Diving North Carolina Wrecks

Yesterday (July 31st) I left my family behind for a week of wreck diving in North Carolina via Olympus Diving Center.  I always wanted to dive in North Carolina and after my trip to the Cook Islands was cancelled, I booked this trip as a cheer- me- up trip..It was a long and kind of lonely journey down here.  My adventure began on the Cape May Ferry, it was such a cool and beautiful morning, and the Delaware Bay was flat calm.. I enjoyed the morning sun with my coffee and realized, I am all alone and have no one to take care of but me..This is an odd feeling for me but, a welcome one.  Then I was off for my 7 hour drive to Morehead City, NC.  I finally arrived in time to load the boat at and head out for a few drinks and dinner with everyone. I was very, very excited for this week of discovery and adventure!

Day 1:  U-352
 The U-352 is a German submarine that sits in 100' of water and was sunk by the Coast Guard Cutter "Icaraus" on May 9, 1942.  The sub was discovered by George Purifoy whose son, Bobby was the Captain of our boat, the Olympus this week.  Other than the S-5 in NJ, I have not dove on any other subs (U-boats).  As I splashed into the deep blue water, I could immediately make out the sub below.  It is impressive to see as you descend.  I was also so mesmerized by all the schools of fish on the wreck itself.  Once on the bottom I quickly swam to the conning tower to photograph and take video of it before all the other divers arrived.

 I then swam towards the stern and circled around rudder where there was torpedo tube and  then swam along the top of the the entire sub.  I found some angel fish and sea cucumbers and took photos and video of them.  Other divers saw a manta ray and a sand tiger shark but, I did not see them.  I found an octopus camouflaged into the wreck too.

Mr. Octopus

Sea Urchin

The bottom temp was 77 degrees, so much more comfortable than my more familiar NJ waters.  I think I was one of the first divers down and also the last one to come up.  At the end of the dive I felt privileged to dive this historic sub that effected so many lives during WWII.  My grandfather was a Merchant Marine during the war and the ship he served on was torpedoed by a German sub. His ship was carrying war supplies and as it sunk it turtled taking the lives of almost all those on board.   He was one of few survivors.  He recalled slipping and falling backwards and as a result ended up on the opposite side of the ship and eventually fell to the waters below.  He hung onto a piece of wreckage for a day and a half in shark infested waters before being rescued.  Once he was rescued he was brought to French Guyana to recover.  He told stories of the sharks nipping at him and how he had to keep kicking them away.   He had nightmares of the sharks trying to attack him for the rest of his life, he also always wondered why he was one of the few that survived that day, this troubled him emensely.   I guess that is one of the reasons I am not fond of diving German sub's.  During my hang I was in awe of the massive barracuda hanging effortlessly right next to me throughout my entire hang.  I like to think he was my friend and didn't want to eat me.  This was one of those dives that it is nice to do once but in the end, it's just a pipe in the sand that probably caused a lot of destruction during the war....

USCG-Spar

 





This wreck is an artificial reef that was sunk right next to the Aeolus in June 2004 and it sits in 110' of water.  The wreck was a Coast Guard buoy tender and it sits upright and is easily penetrated.

There were tons of Spade fish on this wreck.

 This wreck is also known for its sand tiger sharks.  One of the reasons I wanted to dive in NC was to dive with sharks, I've always been wary of them and wanted to overcome my fear.  Just because they are fast and have huge sharp teeth does not mean they are any different than all the other fish in the ocean. We were anchored in the stern and once I was on the bottom I headed towards the wheelhouse which is where the sharks like to hang.  I did not see any sharks initially but, was in awe of the large amount of Spade fish packed into the wheelhouse.  As I swam through them they were so thick you actually pushed them out of your way.   This was so cool.  I then head over the bulkhead of the wreck towards the sand when I spotted a large sand tiger shark not too far from me.  I shot video of it and then it disappeared.  I checked out the holds on the deck and didn't actually swim the entire wreck, I kind of hung in one area checking out the marine life.  I enjoy watching the bait fish swirl around in packs and at times getting so thick that you can't see through them.  My hang included a token barracuda and more bait fish.  It was the end of an awesome first day of diving wrecks in NC.  I can't wait for tomorrow...we are diving the Papoose (W.E. Hutton).

I loved looking up at all the bait fish, it was so very cool!

Day 2
Papoose for two dives:

This wreck was known as the Papoose until recently when it was officially identified as the W.E. Hutton, sits upside down in 125' of water.  It is a 412' freighter that was torpedoed by the U-124 on March 18, 1942.  This is one of the wrecks that I desperately wanted to dive this week.  As soon as I splashed and began my descent, I notices 3 very large fish that had a blunt head and were quite large and impressive, I wanted to take their picture but, I assumed there would be more on the wreck.  I was wrong. I found out later that these were Mahi Mahi and only 3 of us saw them because they took off as soon as all the divers began descending onto the wreck.  At least I was blessed with seeing them!  We were anchored in the middle of the wreck near the break and I was going to dive the deeper bow section first.  As soon as I turned the corner towards the massive opening into the wreck, I saw a whole bunch of sand tiger and black tip reef sharks swimming in and out of the dark inside of the wreck.  The problem was there was so much bait fish that it made it difficult to see through them and to get any photos of the sharks.  I didn't hang around long here long, I proceeded towards the bow.  I saw some lion fish and spent some time checking them out and then more sharks appeared. They were all around me and I was just in awe.  I stayed calm and faced my fears.  I was right, they are just like any other fish swimming in the ocean.

The upside down Papoose

Sand Tiger Shark

During the second dive, we were heading to the stern but the current picked up and made that too tough of a swim for me so, I dropped down to the sand and waited for the sharks to come out from under the turtled wreck.  I had so much fun taking photos and video of the sharks...it was the highlight of my week.  As soon as I got out of the water a huge hammerhead came up chasing 3 turtles and put on quite a show...wish I was still on my hang to see that...there is always tomorrow!!  This is one wreck I would like to come back to...

Purple Sea Urchin Arbacia punctulata

Yellow Cheek Wrasse Halichoeres cyanocephalus

Hairy Cucumber Sclerodactyla briareus

Day 3
USS Shurz-

This wreck is a US/German Freighter that sunk on June 21, 1918 when it collided with the SS Florida.  It actually has an interesting history.  The Shurz was originally a 255' German gunship named the SMS Geier that was built in 1894.  In 1914, the U.S. seized the ship and renamed it the USS Shurz.  During World War II it was a German target because they did not want their own ship to be a factor in their defeat.  The USS Shurz did not meet its demise however until its collision with the SS Florida.  It now sits in 110' of water and most of the wooden decking has rotted away and what is left is lots of machinery including the boilers, anchor, rudder and cannons. I loved this wreck, it is not often that you dive on a wreck with cannons.

One of 3 cannons that I saw on this wreck

There was plenty or marine life like all the wrecks I've been to this week.  Captain Bobby warned us to be careful because the bait fish can become so thick that it disorients you and you end up lost unable to find the anchor line.  Since we've had 100' of viz on most of our dives, I found it difficult to believe what he was saying until it happened.  I was swimming right next to the boilers when the bait fish came through, I couldn't even see the bottom and distinguish between wreckage or the sandy bottom..all you saw was tons of fish in every direction.  Luckily I kept swimming towards where I thought the edge of the wreck was and eventually I swam out of the bait fish swarm and did not get lost.  There were quite a few lion fish on this wreck and I spotted a cleverly disguised octopus.

 We all were planning on staying on this wreck for two dives however, one of the fellow divers today was commissioned on the USCG Spar and he wanted to dive it.  So we all conceded to dive the Spar again for the second dive.  It is not often that you get to dive a wreck with someone that was actually commissioned to it.   We are going to come back to the USS Shurz tomorrow.  There were lots of artifact recoveries going on that needed one more dive.

USCG Spars-  The current was ripping across this wreck from port to starboard and made it very difficult to make and headway but, I managed to swim around the bow.  I saw a few sharks including one that quickly snatched up a fish right next to me and I got it on video.  The speed that he turned and grabbed the fish scared me and I decided I  better move along.  I spent time following a school of large jacks and then I saw a ray in the sand and followed him for a while.  Evidently other divers saw a school of rays and I missed it.  This wreck is quite large and it was nice to come back to it and hit another portion that I did not get to see the other day.  Another beautiful day of diving topped off with a few beers on the sundeck as we drove back to the dock with flat calm seas.

Spade Fish

Immature Grouper

Sea Bass

Barracuda

Day 4-  Blow out...4'-6' seas..praying we get out tomorrow.  I spent the day checking out the seaside city of Beaufort and really enjoyed a day alone just wandering around.  I spent a few hours at the beach since it was so hot and I really needed to cool off in the ocean.  However, the water is so warm it really is not refreshing at all... The humidity makes it really unbearable down hear in southern NC.  A large group of us gathered for dinner at Clawson's in Beaufort and we all had a nice time.  The wind is dying as I type this and I know tomorrow we will manage to get out for one more day of diving!!

Day 5
Although the wind died and the seas somewhat laid down and we were actually going to head out to dive...which I was happy about.. However, it does not take much to kind of upset me and hinder my cheerful spirit. I don't know what it is with men and diving but, this sport is load with egotistical....well need I say anything else.  I arrived on the boat to find a certain male putting his tanks in my "spot".  This boat is set up with a spot for your tanks and a cubby below for your equipment.  I had my gear stowed in the cubby overnight and my tanks were on land being filled.  Today there was about 6 or so walk-ons..Well like I said this "certain male" put his tanks in my spot.  I politely told him that I had been in this spot all week can he please move over to one of the empty cubbies so I can fit in my tanks.  He said where are your tanks?  I said I was just about to go get them, they were getting filled.  He said, well this is my spot now and would not move.  This guy clearly was never taught common boating etiquette.  On this particular bench there were other divers that I was diving with and this effected all of us.  My friend Rick, agreed to relocate to make room for my big doubles.  I swear that no matter where I go with diving, I am taken advantage of by these type of characters...  My spirit was not broken and later on in the day, shall I say this man got his karma.  They always do get their karma...do onto others is always in my mind!!

We were planning on heading back to the USS Shurz to recover artifacts that we were working on.  However, due to storms in the area, we were not able to make it to that wreck so we stopped at the Aeolus which is a little closer to shore and was also not located within the storm area, thus no lightning and calmer seas.

Aeolus-

 

This wreck is a 409' tanker that was sunk in 1988 as part of North Carolina's reef program.  When they sunk it, it was actually turtled or upside down.  During hurricanes in 1996 the wreck was up-righted and twisted so much that it now sits in 3 separate pieces.  Captain Bobby informed us that this wreck has had a huge amount of sharks on it this summer so I was excited.  This wreck sits in 125' of water and my plan was to stay relatively shallow so to increase my bottom time.  I swam along the edge of the wreck when I finally went onto the top deck and notices some yellow and blue blennies.  I did research on blennies when I was in college so of course I had to stop and shoot some video of them coming in and out of their "blennie condos and also to take photos.  I love watching these little critters and before I knew it I spent 15 minutes just checking them out.  I finally said I better move along otherwise I will miss the rest of the wreck.

 I dropped down to a lower deck and notices a type of soft coral that I had not seen all week.

Just as I took this shot, a ton of silt stirred up from a shark that bumped me.

  I prepared to take a photo of it when this shark came from behind me and bumped into me.  Well it scared the living daylights out of me.  I then realized that the shark that bumped me was only about 4' long and there were many more larger sand tiger sharks right in front of me.  I was in awe.  They were unfortunately on a lower deck that was dark so it was basically not possible to get photos or video of them in the darkness without getting closer to them which I was not about to do.  I continued on and completely swam around this piece of the wreck.  This piece was quite large and it is fascinating to know that a hurricane literally picked this 409' tanker up and split it into 3 pieces.  Today the visibility was only 50' and you could feel a thermocline which resulted in bottom temps in the 70's.  It was noticeably different from the previous days of 100' plus viz and 83 degree bottom temps.  It still however, was much warmer than up in NJ.  I enjoyed this dive like everyone I've been on this week.

USCG Spar-  We ended up back at the USCG Spar again today for reasons to do with the "certain male" that gave me problems earlier in the day and the other divers with him.  Without going into detail, they were not qualified to dive the Shurz or other wrecks in the area.  I was a little disappointed but, this wreck is fun and I was planning on going out in the sand in search of the rays so, I was happy.  I never found the rays but I did find myself on the stern alone with a 3' reef shark that kept swimming around me and looked right in my eyes.  I shot some nice video of him and enjoyed just sitting there watching him.  Since I was so pre-occupied, I forgot that the deck of this wreck is literally covered with shark teeth and I had wanted to grab a handful to bring back for my kids.  Thankfully John Paoli and his nephew Christopher picked up a bunch and gave me some to bring home.  Also on this last dive of the week I finally figured out to shoot my camera in a cloudy setting instead of <25' blue water and as a result, my pictures came out nice with the forefront lit and the back round deep blue.  I guess I'll know for next time.

 

After out last dive we went out for a great seafood dinner and quite a few cocktails.  We booked a boat for next year and I can't wait to come back. We had the nicest group of divers all week that made my vacation away from my family very enjoyable.  Plus I did 8 dives over 5 days, not bad for NC.   I took more video than photos this trip so,  I will post the videos of this great trip soon...

Now its back to NJ Wreck Diving...I have lots of exciting new wrecks to dive coming up in the next few months including the Somerstadt (Virginia), Varanger, Southern Lilian, and Cayru...stay tuned!!!

Tolten July 10, 2011

Today I went diving on the wreck of the Tolten via the Independence II dive boat.  On board was the Diversion Group so I knew I would at the very least, I would eat well today.  As we arrived, there was absolutely no wind, this is a good sign,  I have not been to this wreck in a very long time and used to dive it quite often.  In fact I tried to get to this wreck earlier this year but the conditions were not favorable so we went to the Pinta instead.  It had been at least 10 years since I dove it so I was looking forward to it!

Me hanging on a Tolten dive long ago.  I had a lobster in my bag and still had a rental pony bottle!

Me on the Tolten probably in the late 80's, prior to owning a drysuit.

 The Tolten was a Chilean steamer.  On March 13, 1942 the Tolten was struck by German torpedoes fired from the U-404.  At the time of her sinking, Chile was  neutral country and had been assured by Germany that none of he ships would be attacked as long as they traveled with their running lights on.  The Tolten had been stooped prior to her attack by a US Navy patrol boat and had been warned to be on the lookout for submarines and to travel "Blacked Out".  Much to her demise, the Tolten took the patrol boat's advice.  Today the wreck sits in about 95' of water and a lot of the superstructure still remains.


My goal today was to take photos and figure out some new settings that produce better photo quality than I've been achieving.  I also was going to shoot some video in different modes.  On the way to the wreck I was advised that the visibility was only about 10' the previous day and there had been some upwelling bringing in some very cold water. Therefore, I was re-evaluating my dive plan and thinking of leaving the camera on board.  I took my time getting in the water as Capt. Dan said "I am procrastinating".  I just felt really tired today and could absolutely use more sleep.  I've been working way too many hours and it is taking a toll on me....  Eventually I got my act together and splashed along with my camera.  Well conditions definitely improved from the previous day because the vis was a solid 30'-40'.  We were anchored in the bow and for my first dive I swam around the bow, which still has quite a bit of relief, and I took some photos.  One of my strobes was not firing properly so I switched to video and shot some video while I explored this portion of the wreck.  even thought the bottom temp was 51 degrees I got cold so I only did a 30 minute dive.  There was tons of fish on this wreck.  I saw sea bass, bergols, ling cod, and taug.  There were a lot of divers looking to spear fish on this trip but most of the fish were not large in size.

On the surface, there were an abundance of lobster caught and even some cod speared.   I actually forgot what a cod looked like since they are not as abundant as they used to be.  On my next dive I was going to try and find some cod to photograph.   Diane Weibel found a porthole dog just laying on the wreck.  Of course she didn't think to dig where she found it but, was going to dig a little in that area on the second dive and try to find the porthole that it came from. 

As I was taking off my dry suit I tore my next seal (of course I still did not find time to order my new drysuit).  I was a little upset since conditions were so outstanding.  I used some wetsuit cement and tried to repair it the best I could.  While the cement dried, Capt. Bill was gracious enough to cook cheeseburgers and hot dogs for everyone for lunch.

There was an abundance of sold water coral on this wreck

On the second dive I was going to attempt to swim to the stern to photograph the props.  I swam all the way to the boilers and just beyond them I spotted some cod.  I tried to get a photo and/or video of them but they kept swimming in and out of some plates and I could not get a photo of them.  I continued on and found the prop shaft and as I was following that towards the prop, my next seal repair gave in.  I was taking on lots of water.  I wanted to continue on but I figured I had better be safe and turn around and head back towards the anchor line.  I filled up quite a bit with water and got quite cold quickly.  I did manage to shoot more video around the anchor line and ended up with another 30 minute dive.  This wreck is just so cool with so much area to check out.  I remember it being much more intact years ago and now it has definitely broken down like so many other wrecks.  I will be trying to get back to this wreck again someday, its one of the good ones.

This guy didn't even flinch when my flash went off in his face

We had a nice calm ride in that included another nap for me.  Once we were back at the dock and the boat was all cleaned,  I enjoyed hanging out with the crew for a few beers and talking about all the future dive adventures they are planning. The day was finally finished off with a nice fish n chips dinner at Motts Creek Inn overlooking the bay and marsh and listening to some great live music.  The sunset was just beautiful, perfect ending to a day of diving!

Once I uploaded my photos, I noticed that there is some sort of sea creature inside this anemone.  I will have to do a little research to figure out what it is.  I also will be editing the video I shot and will post that as soon as it is complete. 

Well time to order that drysuit before my next dive, Max's Wreck!!

Some tasty Mussels

Helen Bilinski, leader of Diversion Group

Arundo 7-2-11 for the Second Time this summer!

Arundo

 Yesterday I dove the Arundo on the Independence II as a last minute decision and it turned out to be well worthwhile.  I was originally planning on diving the Oil Wreck today (7/3/11) but, the Independence II had to cancel the trip which in the end was a good thing for me.  I have wanted to dive the Oil Wreck for a long time but, it is one of those wreck that for some reason I was always nervous about trying to dive.  I finally made the decision to dive it a few years ago when my diving mentor agreed to be my buddy and basically hold my hand and help me overcome my fear and achieve my goal of diving the Oil Wreck.  That day never came so here I am several years later but, this time I was feeling much more confident in my own capabilities and was going to accomplish the dive on my own.  Since the dive was cancelled, I realized some wrecks are just not meant to be and I am ok with that.  So as an alternative, Capt. Dan invited me to go dive Arundo.

The flat calm Atlantic Ocean

The ocean couldn't get any calmer, flat like a lake. On the way out I was contemplating whether I should take photos during my dive or just dig for artifacts.  I was leaning towards digging for artifacts and/or swimming out in the sand looking for scallops. As I was suiting up, Capt. Dan said I should take my camera in because the surface vis looks fantastic and I may regret leaving it on the boat.  I took his advise and took in my camera.  Since it was so calm, not even a ripple, we had a stern tie-in, simple straight line to the bottom.  As soon as I splashed and looked underwater, the vis was so beautiful, I was so pumped for this dive.  The Arundo has always been one of my favorite dives out of Manasquan Inlet.  The vis held most of the way to the bottom, I only wish the water temperature did.  There was a slight thermocline and the bottom temp was warmer than my last dive to the Arundo at 49 degrees.  We had a full boat today with some students whom typically dive Lake Erie.  Since they all splashed before me, the area around the anchor was a little silted up.  I therefore, swam away from the anchor in search of clearer waters in which I succeeded.  The vis was about 30' on the bottom.  I proceeded to take a few photos but they were not coming out well, they seemed real dark. (I later figured out that my lens was fogging, time for new moisture munchers).  So, I stopped and just swam around looking at the wreck.  At the end on my dive I ran into Alek Petersen whom wanted me to model for his pictures but he too was having issues with lighting.  It is hard to adjust the lighting on these deeper wrecks and I never seem to want to spend the time wasting a dive trying different techniques.  Time is too short on the bottom and I'd rather check out the wreck than waste time fussing with the camera.  I did a 25 minute dive and did not want to go up, these are the times that I again wish I had that rebreather because I would have stayed down longer.  I am still saving my pennies for the rebreather, maybe next year!!! The hang was filled with lots of salps, illuminesence and jellyfish.  There was litterally 0 current which made for a comfortable hang.

Bubbles on the hang

On the surface, everyone started to bring up the bags of lobster, scallops and flounder.  We had a fish jumping off the boat that appeared to be a tuna and that brought some excitement to the surface interval.


On my second dive, I left the camera on board and was going to look for scallops.  I ran my wreck reel out into the sand and did not have any luck finding scallops.  The current started to pick up on this dive but that also helped to improve the vis to about 35'-40'.  Toward the end on my dive I spotted something that looked like a soda can, I picked it up and it was one of those large Canadian Beer bottles, fully intact with no cracks in it.  I then started to dig around there to search for more but did not find any.  The current picked up quite a bit while I was on the bottom so I had one of those long flag pole hanging type of hangs.  Boy my arms tire when there is current.  I was excited about my find. Perfect end to a perfect day out diving.  It is so rare to have such good conditions on this wreck and this year I have had two great days of diving on this wreck.  I knew my 25th year of diving would be the best but, so far it has far exceeded my wildest expectations.  Looking forward to diving again next weekend out on the Indy II.

Sea Hag on the Dina Dee

After returning from an awesome week of canoeing, camping, and enjoying he abundant wildlife in Algonquin Provincial Park in Canada with the family, I was looking forward to today's dive.  Today was a girl's day of diving.   My friend Jenn Washco and I planned to go and dive a boat and wreck that we do not dive on a lot.  Something new and different. We ended up choosing to go out on the Dina Dee out of Barnegat Light which was an open boat.  When we arrived, it was decided that we would be diving the Sea Hag since it was Chis the Mate's favorite wreck.  It had been a real long time since I dove the Sea Hag and frankly did not remember the wreck itself other than it was a pretty dive.  Chris and  Capt. Roger told me it was impossible to get lost on this wreck since it is "basically a circle in the shape of a boat".

The Sea Hag sits in 87' of water and was a wooden sailing ship.  It remains mostly intact although it is deeply imbedded into the sand.  The bow sits up pretty high with about 15'-20' of relief and is very picturesque.  The stern is broken up a bit but has lots of holds for fish and lobster.

Small Winter Flounder

Spikes on the wreck

The ride out was a little bouncy and therefore, once we anchored up Jenn and I were anxious to get in the water.  The visibility on the surface was endless and the water column was filled with salps and small jellyfish.  At about 60' we passed through a brownish cloud of silt that cleared once you were on the bottom.  The vis was about 25' with decent ambient light.  The bottom temp was real warm...51 degrees.  We were anchored in the extreme stern and decided to follow the edge of the hull as far as we could.  I took photos and Jenn proceeded to locate some lobsters but was scared to grab them for fear of being bitten.  There was schools of sea bass everywhere, lots of winter flounder and some larger fluke too.  I even saw an oyster cracker.  My memory served me well this was a pretty wreck and has a little something for everyone.  My dive lasted about 30 minutes and it was time to head up.  Both Jenn and I had only one set of doubles for the day so we needed to conserve air for our second dive.  I wish I could have stayed down longer, it was too nice to leave and head up so soon!

Jenn Hanging!

The Sea Bass were so vibrant in color

Most of the divers came up with fluke or sea bass and there were a few lobsters boated.  Since the conditions were good we decided to stay for a second dive instead of relocating.  Now let me tell you how classy this boat is...  Jenn and I were busy catching up with each other when Capt. Roger walked over with cheesecake for us on fancy plates and silverware.  Where else can you go diving and have cheesecake delivered to you?? It turns out that most of the guys on board were members of the Wreck Raiders and they always bring good sweets.  It sure was a nice treat!!  We also had a whale breach off the side of the boat which makes the day that much more special.

For my second dive, Capt. Roger told me to take a swim and head up to the bow because it would be nice for photos.  I took his advise and swam all the way to the bow,  I kinda left Jenn in the dust and I knew she wouldn't mind.  The bow was perfect for photos however, by the time I got there it was time for me to turn around and head back so I didn't run out of air.  So, I only took a few pictures of this area. The swim back was against the current and boy did I huff and puff and wear myself out.  I felt like I almost wasn't going to make it back to the anchor but, I did.


Today was the perfect girl's day out diving.  It was topped off with a beer at the dock, fresh fileted fish and Capt. George gave Jenn a lobster to take home.  We decided that us girls will have to do this again sometime this summer.  Thanks to the Dina Dee for a beautiful day!!!

Jenn took this picture of me on our hang!

Me, Capt. Roger & Jenn

Such a fun day!!