The moment when you first wake up in the morning is the most wonderful of the twenty-four hours. No matter how weary or dreary you may feel, you possess the certainty that, during the day that lies before you, absolutely anything may happen. And the fact that it practically always doesn't, matters not a jot. The possibility is always there. ~Monica Baldwin
O Dark thirty is an ungodly hour to get up. Dennis kissed me goodbye the nite before so I wouldn’t wake him. Why do I do this? I wondered myself as I climbed in the car in the dark and headed down to Tuckerton and the Tuna Seazure.
Today we were going to the Double East or The Slabs as it is sometimes known, a wreck I have never been to. I tried to find some information but its history is stingy. A barge, the depth varying depending upon where I read from 60 to 80 feet, and the cargo was granite slabs, rumored to have been meant for construction of the Washington Monument. Additionally, this wreck had produced an 8 lb 2 oz lobster which held the NJ record from 2001 to 2003. That is it, everything I know, so lets dive it and see what I find.
The boat was full 6 divers, 2 mates and the captain. I knew one of the other divers and a mate from a previous trips and the other mate was none other than the Bartman of moon snail fame. ( don’t ask, you either know or you don’t).
As we cleared the inlet the sun was out and held promise of a great day. We arrived at the wreck and you could see the relief of the granite slabs and an additional small debris field on the radar screen (what a cool little toy). The surfaced temp was 53 F and the seas were flat. Things looked promising.
I am still waiting on my weighted STA so I was diving double stainless steel plates and since this was my first ocean dive with the new rig I added 8 lbs and kitted up. Standing up was barely an option, I gotta hit the gym, I made it over to the side in a slight imitation of a drunken swagger, sat on down and rolled on in.
As I moved down the line I could see we were to have at least 20 foot of viz maybe 30. The water was a cool green, and getting cooler as I anticipated a thermo cline. I remembered to hold my trim and descend horizontally and I was also remembering the clear warm blue waters of my earlier winter dives in Florida. There was just no comparison..........I’m a Jersey Girl through and through, this was Jersey wreck diving and I was loving it. I kept an eye below me anxiously awaiting the moment the wreck would come into view and I could see what there was to explore.
Upon reaching the sand we took a tour of the area to see what was about. The barge was wooden and much of what was left of it was scattered about in a low debris field. Brushing at the sandy bottom would often reveal some wooden decking and several of the rotting boards could be lifted but there was nothing but sand below them. The real interesting feature of this dive were the granite slabs. Like a giant deck of cards they had fallen, some resting one upon the other domino style and some broken or stacked one upon the other haphazardly forming giant steps and ledges and crevices and indentations in all manner and size. What could possibly be about here? Hmmm.................
There were small sea bass swimming about and in the larger crevices and spaces some nice size tog. Several small sets of claws were spotted but left for future pickings as we nosed and poked about. In a small crevice between two slabs was a narrow ledge, and tucked back in that ledge.......were some claws in a size that held promise. The space was narrow and my dive buddy backed out to let me have a try at it since my arms were smaller. While the opening was narrow it was also deep. With nothing to pin this puppy against and the space being too narrow to keep a good visual, I tucked and grabbed but he scooted back just out of reach. I waited a minute to see if he was going to come back to see what was up but that wasn’t to be. Spending most of the dive peeking in and under things I had not paid good attention to where we were on the wreck just followed my buddy and his line. I felt I reached my turn around time and thumbed up and as it turned out I was just feet from the anchor line. I went on up anyway. I was still warm and dry and there was a second dive.
I am liking the new longer open sided ladder that was added this year. Swimming over to the ladder I grabbed on and was already standing on the second rung. Up I went and my only issue was straddling the transom. If only I had longer legs and could reach the deck.
The Surface interval held the usual stories and good natured banter and while Captain Bill had promised to pillage everyone’s coolers and lunch bags while we were under he must not have been too hungry as everyone still had most of their lunches and snacks. Chris, being quite the hunter today, caught his limit on Tog and 2 juvenile (must be as in delinquent) lobsters snuck aboard. But they were discovered and promptly returned to the sea.
I geared up for my second dive and while another of the divers swore by placing his hood in the microwave for 20 seconds, I opted out as I thought it might have been smoke and not steam coming from his hood since I could detect the faint smell of burnt neoprene. My second walk over and entry was much more graceful and again I was on my way down the line. This time though we were on a mission. Our little friend in the little crevice.
We gave a second look around to see if any other little clawed creatures were going to come out and play but did not see any, all we found were a few lead sinkers. We headed back to the crevice for our “friend” and we had a plan, scoop him out and grab him. Worked like a charm and while my buddy arm wrestled the little fighter into his goody bag, I picked up the reel and wound us back to the anchor line.
By this time my hands were getting cold. The 43 F bottom temps were getting to them, so I headed up the line. On my hang large clumps kept raining down on me and I could not figure out what was going on, until I surfaced and saw that several bags of mussels had been collected and were being cleaned. And one of the guys had collected a bag for me while I was on my lobster mission, what a sweetheart.
The ride home was outstanding, pleasure boat quality.... Warm sunshine, flat seas, lively conversation. What a great end to the day. And by the way, since I was definitely in the sand looking under things I can officially say the wreck sits at 62 fsw.