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 :))
Monday, August 20, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Flour Wreck (Almirante) 8-9-12
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| 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!!
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| 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!!!
Wednesday, August 8, 2012
North Carolina 2012
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| Photo of me taken by Rich Venuti |
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.
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| 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!!
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| Photo of the "Group" taken by Mike Gerkin aka our Captain |
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