End of the Season 2014

Well what can I say, my 2014 dive season was not at all what I expected.  I was very happy and proud  to experience my son Matthew becoming a certified diver but, greatly disappointed in the amount of diving I did this year.

 I dove in the Quarry and on wrecks such as the Dykes, Terror Wreck, Hvoslef, Oregon and Delaware.  I wouldn't even call these few dives a dive "season" and I don't quite know what happened but, I suppose life got in the way coupled with the turbulent fall weather.  All I can do is sit back and enjoy the winter and anticipate wreck diving in 2015.  I was very happy to finally get to dive the Terror Wreck, that was one wreck that I had wanted to dive for a long time and I finally got there and enjoyed it.

"In wisdom I have gathered over time, I have found that every experience is a form of exploration" Ansel Adams

  I recently read an article about the possibility of  the dive industry imposing dive certification expiration dates that is renewable when the diver demonstrates knowledge and ability.   This would apply to those divers that are not diving often enough.  It was strange how I found myself reading this article at the time where I had so few dives this past year.

In the past, once you become a certified diver you are certified for life whether you dive each year or not. I think most responsible divers would voluntarily go through a re-fresher course if they have not been diving for several years but, I fear the day that the dive agencies put a minimum number of dives per year required to maintain your certification.  In looking at this year where I only dove a total of about 11 dives, not because I didn't want to dive more but, merely because of weather conditions, I would not enjoy being required to go through a refresher course each time I did not dive a certain number of dives a year especially, if the course was not offered free of charge.  It costs an extraordinary amount of money to maintain your equipment each year prior to even splashing and I find that this new re-fresher requirement if it ever came to life would be the last straw.  I hope dive leaders in NAUI and PADI realize that the dive industry is shrinking each year and that the very thought of coming up with these new requirements could have a major impact on the industry.  I believe the current diver attrition rate is as high as 70%.


I also personally feel that most dive certification courses do not adequately prepare a student to dive. The courses have become very watered down and simply do not provide enough open water skills and practice to build confidence.  There are some instructors out there that feel as I do and therefore, are going above and beyond to insure that their students become capable confident divers but, that is not the norm... Without new divers feeling confident in their skills, I am sure it will lead them to find other activities in which they are more comfortable, thus adding to the high attrition rate of divers...  OK, enough of my rant!!!



Since this year was a big flop, I hope to get in the water early next year and be a little more flexible with my schedule so that on bad weather days I can dive an alternate day and hopefully not end up with just a few dives like this year.  I already know that the Independence II is working on a dive schedule for 2015 that will be as exciting as ever!!!


"The sea, once it casts its spell, holds one in its net of wonder forever"  Jacques Yves Cousteau

I took this shot this fall while watching my son surf, it is one of my favorites with the Tall ship in the distance.

Here is a story that may interest you if you have a love of the sea and wilderness such as I...

http://www.bbc.com/earth/bespoke/story/20141203-back-to-nature/index.html

Delaware 11-8-14

This past week during my daily 6:00 am run, I became acutely aware that the temps are dropping and the beautiful fall foliage is letting the last of its leaves fall.  How did it get to be November and where did my September and October diving go? I think this was the longest stretch of blown out dives I have ever experienced.  I am so grateful to have broken this blow out pattern and got to go diving today.  It had been so long that I felt like it was my first dive of the season so, naturally I was nervous.

Today we were designed to the famed Stolt Dagali on the Independence II!   Once we broke the inlet we could see large seas along the horizon as a result of the gale winds blowing most of the night. We took a quick vote and decided to dive the Delaware instead of simply turning around and heading in. It had been a long time for all of us since we got wet so, "better to dive than not" was the motto for the day.


I have not dove the Delaware since George Hoffman ran the Sea Lion so it has been quite some time. The Delaware is a 250' long steamer that sunk on July 9, 1898 as a result of a fire in her hold. The wreck now sites in 75' of water not far from the beach. This wreck is a great choice for days that you need to stay close to shore and today would not be an exception. It is dove a lot and is frowned upon by most divers for its typical low visibility and the fact that it is picked over in terms of artifacts.

I was so desperate to dive one more time this year that I decided I was going to dive not matter what the conditions were.  It was only 32 degrees out on my drive up to the boat and now that we were anchored the wind was starting to pick up making for very cold conditions up top.  I suited up and jumped in (boy I am brave,..lol)!  The initial shock of cold water on my face made me think, what am I crazy to be out here diving today?  It was a full moon so I was also worried about the current but, to my surprise, there was no current at all.  The water was a deep pea soup green and it looked like this would be one of those typical no viz dives but, once I got on the bottom I was pleasantly surprised that the viz was about 20' and was not completely dark.  

I headed towards the bow initially and spent my dive looking for artifacts.  I saw lots of brass spikes, copper sheeting and baby lobsters.  The entire lobster was not any larger than my hand, they were so cute...  There were also quite a few butterfly fish that did not make it back down south.  Several areas of the wreck had wood exposed that was clean with no growth on it which was neat to see.  It always amazes me to see so much structure still existing on wrecks as old as the Delaware.  I ended up swimming most of the wreck and was happy to report that the bottom temp was 56 degrees which allowed me to stay on the bottom for longer than I anticipated.  The engine block still stands about 10-20' off the bottom and is easily identifiable.   This dive was so worth the wait, it was relaxing and I really enjoyed it.  In fact, for all those divers that frown upon this wreck, you simply cannot find a better wreck so close to shore that has so much to offer and I would dive it again.  Like I said earlier, going out and diving the Delaware is better than not diving at all.

Now for the tough part, once I was on the surface the wind was blowing and I thought that my hands and my head was going to fall off.  It was so cold that I had the nastiest ice cream headache!!! BRRRR...  this reminded me that it is November and time to most likely hang up my regulators for the winter.

However, I may still try to get out diving again in the next week or two if the weather allows,..so stay tuned!

Oregon 8-26-14

Today was a crew day out on the Independence II and we decided to go to the Oregon since we all had a nice dive there last year.  The sea conditions were conducive to allow for the long ride out to this passenger liner.  My trip report from 7-16-13 provides some perspective on the wreck along with some photos.

After a long nap on the ride out, a leather-back turtle sighting, and waiting for the first group of divers to surface, it was finally my turn to splash.  Initial reports were advising that the visibility was about 25' with lots of particulate matter in the water column.  As a result, I opted to leave my camera on-board.  We were anchored into the engines which are massive to say the least.  They rise about 40' off the bottom.  There are a total of 9 boilers!  Once I reached the bottom there was an evident current that made it that much harder to move about.  I tried to find an area with some relief from the current and found this along the sand of the starboard side.  The visibility ranged from about 25' to further at times as the particulate matter rolled in and out in waves with the current.  I saw rows of where portholes once were and I am sure there are plenty still to be had.  The Blackfish were huge on this wreck and I even saw some Triggerfish.  The water temperature on the bottom was a balmy 55 degrees while on the hang it was 71 degrees.  I swam around the entire engine block more than once and it is so large that you can actually swim through it.  I have to say that I enjoyed last years dive to the bow more because there was a bigger debris field which made it a little more interesting.  The engines are relatively intact and did not have as large of a debris field, if it were not for the current, I would have tried to swim towards the stern to check out that area.  Next time.  I ended up with about 27 minutes on the bottom, sticking to my conservative diving profiles so that I can continue to dive..so far, it is at least giving me the opportunity to still dive....

In hindsight, we were all saying that today would have been the day to go to the 56 Mile wreck...I've yet to dive the 56 mile wreck and hope to get there this season. Here are a few surface pics of John and Sean.

John, a man with a mission!

Will he fit out the exit to the water??

Sean displacing some water

Well I hope to be out diving again soon, this season is slow and steady and I am pleased with my accomplishments thus far.  We did spend some time talking about warmer dive destinations, Capt. Dan spoke of his epic trip to Thailand diving deep wrecks and Sean of his upcoming trips to Cozumel and Cocos.  I would love to go to Thailand someday, I have heard so much about their wreck diving but, at the same time, I would love to dive with whale sharks and large schools of hammerheads too.  Once I retire, perhaps these more grandious trips will be a yearly event but for now, wreck diving in NJ is just fine with me!

Hvoslef 8-6-14

The Hvoslef is a Norweigan freighter that was torpedoed and sunk in 1942.  The wreck sits on a sandy bottom in about 140' of water.  We decided to dive this wreck today because it was predicted that swells would be rolling in from the tropical storm offshore.  Given the high relief of the wreck and sandy bottom we figured it was out best bet.  There were some swells but they were very small and as the day wore on the seas flattened right out.

As I splashed on this wreck the current was ripping on the surface and as a result we all jumped in with a tow to the carolina rig.  However, once you were down about 10' the current let up and was barely noticeable.  The surface viz was was similar to yesterday, never ending.  I did take my camera along for this dive so I was hoping for the best on the bottom.  Once we got to the bottom, this viz was not so hot, it was about 20'-25' but it was light.  We were anchored mid-wreck in a debris field with lots of pipes.  As you followed one of the pipes it led to the bow and the boilers and seemed to have lots of artifacts.  I spent my dive shooting some macro of the gargonian corals that you typically don't see in this area.

The viz seemed to get worse the longer we were down which made it hard to navigate.  I never checked the bottom temp but it was very cold, however, from about 50' up to the surface it was a balmy 75 degrees.I would like to visit this wreck again and hope to gain better conditions.  Sean found a dead light window which should polish up real nice!!

Again, there were lots of lobsters boated and some nice flounder.  I felt great after the dive, I have concluded that I need to do real conservative dives and hang extra long...it is what it is and at least I am still able to dive:)))  On the way in we saw a whale and a nice turtle, the ocean is full of life!

Ben Roberts hanging

We finished up the week of diving in Cape May at Lucky Bones for dinner, its seems we all ate a lot this week..  I am truly regretful that I did not dive the St. Augustine, the conditions were epic!!. Everyone raved about the visibility that lasted forever, the warm bottom temp in the 50's, and the wreck being covered in leopard dogfish along with the visiting Mahi Mahi.   I need to take baby steps and I will get there someday...I am now officially exhausted, it is not easy to dive deep multiple days.  I am looking forward to a few days in Chincoteague, VA with my friends to catch up on some much needed rest and sleep..then it will be time to go diving again..looking at the N. Lilian or Resor in the coming weeks.

Terror Wreck 8-5-14

I have been trying to dive this wreck for a long, long time.  My last attempt was in 2007 and when that did not pan out I was very disappointed.  I always knew I would be given the opportunity to dive it again but, I never imagined it would not be for 7 years.  Today, I was finally going to have this opportunity aboard the Independence II.

The Terror Wreck is an unidentified Swedish freighter that sits in 160' of water.  There have been many artifacts recovered from the wreck but, still its true identity is a mystery. Some believe it could be the Solvang.



As we left Cape May Inlet, the seas were flat calm and the sun was shining.  I was excited, yet nervous since this was only my second time out diving this season.  Today I was diving with Captain Dan and Dan Martinez and we were all going to swim around the wreck and stick together.  Since I was on open circuit I knew I would be heading up long before my buddies so I made sure I knew where the anchor was at all times.  The surface viz was awesome and the viz on the bottom was about 30'-40'.  It was clear and bright yet lots of particulate matter and luminesence in the water column.  We were anchored into the extreme stern of the wreck right next to the props that were easily identifiable.  There was a high piece of the stern that rose up about 20' from the bottom which is easy to penetrate.    If you swam along the prop shaft it would take you to the larger and higher mid section of the wreck that was impressive.  We all spent the dive just exploring the wreck.  There were some massive fish speared and a good amount of lobsters taken.  My main goal of this dive was to relax and take in the wreck and to be safe.  My goal was accomplished and I was so happy.

It was such a treat to be able to dive this wreck with such great visibility and lack of current.  This wreck is known to be dark and low viz but today was the exception. It was worth waiting 7 years or longer to dive it!!! Perhaps the opportunity will come again and I will be able to visit the Terror Wreck again.

The Dykes, July 26, 2014

I cannot believe that it is the end of July and I am finally making my first North Atlantic Dive of the 2014 season.  As some of my fellow divers know, I have had some health problems that precluded me from diving for quite some time and in the future I intend to share the story in an effort to help other divers know how important it is that you DO NOT dive unless your health is 100%.  That being said, I am so happy to finally be able to get out and dive again.  On board the Independence II we were destined for the Resor but, due to the weather forecast we opted to stay closer to shore and dive the Dykes for fish.  I personally was happy with this choice since it is a tad shallower than the Resor which made for an easy relaxing dive for my first ocean dive of the year.  I did dive 4 dives in the quarry last week to make sure everything was A okay and also to remind myself how lucky I am that I don't have to dive the quarry often.

I have actually only dove the Dykes one other time and it is not a bad dive.   The Dykes was a five masted steel schooner built in 1919 and sunk as part of the artificial reef program in 1983.  This wreck is rather large yet easy to navigate if you follow the keel through the center of the wreck.  On my first dive, after I splashed I was following the Carolina rig and realized the wreck was in view at about 20' down.  The wreck sits in 65' of water although I believe I didn't get any deeper than 63' in the sand, most of the dive was at 52'-54'.    I quickly explored the stern and then followed the edge of the keel and ribbing along the sand towards the bow.  The wreck is covered in mussels and there is a decent amount of sea bass, tautog, and flounder on it.  I did not see any lobsters and there were no lobsters brought up by other divers.  The visibility was great, about 30', although is still quite cold on the bottom.  I kept my bottom time short, at 30 minutes and headed up for the surface.

The Independence II attracts a lot of re-breather divers and as a result, most of the divers do one long dive. In fact Igor was down for 180 minutes.  I often wonder what you do down there for so long but, when they come up with lots and lots of fish or lobsters, I guess I see what they do with their time.  I did a short surface interval and went back in for dive #2.  On this dive I followed the opposite side of the ribbing and collected some sand dollars.  I enjoy painting and usually can't pass up nice sand dollars or sea shells that can be used for later projects. In fact, I spent most of the winter painting with watercolor and I am almost done with a painting that has the Indy II in the painting, I will share this on my blog once it is completed.

This trip ended with us back at the dock before noon.  There was a lot of fish to filet and we all had fish or mussels to bring home for dinner.

Sean Martini with his catch for the day, Looks like Igor is jealous in the backround!

Next week is the trip to Cape May for the week, time and weather will tell what wreck I may or may not end up diving..Be Safe!!

NOAA and the Robert Walker Wreck

I have held back for quite some time in writing about NOAA's recent report in which they have identified a wreck off of Atlantic City commonly known as the $25 wreck or Mason's Paddlewheeler.  Here is a link to the report:
Identification of the Wreck of the U.S.C.S.S. Robert J. Walker

Last July (2013) I was invited by the NJ Maritime Museum to attend a meeting with NOAA about the possible identification of the wreck.   I attended only because I was curious about their findings.  During this meeting NOAA advised that they have identified the $25 Wreck and/or Mason's Paddlewheeler and find it to be the Robert J. Walker Wreck.  They were interested in creating a bridge with the wreck diving community and ultimately setting up a display in the museum about the wreck.  They hoped that the wreck diving community could work together with NOAA to continue to further document the wreck and to have artifacts previously recovered by divers displayed in the museum.  Initially I thought that NOAA has finally changed its view about wreck divers and have found a way to work together towards common goals.

After the meeting I read through the report identifying the wreck and noticed immediately that my words were taken from my blog and used as a means to help NOAA identify this wreck without my permission.  I subsequently contacted Mr. James Delagado and expressed my copyright concerns and he agreed to remove reference to myself and my blog from the report.  Since our meeting, Mr. Delgado has been very proactive in trying to get the message out to divers that NOAA wants to form this bridge with them and that they are not here to confiscate any artifacts found on the wreck in prior years when the wreck was unidentified.  NOAA is currently working on a letter that would allow divers to display their artifacts in the NJ Maritime Museum without NOAA taking ownership of the artifacts.  I am cautiously optimistic that this letter will come from someone with authority given the existing laws in place claiming ownership to all Federally owned wrecks and their contents.  It is disturbing to know that while NOAA is trying to form this bridge with wreck divers, the Department of  Defense is trying to pass a rule revision that would further restrict diving to military wrecks or government connected wrecks..  Time will tell how this matter will be handled between the two Federal agencies

As you all know, I love to wreck dive and all of these events have deeply saddened me.  I have worked for and/or with government all my life and what I have observed is they do like to come in and propose radical regulations that restrict so many freedoms but, then in time they "relax" those regulations due to their impact on the economy or lack of means to enforce them.  I suspect this will be the case with these new regulations restricting our freedom to dive so many wrecks here in NJ that were tied to war times.  What NOAA or the Department of Defense cannot take away from me is my memories and adventures that I have lived diving these wrecks.  I have had great times out diving the $25 wreck in the 1980's and have participated in great conversations of what this wreck or other unidentified wrecks could possibly be.  NOAA came in and took credit for identifying this one wreck but, there were many years that divers found artifacts and saw the wreck before it settled into the muddy substrate.  During those times divers shared their findings and worked together to try to put the pieces of the puzzle together and identify a wreck.  I'm afraid I am still not convinced that there is enough evidence to accurately identity the $25 wreck and/or Mason's Paddlewheeler.  Those years where divers worked together and shared artifacts are now coming to an end as a result of the overzealous government agencies, and now this must be done in absolute secrecy.

I removed my post about the $25 wreck last year to protect my copyright rights.  Until the foreseeable future, I will no longer post in my blog photos of artifacts recovered, or even write about them unless I am absolutely positive that it is not a government wreck. I will however, continue to photograph divers obtaining artifacts underwater and up on the boat but, it will simply be shared in privacy among fellow divers and not on my blog.  Safe Diving!

Another Dixon becomes a Certified Diver

I have spent the last few weeks with my son, Matt learning the basics required to become a certified PADI Scuba Diver.  Matthew is an avid surfer whom surfs all winter long to catch the larger swells. He has developed quite the name for himself and respect of the Pro's that surf along with him.  As a result, he is a natural in the water and Scuba is like a walk in the park for someone adapt to 39 degree water and surfing heavy waves.  Scuba is the perfect sport to parlay with surfing...if its too rough to dive, you surf.

I went  to Dutch Springs with Matt on July 19th and 20th and watched as  he completed his 4 check-out dives and became a certified diver.  I am now a proud mom of two scuba divers!!!

I am planning on taking Matt out for his maiden voyage to a NJ Wreck within the next few weeks and hopefully he will be able to squeeze a few NJ wreck dives in this year!

Congratulation's Matt !  I hope you find passion for wreck diving as I have... (although I believe it will be VERY hard to sway him from his first passion, Surfing).

2013 Wreck Diving

Well here we are in the midst of a cold and snowy winter.  I actually enjoy winter because I enjoy winter sports such as skiing, snowshoeing, winter hiking, and ice skating.  However, I cannot ski or snowshoe every week so I often find myself with time on my hands.  Therefore, I compiled some photos from 2013 and created a slide show to share.  These photos are from various wrecks in New Jersey and North Carolina.

Last week the crew of the Independence II met to create the 2014 wreck diving schedule and I have to say, it looks like one of the best schedules as of yet!!