End of the 2012 Dive Season

Once December rolls around every year I like to look back at my dive season and note my accomplishments as well as gather ideas for how the upcoming year can be even better than the last.  This year I had planned to do a lot more diving but  I ended up with only about 30 dives to wrecks such as the Resor, Astra, Baleana, Flour Wreck, Arundo,  N. Lilian, Durley Chine, Somerstadt, Stolt Dagali, Granite Wreck, Sea Girt Wreck, Caribsea, Shurz, Atlas, Pappose an several dives to that well know quarry in PA.  Most of my dives were on deeper wrecks since I had the itch to dive those wrecks that are not dove very often.  I think the best two dives of the season were on the Durley Chine and Somerstadt, I hope to get back to these two wrecks again someday.  Thanks to the Independence II for creating such an exciting dive schedule this year and for encouragement by various crew to reach for the stars.  I did, achieve two great milestones that will no doubt go down in my log book...

One milestone was being able to introduce my daughter, Rebecca to the underwater world of NJ Shipwrecks.  I could not have picked a better day or wreck.  I can still visualize the outstanding visibility and the bottom of the ocean as it was covered with huge flounders.  This first dive on NJ wrecks was kind of like the first time your child drives a car, very scary and yet proud!  Rebecca will be furthering her dive education by taking Nitrox and Advanced Diving over the Winter/Spring of 2013.  I hope to have her join me next summer in North Carolina.  We will however, have to figure out what to do about her seasickness problem....

The other major milestone at least for me, was finally completing my NAUI Trimix Certification. This course was a long time in the making... I owe a lot of gratitude to Geoff Graham for taking me through the course and being my dive buddy on all of the dives.  This class of course did not come without complications, I received two undeserved hits of skin bends.  I am still trying to figure out why this is happening on Trimix only.  The two main reasons I have discovered is since I am always cold, I may not be off-gasing properly or sweat is reacting with the Trimix that I breathe causing a skin rash.  I will be spending a lot of time over the winter trying to figure this out because it concerns me greatly.  Even with these issues, I completed all of the required dives and endured.  Who said this diving thing is easy...

I finally finished editing the video and photos from the best dive I ever had, it was like a dream come true..I had sharks, sting rays and dolphins all in one dive on the Shurz Wreck in North Carolina.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I did:

Since Christmas is quickly approaching I would like to ask that you all support your local dive shop this year. The Hurricane has effected so many businesses I am sure the local dive shops could use a little extra business to make up for those losses.   I know I have a Santi heated vest and an Aquatica Housing for my new Nikon D7000 on my list. I will be spending Christmas out in Utah skiing, hmmm... maybe I can use that Santi heated vest while skiing to keep me warm.  Wishing all my dive friends a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  As always Be Safe and Happy!!!

Hurricane Sandy

This is an aerial shot of Tuckerton where so many of my friends lost their homes

I was looking forward to conducting a few final dives for my 2012 season including a dive to the Arundo on November 3rd but, Sandy blew in and what a mess she made.  My family and I made it though the storm and since my house suffered the least damage out of most of my friends, we opened up our doors to a family and other friends that had no where to go.  There were long days of organizing meals for large numbers of people while having no power, finding floor space for sleeping bags, and keeping the kids and animals busy until things calmed enough for the clean-up.  I have spent every day this past week out in the cold weather sifting through remnants of my friend's houses as well as family members while trying to keep on top of insurance claims and finding rental housing for the displaced families.  Its been a long road but, I am happy to say we all are safe and have a roof over our heads.  My business, Kim Dixon Environmental Consultant LLC   (Link to Kim Dixon Environmental Website)  is involved with marine construction and construction of homes within the coastal zone so now, I will be trying to help the communities to re-build as painlessly as possible Due to these events, I am sorry to say that my 2012 dive season is over.

I am thankful for all those that offered help during these trying times, we have had others make meals and bring them to us and divers such as, Dave Oldman whom offered to bring supplies to us.  In times like this you realize how kind and generous people are...

As I type this the nor'easter is bearing down on us..if we make it through this storm, I will look forward to simple things like camping this coming weekend with my daughter (if its not too cold)...somehow hiking in the woods always puts life into perspective, just like diving!.

I will post and "end of the season" review with some photos and video in the upcoming weeks.

Granite & Sea Girt Wrecks 10-23-12

I have not had good luck lately in terms of diving, I have been blown out of dives every week since my last dive on the Baleana.  I saw a window of good weather this week so, I jumped at an invite to go diving on "The Rage" boat.  We were originally thinking of going to the Bonanza but, we voted on going to the Granite wreck instead.  Today there were just  few divers, Gerard, Al, Gene, Tina and I which made for a laid back day off of work for diving.  The seas were flat calm and the sun warmed the cool morning air as we motored out of Manasquan Inlet.

The Granite Wreck is an old wooden sailing ship that was carrying a cargo of granite blocks.  It sits in 115' of water and has lots of wholes for lobster.  I have dove this wreck before under good visibility and it is an impressive wreck.

Gerard and Al whom both recently upgraded to new Revo rebreathers, splashed first to secure the anchor and do their dive.  The surface viz looked good but, when they came up they reported horrible viz on the bottom.  However, they both noted that as they were heading back up the silt was clearing and the viz was opening up so, they told us all to jump in and should give it a shot.  Tina and I splashed next and we were going to hunt for lobsters.  I did not take my camera in but, I took the Gopro along (Not a big fan of GoPro but its better than nothing).  The water column on the way down was loaded with large particulate matter and when we reached the bottom we had only about 10' of viz at best.  So I tied off my wreck reel and we headed off in search of lobsters.  It seemed like no time at all and Tina was signaling that it was time for her to head up. Of course we did not find a single lobster..I went with her back to the anchor line and I planned to stay down a bit longer but when we got back, Gene had already started to pull the anchor, so I too went up.

Granite Wreck Video

During the surface interval and for the remainder of the day we experienced a strange event .  There were these small birds of all different species that were barely flying (I suppose they were heading south for the winter).  Eventually would land in the water and since their wings would get wet they would drown.  It was unnerving to see so many of them die so Tina decided we should try to net them out of the water and save them.  I was of the belief that this is mother nature's way of weeding out the weak and frail thus, we should just let them be...  The two birds that Tina did rescue eventually flew away and committed suicide.  Ironic,  here we are taking lobsters but, rescuing small birds from a watery grave???

We moved inshore for the the second dive and went to the Sea Girt Wreck.  The last time I dove this wreck was last summer on a night dive aboard "The Rage" and we had a good time and here I am again on "The Rage" diving the Sea Girt (see my Sea Girt Night Dive post from August 2011).  Tina and I splashed first to tie in the anchor line and I was happy to see that the visibility was much better here, about 15'.  I was the first one down and while I secured the anchor and waited for Tina, I noticed an abundance of sea bass on this wreck.  Tina and I followed one of the walls of the hull out to the massive chain pile.  Tina was on one side of the wall and I was on the other and the two of us looked in every hole for a lobster, Tina got one real nice lobster and we had quite a few that were too small which were left on the bottom.  Once we got to the chain pile I was in awe with how many large sea bass were on the wreck,  it was covered and I wished I had taken my camera along because they seemed to be such a deep blue color that would look nice in a picture.  Before, long it was time again for Tina to go up and this time I followed her because I was freezing cold.  Even though the water was 59 degrees from top to bottom, I felt cold along with the other divers.  We were all so chilled that Gerard cranked up the heat in the cabin so it felt like a nice sauna...it was one of those nice luxuries. 

Today was a nice day out diving especially since none of us had to be at work.  The surface conditions were excellent and although the viz was not the best at the Granite wreck, it was still a good dive and most important, we all came back safe.  Gerard made a point in saying that I bring Good Luck to "The Rage" so I hope that means I'll be invited to dive with them again.!!

It looks like mother nature will not be permitting us to dive again this weekend so, I am planning on Diving the Arundo the first weekend in November...

Balaena 9-30-12

The Balaena is one of those wrecks that still has a lot of unknowns.  It is believed to be a wooden whaling vessel from the late 1700's-early 1800's.  The only item identifying the wreck is the bell that was found with Balaena stamped on it.  It remains in great condition after all these years and is relatively intact.  The water that flushes through the wreck site is from the Hudson River which contains fresh water and has helped to preserve the wood on this wreck.  This wreck is known for its abundance of dead eyes which is why I was anxious to dive it.

Today I splashed with Bryan and Kevin and the plan was for me to run a wreck reel and we'd just get a feel for the wreck since neither of us have dove it before.   As I splashed that crystal clear blue water loaded with jellies and luminesence was all around me.  I could see the wreck from about 128'.  This wreck is in 155' of water.  The visibility was about 30' which is excellent for this mud hole wreck.  I was prepared for the usual deep,dark, and dangerous type of wreck and carried multiple lights, knives etc.  However, we could see quite well and while there was fishing lures and monofilament on the wreck it was not as bad as many other wrecks in this area.  Once on the bottom, I found that the the hull of the vessel came up about 10-15' off the bottom and was intact around the entire wreck.  I headed off in one direction, I think the bow..and immediately noticed the large infestation of Sea Ravens.  They covered the wreck, kind of creepy.  Since this wreck had holds filled with coal, there were piles of coal all over the wreck.  I swam along and picked up every piece that I thought could be a dead eye but, ended up finding nothing but pieces of wood and coal.  There was also some type of soft sponge that looked like coral but it was soft and pliable all over the wreck.  I do not know what type it was and had never seen it before.  The area that I believe was the stern, opened up a bit more with lots of nooks and crannies for the resident lobsters.  Towards the end of the dive I found two lark circular pieces of wreckage that rose up at least 30'-40' that I was later advised were vats used to boil whale blubber.  I thoroughly enjoyed my dive and would like to come back to this wreck next year especially since it simply amazes me that a wreck so old is preserved so well.

On the surface, the coolers were filled with lobster and Ben found a circular piece of wood that would be on a mast to help hoist the sails.  It was a nice find and will look really nice once it is preserved.

Today was a nice Fall Dive with great conditions, we even had zero current under the Harvest Full Moon..I also enjoyed the crew and divers on board today, there was a lot of laughter that just added to an already perfect day out on the Atlantic..I am trying to dive as much as possible in the next few weeks while this warm, blue gulf stream water is in close to NJ.    Be Safe everyone!!!

Stolt Dagali 9-16-12

"Behind every success is effort
 Behind every effort is passion
 Behind every passion is someone with the courage to try"  unknown

As you all know, I have developed and intense passion to wreck dive but most people, other than other wreck divers, are not aware of the courage it takes to "try" to dive a new wreck, deeper wreck, or more challenging wreck.   Sure there are many divers and mentors that may help you to gain the passion to dive but, it takes your own personal courage to take that leap of faith off of the boat into the deep blue Atlantic Ocean to explore another wreck.

Today was no exception, we were destined to the Northern Lilian via the Independence II but, the weather predictions precluded us from reaching that wreck so, we decided to try and get out to the Stolt Dagali.  As we broke the inlet we were greeting with some nice swells but they were far apart and there was no chop.  The further offshore we went the calmer it got and by the time we anchored up it was Lake Atlantic.  Boy was the weather predictions wrong for today, I am glad that Captain Dan was willing to give it a try because what a great summer like day it turned out to be!!

The Stolt Dagali was a tanker that was sunk in a collision on November 26, 1964 with the liner Shalom.  The tanker was sliced in half and there were casualties.  The bow was salvaged and the stern remains on the bottom today at an angle in water ranging from 60-130'.

My camera has not been cooperating lately and I was hopeful that I had repaired the problem that was resulting in both my strobes not firing up.  When I splashed I simply could not believe the visibility.  The water was the prettiest blue and from about 5-10' I could see the wreck.  The visibility had to be at least 70-80', just spectacular.  As I descended I could see the vibrant red growth all over the wreck that just added to the beauty of the dive.  I was so excited to take some pics so that I would always remember this great dive.  Wrong...strobes would not power up at all.  I was however, able to shoot video or pictures with the available ambient light but that was it.  So what else could I do but shoot video.  I am not a fan of shooting a lot of video because the editing is so time consuming.  As I swam along the wreck I saw a few tropical purple fish with yellow stripes, I remember seeing and photographing these in North Carolina earlier in the summer. They are so cool to watch!

My lone photo that someone came out...

I then dropped down to about 100' and was below the thermocline and swam along the wreck and noticed a bunch of winter flounder.  I was able to catch some video on one before I spooked it away.  There was also a lot of taug on this wreck that seemed to be rather large.  Below the thermocline the temp was about 65 degrees but above it I had a balmy 74 degrees.  So after a short visit on the lower part of the wreck I went back up to the warmer water.  This wreck is deteriorating, there are parts of it that are flapping in the current about to break off.  One thing about this wreck as compared to so many other wrecks, it is memorable.  I have only dove this wreck two other times and my last time I dove it was about 6 years ago and it happened to also be on the Independence Dive Boat.  The divemaster at the time buddied me up with a diver that took off on me and on that particular day there was lower viz and it was dark with some current on the top.  I recall losing track of the anchor line and simply not enjoying the dive.  I guess that day sort of stuck with me because I have not gone back to the wreck again until today.  I did remember that the wreck sat on an angle and that is why I think I remember it more than others.  Today, I was able to give myself the grand tour since you could see forever.

Back on the boat, there were large cod and taug speared, lobster and mussels.  I tried to repair my camera between dives to no avail..I used the GoPro as a back up and even that failed.  The GoPro was on when I jumped in and turned itself off...Here is the video taken, not very good but, better than nothing:

Stolt Dagali Video

So, as I began this post, at least I had the courage to try to dive this wreck again and to also take pictures and video. Sometimes nothing works as intended but, I keep on trying and that's all anyone can do. 

Till My Next Adventure in the Atlantic!!

I'm going to be diving the Resor this weekend, so lets go diving while the diving is hot!!

Sommerstad (Viriginia) 8-19-12

After years of trying to get out to the wreck known as the Sommerstad (Virginia) we were finally successful yesterday.  The NOAA forecast for Saturday called for 2-3' and was way off where as conditions yielded 4-7' seas.  With some quick planning by Capt. Dan of the Independence II, he delayed our Sunday departure from 3am till 5am with hopes that the seas would lay down as predicted by NOAA.  As we left in darkness and broke the inlet, the seas had calmed quite a bit..however, as we got further offshore the seas grew and there was a moment that we contemplated turning around.  The general consensus was that we came this far lets push on.  Once we anchored to the wreck, the seas laid down to about 2' and finally 1-2'.  Thus we finally made it to the Sommerstad!

The Sommerstad is a freighter that all literature states as resting in 180' of water but, none of the divers today got over 168' and I personally did not get deeper than 160'.  On August 12. 1918 the Sommerstad was sunk by a torpedo fired by the U-117.   It was reported that the torpedo just missed the bow and then surprisingly turned around and hit the freighter mid-ship.  This wreck very large and today we were tied in adjacent to the large boilers. I will add that the Captain located the wreck within minutes and the crew had us completely tied in within 8 minutes which was outstanding!

Today I was not myself, my health has suffered a lot this year and I was not at my strongest today.  I almost did not even go today but, I did, and I am so happy that I gathered up the strength to go.  Since the ride out was bouncy and we were taking the swell into the beam, I certainly was feeling a little queezy..  We had to wait on the boat until all of the divers were up before we could splash which in the end was a good thing.  It gave my queezy stomach time to calm and we also were able to hear all the reports of visibility, current and water temp. prior to making our dive.  Everyone said this wreck was awesome and had very large lobsters and on top of that the largest cod anyone had seen.  There were multiple cod 4-5' in size laying about the wreck and under the plates of the wreckage.  Reports also advised that the stern section is still intact and has quite a bit of relief.  Everyone also commented that the water temp was very cold and did not warm up until about 20-30' and there it only warmed to about 52 degrees, mind you this came from all the rebreather divers with heated vests.  This meant, it will be a very cold dive for me.

Finally, it was my turn to splash and as I did I was slammed with that current, luckily I grabbed onto the swim platform and was able to pull myself to the carolina rig.  As I descended I got the feeling that I was not comfortable due to the current and just not feeling the best.  I continued on but, kept pausing trying to decide it I should turn around.  My last pause was at about 120' and I could see the wreck, I said I'm here lets do this.  Once on the bottom the visibility was about 50' and it was dark but as your eyes adjusted it was not too dark.  The boilers stood up high and the wreck was scattered about in what seemed to be an endless debris field.  This wreck is heavily fished as shown with the huge amount of of monofilament all over the wreck.  You needed to control your buoyancy on this dive and stay above the wreck to avoid entanglement.  The thought deep, dark, and dangerous come to mind.  Bill headed off hunting for cod and lobster and I settled in to take photos and video.  However, my camera would turn on but, none of the key buttons would work at depth.  It worked fine on the surface but, not on the bottom.  This upsets me because these types of dives can be once in a lifetime adventures never to happen again.  It certainly would be nice to have a few pictures to memorialize it. Oh well not today, and I certainly hoped that the GoPro brought in as a back up was functioning at depth.  I found a lobster tangled in fishing line and showed it to Bill and he tried to free it but was unsuccessful.  I did not see any cod on my dive but I also did not look hard for them.  I spent my dive looking for any kind of artifact.  I thought I saw two portholes but, could not get close enough to confirm that they were indeed portholes.  As far as I know, artifacts have not been brought up from this wreck to positively identify it as the Sommerstad and I know everyone today was looking for something to positively identify it.  Before long I was freezing cold and thinking how miserable the hang is going to be so I started to make my way up.  As I was decompressing in water that was 48 degrees, memories of diving in the cold Nova Scotia waters came back (see my Blog Archive for March 2010).  The water today and on those dives of the past was very cold with little or no relief in the shallower stops.  Today, even the warm up to 52 degrees provided some relief.  I know now that if I am going to continue to dive these deeper dives I need a heated vest so that I can safely off gas.  The hang was not easy due to the current so I was trying to find something to occupy my thoughts and/or do to pass the time and I remembered what Brandon said about his hang...Brandon claimed he saw some seahorses on blades of sea weed that floated by so I was on the lookout for them.  I did not see any sea weed, seahorses or any fish at all during my hang.  Maybe Brandon's gas mix was causing his to hallucinate about dancing sea horses around him...Hmmm you have to wonder lol.

Back on the boat were lots of lobsters and tales of how exciting everyone's dives were.  Captain Dan kept asking if I liked today's dive, I said, "YES"   it was an awesome wreck and we need to come back again next summer!  Most of us only did one dive today including me.  It is better to do one safe dive that push yourself on that second dive is my motto...  The GoPro video of this dive came out but, I do not have time to edit it as of yet, I will post it in the near future.  Here is a link to Wayne Fisch's video that he did of his dive yesterday with his student Ray.  He must of stayed up real late last night to edit this so quickly but he did a great job!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAsnFIHME7U&feature=plcp

I almost forgot that prior to splashing a whale passes by and was jumping out of the water which was awesome to see.  What a summer of diving, stings rays, dolphins, sharks and now whales!!!

I will be taking a two week break from diving as I head this week to Maine for a camping and canoeing vacation with the family.  When I return I am looking at diving the N. Lilian again and the Bidevind..  I do have to admit that this dive season I have had great luck, the weather has been very cooperative, I have only had 1 blow out, lets hope that my good luck continues through the fall!   Be Safe :))

Flour Wreck (Almirante) 8-9-12

Rebecca on the Flour Wreck

Today was a special day for my family because it was my daughter, Rebecca's first day of diving in the Atlantic Ocean.  This blog has brought about so many positive things in my life and today was no exception.  An old dive friend, Eric Newman, found my dive blog on line and called us up to reconnect.  He too has daughters that are certified to dive but have not gone diving in NJ.  Therefore, we decided to get together and charter the Atlantus to take all of us out and show our children what it is like to dive in NJ.  None of us had any idea that the conditions would turn out to be perfect for this entry into NJ Wreck Diving.  The ocean was as calm as I've seen it all season and we decided to go to the Flour Wreck since the Atlantus had been on the wreck yesterday and they had 30' of visibility.  You basically can never go wrong with the Flour, it is a great entry level dive.  Bill and my daughter splashed first followed by Eric and his daughter, Alexis.  I brought up the rear and when I finally got to the bottom, Bill and Rebecca were no where to be found, I have to admit I was not happy that they took off on me already after all I spent the time going to all of the certification classes and quarry and was really looking forward to this day.  On the other hand I was so happy that she felt confident and was off diving somewhere on the wreck with Bill.  The visibility was at least 30'-40' so I hung around the anchor line and shot some photos and kept an eye out for them.  When they came looking for me I saw that they had been quite busy, Bill already speared 5 flounder.  The flounder absolutely carpeted the wreck.  You really did not even need a spear, you could just guide them into your goody bag.  I was able to put my camera lens right on them and they did not move or swim away.

 There was not many lobsters or other fish, a few sea robins and small sea bass but that was about it.

However, Rebecca did find a lobster on her own during the dive and brought me over to see it.  It was in a pipe and I later went back to photograph it.

 One thing that surprised me was that Rebecca's air consumption was really low, we were on the bottom for almost 30 minutes and she still had over 1000 psi when we got back on the boat.  Not bad for a newcomer that I am sure was nervous.  When the dive was over and we got back on the boat the loads of flounder started to come.  Eric and Alexis had a great dive too and we were all having a great time.

Rebecca did not make a second dive because sea sickness overcame her.  It was so calm I was surprised that she got sick but, it was very hot out there today.  I remember  getting sea sick for years when I first started diving so I felt terrible for her.  I therefore did my second dive alone and got some nice pictures of the flounder and sea robins.  The bottom temp was 60 degrees and the surface was 76 degrees, really nice and comfortable.

After we completed our second dives, there were 34 flounder total and 1 lobster between the divers and fisherman topside.  Rebecca felt better on the way home and wanted to go diving again.  She's a trooper!!

Bill, Matt, Me, Daren, Rebecca, Eric & Alexis

We are planning another day out with the Newman's and next time hopefully his whole family will be able to come diving.   Capt. Brian, Shaner and Bill fileted all the fish and we topped it all off with a few beers at the Back Bay Ale House.  Thanks to Captain Brian & Shaner of the Atlantus and our old friend Eric for making this day happen:))  I will always cherish this day!!!

North Carolina 2012

Photo of me taken by Rich Venuti

For the second year in a row I left my family behind and went down to North Carolina for a week of wreck diving with some old and new friends.  John Preistly was my traveling companion and dive buddy for the week.  We dove 4 out of the 5 days and the dives were all outstanding.  There was an abundance of marine life that included sharks and more sharks, sting rays and dolphins.  I came home a little tired from this trip but feeling truly blessed to have been able to see so much in my short visit to the wrecks of North Carolina.

Caribsea 7-30-12

The Caribsea is a freighter that was carrying manganese when it was torpedoed two times by the U-158 on March 11, 1942.  This wreck sites in 70'-90' o f water and is not known for the best visibility but today we would have a decent 40' fo viz on the bottom and about 100' just above the wreck.  The engine, boiler and the bow are the most recognizable parts of this wreck that remains today.    We were anchored into the bow and upon decent it was hard not to notice the schools of spade fish that swam mid water column.  I did not even reach the bottom and I began to notice lots of sharks.  The Captain had advised that the visibility was lower on the bottom so that if we wanted to photograph the sharks we should hang above the bow in the clear water.  I initially went to the bottom and tried to get a feel for the wreck but with a limited 30'-40' of visibility I did not like not being able to keep an eye on all of the sharks.  So I decided to hang out at a depth of about 65' and to check out all of the sharks.  They were every where you looked along with lots of jacks.  Rich Venuti waved me over to the deck of the bow and showed me a spotted eel that was such a treat to see.  He was not large but, allowed us all to spend time photographing him.

Even though the visibility on the bottom was not the best for North Carolina, it is excellent for this particular wreck which is not known for good viz.  That being said we all agreed to stay on this wreck for two dives especially since it was loaded with sharks.

Pappose 7-31-12

Today we went to the Pappose for two dives.  You can look at my earlier post on the Pappose from August 2011 for information on the wreck sinking.  The weather on the surface was not so hot, did I say rain...it poured all day long which made for a chilly surface interval.  However, the underwater conditions were fantastic, 80'-100' of visibility and plenty of small tropical fish that I have not noticed on other wrecks.  When I dove this wreck last year, there were sharks all over it.  This year I only saw a few, the Captain and crew have always said that the sharks do move from wreck to wreck and this is proof.  I saw two Sea Raven's on this wreck and they sat patiently as I took a bunch of photos of them.  I'm sure my flash blinded them for the week!

There always seems to be a current on this wreck and as a result I still have not made it to the stern to see the giant prop.  One of these days I'll dedicate a dive just to swim the entire length of the wreck to see the whole thing.  I managed to spend most of my time in the debris field adjacent to the break of the wreck and the small pieces out in the sand.  After this rainy cold day, I swore if it rained tomorrow I would be breaking out my drysuit to stay warm on the surface.  Funny how I froze on the surface but the water was nice and warm so I was nice and toasty during my dives.

 Shurz 8-2-12

This by far is my favorite  This wreck sits in 95'-110' of water and it was a gunboat that sunk in a collision with the SS Florida on June 21, 1918.  The guns and canons are still on the wreck and can easily identified along with the prominent boilers.  The reason I love this wreck so much is because the visibility is great, it sits on white sand so it generally is bright on the bottom and also has so much marine life on it.  Before we splashed the mate had indicated that there was a school of sting rays off of the bow and that was where I was heading.  I quickly swam out into the sand and spotted the school of 6 rays.  They were quite far off of the wreck and the tricky part is getting close to them without losing site of the wreck.  The bait fish would swoop in and you instantly would lose all track of direction.  I simply kept the wreck to my back so that I knew I would need to do a 180* and swim back into the wreck and not get lost.  Since I was all alone out with the rays, I sat on my knees and waited for them to come to me.  They would split into groups of 3 and circle all around me.  Once they got comfortable they swam right up to me and would poke their noses on my knees.  This was so cool but, made it difficult to video and photography, they were just too close.

  In addition to the rays was about 4 jacks that swam around me.  After a while the rays took off and I went back to the wreck and spent time cruising the wreck and trying to get a decent picture of the small irrisdescent blue fish.  I do not know what kind of fish they were but they were small and bright in purplish blue color.

This wreck also had some sharks that hung up higher on the wreck and the schools of spade fish would swim around the sharks.  This was the most awesome dive and could not be topped.  However, during my hang the most unbelievable thing happened.  I was decompressing and keeping a close eye on this large baraccuda that was eying me up.  Rich started pointing behind me and I thought he was trying to alert me to the baraccuda but, no he was pointing to a school of dolphins right behind me.  I could not believe that I was underwater with dolphins.  The swam all around us and gave us all quite a show, there was plenty of time to shoot photos and video of them before they left.  What a dive: sting rays, sharks and dolphins all in one dive!!!  The second dive on this wreck was just as grand but without our dolphin friends.

 

Photo by Ben Price

Atlas 8-3-12

The Atlas was a tanker carrying gasoline when it was torpedoed by the U-352 on April 9, 1942.  The wreck today is quite large and sits on a muddy bottom in 80'-125' of water.  I know most of you have been following the latest NOAA proposal for an expansion to the National Marine Sanctuary which would require all divers to obtain costly and cumbersome permits to dive wrecks that are within the sanctuary.  Well just last week the dive boat I was on was boarded by NOAA to check and see if any worthy artifacts were taken off of the Shurz wreck.  Today as we approached the Atlas, NOAA had a boat  anchored to the wreck.  They had divers in the water and lift bags were present possibly raising some artifacts for their own "research".  We had to wait until  NOAA was done bringing up their divers and equipment prior to anchoring onto the Atlas.  This was a staunch reminder of how the world of diving that we all know and love will not longer exist if the sanctuary is expanded beyond the Monitor.  I know I wrote several letters opposing such an expansion but often wonder if that was all I could do.  The presence of NOAA on this wreck definitely dampened my spirits while diving but I also thought, I am lucky that today I am free to dive this wreck.  This wreck is not known for visibility but it is known for sharks.  The visibility was 30' on the bottom which is very good for this wreck and about 100' just above the upper decks.  As I descended I did not even get to the wreck when I saw lots and lots of large sand tigers.  I stopped at about 50' and took some photos and watched the sharks as they effortlessly hung in the water.  Eventually I went further down and landed on the upper superstructure.  There were so many sharks all around that I could not move.  I did start to swim around when a 14'-15' sand tiger was coming full speed at me, there were smaller sharks underneath me so I could not kick to get out of the way of the big one coming for me.  It came to within inches of my face and quickly veered off.  I screamed so loud into my regulator I am sure everyone heard me!  I swam over to my buddy, John and held on to his arm to let him know I was scared to death.  I don't think John could save me but, I felt better holding on to him.  I am such a whimp!!!  Soon I gained enough courage to swim around the wreck a bit but, due to the muddy bottom, it silted up quickly and I did not like being in a wreck with sharks that I could not see.  Before long, I went back up to the 50' depth and watched the sharks in mid water column.  Those sharks did not swim around too much and you can at least see them coming...  I would like to go back to this wreck someday since it is so large there is lot to explore.

Caribsea 8-3-12

We went back to the Caribsea since reports were that the visibility had improved since Monday and again because there were a large concentration of sharks there.  I did like this wreck on Monday and was glad to be able to go back to it to explore further.  I spent this dive trying to capture some good silhoettes of the sharks but for some reason my camera was not getting enough light.  I therefore, shot some pics and video of the groupers that happened to be hanging out on the higher portions of the wreck.

This week means a lot to me and definitely rejuvenates me spiritually.  We had a really great group to dive with and I think every one of us had a nice time together!  We even had a few divers added onto our charter that happened to be from NJ too...  One thing that inspires me is that most of these guys are retired yet, they are physically and financially able to continue to dive...I hope I have the luck and happiness they all have acquired!

I have quite a few photos from this trip so I decided to just post a few now and will work on posting more over the winter along with the videos, so stay tuned!!

Next year I will be returning to dive these wrecks again but, this time I will be bringing my daughter Rebecca along to for a "girls" week.  I can't wait!!

Photo of the "Group" taken by Mike Gerkin aka our Captain

Durley Chine (Bacardi) 7-28-12

This wreck was known for a long time as the Barcardi Wreck and it sunk in a collision with the steamer Harlem on April 30, 1917.   It is a tanker that sits in 185' of water on a sandy bottom.  The tanker was only 4 years old when it met its demise.  The wreck was originally found by a charter captain whom marked the wreck with a weighted line and a corked bottle of Bacardi Run hence the name, the Bacardi wreck.  In 1987 the wreck was positively identified by Rick Jaszyn when he recovered the ships bell with S.S. Durlely Chine inscribed in it.

I have been very sick for the past 3 weeks and was not sure if I would make it out today and up until I actually splashed I was truly hesitating.  I was sure glad I went for it because this the best dive I ever did in my life...  We left the dock on the Independence II at 3am for the long 60 mile ride out to the wreck.  We were fortunate to be greeted to 2'-3' seas the entire trip.  The boat was covered from bow to stern with bodies sleeping wherever there was room for the ride out until the boat finally slowed and we were at the wreck site.

The tie-in was quick and we were anchored in right next to the boilers.  I splashed into the balmy 75 degree water and soon was at about 100' where I could already see divers on the bottom.  At first I thought we must be at the wrong wreck, because there is no way I could see from 100' to the bottom which is about 182'.  I was wrong and quickly realized that the visibility was so outstanding that it took you a few minutes to realize that this is really NJ.  Upon descent you could see the entire wreck and of course see the prominently placed boilers that rose out of the sandy bottom.  I was already regretting not taking my camera in.  This was the last of my trimix certification dives and I wanted to dive and relax with no camera.  The next thing I noticed was that given the depth there was still plenty of ambient light and all you need your light for was to spot a lobster or artifact inside the wreckage.  I initially started out following the prop shaft out into the sand and realized at first that there was not a lot of wreckage in this direction (which I later realized if I had followed it further I would have found more wreckage) so I turned around and went back to the area around the boilers.  I noticed that this wreck is covered with brass pipes, valves and flanges just laying about.  Even I could have brought up an artifact with little effort if I wanted another hunk of brass for my garden.  I saw a plate and flipped it over and there was a lobster under it.  I am not a good lobster hunter but this lobster had no where to escape to so I picked it up.  It started bucking its tail and I dropped it because it startled me.  I then tried to pick it up again but was not able to hold it and put it in my bag without some help so I was swimming around looking for my buddy, Geoff and found him excavating an artifact.  I looked closer and my lobster and thought you know what, I bet this looks bigger on the bottom than what it would look like on the surface and I bet it is too small to keep.  So I let it go and went to see if Geoff needed help with his artifact which was some sort of valve or flange.  Later on the boat I thought, I bet my judgement in terms of the size of the lobster was wrong because the tail was rather large.  Oh Well!  I swam around some more and saw a giant red sea raven fish and some of the largest ling cod I have ever seen.  The bottom temp was 48 degrees and boy was it cold.  Before long it was time to wrap things up and head up.  The thermocline was thankfully at 60' and felt so good especially since I had been shaking from the cold since 110'.

Once on the boat everyone talked about the parts of the wreck that they had seen and everyone was raving about the epic visibility, about 80'-100' horizontal.  The bow of the wreck has collapsed and the only areas with real relief was at the boilers and the stern.  There were lots of nice bugs harvested from the wreck as well a a bottle, ceramic vase and some other brass items (valves, flanges).

On dive #2 I swam out towards the bow and checked out some pieces of wreckage in the sand.  During this dive I shot some video with the Gopro and hoped it was bright enough for it to pick up the great viz and features of this wreck.   I will post the video once I have time to edit it.

On the way home we checked out two sets of numbers and one set looked real promising and I am sure we will be back to dive on those numbers some day in the future.  After the long trip in we had enough time to unload the boat before all of the strong thunderstorms blew through.  I will mark this down and the best dive I have ever been on but, it was definitely a long day with that include a lot of prep work. I am very fortunate to have had the opportunity to dive this wreck, a place I am sure few have gone.  The next morning I got up bright and early and made the trek down to North Carolina.  As I type this it is the eve of a week of Wreck Diving in North Carolina!  Be Safe!!!

Dutch Springs 7-21 & 7-22

I spent a beautiful weekend at Dutch Springs with my daughter Rebecca while she completed her check-out dives.  She is now a certified PADI diver and I am one proud mom!  The visibility in the quarry was only 20' at best, there were times when it would silt out to only about 5' of viz and all you could see was the fins of another diver in front of you.  Rebecca and the other divers handled the low visibility well and now they were able to see first hand what it is like to dive with little or no viz.  I more or less stayed far away from her because I did not want to interfere and wanted her to do this on her own.  My original plan was to video and photograph her dives.  I did get a few pictures and limited video but the conditions were limited. 

While up at the quarry I had several divers asking why I waited until Rebecca was 16 years old to get her certified?  There are several reasons for this but, the main reason was I wanted her to decide on her own to become certified and not just because Mom and Dad dive and would like her to learn.  In the end I think this was the right decision for all of us because it went very smoothly and she is confident in herself. 

We had a great time camping and sitting around the fire at night with all the other divers which was a great way to ease her into the diving world. 

I will be trying to get her out in the ocean over the next few weeks since she already has told me that the quarry was boring and not much to look at.  I promised her that wreck diving is far more exciting and interesting than diving the quarry!  Congratulations Rebecca!!!

Northern Lilian 7-7-12

On February 26, 1939, the Lilian collided with the freighter Weigand in the fog and sunk off of Barnegat, NJ.  Today, I was able to dive on the wreck where it is providing lots of habitat for a wide variety of species.

I have been trying to dive the Northern Lilian for the past two years and have been blown out of every trip that I was on so, I was glad that the weather was finally cooperating and, today I would finally get to dive this wreck.  I was under the impression that I have never dove this wreck before...  However, when I was thumbing through my old log book looking for the Astra trip reports, I came upon two logged dives to the Northern Lilian indicating that I did indeed dive this wreck on September 23, 1991 off of George Hoffman's Sea Lion.  It was my logged dive numbers 98 & 99.  My memory is generally pretty good but, this is proof that all these years of diving are affecting my memory to some extent, good ole nitrogen!  In my old log book I wrote that the wreck sat at depth of 152-155' and that particular day we had good visibility (20').  There were tons of bugs, winches attached to poles and the bottom moved with conga eels..Great dive.  I also wrote that Bill got a piece of a backing plate.  Ironic how today conditions remain the same, especially with the bottom having a large abundance of conga eels.  However, my log stated that  I did an 18 minute dive with a 20 minute total  hang time for the first dive and a 20 minute dive and 48 minute total hang for dive two..That was is in the days of diving with air and no O2 for deco...I am glad times have changed for the better in terms of the length of the hang time.


This was a special day for me because I was finally going to complete my NAUI Trimix dives.  I was supposed to take a Trimix course back in 2007 when the instructor that I was going to utilized died while  wreck diving in Florida.  This shook me up quite a bit and it has taken me this long to find another instructor that I felt comfortable with.  We went out on the Independence II on a charter chartered by The Scuba Connection and I was finally going to meet and dive with Wayne and Jason in person.  Wayne and Jason were patient with me last year in helping me to choose a new drysuit that had the perfect fit and we succeeded because I am very happy with my new suit.  The rest of the charter was filled with the usual suspects that made the day fun!

Geoff Graham was my dive buddy today and I planned to follow him around the wreck and to take photos along the way.  Once on the bottom we swam around some of the higher pieces of the wreck and I could spot the boilers in the distance.  The visibility was about 25'-30' and it was very, very cold...48 degrees on the bottom.  I kept stopping to take photos and I didn't want to hold up Geoff, so eventually he went about his dive and so did I.  I was in the middle of taking a photo when a monkfish came along and practically swam into me.  I then noticed that it was tangled in some sort of line.  I was trying to figure out what was up with this monkfish when I spotted Brandon above me (aka purple, pink and lime green guy).  He caught the monkfish and had his spool line weaved through a hole in its mouth and was pulling it around like it was his pet dog or something.  I continued on my way and Brandon took off with his fish.

Brandon's pet Monkfish

  I noticed that there were quite a few cod on this wreck which is promising.  In the "old" days there were always lots of cod to spear, these days its a treat to see them let along spear any.  This wreck is really a great wreck with lots of visible artifact, lots of fish and just plain ole interesting things to check out.  I was again trying to take a close up picture of an eel pout and was inching closer and closer to it when a flash went off and spooked me.  It was Brandon again this time without his monkfish, he came in to take a few pictures of me and to scare off the eel pout that I was trying to photograph.    A few minutes later Geoff signaled that it was time to wrap things up and I was glad because my fingers were so frozen that I could barely move them.  There was a pretty good current on the hang that left you having to hold on with two hands.  Back on the boat the monkfish, cod, lobsters and scallops started coming up. Brandon informed me that he dragged the monkfish into me in an attempt to scare me, little did he know that I am not scared of monkfish, just sharks.  I did tell him that he did succeed in scaring me later with his flash...

Photo of me taken by Brandon McWilliams

Dive number two was more or less a repeat of checking out the wreck and taking photos.  I was much warmer on this dive since it was absolutely baking on the surface, I was so overheated before I splashed that it helped to keep me warmer on the bottom.  Towards the end of this dive I was taking a last picture or two near the anchor line when I felt someone or something gently push me down as if something was on top of me.  I turned to see whom or what it was and I saw a diver scurrying up the anchor line with a green bag full of scallops. Hmmm who is that diver teasing me on the bottom.?. I will find out!!  On the hang there was only Geoff, myself, Capt. Dan and Joe so it left Capt. Dan or Joe to be the diver that was teasing me.  On the surface, they all denied pushing me but, Capt. Dan has a green bag of scallops...he is known to" poke me" under water so I believe it was him.  I guess it was pick on Kim day between Brandon's attempt to scare me with the Monkfish and the unidentified diver trying to scare me by pushing me..This is all part of the fun commaderae that you find out on the dive boat and it makes the day more fun.  Back on the boat there was a whole story of how Sean and Jason wrestled two monkfish and who's battle was grander.

In the end I completed two of my Trimix dives and had a great time out on the Atlantic.  Since I am always so cold diving, Jason is going to arrange for me to try out one of the Santi heated vests that most of the divers on board have been using...Looks like diving with the guys whom own The Scuba Connection will end up costing me in the end but, they probably know I will pay anything to be warmer...lol. Once the boat was cleaned we all went over to Capt. Dan's restaurant and had the cook prepare  Franchaise Monkfish and Blackened Monkfish and it was delicious.  It certainly was a long day, I got up at 3:30am for this dive and didn't get home until 9pm but it was so worth it!!!

I am hoping to get out on my own boat this week to dive the Gloria, Double East or Boiler wreck. Otherwise, I will be diving with my daughter at the quarry on July 21 & 22nd and my next offshore trip will be to the Bacardi.  Till then BE SAFE!!