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

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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!