First Dive of 2010- Gloria Wreck (5/16/10)

We took advantage of the great weather and went out on our own boat to dive the Gloria Wreck. I have a lot of new gear that I wanted to insure was working properly (two new regulators, new dive underwear, new tanks and a new computer) and I am also having a lot of anxiety about diving at all this year. So, I decided I'd pack everything and go along for the ride and see what happens. As we broke through Little Egg Inlet we were greeted with Lake Atlantic seas and the water was the prettiest aquamarine color with awesome surface vis. We passed two majestic sailboats on their way north, and they looked so tranquil. I grew up in a family whom sailed and I personally never took a liking to it but, this morning it looked so peaceful and relaxing. These were all signs that it was going to be a good day.

It is a quick 30 minute ride from our dock to the wreck and there were literally no boats out there other than the two sailboats we passed. We had wind against the tide so it took a few tries to hook the wreck. I was not ready to dive so Bill spalshed first while I stayed on the boat to contemplate whether or not I was capable of diving. Bill came up with two nice lobsters and he raved about the great visibility and told me it will be worth my while to go in and dive.


I then decided to go for it and I suited up...I don't know what came over me but I started to panic and felt like I couldn't breathe...I slowed myself and started to doubt that I should get in the water. Bill talked me through it and I don't know how he did it but, he got me to splash. The cold water and the great vis snapped the anxiety right out of me and down the anchor line I went. The Gloria is in 70' of water so in no time I could see the propeller rising high off of the bottom, we were anchored in the stern for sure. Once on the bottom I sat there going over all of my equipment and noticed right away that my older TUSA computer was not working. It was scrolling through Dive, Dive Log, Dive Plan, Time all by itself and was not registering that I was in the water diving. I played with it and could not get it to stop. This is why you always need a back-up and thankfully my new NiTek back-up computer was working fine. My new Aqualung Legend regulator breathed effortlessly and it has a cold water mouth piece that covers your lips, I did not like this option on the surface but boy what a difference it made in the 48 degree water on the bottom. My lips were actually warm! As I sat on the bottom going over all all my gear I said a prayer to keep me safe during this dive and the 2010 season.

I was ready to now go about my dive, I followed the propeller shaft to the larger debris field and took advantage of the 35-40' vis to get my bearings and memorize parts of the wreck. I came across a sort of building structure that I never saw before...maybe the wheelhouse?? It was taller than me, had pillars and a roof. Well, it had the largest sea bass and black fish swimming inside of it. The wreck was also covered with the smallest lobsters I've ever seen, there claws were not even as long as my thumb and they appeared to have no fear since they were walking around out of their holes. Once I got to the main wreckage area I noticed that there were no mussels at all on the wreck when normally they are there. I wonder why that is? This wreck has some serious digging potential and we will be back a lot this year to uncover some areas. The winter storms did uncover some areas that I don't recall being there last year. I know there are artifacts to be found here.

I ended up with about 22 minutes on the bottom before I was getting cold and decided I should go up. I did a nice longer hang and the water temp at 15' was 49 degrees, not really any different from the bottom but the vis was better, had to be at least 50'. My new fourth element underwear did keep me as warm as can be especially since my neck seal leaked and I was drenched. Once on the surface I played around with the weights to make sure I was closer to neutral buoyancy, I used only 800 lbs of air on my dive so my tanks were still really full therefore, I know I'll have to make more adjustments on another day. I opted out of the second dive but Bill dove and got a another lobster. We were back at our dock by 1pm with lobsters for dinner!


As the 2010 dive season begins, I am reminded that life is unpredictable, as I again hear of the loss of another female diver in NJ. This really hit me in the gut and I became very anxious about diving in general and the goals I set for this summer. In my struggle to deal with my emotions involved with diving, I reached out to some fellow divers for some reassurance that I would be safe diving this summer. The kind words from Mark Hennessy and Jeff Heim insured me that I am a good, safe diver and I will be fine. I am glad that they were not shy and spoke up because it was what I needed to hear to give me the push to get in the water. It meant a lot to me, especially because they are long time veteran divers and instructors. My husband of course always supports me but, he has to, he's my husband. It was he however, whom convinced me to get on the boat and get out there today. I owe him so much for doing this and putting up with my anxieties. I can't imagine life without diving. I have met so many wonderful people through my diving and I have had numerous divers reach out to me to say that they love my blog and can feel my passion for diving through it. I am so happy that when I needed some support there were divers there to help me in return. I will persevere!! Safe Diving...

Beneath the Sea 2010

Yesterday I went to Beneath the Sea and really enjoyed it. I don't go every year, I go every few years and for some reason this year I got a lot out of it.

I have been looking at getting into underwater videograpy and really enjoyed the large number of vendors of video housings that I could evaluate and compare. I really was impressed with Equinox and feel that I am going to bite the bullet and invest in this housing. I am going to first obtain a new video camcorder that works well in low light and take it from there. Hopefully I'll get setup for this dive season. I am new into this and still want to get more advise from other divers that have already invested in this. My Sealife camera has let me down so I don't want to invest in a video system without being sure it will suit my purposes.

I also really liked the Liquivision trimix computer. I was first drawn to it because of the bright neon yellow display. I need reading glasses and even with lenses in my mask, I have trouble reading my gauges in the dark NJ waters. I saw this computer and thought this is the answer. I later learned in talking to the rep. that you can adjust the font size too. This computer utilized a tap interface which was really nice too. The only problem was the price tag....a little pricey.

I have been wanting to buy Arctic weight Fourth Element dive underwear ever since my friend Helen, raved about how warm she it in this product. I ended up buying a full set yesterday. I will be warm this year!!! I got my drysuit back from Bare last week with new wrist seals and valves. It was leak tested and currently has no leaks. Between being dry and my new underwear...I am confident that those early season cold water dives will be warm.

Here are the links for the products I am referencing if you want to check them out:

Equinox; Liquivision; Fourth Element

It wasn't very crowded yesterday, I guess its a sign of the economic times. I only saw one old dive friend out of the corner of my eye. I never ran into him the rest of the show so, I didn't even get to exchange a hello. Maybe I'll see him again someday.

The dive season is approaching quickly and I am ready to roll. I have signed up for some awesome deeper dives this year and just pray the weather cooperates. We are working on getting our boat in the water by the end of April so we can get in a few shallow dives before my first deeper dive to the Northern Pacific in early June.

Nova Scotia 1991

In September of 1991 I went on an adventure to dive wrecks out of Halifax, Nova Scotia. Little did I know at the time, but it would be some of the most challenging wreck diving I would ever do. I dove in Ketch Harbor for bottles and also the wrecks called the Deliverance, Lititia, Sonja Marsh and Zoe. I remember it was very cold both in and out of the water. We camped via motorhomes and tents and you never quite got warm the entire trip, after all it was September. Once unique characteristic about diving in Nova Scotia is the pink algae growing on the rocks which made it very beautiful.

There were a lot of laughs on this trip. There was a bunch of guys that bickered the whole time as if they were kids on a family road trip. They made the trip a lot of fun. In fact, there is one story of the "boys" that remains in my memory. It is the story of the disappearance of Franz's drysuit. He had his drysuit in the cargo hold on the bottom of the motorhome. Someone, I won't name any names, forgot to latch the hold. Well, when was time to get ready to dive, the drysuit was gone. Somehow the drysuit fell out of the cargo hold and was out there on one of the hilly Nova Scotia roads. We all backtracked and tried to find it to no avail. The drysuit was gone, and no where to be found. The "boys" fought the rest of the trip over whom did not lock the cargo hold. Meanwhile, Franz had the task of finding a drysuit or wetsuit to dive in the rest of the week. If my memory is correct, he found a drysuit but it was a tad small. I heard a year or two later that Franz's drysuit was spotted at a yard sale. I suppose someone came along and found the drysuit in the road, picked it up, and probably didn't even know what it was, held onto it and tried to sell it at the yard sale years later. This would explain why we could not find it when we backtracked our route. This is just one story of the many during this adventure to Nova Scotia.

Unfortunately I did not have an underwater camera for this trip so the pictures are topside only. In fact, I didn't even remember that I had these pictures, I thought I only had one or two pictures of the whole trip. In digging through all of my slides I found quite a few more. I did get an artifact on this trip, it was a drain grate from the Zoe. Although it was insignificant next to some other magnificent artifacts that were obtained by other divers.

During this trip we also visited the Halifax Citadel, a restored fort, and the Bay of Fundy National Park. I have yearned for a long time to go back to Nova Scotia to dive again. Maybe someday...




Press Play to watch the slide show

I want to thank Gene Peterson of Atlantic Divers for organizing this trip, I will never forget all the things that I accomplished as a diver on this adventure or the fact that Gene had faith in my diving capabilities. This is where my true passion for wreck diving began. It will always be a special memory for me.

Dive Schedules for 2010

Moonstone

I don't know if it is plain old good luck, karma, or what but, I have been letting you all know through this blog what dives I aspire to dive in the upcoming year. Now it seems, as the dive schedules are being posted that most of the dives I want to dive are on dive shop, dive boat or dive club schedules. To see that fellow divers have read my blog, and then actually put those wreck destinations on their dive shop or dive boat schedules means the world to me. This shows me that my blog is doing its job....to inspire others to dive. Thanks!! I guess there is some truth to the old saying "If there is a will, there is a way"!

I am looking forward to being on those trips with all of you whom share the same passion for diving the wrecks I want to dive. See you out there this year on the Cayru, N.Pacific, Freighter, Varanger, Moonstone, Arundo, and Terror Wreck. So far, I am signed up to dive the Moonstone, Arundo (twice), Cayru and Varanger. Lets see if I can manage to get too all the wrecks that set out to dive this year...

Me on the
Moonstone- 1990

Seagirt 9/20/90

The Seagirt is an intact clammer that sank in 1990 and we were some of the first divers on it. We went out on the Down Deep (Capt. Bob Meimbrese) and had a real productive day. I wrote in my log that the wreck had lots of cables to get hung up on and the wreck creeked since it wasn't quite settled into the bottom yet. It sits in 70' of water. All the divers together got a total of 7 portholes, 2 swing plates, 2 brass horns, a lantern, a compass and the box it goes in, cage lights and a bell (not the boats bell but another type of alarm bell). I actually got a cage light and the bell on my own and sent it up in my own lift bag. At the time that was real big for me. I'm not one that works with tools well. These are the few pictures of I have of that memorable day. I went back to this wreck years later and it was encased in mussels and sits on its side. Nothing like seeing a wreck upright and then going back and seeing it listed to one side.

Gulftrade, City of Athens & Brian C

Gulftrade Stern 1990














City of Athens 9/15/90



























Brian C on the Down Deep

Various Dives 1988-1991

I am slowly scanning these old slides from 1988-1991 into digital. See if you can recognize some of these old time divers. It is definitely hard to remember everyone's name. One of the biggest rewards of looking through all of these old photos is to realize the large amount of diving I actually did back then as well as today. I forgot a large amount of the dives I had done. At least I can say...I lived my life and I know I touched a lot of people. Since this process is painstakingly slow, I'll add more photos each week over the long winter. I am working on a Nova Scotia and Honduras/Antigua slide show that will be up soon.


Red Bricks- Deadeyes

Bow of Gulftrade 8/4/90 on the Robin

Northern Pacific 1988- Robin

Mowhawk 9/18/90

What do you see here?

My First Parkway Drysuit (1990)

Modeling on the way home!


Tolton 8/15/90

Macro

Resor 1990

Nothing Like Dive Gear Under the Tree

Santa doesn't always bring me dive toys, but this year I must have been good because I feel like I hit the goldmine!  I got a new Aqualung Legend Supreme regulator, a Dive Rite Nitek Duo computer and a second regulator is in the works (either an Apex or Scubapro).  I feel like I was fully outfitted with all new dive gear.  I am really excited about the regulator and I hope it breathes as nice as it looks.  Now I can't wait to go diving and try it out.  Too bad Santa didn't bring me a dive vacation to somewhere warm too.

Perhaps this is a sign that my health will remain well and I will be able to do a lot of diving in 2010!

Merry Christmas & Peace in the New Year

I wanted to wish all of those whom share this love of  wreck diving with me a Merry Christmas!  I know I am wishing for a few dive toys under my Christmas Tree this year.  We'll see what Santa brings!  I also wanted to wish everyone Peace and Happiness in the New Year.  

I have been working diligently on converting my old dive slides to digital and will be posting them throughout the winter.  The hardest part is trying to remember when they were taken and what wreck they were on. In reviewing these slides, it makes me sad to see those old divers that used to be a regular part of my diving adventures whom are no longer in my life.  I miss them and wish I could dive with them again.  They made me happy. If I could only figure out how to freeze time....Here are a few sample pictures:

Me hugging a morey eel!

NJ lobster