Megalodon Rebreather Certification

 Its has been a long time coming...I finally was able to take a Megalodon Rebreather course with Becky Schott of Liquid Productions Inc. to become certified on the Meg15.  I have been wanting to switch over to a rebreather for a very long time and the main reason it has taken me so long is having two children in college.  The funding just was not there.  As soon as Becky advertised another class that was local (Dutch Springs, PA), and it was also in September (warm water), I knew this was my chance.  I still do not own a rebreather therefore, I decided to take the course to insure that I could pass the course and that I felt comfortable on the rebreather prior to investing so much money in the rebreather itself.  I therefore, rented a Meg15 which is the unit I hoped to purchase over the winter.  I would then dive a couple of weekends in the spring in the quarry so that I would be all set for next dive season in the ocean.

The academics of the course was the 1st two days and while they were long days, it was not too bad.  I must admit I was panicking prior to the class because I was overloaded with work and did not feel I would be able to retain any new information.  A call to Becky calmed me down!!  The next 3 days we were at the Quarry.  On my first day at the quarry it was hotter than hell.  I couldn't wait to get in the water.  However, of course I had to be the 1 student that couldn't get through pre-breathing the unit.  I have a low lung capacity and simply could not make the lungs move enough to direct my breath through the unit.   In came Leon to the rescue, he suggested I pre-breathe while walking around with the rebreather on and this would make my lungs breathe.  Well it worked!  Once I was through that and underwater, I felt much better.  The heat was truly unbearable.  Each dive we had drills to perform in which some were easy and some required more practice.  It was not easy to learn to operate a unit and then on top of that to be able to remember all of the "boom" scenarios and how to solve a problem.  I can see that in time these drills will be 2nd nature but, in the beginning it is just a lot of information with not much time to process it.  I also had trouble at times with buoyancy since I have a Bare neopreme drysuit that is difficult to keep buoyancy in check.  I think my next drysuit will be one that does not have neopreme even if it keeps me warmer.

I was lucky enough to have Wally from Chicago in my class whom was in my opinion, very good in the water which helped the class to run smoothly.  I learned so much from this class and could not be happier and more proud that I did it.  I was definitely out of my "comfort zone" and can see how it will take sometime to get back to deep diving in a rebreather.  I am really looking forward to getting my own unit and diving it next summer!  I also cannot thank Becky enough for her patience with me and for sharing her vast knowledge of the Meg with me!!

Lilian 8-27-17

Today Gotham Divers charted the Independence II for the elusive 56 Mile wreck and for the 5th time, the sea conditions were such that we had to change our destination to the Lilian.  Everytime I am scheduled for the 56 mile wreck we are blown out but, at least today we had a plan B...We still left the marina very early to beat the incoming weather and also to beat the fishing boats to the wreck. It turned out to be a fantastic day and an awesome dive.

The tie in was pretty quick and I was the first to splash when the pool was open.  I wanted to get in quick so that my decompression was calm since the seas were already picking up.  Once I splashed I saw that finally the blue water gulf stream was in and the viz to about 75' down was at least 70'.  I love it when these conditions arrive in NJ!!  On the bottom the viz as about 25' and there was a lot of particulate matter in the water column.  Photos would be difficult today.  I did not recognize where I was on the wreckage but once I was on the surface I found out we were in the bow.  In the past I had always been near the boilers and the large plates of wreckage.  Today it was more broken up and I swam out to the various pieces in the sand.  I noticed that again this wreck was covered in nudibranchs but, they were much larger than anywhere else I have seen in the Northeast.  I did have a hard time shooting photos of them since it was pretty dark on the bottom and there was so much back scatter from the particulate matter. My camera also seemed to be having some focusing issues too.

The nudibranch blends in pretty good on this photo

 After taking a bunch of photos, I swam around to some other areas and all of a sudden I felt like the whole bottom of the ocean was moving.  I was all alone and there were tons of ling cod and flounder swimming everywhere and it felt as if they were swimming towards me.  It was so cool but also a little creepy.

I was on the search for the ocean pouts that I have photographed many times in the past on this wreck but, since I was not on the area of wreckage with the plates they were harder to locate.  I did find a few and they were definitely camera shy.

 I then swam upon a lobster carcass that was all cleaned off and the claws that were yet to be eaten.  The culprit was a lonely crab.  He must of had quite a meal and was guarding the left over claws from other fish and me!

It was pretty cold on the bottom at 46 degrees and after a while my hands were pretty cold so I headed up after about 25 minutes.  The thermocline was around 45' and it was in the upper 70's during the hang.  My hang was nice with little or no current.  However, I did have a minor regulator issue and computer issue when switching gases but, I managed to work through it without panicking..
I did manage to shoot some photos of other divers heading down during my hang..

Damien

Add caption

Scott

Up on the surface there were flounder speared and lots of lobsters and other tasty items from the sea.  It turned out to be such a great day and everyone had fun!!

Stolt Dagali 8-12-17

Today I headed out on the Independence II which was chartered by the Scuba Connection.  We were heading to the Stolt Dagali and my son Matt was on board.  The seas were not the predicted flat calm conditions but, a  nice 3' sea with some chop.  It was supposed to lay down as the day went on...  I was very excited to have Matt join us today as it is so difficult to find a day when the dive is not too deep and that he actually has off of work.  In addition, it is not very often that there are young divers out diving anymore so I am all for encouraging new divers to come out and enjoy this great sport we call wreck diving!

I forewarned Matt that once we splashed there most likely would be no visibility on the surface but, once we were on the bottom it would open up.  The visibility was about 25'-30' on the bottom which was the best we could hope for given the conditions the past few weeks.  During our first dive we swam along the top portion of the wreck to familiarize Matt with the layout of the wreck and to insure that he felt comfortable in the water.  He definitely needed a few more pounds of weight for his next dive.  He did great and enjoyed poking the sea anemones, seeing all the fish and also seeing the wreck itself.

The second dive we decided to go a little deeper to show him the break area and so that he could see that the conditions towards the bottom in terms of marine life and wreckage was different.  He enjoyed this dive much more when he could look up and see how large the wreckage actually was. We gathered some mussels for dinner too.

A good day of diving always includes a nap!

Matt and I had  great day and he is very excited about getting out again this year.  In a week or two there is another shallow dive that I hope he can get on.  I was a very proud Mom today and hope he has many more dives to come!  Everyone was very kind to Matt today and made him feel welcome which always helps too!!

Ayuruoca (Oil Wreck) 8-6-17

One of the things I like about Capt. Dan and the Independence II is that they are adaptable when weather interfere's with a planned dive.  We were supposed to head offshore today to a new wreck however, the wind was predicted to blow all night long, which it did.  Therefore, Capt. Dan proposed a late departure (9 am) and we altered our destination to the Oil Wreck since is closer to shore.  This plan worked out perfectly, well almost perfectly...I over slept and got to the boat right at 9 am and the crew was so gracious to quickly help me load the boat so that I could dive today.  I am very thankful to all of the crew, Capt. Dan, and Gotham Divers for waiting for me.  I appreciated it more than they know!!!

The Ayuruoca was a freighter that was sunk on June 10, 1945 when a Norwegian vessel ran into her during fog cutting the freighter in half.  It is a very large wreck with so much to explore.  Since it is in the mud hole, the days that you can see the wreck are few and far between.

Once we broke the inlet it was still some 3' swells but, it was laying down as we headed out.  At the Oil wreck, we had similar conditions as the day before with a deep pea soup layer and better viz on the bottom.  We had about 20'-25' viz which is the best I've had on this wreck.  It was very cold on the bottom but at least it wasn't a braille dive.  We were tied into the bow near the majestic mast that stands up to about 72'.  I actually didn't even notice the mast on my way down, it was literally right next to the anchor line, I guess I was focused on looking for the strobe on the bottom.  Once my eyes adjusted to the darkness, I followed Adam's line to the bow and just checked the wreck out.  I could see the glow of other divers lights which showed how great the viz was.  I also noticed how there is much less fishing line on the wreck than the last time I was on it which is a plus!!.

There was no current today so those that were digging silted up the wreck and the silt did not move so I made sure I stayed away from those areas.  After checking out the bow, I turned around and headed towards the break area.  I had a real nice dive and on my ascent I finally noticed the mast and thought how in the world did I not notice it on my descent..It amazes me that it is still standing so tall after all this time.

Up on the surface, Jon came up with a bag full of nice glassware and porcellin and Clarissa and Alex now have a nice steering wheel.

 It truly was a great dive and I congratulate John, Clarissa & Alex on their finds!!!  We were all very happy that Capt. Dan made today work out instead of blowing out the dive!!

Tolten 8-5-17

The Tolten was a Chilean freighter that was torpedoed and sunk on March 13, 1942.  I have never had a bad dive on this wreck and the visibility is always great and today would be no different with 30-40' viz.

It has been nearly a month since I dove, I had minor surgery and could not dive for over two weeks and of course it was unplanned and landed right in the middle of dive season.  The good news is that I am clear to dive again for now and I am going to try to make up for lost time.  Today the Independence II was chartered by Gotham Divers and it made for a nice group of divers.

Every summer the past few years we end up with this algae bloom that creates pea soup layer on the top 20'-30' and then once you are below the thermocline the water clears up but, it is very dark due to the sun not being able to penetrate through the algae.  I don't mind the darkness but, it does make it more difficult for photography.  As I descended I immediately recognized the area of the wreck I have have visited many times over the years.  I shot some photos and then noticed that there were lots of fluke (summer flounder).  I finally found one that let me approach rather close and I spent quite a while taking photos.  I wish I had a bug bag because I could of easily scooped this one up for dinner.  In fact, Joe did just that, he just bagged the fluke with no need to spear or stab it.  For some reason, they were not skittish, I even touched the one I photographed and he remained still.

After a while I left the fluke and swam around the wreck and could not help to notice that this wreck was absolutely covered in nudibranchs.  I wonder why they are so prevalent this year?  The water was 52 degrees on the bottom which is still rather cold so perhaps that is why they are so abundant?

I enjoyed my dive and and before long I was heading up to hang in the nice warm water on top.  The visibility was so awful on the hang that a diver crashed into me with his scooter because he could not see me.  It does disorient you when you can only see the anchor line you are holding onto.

So many Nudibranch

There were quite a few fluke boated and some real nice lobsters too.  It was a great day of diving!

San Diego 7-9-17

Today, on board the Independence II and we were bound for the wreck of the USS San Diego.  I have only dove this wreck two times, a long time ago, 28 years ago on July 22, 1989.  The USS San Diego was an amored cruiser that is believed to have been sunk by a mine laid by the German U-156 on July 19, 1918.  Next July it would be 100 years since its sinking.  The wreck is turtled and has substantially broken apart from what I recall the last time I dove this wreck.  There are portions of the hull moving with the current waiting to collapse at any given time.

My old log book stated that the wreck was intact and that I penetrated the wreck.  I noted that the visibility was good and that it was a great dive!   It was also my 1st decompression dive and I wrote that my decompression hang was long...25 minutes.  This was in the day when I dove air and I do not believe we even used O2 for Deco.  Well today was no different, it is still a great dive and I still had to decompress but, my decompression was not long at all given Deco gas and Nitrox.

The visibility was about 20-25' with lots are particulate matter in the water column especially near the areas that divers were stirring up inside the wreckage.  The first thing I noticed upon descent was that the relief while being about 30', it seemed less than what I recall, and as stated before, the wreck is broken up quite a bit.  The wreck is covered in some larger mussels that were providing great habitat for the abundant sea bass and tautog.  There certainly was a lot of fish on this wreck.  We were anchored in the stern area so I swam toward the bow and could easily see torpedo heads and large ammunition shells.  I did my best to shoot a few photos but, I knew the particulate matter would interfere.  I enjoyed my dive so much that I did not feel cold or even check the water temp on the bottom.

I think that everyone on board today had a great dive and we all are anxious to return this summer or at least during the 100th anniversary of the sinking!

Baleana Time 2..6-25-17

I am starting to see a pattern similar to last year where I end up multiple times on the same wreck. However, I have grown to really enjoy diving the Baleana and am very intrigued by the history of this wreck. Today we headed out on the Independence II with Gotham Divers and could not have asked for better conditions.  The seas were flat calm and we even had dolphins join us on our ride out to the wreck.

Northern Red Anemone

The boat was packed so, I waited and dove after all the divers were already in the water.  I heard reports that the visibility was great and other reports that it was only about 10'.  I opted to take my camera in case the conditions were good.  The visibility as I descended down the anchor line was pretty good and I could see the strobe and divers on the wreck at about 90'.  Once on the bottom I thought the visibility was at least 20' and it seemed brighter than my last dive on the wreck two weeks ago.  This wreck sits at a depth of 154'-155' which was a whole debate on the boat since various dives sites indicate that it is as deep as 170'.  I personally never reached deeper than about 153'.  This wreck is covered in fishing line and lures and it was very evident at the tie-in.  I swam along the outer wall of the wreck and was not far into my dive when I spotted a Northern Red Anemone.  I had always wanted to find one of these and to photograph it in NJ.  I spent a long time photographing this lone anemone not knowing that there were more on the wreck.  This wreck does not have a lot of anemones at all and really is not very colorful since it is on the edge of the mud hole.

Clarissa photobomb!

 The Northern Red Anemone is very colorful and its tentacles are very thick compared to the common Frilled Anemones.   This anemone is known to range from the Arctic to Cape Cod and is not typically found as far south as NJ.  This is why I was so excited to see one today on the Baleana.  I finally, decided to proceed with my dive and continued along the wall of the wreck.  I only saw one lone bergol and did not notice any other fish.  Just as I was finishing my dive I spotted another Northern Red Anemone and this one was bigger than the first one I found.  I did take quite a few pictures of both these anemones and when I uploaded them to my computer I also saw some nudibranchs in my photos.  I didn't even see them during my dive!

I have no idea what this is??

Nudibranch on a piece of rope.

Brass!

The bottom temp this week I think was still at about 46 degrees, but the hang was much warmer, 66 degrees..Bill found a nice brass spike..others searched for the elusive dead eyes..

Brass spike

Hoping to jump on next weeks trip to the 56 Mile Wreck!!