8-17-08 Varanger Dive

We headed out at 7am on the Tuna Seizure to the Varanger. We made it there in only 1.5 hours from the dock. I don't think I've ever got to the Varanger so quick. Dan Martinez jumped in to tie the hook in and the pool was open. I have not been to the Varanger in a long time and I was anxious to get back to a wreck I used to dive a lot. The sruface visibility was awful (pea soup) but it opened up below the thermocline of 40' and the visibility on the botttom was at least 30' of more but, it was dark. We were tied in right next to the boilers in the debirs field at a depth of about 137'. Bill gathered scallops while I took some photos and explored the wreck. The marine life on the wreck was incredible which is what drives me to dive on the deeper, less dove on wrecks. The surface interval was filled with lots of laughs from Mark Dolphin, Kenny, Bill and Rob and they tried their best to be polite with me on board. The second dive was better that the first for me, it seemed like the visibility opened up even more and it was a little brighter. We gathered more scallops and saw some large ling and taug. There was a little more current on this dive which prevented me from swimming too far from the anchor. This wreck proves to still be a fantastic dive well worth the 28 mile ride. I've been wanting to get back to the Varanger for the past 2 years and I want to give a special thanks to Capt. Bill & Kenny of the Tuna Seizure and N.E. Scuba Supply for getting me there. I am sure that everyone onboard had a great time and looking forward to out next trip out!

8-1-08 Patrice McAlister

We headed out to the Patrice McAlister and found calm seas and bright sunshine. I have not dove the Patrice McAlister in many, many years. I forgot what a pretty wreck it is. It is an intact tugboat, sitting upright at a depth of 58', and is covered in soft white coral. The visibility was about 20' and the bottom temperature was 51 degrees. I spent both of my dives taking photos and checking out the interior of the wreck. Funny story about this wreck, my uncle was the Captain of this tug when it was overcome by water and sunk. He lost his favorite coffee mug when it sunk and he always asks me to look around the wheelhouse for it. Needless to say I have never found his mug. Bill collected lobsters during both dives and we totalled 4. There were plenty of taug on this wreck but no flounder. It has been about 1 month since my last dive. I had to endure an unexpected surgery that prevented me from diving for a month. I really appreciated reading everyone's posts it helped to comfort me when I couldn't be out diving with everyone. I was scared that I wouldn't feel up to diving today but then I thought about an old friend whom inspired me to dive and decided I had to go and at least try to dive. What a nice day it was to dive. I often think of that old friend and whether they realize they still inspire me to dive. I have a few dives scheduled for the upcoming weeks as long as there are enough divers to go. So come on everyone, lets spur this economy and GO DIVING!

7-2-08 Gloria

We got out to the Gloria today for 2 dives. We were greeted with a 4'-5' ground swell on the way out which continued until midmorning and then it flattened out. We hooked the wreck in the bow on the first try and the pool was open. The surface vis was about 20'-30' but as we descended it became dark and silty. The vis on the bottom was only 10' at best. It seemed as though some areas were brighter with better vis and others were darker and no vis. The bottom temp was 46 degrees and the temp at 20' was 50 degrees. It was a cold one. Given the ground swell there was little or no swell on the bottom and almost no current. We speared two flounders, one 8lbs and 28" long and one 5.5lbs and 25.5" long and also a few sea bass. There were definately quite a few flounders on this wreck and since the water temp was so cold they were slow to move about and thus easy to spear. There were quite a few lobsters but they were all small. This wreck is quite large and due to the lack of visibility, I utlized my line reel to navigate to the boilers and back to the bow. My line reel got jammed midway back and I spent the rest of my dive collecting the line. I almost never use my reel and navigate based on memory and I think I'll go back to that since these reels waste too much time. All in all it was a great day to take a break from the beach and go out diving. Kim Dixon

5-23-08 Double East

WOW!!! What a great first day of diving for the season. We left the dock at 7am to a choppy 3'-4' seas and headed to the Double East. My first dive of the season was a typical "work out the kinks". I utilized new dry suit underwear and it made me very buoyant so as soon as I jumped in the water, I pulled myself down the anchor line and the first thing I did when I got to the bottom was grab some muscles to add weight. The visibility was about 15'-20' and the bottom temperature was about 50 degrees. There were lots of fish: sea bass, ling cod and large black fish. Once I reached the bouncy surface I had quite a battle with the dive latter and finally made it on board. The seas calmed down considerably during the surface interval. During my second dive, Capt. Bill was gracious enough to lend me his double mini's (45's) to see how comfortable they were. The were great, snug to your body and negatively weighted. This dive was so calming and relaxing, and it is why I love this sport so much. Its just you, the fish, the sound of your breath and weightlessness. I loaded up on muscles during this dive for the weekend barbeque. There were quite a few bugs brought up and of course sea bass. This was my first time diving on the Tuna Seizure and I have to say that their professionalism was outstanding. The boat was beautiful and spacious. The crew was very helpful and friendly. Due to life circumstances I thought that I would not ever be able to dive again. This was a big day for me and I hope to be out diving a lot this summer. Thanks to N.E. Scuba Supply and the Tuna Seizure for a memorable day of diving. I'll post some pictures once I figure out how to do it. Kim Dixon