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!!

Baleana 6-11-17

Last week I attempted to dive the Resor.  However, after I jumped in an struggled to get down 20', I determined that the current was just too much for me and I aborted the dive.  I truly get frustrated with myself when this happens especially on a wreck that I have had so many awesome dives on.  In the end it was the correct decision for me, as my shoulder was swollen from using my muscles so much trying to hold onto the anchor line in the current while going hand over hand and trying to get to the bottom.

Yesterday, we headed out on the Independence II to the wreck of the Baleana and the conditions in the water were so much better than last week on the Resor and the diving was outstanding.  I have dove this wreck several times, and typically it is cold, dark with little or no viz.  I dove it in 2012 and I had 30' of viz on it and was able to swim the whole wreck and learn the layout of it.  Well today was another day with great viz on this wreck, it was about 20' which I think is great!

This wreck is from the 1800's and it is believed to be an old whaling vessel.  It is loaded with coal that still covers the wreck today.  The photo below taken by Brandon McWilliams classically shows the conditions on the bottom with the well preserved wood and coal covering the wreck.

I did not bring my camera down today as I decided to just dive, We were tied in right next to the vat that used to be used to hold the blubber from whales, it rises about 30' from the bottom and is very recognizable.  I spent most of my dive checking out the wreck and dreaming of finding that dead eye that must be on this wreck somewhere.  There were quite a few baby lobsters on the wreck and there were actually scallops too!

When I first splashed I notices the waves of jellies all through the water column and I knew that the dive would be much warmer than last week, The coldest temp I had was 46 degrees on the bottom which sounds cold but, is much warmer than 42 degrees reported last week.  The surface temp was in the mid 50's.  I only turned my heater on for about 10 minutes as I was basically warm my entire dive.

Hey guess what, I actually dove with my husband, Bill today..well, at least we went down the anchor line together..and we both made safe dives!

Bill heading down to the Baleana, Photo by Brandon McWilliams

Till my next dive adventure...Be safe!

Stolt Dagali 5-27-17

My 31st year as a diver has begun and the first dive of the 2017 dive season was fantastic!  I headed out on the Independence II to the Stolt Dagali with flat calm seas and the sun finally shining after a very cool and rainy spring.

 After a nice ride out to the wreck that included meeting some new divers and lots of exciting conversation about different adventures on the way out, we were anchored above the Stolt.  My battery for my heated vest is no longer charging therefore, I waited to dive after Sean came up from his dive to borrow his battery so that I would be more comfortable during my dive.  It was worth the wait because for me, being warm is everything plus I get to hear all the dive conditions on the bottom prior to going in!! The visibility on the wreck was about 30' on the top of the wreck and 25' on the bottom, not bad for this time of year.  The water was 46 degrees on the bottom and about 52 degrees on the hang.  The top portion of the wreck was very bright so I opted to stay around 75-80' to shoot some photography as I missed it so during the winter months.

  It always amazes me how the marine life on the wrecks change from year to year and even throughout the summer.  Last year this wreck was absolutely covered in small mussels with very little Sea Anemones or Hydroids.  This year there are some old large mussels but, the wreck is carpeted by Sea Anemones and Hydroids.  Along with this change brings the abundance of Bergols.  I did see quite a few larger Tautog and a single Cod.  I did not see any Flounder or many Sea Bass.  I was able to quickly locate some Nudibranchs within the Pink Hearted Hydroids.  I found some larger ones but, most of them were extremely small which makes it difficult to photograph.  I did manage to take quite a few photos of them as I know they are typically only here early when the water is still quite cold.

The structure of the wreck has not changed much from last year, although it has been breaking down in recent years.  I swam the whole wreck and thanks to my vest, I was warm and my hands did not get cold at all.  The dive went smooth and I really enjoyed my day out on the ocean. Some divers brought up Cod, Sea Bass and two Flounders.  It was apparent that everyone loved their dive today!

The Indy has a new deck this year and I have to say it looks really nice.!!  Hoping to get out with Gotham Divers next week to the Resor!!!  Be Safe!