Max's Wreck/ Montgomery 7-31-15

What a great week I had wreck diving, here we are at day 4 of diving on the Independence II out of Atlantic City.  I did not think we would make it out today and it was a little rough on the ride out but, it laid down and was quite nice out.

We ended up at Max's wreck which sits in about 150' of water although I know one area of the wreck can reach depths of 160'-165'.  Brandon and Sean tied us in and there was no current but it was quite choppy up top.  I splashed next and noticed right away that the anchor line was doing quite a dance, note to myself...remember, the hang will not be fun.  At about 106' the wreck came into view.  We were tied in next to the engine which comes up about 20'-25' from the bottom.  The visibility was only about 15'-20' and was quite silty.

I saw this the other day on the Miraflores, not sure what it is..

I followed the edge of the wreck along the sand and spotted what appeared to be the largest starfish I had ever seen.  I tried to take a photo of it but, Jon had reached the bottom and was creating a giant silt cloud as he looked for brass.  This is a wooden wreck and the wood edges of the wreck are extremely thick.  There are lots of nets on the wreck and also piles of coal.  There is a prop shaft and large props at the stern of the wreck.  This wreck is really old (1877) yet the wood is still so prominent.  My old blog dive report for this wreck on 8/20/10 shows that the conditions I found on this wreck 5 years ago remain the same..After a while I retraced my route back to the anchor line and swam up to the top of the engine.  There were square vents/holes in the engine block and each one had a giant lobster in it.  I tried to take photos of them and they would back deep in the hole as I approached.

 I then noticed brittle stars that were hanging on pink-hearted hydroids, this looked so cool.  I spent the rest of my dive trying to tease the lobsters out so I could get a better photo of it.

My hang was miserable, I actually pulled the John line out of my bin and for some reason put it away before I splashed...big mistake.  Up on the surface, Brandon had found a silver spoon and chards of china with patterns and writing on them.  Perhaps these finds will help to identify this wreck.  Jon brought up a rock (which he took much abuse for), piece of wood (supposedly a spoon holder), and chards of china too.

Brandon and his spoon and his nice smile!

The seas laid down beautifully and we had a nice and fast ride in.

This has been a great week of diving for me!!! How often can you dive the Texel, Varanger, Miraflores and Max's Wreck all in the same week???  Thanks to the Independence II and the great crew for a fun and very safe week of diving!

I will be taking my kids out diving next week, a day I am really looking forward to!

Mirafores (Unknown Freighter) 7-28-15

Wow what a wreck!!!  I have waited a long time to be able to dive this wreck and it was worth the wait to say the least.  After diving the Varanger the day before, we looked at the forecast and decided to head offshore again and dive the Miraflores.

The Miraflores was an unknown freighter that was torpedoed by the U-432 on February 19, 1942.  In recent years this wreck was identified by Gene Peterson.  It tells a really interesting and empathetic story that is best reflected by his own words of the discovery...

S.S. Miraflores  Click the link for the full story.

This wreck sits in 165' of water although my maximum depth was only 150' and it was one of the better dives that I have done in my lifetime!

We left under calm seas and humid hot weather and headed offshore with a group that has been diving together for quite some time and it provided for a fun and exciting day.

Joe and Sean tied us in within minutes and I was going to be in the group that pulled the anchor so, I was restlessly sitting on the boat for a few hours while all the other divers did their dives.  Since it was so hot there were a few of us that went swimming to cool down during the wait.  Finally after what seemed like an eternity, it was my turn to get dressed and splash.  We had reports of bad visibility up top but great viz on the bottom and Sean said take my camera.  There was a current on the surface but it was nothing like the Resor a few weeks back.  I could see the wreck at 110' and we were anchored right adjacent to the boilers.  First thing I noticed was this wreck was loaded with fish unlike the past few dives.  The visibility was about 40' and it was cold like the Texel.  I swam around the boilers and out towards the sand.  I started to take photos but due to the extreme heat up top and the extreme cold on the bottom,  my camera lens fogged, the moisture munchies were not doing their job!  I shot a few photos anyway but knew the fogged lens would make the photos cloudy.  So I spent most of my dive checking out the wreck.  This wreck is really beautiful, it has the high boilers and the props sticking out of the sand which makes for great visual reference.  There were tons of ling cod and ocean pouts.  In fact one ling cod kept coming for my mask and I had to keep pushing it away.

This guy just would not leave my lens or my mask alone!

 I lasted a little over 15 minutes and I started to get real cold so I needed to head up.  Seems on these deeper dives, I struggle to make 20 minutes due to the cold.  The Helium really gets me chilled and I am having issues off-gassing as a result. The thermocline was high up on this  dive at 38'..above 38' I had 77 degrees and boy did that feel great.

Once we surfaced, I found that everyone had a great dive and there were possible artifacts found that would be left for another dive.  There were both lobsters and scallops boated on this dive too!!!

When Capt. Dan picked me up from the ball, I climbed on the boat and once I got on the platform I fell and got my fin caught and twisted my ankle..Thanks to Joe Rogers and Ben Roberts, the lifeguard whom helped to free my foot and get me on my feet again!  It is quite painful today so I will be off to the doctor to make sure I didn't break anything and that it is just a sprain.  If my ankle it ok, I will be back out diving on Friday...not sure of the destination as of yet but, this sure has been a great week of diving for all of us on the Independence II!

Here are a few pictures but you can clearly see the fogged spot in the middle of them all, some dives are mean to be remembered in your mind and cannot be captured in pictures or video.

Not sure what all the pink sponges are called..never saw them before.

I really enjoyed this wreck and hope I get the opportunity to go back and dive this wreck again someday...

Varanger 7-27-15

Well today the boat was destined for the Carolina but, the weather had different plans for us all. At departure time a storm rolled in with thunder and lightning so we stayed at the dock until the storm passed through.  It was about 7:30 am when the storm started to pass which was too late to head for the Carolina so we opted for the Varanger.  There were a few swells left over from the day before but as we go closer and closer to the Varanger it laid down to 1' seas and no current.

The Varanger is a tanker that was torpedoed 3 times by the U-130 and sunk on January 25, 1942.

Upon arrival at the wreck site it became apparent that the Varanger was not offshore far enough to get out of the green ocean water which provides for poor surface visibility and a darker bottom. When it was my turn to splash the viz on the bottom was about 25-30' and dark.  We were anchored high up in the stern of the wreck in about 110' of water.  The stern is still relatively intact and you can still penetrate inside of it.  I splashed just before Sean and Sabastian and saw them go inside the stern so, I opted to hang within site of the strobe and shoot some photos.  This wreck is very large and when there are other divers on the bottom below you lighting up the wreck it really shows how much relief there is..It is impressive!  The bottom temp on this dive was 45 degrees and even though that is cold, I felt like it was tropical compared to the Texel.

I noticed that this wreck is being taken over by mussels, they are actually choking out the sea anemones.  There is still a lot of brass on this wreck for those that enjoy recovering artifacts.

 I did a 20 minute dive and shot about 50 photos.  This was definitely a much better dive than they last time I attempted to dive this wreck in October 2010 when I had 6' seas and current.

Once I was up on the boat there were lobsters boated and a few scallops.  There were quite a few divers whom never dove this wreck and they all enjoyed it, some liked it even more than the Texel. I have dove this wreck more than most wrecks and it will always remain one of my favorites!

Texel Dive Report 7-25-15

I have been looking forward to diving out of Atlantic City all summer and what a great start we had!. I typically go to North Carolina this week and had initially planned to take both my kids down for a week of diving the wrecks in NC but, work schedules and Equestrian training got in the way.  This left me open to go diving on the Independence II to some wrecks that I have never been to.  The wrecks included the Texel, Varanger, Offshore Paddlewheeler, Carolina, and Winnecone.

First up was the Texel..we left under Lake Atlantic conditions, in the dark highlighted by the lights of Atlantic City  and a million stars in the sky for the 60 mile run out to Texel which is one of the Black Sunday Wrecks.  The Texel was a 330' long tanker that was sunk by the U-151 on June 2, 1918.  The wreck now sits in 220' of water on a sandy bottom.

Beautiful Sunrise on our way offshore!

We had a really full boat today, 14 divers.  Everyone was excited on the ride out as we all chatted, joked and slept to occupy the 3.5 hour run.  The tie into the wreck was effortless and in no time the pool was open.  I hung back and was diving in the next to last group of divers to splash.  It was not long before out tie-in crew, Brandon and Joe sent up of a lift bag.  They each found a port hole which is pretty exciting!  Once they surfaced it was reported that the viz was forever and that there was absolutely no current.

Joe & Brandon with their portholes.

  It was time for me to gear up and go in and I was quite nervous.  I am always nervous at these depths.  The guys were great at reminding me that diving in the deep mudhole is very challenging and since I dive the mudhole a lot, this dive would be no problem at all for me.  It helped hearing that but, I still was nervous.

Thanks Brandon for capturing me jumping in to dive the Texel!!!

 Capt. Dan splashed before me and in I went  to the beautiful blue water and unlimited viz.  As I descended, around 70' the water turned very cold and got colder and colder..I think it was 40 degrees on the bottom and felt even colder than that.  I remember looking at my depth gauge at 148' and then seeing Capt. Dan on the bottom.  Boy this viz was great!!  I believe we were tied into the bow because we were at the very end of the wreck and you could swim to the boilers but I did not see a prop shaft so therefore, assume we were in the bow.  The wreck is low lying other than the piece we were tied into.  There were not many fish on the wreck other than large ling cod but, there were nice lobsters.  I also noticed that there was garbage on the wreck, plastic bottles,  a YoHoo can etc. which I typically do not see.  I stayed within sight of the strobe and did not travel too far.   This wreck is pretty broken up but the boilers of course were still standing tall and recognizable.  I more or less just poked around on this wreck and tried to get a feel of the layout in case I should return someday.  It was not long before I was shaking  like a leaf from being so cold..I planned on a 20 minute dive but, headed up after 16 minutes, I could not take the cold and knowing my deco stops started at 130' and it would not be until 70' before I hit the warmer water.  The deco was long but, since there was 0 current it was relaxing.  We saw some really cool tropicals that I never saw before which kept me entertained.,they were swimming in mini schools around the back of Capt. Dan's unit.  I also saw a very immature file fish that looked to be only about 2" in size even with my mask magnification.  He swam up to my mask and I help out my finger and it would poke at it...sooo cool!

After I surfaced I was so proud of myself, this was a deeper dive for me and it went smoothly.  On top of that I got to dive a wreck that few have been too!!

Day 2 of our week of diving was blown out, it was too rough to head to the Varanger so, we took a few of the crew fishing for a few hours and then went to the Oyster Creek Inn via boat for some sushi.  It was a nice way to spend a windy day!

Immaculata 7-19-15

I was on the fence as to whether or not to go diving today.  I had a minor surgery between my last dive and today and still was a little sore but, was cleared to dive.  I decided to go the night before and I am glad I did.  We were destined for the Immaculata on the Independence II and I was planning on only 1 dive.

I was the last group to go in and dive and heard reports of great viz and lobstermania...I did not bring my camera out today since this is a wreck for digging and hunting. After I splashed the viz on the top was horrible but started opening up after the thermocline.  I estimate the viz to be about 25'-30', I could clearly see the wreck at 68' and divers on the bottom.  This is really great for this wreck which is a garbage barge sunk on top of another garbage barge.  There was no need for a wreck reel this dive (yeah) and immediately once I reach the bottom I saw bottles.  I grabbed a few bottles and started seeing lobsters.  I was pointing them out for my buddies to grab them.  During the lobster grabbing battles the wreck silted up pretty good which is typical, this wreck is very silty.  I decided to leave the silted in area and head out on my own in the opposite direction.  I found some pieces of china and another bottle and then I saw it...Giant eyes staring at me, it appeared to be a giant flounder staring at me.  I was yelling in my regulator look at that hugggeee flounder..Of course I was alone and no spear.  I contemplated stabbing it with my knife but, I did not want to risk missing it.  Then out of no where came Nick whom had a spear.  I was trying to show him where the flounder was but, he had so many lobsters in his hand he could not bag them all so he grabbed my bag to put some lobsters in it.  He then speared the flounder for me and it took three of us to get it in my bag since my bag was not big enough for it.  I was so excited...bottles, lobster and flounder all in one dive.

After all that excitement I swam around looking for more bottles.  I noted that the bottom temp was warm...60 degrees, it was 72 on my hang.  I checked my time and I was into deco and didn't want to hang forever so I headed up.  I did my hang in the terrible no viz area, although it was toasty warm.  I completed my required deco and was doing my personal extra safety hang when BANG, I heard a loud POP and air was flowing out of my tank.  I did not know exactly what blew and there was no one else hanging with me to help.  I was in 20' of water and thought I may have seconds before I ran out of air so I surfaced.  Turns out my low pressure regulator hose blew!  Thank God this happened after my deco and in only 20 of water.  I typically close my center valve on my manifold and today I did this which, is why I was still able to breathe during my ascent, the hose that blew was on the other tank and regulator that I was not breathing on.  If this happened on the bottom, I still would have had a separate source of air and regulator to get me to the surface.  I knew there was a reason for my dive today...I am planning on diving the Texcel, Varanger, and other deeper wrecks next week, good thing this did not happen on one of those dives!!!  This low pressure hose blow gives me time to make repair and to check all my other hoses prior to next week.  It also was a reminder to make sure I keep my center valve on the manifold closed on those deeper dives in case something like this were to happen.  I can undo my harness strap and close my valves but when this happens, those tanks empty much quicker than I could close a valve.

There was a lot of lobsters boated today and I am sorry that we did not take photos along with all the bottles found.  I did take a photo of our bottles ..

I was kind of in a rush after I got in since today was also Christmas in July at the sandbar with all my friends.  I wanted to get home drop off my dive stuff and hop on my boat to head out to the sandbar for our big barbeque.  Given how hot it was, it sure was a nice way to end the day out there relaxing with my best friends!  The sunset was beautiful too!!!

The tide coming in on our Christmas in July party!

Looking forward to diving this week off  Atlantic City!!!

The Resor 7-11-15

Today I went out on the Independence II which was charted by DiveSeekers and destined for the famed Resor.  One can never tire of this wreck and today was definitely one of those adventurous days that will surely be remembered!

The Resor was a tanker carrying crude oil when she was torpedoed by the U578 on February 27, 1942. There were only 2 survivors...Today the wreck sits in 125' of water and it has quite a bit of relief.  It is known for scallops, large lobsters, and artifacts.

The parking lot at Hoffman's Marina was packed to the gill, aahhh it was Mako Mania weekend, how do I manage to pick this weekend to dive every year??  As we approached the wreck we saw several fishing boats in the area and upon arrival there was one boat anchored on the wreck.  However, the Capt. of that fishing boat radioed over and said he was pulling anchor and that we can move in.  He advised us that the current was extremely strong and it hindered their fishing.  Hmmm...this was our first clue to the adventure that lied ahead.  We dropped the ball and noticed that the current was making waves over the ball, not a good sign.   We timed the current and it was running about 2 knots. It was time for the "dream team" to try and tie us into the wreck.  The plan was to try and get them in the water ahead of the ball in a location that would allow the current to bring them to the ball.  If the current was as bad on the bottom as it was on the surface, there would be no diving the Resor today.  The "dream team" was successful at tying the boat into the wreck.   When they came up they advised that the current dropped off at about 40' and there was no current on the bottom.  The pool was open but due to the surface current, we all were splashing in with a line in out hand that was tied to the boat, and the crew would be pulling the divers to the carolina line and then it would be a hand over hand pull until you got under the current.  The current was similar to what is typically found diving the Andrea Doria.

I planned to shoot photos but, Brandon advised that the viz was only about 15' so due to the lower viz and the current, the camera was staying on board.  Several divers went in and some aborted since they could not get under with the current.  I decided to dive in a threesome with Bill and Capt. Dan.  Our plan was to run a line out and get scallops or flatties for dinner with a bottom time of about 30 minutes.   Sounds like a great plan for 3 experienced divers right???  Capt. Dan splashed first, then me, and Bill last.  I had no problem getting to the carolina line with my tow from Joe up on the boat and got under relatively easily to find Capt. Dan waiting for me and then we moved on. It was hand over hand and my arms were burning along with breathing hard.  I kept stopping to rest and catch my breath and moved on again until I got below the current and could relax.  There were a few moments when I thought I couldn't hang on but I kept saying to myself, you made it this far..not much further and it will let up.  This was bringing back memories of a similar dive I had on the Varanger many years ago (see my Varanger post on  10-23-10).  Once we were on the the bottom, the viz didn't seem too bad, more like 20' and bright enough that I didn't need a light.  We tied off the wreck reel and headed off.  We were on a section of the wreck with lots of pipes strewn about and a really, really high wall like piece that came up to about 105'.  I believe we were mid-ship and most of the wreck was pretty broken up.  As we headed towards the sand we did not see many scallops but, we did start to see lots of flounder.  Capt. Dan and I would shine our lights on the flatties and Bill was spearing and bagging up.  A few scallops were found but not the usual quantity.. Where are the scallops???  I signaled to Capt. Dan that I was turning around and heading back towards the anchor.  Thoughts of the tough hang in current was on my mind so I went up at 23 minutes instead of the planned 30 minutes.  They continued on spearing flounder and ended up with quite a few, and some lobsters too.

Most of the "guys" were only doing 1 dive today because they were diving the U869 the next day.  I planned on only one dive too since I was exhausted from the current but, all of a sudden the current let up.  I decided to go in an do a second dive and this time I took my camera and just hung around the anchor line.  Terry had told me where to find a pipe with a huge lobster in it so that I could photograph it.  There were a ton on pipes down there and everyone I looked in did not reveal the lobster that I was looking for.  I shot a few photos and had a calm dive since I was down alone with no grand "dive plan".  I saw some huge tautog and the bottom was littered with ling, ocean pouts, and tons of bergals pecking at my mask.    Parts of the wreckage are covered in small mussels, it is kind o neat to see how cyclic mussels are..I almost forgot...right before I splashed for my 2nd dive a large shark swam around the boat (remember mako mania)..made me more than a little nervous given the abundance of chum slicks in the area.. Well during my hang I though Kevin was tapping me and I couldn't understand what he was trying to say and then I thought...he is trying to tell me the shark is around...I was wrong and Kevin was just trying to find out if I wanted to pass him...the mind sure does mess with you when it comes to sharks!!

The bottom temp was about 48 degrees and 70 on the hang..not bad at all!  The viz was a solid 20' on the 2nd dive too.

Love Brittle Stars!

There were lobsters, plenty of flatties and a few scallops bought up today which made for a nice dinner for all the guys diving the next day off shore..I headed home and had cold pizza...how did that happen?  I would like to have dove the U869 but, I just did not feel ready for it.  Once I was home I thought I took a hit in my arm since it  it was hurting but, I think it was strained from pulling my self down the anchor line and today it is fine..  So...some days, this thing called diving is an ADVENTURE...

On a side note...I was told Sunday when the Indy returned from the U869 that it was the best conditions they ever had on the wreck and that I should have gone.  It was over 70' of visibility, Lake Atlantic, little or no current although they said it was very, very cold.

Cornelius Hargraves 7-3-15

What better way to celebrate Independence Day and our Freedoms than to go diving all weekend.  My dive weekend kicked off with a dive to the Cornelius Hargraves on the Dina Dee.  On my way to the boat I saw the most beautiful red sunrise that had me in such awe that I quickly parked and ran up to the beach to take in it for a few minutes.  What a tranquil moment it was for me and it filled me with such peace.  I arrived at the dock to a fully loaded boat, Ahh Haaa...here are all the divers, it has been a long time since I was on such a loaded boat and it was nice to see.  We were destined to the Viscaya but when we arrived there was a fishing boat on it so we went next door to the Cornelius Hargraves which sits in 80' of water.

                                         
 The Cornelius Hargraves was a four mastered schooner that collided with the Viscaya on October 30, 1890.  Schooners are one of my favorite types of wrecks to dive and I am always on the lookout for  a dead eye..the one artifact that I yearn to find.

Since the boat was loaded, I opted to wait it out, let all the divers go in, and I would go in last so that it would be less crowded on the bottom.  Once I splashed the ever present pea soup green water with limited visibility remained on top but it opened up nicely to about 20' of visibility on the bottom.  We were tied into the stern at the highest piece of the wreckage.  I swam around the high piece and noted the abundance of sand dollars.  This year seems to be a year where they are in abundance for some reason.  Then I chose a line of ribbing to swim down in search of anything that resembles a dead eye. This wreck however, is mostly filled in with sand so without some major digging, there would be no dead eyes for me.  I swam down three different sections of ribbing and saw a ton of sea bass, tautog, and a lone lobster claw.  I did not see a single flounder.

Such vibrant colors!

The bottom temperature was 52 degree and towards the end of my dive I got quite a chill.  So happy I had my heated vest to warm me up!!  I ended up with a 45 minute bottom time and shot quite a few pictures.  Since there was particulate matter in the water, a lot of the pictures were not crisp.  I spent time taking pictures of the wooden structure of the wreck, I think that it is sooo cool to see the wood still intact even though its been under the ocean since 1890 (125 years)!  That is a long time.  There was quite a few sea  bass speared, one flounder, and lobsters too.  Captain Roger got a real nice lobster!!!

I decided not to do a second dive since I knew I was going offshore on the 4th to dive a deeper wreck. I do like these Friday dives...nothing like leaving at 7AM and being back in by 12 ish...It leaves plenty of time to still get some work done after the dive!!

The weather kicked up and blew out my 4th of July dive but, there is always next weekend!!

Happy 4th of July!!!