dive to the Oil Wreck and who knows maybe I'll dive it again someday:):)

Sea Girt Wreck Night Dive 8/17/11

Tina & I after our 1st dive together in over 20 years!

 Just a day ago, my friend, Tina Held invited me to go out on a night dive with some of her friends.  Therefore,  this was completely a last minute decision for me and it ended up being a great night so I am glad I went along.  This dive is sort of part of a 20 year twist of fate story that I had mentioned in a prior post about artifacts that we all obtained about 20 years ago on the Sea Girt Clammer off of Atlantic City (See the Old Dive Logs post 2/6/11).  All those years ago I met Tina Held, out on a dive boat.  At the time she was still in college and I was a college graduate at my first "real" job.  One particular day we ended up out on Bob Meimbrese's boat together as we dove the Sea Girt Clammer which had recently sunk.  We all came up with artifacts including portholes, brass horns, cage lights, running lights and Tina got the best artifact of all of us...the binacle. At the time, I never told her, but I was so jealous...to this day I have never found an artifact as beautiful as her binacle.  It was a day that neither Tina nor I ever forgot.  She went on with her life as did I.  Many years went by and I always wondered what happened to her because I never saw her out diving.  Well this is where the twist of fate comes in...I was at back to school night last fall for my daughter whom goes to a marine and environmental technical high school when I saw Tina.  We were staring at each other trying to figure out if we knew each other.  Finally, when the crowd cleared I approached her and said you look so familiar, do we know each other.  She said she was thinking the same thing..now mind you its been 20 years since we saw each other and we both look very different.  Finally she asked if I dive and then we figured out that yes we know each other through diving and she immediately brought up that day we dove together on the Sea Girt Clammer.  Talk about a small world.  It turns out that Tina, is a teacher at the school my daughter goes to.  She has continued to dive in NJ all these years but our paths never crossed.  So here we are today, our first time diving together after all these years.  We actually both want to dive the Sea Girt Clammer together again but, thus far, our schedules have not permitted that to take place but it will someday soon, I hope.

Both Tina & I were so excited to finally dive together again, we had been talking about diving together ever since we reconnected.  Our destination tonight was the SS Mohawk since, her friends did a night dive there about a week ago and did well with fish and lobsters.  We were underway by 6pm on a private boat and it was turning out to be a beautiful evening to be out in the ocean.  Once we arrived at the Mohawk, there was another dive boat already anchored on it.  Given the wind direction and the fact that the dive boat was anchored in the center of the wreck prohibiting us from sharing the wreck, we had to move on to Plan B.  Capt. Gerard evaluated our options and we headed over to the Sea Girt Wreck.  Both Tina and I said this is too weird that after all these years we end up diving together on another wreck also called the Sea Girt.  Kind of eerie we thought but, it goes along with our crazy twist of fate so, we'll go along with it.  The Sea Girt Wreck is and unknown schooner barge in about 81' of water and was named due to its location off of the town "Sea Girt".  It has low lying wooden walls that is awesome for lobsters and jona crabs.  There a two small boilers and a large chain pile.

Our first dive took place just as the sun was setting at about 7:45pm.  Tina and I splashed to pea soup visibility that opened up once we were on the bottom to about 15'.  I ran the wreck reel and we swam along one of the wooden walls collecting lobsters and crabs.  There were tons of skates with their big eyes glowing at you plus lots of flounder.  We swam for a long time and finally hit the chain pile and winch.  There were large lobsters under the chain pile and Tina was trying to figure out how to get to them.  I focused on the conger eels that were out of their holes swimming all around.  Their coloring seemed so different at night.  I actually saw a skate try to  attack and eat one conger eel that dared to enter his path.  The conger naturally got away unscathed.  This wreck was teaming with life and made for an exciting dive.  We spent about 30 minutes on the bottom and headed up into the glowing illuminesence.  It was an awesome dive!!!  I actually was planning on doing only one dive but, I loved it so much I decided to do a second dive.  During the surface interval we had the music blasting and just enjoyed being out on this beautiful night. These guys are lots of fun to dive with.  At one point I looked at the horizon and this huge Red moon was rising...it was a spectacular site. 

Our second dive was at 9:45 pm and it was dark.  The visibility wasn't as great as on the first dive but we ran a reel again and still managed to find out way.  There were small lobsters everywhere walking about and for some reason just tons of skates and flounder.  One flounder we came upon at the end of our dive was enormous...we should have actually scooped him into our bug bag but, we let him live.  During this dive there were eel puts out feeding and their heads would poke at the wreck for food and their body and tail would rise up perpendicular to the bottom.  They had a neon blue color to them and it was wild to see. The other divers spoke of the squid stacked along the wreck but, I did not notice any.  There was large sea bass all over, I guess the big guys come out of hiding at night.  Since it was even later at night for this dive it seems that there was even more life on the wreck, it was like every little think was moving.

One thing that both Tina and I have in common is a strong intellect and also incredible passions for diving North Atlantic Wrecks. Tina still dives "old school" and I have modified my diving techniques a little with the times.  In the end..we both have been diving a real long time and it felt great to be out diving together again.  We are planning on diving with some other old friends from the 1990's and are both looking forward to that. I am also still hopeful that we will dive together again on the Sea Girt Clammer out of Atlantic City this season..

A special thanks to Capt. Gerard, Frank, Scott and Al for such and enjoyable night even though I didn't get home till 2am.  It was fun...See Gerard I didn't mention any of the crazy things that went on during our Rage Night Diving Adventure!!!

Diving North Carolina Wrecks

Yesterday (July 31st) I left my family behind for a week of wreck diving in North Carolina via Olympus Diving Center.  I always wanted to dive in North Carolina and after my trip to the Cook Islands was cancelled, I booked this trip as a cheer- me- up trip..It was a long and kind of lonely journey down here.  My adventure began on the Cape May Ferry, it was such a cool and beautiful morning, and the Delaware Bay was flat calm.. I enjoyed the morning sun with my coffee and realized, I am all alone and have no one to take care of but me..This is an odd feeling for me but, a welcome one.  Then I was off for my 7 hour drive to Morehead City, NC.  I finally arrived in time to load the boat at and head out for a few drinks and dinner with everyone. I was very, very excited for this week of discovery and adventure!

Day 1:  U-352
 The U-352 is a German submarine that sits in 100' of water and was sunk by the Coast Guard Cutter "Icaraus" on May 9, 1942.  The sub was discovered by George Purifoy whose son, Bobby was the Captain of our boat, the Olympus this week.  Other than the S-5 in NJ, I have not dove on any other subs (U-boats).  As I splashed into the deep blue water, I could immediately make out the sub below.  It is impressive to see as you descend.  I was also so mesmerized by all the schools of fish on the wreck itself.  Once on the bottom I quickly swam to the conning tower to photograph and take video of it before all the other divers arrived.

 I then swam towards the stern and circled around rudder where there was torpedo tube and  then swam along the top of the the entire sub.  I found some angel fish and sea cucumbers and took photos and video of them.  Other divers saw a manta ray and a sand tiger shark but, I did not see them.  I found an octopus camouflaged into the wreck too.

Mr. Octopus

Sea Urchin

The bottom temp was 77 degrees, so much more comfortable than my more familiar NJ waters.  I think I was one of the first divers down and also the last one to come up.  At the end of the dive I felt privileged to dive this historic sub that effected so many lives during WWII.  My grandfather was a Merchant Marine during the war and the ship he served on was torpedoed by a German sub. His ship was carrying war supplies and as it sunk it turtled taking the lives of almost all those on board.   He was one of few survivors.  He recalled slipping and falling backwards and as a result ended up on the opposite side of the ship and eventually fell to the waters below.  He hung onto a piece of wreckage for a day and a half in shark infested waters before being rescued.  Once he was rescued he was brought to French Guyana to recover.  He told stories of the sharks nipping at him and how he had to keep kicking them away.   He had nightmares of the sharks trying to attack him for the rest of his life, he also always wondered why he was one of the few that survived that day, this troubled him emensely.   I guess that is one of the reasons I am not fond of diving German sub's.  During my hang I was in awe of the massive barracuda hanging effortlessly right next to me throughout my entire hang.  I like to think he was my friend and didn't want to eat me.  This was one of those dives that it is nice to do once but in the end, it's just a pipe in the sand that probably caused a lot of destruction during the war....

USCG-Spar

 





This wreck is an artificial reef that was sunk right next to the Aeolus in June 2004 and it sits in 110' of water.  The wreck was a Coast Guard buoy tender and it sits upright and is easily penetrated.

There were tons of Spade fish on this wreck.

 This wreck is also known for its sand tiger sharks.  One of the reasons I wanted to dive in NC was to dive with sharks, I've always been wary of them and wanted to overcome my fear.  Just because they are fast and have huge sharp teeth does not mean they are any different than all the other fish in the ocean. We were anchored in the stern and once I was on the bottom I headed towards the wheelhouse which is where the sharks like to hang.  I did not see any sharks initially but, was in awe of the large amount of Spade fish packed into the wheelhouse.  As I swam through them they were so thick you actually pushed them out of your way.   This was so cool.  I then head over the bulkhead of the wreck towards the sand when I spotted a large sand tiger shark not too far from me.  I shot video of it and then it disappeared.  I checked out the holds on the deck and didn't actually swim the entire wreck, I kind of hung in one area checking out the marine life.  I enjoy watching the bait fish swirl around in packs and at times getting so thick that you can't see through them.  My hang included a token barracuda and more bait fish.  It was the end of an awesome first day of diving wrecks in NC.  I can't wait for tomorrow...we are diving the Papoose (W.E. Hutton).

I loved looking up at all the bait fish, it was so very cool!

Day 2
Papoose for two dives:

This wreck was known as the Papoose until recently when it was officially identified as the W.E. Hutton, sits upside down in 125' of water.  It is a 412' freighter that was torpedoed by the U-124 on March 18, 1942.  This is one of the wrecks that I desperately wanted to dive this week.  As soon as I splashed and began my descent, I notices 3 very large fish that had a blunt head and were quite large and impressive, I wanted to take their picture but, I assumed there would be more on the wreck.  I was wrong. I found out later that these were Mahi Mahi and only 3 of us saw them because they took off as soon as all the divers began descending onto the wreck.  At least I was blessed with seeing them!  We were anchored in the middle of the wreck near the break and I was going to dive the deeper bow section first.  As soon as I turned the corner towards the massive opening into the wreck, I saw a whole bunch of sand tiger and black tip reef sharks swimming in and out of the dark inside of the wreck.  The problem was there was so much bait fish that it made it difficult to see through them and to get any photos of the sharks.  I didn't hang around long here long, I proceeded towards the bow.  I saw some lion fish and spent some time checking them out and then more sharks appeared. They were all around me and I was just in awe.  I stayed calm and faced my fears.  I was right, they are just like any other fish swimming in the ocean.

The upside down Papoose

Sand Tiger Shark

During the second dive, we were heading to the stern but the current picked up and made that too tough of a swim for me so, I dropped down to the sand and waited for the sharks to come out from under the turtled wreck.  I had so much fun taking photos and video of the sharks...it was the highlight of my week.  As soon as I got out of the water a huge hammerhead came up chasing 3 turtles and put on quite a show...wish I was still on my hang to see that...there is always tomorrow!!  This is one wreck I would like to come back to...

Purple Sea Urchin Arbacia punctulata

Yellow Cheek Wrasse Halichoeres cyanocephalus

Hairy Cucumber Sclerodactyla briareus

Day 3
USS Shurz-

This wreck is a US/German Freighter that sunk on June 21, 1918 when it collided with the SS Florida.  It actually has an interesting history.  The Shurz was originally a 255' German gunship named the SMS Geier that was built in 1894.  In 1914, the U.S. seized the ship and renamed it the USS Shurz.  During World War II it was a German target because they did not want their own ship to be a factor in their defeat.  The USS Shurz did not meet its demise however until its collision with the SS Florida.  It now sits in 110' of water and most of the wooden decking has rotted away and what is left is lots of machinery including the boilers, anchor, rudder and cannons. I loved this wreck, it is not often that you dive on a wreck with cannons.

One of 3 cannons that I saw on this wreck

There was plenty or marine life like all the wrecks I've been to this week.  Captain Bobby warned us to be careful because the bait fish can become so thick that it disorients you and you end up lost unable to find the anchor line.  Since we've had 100' of viz on most of our dives, I found it difficult to believe what he was saying until it happened.  I was swimming right next to the boilers when the bait fish came through, I couldn't even see the bottom and distinguish between wreckage or the sandy bottom..all you saw was tons of fish in every direction.  Luckily I kept swimming towards where I thought the edge of the wreck was and eventually I swam out of the bait fish swarm and did not get lost.  There were quite a few lion fish on this wreck and I spotted a cleverly disguised octopus.

 We all were planning on staying on this wreck for two dives however, one of the fellow divers today was commissioned on the USCG Spar and he wanted to dive it.  So we all conceded to dive the Spar again for the second dive.  It is not often that you get to dive a wreck with someone that was actually commissioned to it.   We are going to come back to the USS Shurz tomorrow.  There were lots of artifact recoveries going on that needed one more dive.

USCG Spars-  The current was ripping across this wreck from port to starboard and made it very difficult to make and headway but, I managed to swim around the bow.  I saw a few sharks including one that quickly snatched up a fish right next to me and I got it on video.  The speed that he turned and grabbed the fish scared me and I decided I  better move along.  I spent time following a school of large jacks and then I saw a ray in the sand and followed him for a while.  Evidently other divers saw a school of rays and I missed it.  This wreck is quite large and it was nice to come back to it and hit another portion that I did not get to see the other day.  Another beautiful day of diving topped off with a few beers on the sundeck as we drove back to the dock with flat calm seas.

Spade Fish

Immature Grouper

Sea Bass

Barracuda

Day 4-  Blow out...4'-6' seas..praying we get out tomorrow.  I spent the day checking out the seaside city of Beaufort and really enjoyed a day alone just wandering around.  I spent a few hours at the beach since it was so hot and I really needed to cool off in the ocean.  However, the water is so warm it really is not refreshing at all... The humidity makes it really unbearable down hear in southern NC.  A large group of us gathered for dinner at Clawson's in Beaufort and we all had a nice time.  The wind is dying as I type this and I know tomorrow we will manage to get out for one more day of diving!!

Day 5
Although the wind died and the seas somewhat laid down and we were actually going to head out to dive...which I was happy about.. However, it does not take much to kind of upset me and hinder my cheerful spirit. I don't know what it is with men and diving but, this sport is load with egotistical....well need I say anything else.  I arrived on the boat to find a certain male putting his tanks in my "spot".  This boat is set up with a spot for your tanks and a cubby below for your equipment.  I had my gear stowed in the cubby overnight and my tanks were on land being filled.  Today there was about 6 or so walk-ons..Well like I said this "certain male" put his tanks in my spot.  I politely told him that I had been in this spot all week can he please move over to one of the empty cubbies so I can fit in my tanks.  He said where are your tanks?  I said I was just about to go get them, they were getting filled.  He said, well this is my spot now and would not move.  This guy clearly was never taught common boating etiquette.  On this particular bench there were other divers that I was diving with and this effected all of us.  My friend Rick, agreed to relocate to make room for my big doubles.  I swear that no matter where I go with diving, I am taken advantage of by these type of characters...  My spirit was not broken and later on in the day, shall I say this man got his karma.  They always do get their karma...do onto others is always in my mind!!

We were planning on heading back to the USS Shurz to recover artifacts that we were working on.  However, due to storms in the area, we were not able to make it to that wreck so we stopped at the Aeolus which is a little closer to shore and was also not located within the storm area, thus no lightning and calmer seas.

Aeolus-

 

This wreck is a 409' tanker that was sunk in 1988 as part of North Carolina's reef program.  When they sunk it, it was actually turtled or upside down.  During hurricanes in 1996 the wreck was up-righted and twisted so much that it now sits in 3 separate pieces.  Captain Bobby informed us that this wreck has had a huge amount of sharks on it this summer so I was excited.  This wreck sits in 125' of water and my plan was to stay relatively shallow so to increase my bottom time.  I swam along the edge of the wreck when I finally went onto the top deck and notices some yellow and blue blennies.  I did research on blennies when I was in college so of course I had to stop and shoot some video of them coming in and out of their "blennie condos and also to take photos.  I love watching these little critters and before I knew it I spent 15 minutes just checking them out.  I finally said I better move along otherwise I will miss the rest of the wreck.

 I dropped down to a lower deck and notices a type of soft coral that I had not seen all week.

Just as I took this shot, a ton of silt stirred up from a shark that bumped me.

  I prepared to take a photo of it when this shark came from behind me and bumped into me.  Well it scared the living daylights out of me.  I then realized that the shark that bumped me was only about 4' long and there were many more larger sand tiger sharks right in front of me.  I was in awe.  They were unfortunately on a lower deck that was dark so it was basically not possible to get photos or video of them in the darkness without getting closer to them which I was not about to do.  I continued on and completely swam around this piece of the wreck.  This piece was quite large and it is fascinating to know that a hurricane literally picked this 409' tanker up and split it into 3 pieces.  Today the visibility was only 50' and you could feel a thermocline which resulted in bottom temps in the 70's.  It was noticeably different from the previous days of 100' plus viz and 83 degree bottom temps.  It still however, was much warmer than up in NJ.  I enjoyed this dive like everyone I've been on this week.

USCG Spar-  We ended up back at the USCG Spar again today for reasons to do with the "certain male" that gave me problems earlier in the day and the other divers with him.  Without going into detail, they were not qualified to dive the Shurz or other wrecks in the area.  I was a little disappointed but, this wreck is fun and I was planning on going out in the sand in search of the rays so, I was happy.  I never found the rays but I did find myself on the stern alone with a 3' reef shark that kept swimming around me and looked right in my eyes.  I shot some nice video of him and enjoyed just sitting there watching him.  Since I was so pre-occupied, I forgot that the deck of this wreck is literally covered with shark teeth and I had wanted to grab a handful to bring back for my kids.  Thankfully John Paoli and his nephew Christopher picked up a bunch and gave me some to bring home.  Also on this last dive of the week I finally figured out to shoot my camera in a cloudy setting instead of <25' blue water and as a result, my pictures came out nice with the forefront lit and the back round deep blue.  I guess I'll know for next time.

 

After out last dive we went out for a great seafood dinner and quite a few cocktails.  We booked a boat for next year and I can't wait to come back. We had the nicest group of divers all week that made my vacation away from my family very enjoyable.  Plus I did 8 dives over 5 days, not bad for NC.   I took more video than photos this trip so,  I will post the videos of this great trip soon...

Now its back to NJ Wreck Diving...I have lots of exciting new wrecks to dive coming up in the next few months including the Somerstadt (Virginia), Varanger, Southern Lilian, and Cayru...stay tuned!!!