New Deal and North East Sailer

The New Deal and the North East Sailer

“And like a lobster boiled, the morn From black to red began to turn”
Samuel Butler quotes
It was to be a day of firsts and lessons learned and ended in bright sunshine, thank you very much.
It was cool and dark at 5:30AM when I left for the Blue Fathoms. Forecasts called for fair skies and calm seas and warm sunshine. The day was still early.
I arrived at the marina and unloaded and was soon joined by Jeff, Walter and Al and KD, a guest diver, and Renee, our mate for the trip. Our fearless leader, Jim, arriving fashionably late, oversaw the loading of equipment. And we were off.
It was decided that we would try the Pinta but upon arriving the sight was taken so we opted for the nearby New Deal, also known as the Cobblestone Wreck.
This probably got its name because it is the next-closest thing to the Pinta and if the Pinta is occupied you get a "New Deal" by going here. This is a large fairly intact unknown barge, sitting in 90 fsw and filled with cobblestones, assumed to be its cargo, possibly on the way to Philadelphia, when it sank.
I had brought a fresh juicy orange to test the theory that Big Jim and I discussed last week for an environmentally friendly replacement for the foam cup or bottle, etc. Our benevolent President agreed to do the honors and took the orange down with him to set the hook. We all stood at the rails anxiously awaiting the oranges arrival. Unfortunately, all that popped to the surface was a tennis ball. Apparently, at 90 feet........oranges sink. Jim threw it up in the water column several times encouraging it on its way but to no avail. (In my minds eye I saw him tossing up the orange saying “Swim little citrus, swim!”) I guess I should have brought that kiwi to try.
The pool was declared open and I went down the line with our guest diver KD, a dive master from LBI. We arrived on the wreck with thick green water and visibility at about 10 feet, and that is being generous. KD tied in her reel and we set out to the right to see what was about.
The remains of the wreck are giving way. The walls are covered in the assorted sponges, hydroids and anemones popular with our coast and in between the deteriorating planking you could see into the interior of the barge where an abundance of fish were hiding or swimming about. Just another foot or two of viz and this wreck could have been very interesting as it offered a great deal of relief.
We came back to the line and headed out left and then repeated our tour straight ahead. With a thumb up from KD, we headed up the line, leaving behind 46 F water temps at 88 fsw.
I was the last onboard, I am the last at everything apparently, and was still perched atop the ladder when I was met with the question as to whether to stay for a second dive or move on. I drew myself up to my full 5 foot little number height and announced.............“How the heck should I know?” Apparently I was the tie breaking vote and before anyone would help me with my fins I had to dispense some King Solomon wisdom here. Isn’t the President supposed to be the tie breaking vote? Why me? Several alternate sites were rattled off and in my infinite wisdom I said “They all sound good to me” and started taking my own fins off. And that is how Captain Tony chose the North East Sailer.
During the surface interval we discussed the effects of a dive flag 3 miles from shore (there isn’t any), the work the historical divers do and diving in other states and countries. And then we were ready for dive #2.
The Northeast Sailor is the remains of an unknown wooden sailing ship dating to probably the mid to late 19th century located in 75 feet of water. The Bow faces east, probably into the storm that sank her with low lying remains emanating from a sizeable chain-pile and anchor. Some machinery can also be found, including a boiler and steam winches. Although the wreckage is scattered, navigation is not difficult.
Coming down the line there was a current which served to clear the visibility tremendously. You could see the outline of the wreckage and KD and I headed out see what was about, no reel necessary this time. The low wooden walls were covered from their many years buried here and as we came to the boilers I swam in a circle around them looking in the many hidey holes available which were filled with fish. I was like a little multistory fishy hotel out here in the sand with juvenile and large sized blackfish and striped bass among the guests and I could poke them all day. http://njscuba.net/~images/sites-img/ne_sailor_cgi.jpg
I decided to look high going out and come back looking low for something in the way of a hard shell and 2-3lb range. But this was not to be. 10 minutes into our dive KD had an interesting OOA situation and we were on our way to the surface.
There was a popping noise and then the sound and sight of rushing bubbles. KD immediately grabbed my arm and I held out my regulator as we had discussed before jumping in our first dive of the day. You imagine what you would do in an underwater emergency, how you would react or feel, what it would be like. In my open water class we discussed free flows and practiced breathing off a flowing regulator, aiding your dive buddy. This was nothing like that. The rush of air from her tank had tremendous force and she was kicking for the surface while I was trying to give her my regulator. Neither of us could see each other through the massive cloud of bubbles so she did not know it was my regulator not my hand on her and I did not know she was already breathing off of her pony. In less than a minute we had surfaced and it was over and all I can recall other than my initial she needs my regulator and then we need to slow down here was how huge some of the bubbles from her tank were. Not a rush of forceful small racing bubbles from a tiny port but some really big ones too.
Luckily we surfaced not far from the boat and everyone on board was at the rail and we were quickly at the side of the boat and they were holding KD up with a line and shutting down her tanks and pulling her towards the ladder. Me....the current was bringing me to the bow of the boat and I was struggling to keep coming back. Captain Tony reached down and grabbed my hand holding me in place until KD was safely on board and I could come around.
Speaking of which.......... While they were helping her on the ladder Walter brought the tagline around for me but instead of pulling me around he started letting out the line reminding me of his threatened sharpie marker moustache from our last dive together..............all in good fun and I was soon on board also. Everyone safe and sound. And I wasn’t even last this time, Al was still in the water.
As I was removing my fins Al appeared on the ladder carrying a regulator and hose he had found while swimming along the bottom. KD’s reg hose had burst off of the connection to her first stage (the popping sound which she said had sounded like a gunshot to her) leaving just the stem and connector in the port and when she couldn’t draw a breath from it she dropped that regulator and picked up her pony reg to breathe and since her primary was no longer attached it just fell to the sand.
We quickly caught Al up on events. Apparently everyone on the surface knew there was a problem because of the massiveness of the bubbles breaking the surface. They said the bubble we surfaced under was like a dome coming out of the water. The stem and connector from the reg hose were still sticking out of the port in the first stage. Wow.
We headed on in under clear blue skies and warm sunshine. We were carrying a few nice sized blackfish and 2 lobsters with 3 claws among them, what a fight that must have been. And......we had all 6 divers and the crew. Its good, very good, that everyone was safe.
I need an alternative to the orange for next dive(I still dont think we could see a kiwi), I have had my first dive emergency (I am taking rescue), and I have two more wrecks to add to my list of sights to repeat this summer. (I thought the little I saw of the NE Sailer was great) Now I need a nap. Who do I sound like?

San Saba and Chappara

Whatever is not nailed down is mine. What I can pry loose is not nailed down. -- Collis P. Huntingdon

We set out from Barnegat Light the Bast*rds on the TomKat with 6 divers the Bast*rds, Al R., Al S., Jim, Mark, Steve and myself. The skies were clear and their were slight swells in the water. A beautiful day.
Running a bit late as usual the Bast*rds, no finger pointing here, we arrived and loaded on the TomKat the Bast*rds in record time and headed out for a day of diving.
Our first stop was the San Saba, also known as the Magnolia Wreck, an iron hulled freighter en-route from new York to Tampa that hit a mine laid by the German U-Boat 117 in 1918. The San Saba went down within five minutes taking all of her crew with her. A week after she sank she was demolished as a navigational hazard and now sits as mangled wreckage in 80 fsw but still produces many artifacts. the Bast*rds The wreckage is broken in 2 halves located about 250 feet apart with the bow section having hull plates, the boilers and machinery and the stern being rubble.
Al R. tied in. Jim and I watched for the bottle and talked about alternatives that were more ocean friendly. I will be bringing a fresh orange next dive to test my theory, I am pretty sure that Jims suggested kiwi would be too hard to spot.
I have a bit of trouble with the step up onto the gunnel for a giant stride into the water but with a helping hand I was over. I buddied with Mark and Al S. and we descended down the line. Mark had a glint in his eye, he was on the hunt. the Bast*rds The temps on the bottom were a cool 46F. And visibility was fairly poor. We were tied in on a low wall of wreckage covered in the usual growth of anemones, sponges and hyroids. We ran a line and headed out and I saw many starfish and several small sea bass. But not too much else. We were obviously on the stern and we are still too cold to attract the bigger and more varied denizens yet. We turned back to the line and Al went up and Mark and I continued to look around a bit before heading up.
For the second dive we headed a short distance to the Chappara, also known as the Off-Shore Barge, another ship sunk by the U-117. The crew that survived the sinking rowed for an entire day to reach the shores of Barnegat Light.
This is a debris field which also still produced artifacts and is usually good lobster hunting.
We again went down the line in thick green water with very poor viz. At depth the water cleared to slightly less than we had on the San Saba and again Mark ran his reel and we had a look around. the Bast*rds Again the sea life was sparse, but the water is still cool at 46F, but this wreck provided more relief to peek about in. Back at the line and ready to go back up.......what is this? What has Mark picked up from the wrecks sandy bottom? It closely resembles a large silver ingot! Artifact?
Up on the boat, Jim and Steve the Bast*rds were dancing about and parading around a ships helm, laughing and dancing about like 7 year olds. the Bast*rds I am pretty sure that Marks find has them beat though. They must be jealous.
On the ride in everyone was sound asleep in the cabin at one point or another, with Steve the Bast*rds stretched out on the floor, most likely dreaming he had been the one to bring up Marks find.
While we were still a little short on fishy friends, but these dives gave me the opportunity to go to work and drop several lbs of weight from my harness (like 8?). And the ladder, while open sided was a bit steep and I had some difficulty reaching the railing as I got to the top of the ladder, I am going to have to work on that too.

*The Bast*rds is all I heard that day due to a prank played on aonther diver

Sunday Afternoon Too Nice To Be Inside

Most fish live underwater, which is a terrible place to have sex because virtually anywhere you lie down there will be stinging crabs and large quantities of little fish staring at you with buggy little eyes. So generally when two fish want to have sex, they swim around and around for hours, looking for someplace to go, until finally the female gets really tired and has a terrible headache, and she just dumps her eggs right on the sand and swims away. Then the male, driven by some timeless, noble instinct for survival, eats the eggs. So the truth is that fish don't reproduce at all, but there are so many of them that it doesn't make any difference. ------ Dave Barry, "Sex and the Single Amoeba: What Every Teen Should Know"

Super day, comfortable and relaxing. Can’t ask for too much more from a Sunday afternoon.
After lunch we headed out to see what was in Lake Riviera. We had been wondering for a while and today was the perfect day to take a look.
We suited up and walked down to the shore. A father and his 2 small sons were fishing from the beach and told us that there was a channel in the lake about 30ft deep and he heard someone caught a 30lb catfish in there once. The boys asked if we saw turtles. We were going to find out.
After my usual blonde moment of leaving my mask in my trunk we were on our way. The water has the red color of cedar and was 72F. We dropped down and swam out about 100 yards and duly noted the 9 1/4 inches of visibility, gray-brown silty bottom and stringy lake grass. We took a heading and tried again ........ and then again. With both our flashlights on, if one of us sneezed and moved 6 inches we would have been lost forever, so I kept a hand on Marks arm to keep us together while he carried the flag and kept us on target with the compass. This worked out kind of well since all I had to do was hover and he kicked and kept us moving along. Not a bad deal for me but.......we never got deeper than 6 feet or found a channel, never saw a fish, or a turtle, or a shopping cart or an empty can or anything else for that matter. I am sure they were all just 20 feet farther but we turned back .
The sun was shining and it was warm and just too nice a day to give up, so we headed to the Railroad Bridge in Point Pleasant.
When we got there 4 teams of divers were already in the water. Stewy from Handicapped divers was there with a little autistic girl who was sooo excited to be in the water she was animated. She never stopped talking or grinning and her mother never stopped videoing. She told me all about the crabs and how she got to feed a blenny and the crabs and how her tank came loose and they took care of it with no problems. She would pop back up again before we were under the water to report some more and then go back down. Stewy really does tremendous work with these kids. He really deserves our support. Ray was also there with the little girls father who was not taking to diving as quickly as she was. He is another volunteer who should be praised and today he had his hands full.
We got ourselves organized and dropped down. Things were looking up. There were schools of blenny swimming about and tons of little sea bass. The starfish have thinned out a bit but there was an ample supply of large ones scattered about. We wont be running out any time soon. The mussels formed a thick carpet about a great deal of the bottom and hundreds of crabs were nestled in among them. Several of the blue claws needed to rent a room, it was embarrassing to watch them! There were quite a few of the crabs carrying tiny baby crabs in their claws. I still find it hard to believe that crabs care for their young this way. I thought they just laid their eggs and moved on.
There were several enormous horseshoe crabs burrowing themselves into the sand (what are they doing guys, anyone know?) and two late bloomers having one last fling.
Nestled in and about were many tiny hermit crabs and several quite large moon snails. I find it hard to believe that these fit back in those shells but they did, except for the last one who, after I patiently waited for her to climb on my hand, just stayed there quite content.
Scattered about there were several of these......organisms, that is the best word I can come up with right now, that looked like semi-transparent white onions when they pulled themselves in. I held a few for a while but they never came back out.
And I occupied myself for a while just chasing mini little flounder about the sand. It is amazing how they nestle themselves against the sand and blend in almost perfectly. We stayed quite still and just watched until we picked one out and scooted them along.
There were several large patches of sea lettuce growing and one large stereo speaker which the mussels were taking a shine to along the bottom. We just looked around and lazed about enjoying dive. Respectable visibility, 20 fsw, almost tropical 68F water temps and 46 min later and we called it a day.
A cold beer and a burger on the way home and life is good, truly good. Proof it doesn’t always take 100fsw and a boat to make a good day in the water.

Banana Barge

Through the black night and driving rain A ship is struggling, all in vain, To live upon the stormy main;--------- Miserere Domine!

The surface interval wasn’t quite that bad........but I am getting ahead of myself.
The morning was not ........ Cheery, that’s it cheery. Not bad but not cheery. I arrived at the Stingray and no one was there. Hmmm. Stas, the mate, arrived shortly and we both loaded on board. We were soon joined by our Captain, Henrik and Rocky the sea dog and John(Captkcj) and Mike(mhuttner) from Wreck Valley. I have been diving with John before, but this time he was sporting his shiny new Kiss Rebreather. First time for Mike.
8AM we were pulling out of the slip, and heading for...................Where were we going? After some discussion, it was decided that we would dive the Banana Barge. Also known as the DVD Barge. This barge, I believe was originally called the King Barge and was sunk as an artificial reef in 1998, sponsored by the Delaware Valley Divers and their love of bananas. This 140 X 40 steel barge is pretty much intact although the sides have fallen to the sand exposing the interior which is a maze of bow to stern of tall braces and struts. Normally ambient light shines through the wreck making it an inviting swim through. The top of the barge is covered in sand and soft sponges, hydros and anemones, as are the walls and a lot of concrete rubble has been dropped around the structure.
On the trip out, the out we were in for quite a treat! Swimming all around us were pods of dolphin. Everywhere we looked. Several of us sat up on the bow and just took in the show. Swimming in groups, they arched in and out of the water and we would look ahead to see where they would surface next. Several breached the water, jumping and twisting an turning. A truly bright spot on an overcast morning.
We spent the rest of the time learning how to tie knots. I can say bring the bunny up through the hole, around the log and back in the hole in my sleep now, and tie one heck of a knot.
We arrived at the Banana Barge and tied in. With the mate reporting upper 40’s as bottom temps and a definitive thermo cline, I opted to try and wear lighter undergarments this time down. Over the side I rolled in after John and Mike and down the line I went. I guessed wrong on the weighting for this new configuration and was a bit heavy on the bottom but tapped some extra air in my wing and was off.
We were tied in to the bow and the viz was a murky 10 foot. John ran a reel across the top of the wreck and down the side. We then proceeded to circle the structure and see what we would find. With the visibility so poor we made no attempt to swim through the center of the wreck but circled the outside looking about and moving along switching between the top and the sand. There were lots of small juvenile sea bass and I set my sites on them and tried to catch them in my hands. The sides were covered in the usual assortment of things looking like jellied apples and lace among other things. There were several abandoned wire cages, lobster traps I think. In one were an assortment of different fish of a decent size and I tried to lift the top to release them but couldn’t get it to budge. Its sad, I hope another diver comes across them and succeeds.
Upon completing encircling the wreck I thumbed I was going up as I was cold. 50F and 70fsw, I guess it isn’t warm enough for the lightweight stuff yet. I was on my way up the line. Between 40 and 30 feet the thermo cline kicked in at 55 F making the hang quite nice. While we saw nothing of particular size the mate found a few good sized blackfish and brought them back.
We opted to stay for the second dive and this time go out into the sand past the wreck and check out the rubble piles. The surface interval proved a challenge. The wind picked up a bit and the skies grew black and then the rain came down. The air was so thick with moisture, it didn’t matter if you were on the deck or inside, you got wet. We made the best of things and John educated us on the differences of closed circuit diving. We debated the new bench configuration and John pooh-poohed the idea of a buddy line with a vengeance. I had switched to my heavier 4th element top but it was drenched by the time I suited up for dive 2.
Down the line and I knew we were in trouble. The visibility had dropped to about 5 feet but we were determined. We were going to look for the debris field off the bow using a sweep with the reel line and John again ran his reel out. As we headed out with the short viz I bet John reconsidered his position on buddylines. It didn’t take long and we were among scattered piles of concrete and mangled rebar. Again the assortment of attached sea life rich and varied, but still no crabs or lobster and only small sea bass and blackfish. I chased on after them to no avail.
Upon returning to the wreck Mike went up the line and John and I continued on to circumnavigate the wreck once more. As we swam along, I noticed something move in the sand. It turned out to be a small stingray. We followed it for a while as it slowly swam about and then it turned and took off. Life is coming back to the wrecks.
We headed back up the line for lunch. The sun broke through and the weather cleared and waiting for us on the grill were marinated chicken, fresh blackfish and sausage kabobs, with fresh cut watermelon and honey dew.
The skies got clearer and brighter as we headed in and the conversation turned to more rebreather discussion, Henriks new slogan for his boating venture and of course diving.
We arrived back at the dock under warm clear sunny skies and unloaded with parting gifts of blackfish fillets for those who wished to have them. Funny how things turn around.. I would like to do this dive again under better conditions. With the water a little warmer there is no telling what kind of sea life would be around and with better visibility I bet the swim throughs would be very inviting.

Florida - June 2007

Doot - Doo Doot - Doo Doot - Doo Doot ........Do you think they are stalking me? I am back in Florida for a few days so I figured I would squeeze in a dive. I have played dive tag with several people I met over the winter and missed 2 dives already so I am going out on a 3 tank from Cortez on my own. What is it with Florida dive boats? No benches, no captains chair and no head? We leave the dock under clear skies and 3 inch seas. The first dive is an unidentified steel wreck called the South Jack. Sound familiar? Last time they told me it was a wooden schooner called the Skip Jack. It is scattered debris and intact boilers in 70 feet of water, 16 miles out in the Gulf of Mexico. The mate sets the hook and comes back up and announces that the water temps have cooled to 77 F in the last 2 days and the viz is pretty bad at about 40 foot. I am buddied with a local diver from Sarasota and Ed, an older man who just got back from Bonaire. Conditions are a little disappointing to Ed, he thinks he may have brought too thin a suit for the dive......me? My last dive was 47 F and 15 feet of visibility. Woo Hoo!!!! It’s all relative. Our Sarasota buddy is wearing a shorty and eventually ends up getting stung by some tiny jellyfish during one of our hangs. We splash in, I am wearing my 3ml, BPW and 6 lbs of weight and an AL80 rental tank. Not sure how this will work but we will find out. We go down the line and the wreck comes into view. Yup, I have seen this before. But it is covered in stuff I don’t usually see so we set out to look around......and then.....there it is.......about 20 feet way.....do I swim over and poke it? You know me, I love to do that, but I think not. It is a nurse shark, about 6 foot long. It looks at me and turns and slowly swims away. Doo Doot....Doo Doot....Doo Doot..... I can hear the music playing in my head. We turn and swim on to see what else is hanging around. There are quite a few sea urchins both black and purple, tang in both blue and yellow, red grouper and the mandatory giant grouper. Most weighing in at about 200 lbs. A lone barracuda makes a pass and disappears into the haze. There are many small fish which I recognized back in January but now have forgotten the names. I will have to look them up. Then, tucked in an indentation along the wreck, not very well I might add, is the real thing. About 400 lbs real thing, a giant giant grouper. He is in absolutely no fear of us and simply ignores our presence. Like royalty he is being groomed by a nice sized remora. No....I didn’t poke him either. Our next stop is a coral ledge they called Bull Shark Ledge. 79 F and 70 fsw. We go down the line, I am still not sure how I feel about the weighting. There are times early going down the line when I think that I will be too light when my tank empties and then times late in the dive I still feel heavy. We head out to check what we can see looking high at the coral and anemones and low at the local residents. There are giant grouper, red grouper, spade fish, wrasse, tang, butterfly fish and some yellow, black and white stripe fish that I know I should know the name of. And then I see one. Oh yeah.... A really big sized spiny lobster, just sticking his head out of a hole in the coral. My two buddies are smiling and pointing and I just reach in and grab that puppy by the antennae and start to yank. These guys are strong! Don’t be fooled. The problem is, they don’t have any claws so there is nothing else to grab on to. He pulled so hard the first time I heard my tank bang on the ledge above. I started pulling back and the tug of war began, sand flying up and visibility disappearing. I finally lost my grip and he retreated beyond my reach. This has happened before to me. But I have been trained by big clawed Jersey fighting lobsters. I wait patiently and the water clears and I see the antennae sneaking on out and taking a peek. I give one more quick grab and again I have a hand full of antennae and we tug and wrestle again. But I lost my grip and he was gone again. I am walking away from this one. It isn’t lobster season anyway and I cant take him onboard but I gave him a good scare if nothing else. We swim back to the line, Mr. Bonaire is getting cold, oddly I am not the warmest either. We are on to our final site. Docs Barge. This is 75 feet of wreckage, an old barge broken in half by the current and shifting sands, sitting in 60 fsw off the coast of St Petersburg. Cant believe it, another familiar site. This was the one covered in bait fish so thick I couldn’t see anything and I had to navigate around the barge with one hand on the wreck so as not to get lost when I was on it last. When we tied into the site there was a resident barracuda that circled the boat several times, checking us out. With about 40 foot of viz I could actually see the relief and wreckage. It would be a different dive after all. As we came down the line there was a grouper weighing in at about 200 lbs. backed into a crevice mid wreck, just watching us to see what we would do. I have never seen sooooo many sea cucumbers. I have never seen such big sea cucumbers. They are big, ugly, pooping machines and they are everywhere. I really didn’t want to poke them. But what I did have to play with were cleaner shrimp. They look like long legged spiders but have a colorful tint to their body. I played with quite a few of these, chasing them all about and of course poking them. There were a couple of giant grouper (50-100 lb range) lazing about and snuggled up against the wreckage. I poked those too and they took off definitely perturbed at me. Some others weighing in a bit larger I left alone. There were many sea anemones, coral and sea urchins, along with some smaller tropicals. The barge is broken in half and you can swim into each end where many fish have congregated. You will only do this once when you swim in and you realize you are not alone. It is you and a 400 lb grouper and 700 little bitty bait fish inside with only one way out. In a race to get out....I am pretty sure I will loose. I decide to stick to the outside and chase a school of fish trying to grab their tails. There are several small schools of fish...or maybe they are bait balls, what is the difference? They dart about and are amazing to watch, like synchronized swimmers they all turn, and veer, and roll left and right and change direction in unison, hundreds of fish at a time. 3 humans together couldn’t walk in a straight line on a bet but these fish do an underwater ballet. 61 fsw, 77 F and 46 minutes later we are the last group to leave the water. As I leave the line and swim under the boat towards the ladder I see our friend the barracuda again swimming around in ever tightening circles about us. Just before I get to the dive ladder he is circling rather close by and hesitates and I see him give me “The Look”. Mark knows the look I mean, he gives me the look and swims on making another pass as I go up the ladder. It is 91 F on the surface and we lay back and enjoy the ride in...... As much as you can after 3 dives on a boat with no head

Mohawk

MOHAWK
It actually took several tries to sink the Mohawk. The ship ran aground near Sea Bright in 1928 and another time was deliberately beached after a collision with the SS Jefferson.
On January 25, 1935, 53 passengers, 110 crew and some bulk cargo set sail on the Mohawk for the Caribbean.
The ship stopped outside of Sandy Hook to adjust the compasses and the captain ordered the ship full speed ahead (she was capable of 18 knots) to make up for the time lost.
It was cold, 5F, but the sea was calm and skies clear. The crew did not know their running lights were not operating. The Norwegian freighter Talisman was approaching and saw white lights ahead, but no red or green running lights and dismissed the lights as being a reflection from shore.
On the Mohawk the passengers watched the Talisman approach and were sure the ship saw them and would just pass by, but shortly after 9:30 pm, they watched it smash into the bow of the Mohawk. The modifications necessary to carry bulk cargo involved opening up her watertight bulkheads which caused the ship to quickly fill with water. If not for this the vessel would most likely not have sunk
Panic broke out as the ship listed and lifeboats were frozen fast to the deck. 44 passengers and crew drowned.
The captain tried to beach the ship but failed and sent the remaining crew off, stood on the bridge and went down with the ship as survivors of the wreck watched.
After sinking, the stacks and masts were above the ocean surface, making her a navigational hazard so the Navy blew her up and cleared the wreckage down 60 feet below the surface. During WWII a US Navy blimp mistook the wreck for a U-boat and blew it up again.
The Mohawk is a 387 x 54 ft wreck of an ocean liner in a depth of 80fsw and I am diving it, along with Al, Walter and Jeff.
It was gray and there was a slight drizzle as I came over the Pt Pleasant Bridge, but the air was still warm, nothing like that fateful night. I loaded on board the Spring Tide and we set sail. We tried a few sets of numbers but had no luck so we headed to the Mohawk, another new dive for me. The Sea Lion was just tying in when we arrived and we hailed over to ask to join her. It’s a big wreck, there was no problem.
The water had a slight chop and some current, but with a little work I was down the line with Al as my dive buddy again. Visibility was about 10 foot the worst I have had so far this year but average as Jersey diving goes. I had been warned NOT to poke a monk fish but all else seemed fair game. We tied in and started out. I immediately saw a Sea Robin sitting off to the side of the wreck, here I come!! The walls were covered in large anemones which I have been informed don’t taste good, so I didn’t lick any. I am still in awe of all the different kinds which I see growing on our wrecks. They fascinate me. We saw may small and just a few large sea bass and tautog in among the debris field which is expansive and we followed along until we hit sand and turned and headed out in the opposite direction. The 48 F water was now making my hands really cold and we turned back and went up. The seas had picked up and the line jerked about, I definitely was appreciating my jon line. On the surface, the ladder on the Spring Tide is kind of steep and presented a challenge, it took me a minute to get up.
On the SI we chatted and snacked and compared notes. While I saw none...... there were lobsters out there and proof was in the cooler.
While Capt Bart was in charge, Capt Ron went on down and left a “little surprise” for some future artifact hunting wreck diver. It will be interesting to see how this unfolds.
On the second dive we were met with reduced viz and cooler water temps of about 5 ft and 45 F. Al again ran the line and this time we went out off the end of the wall and into the sand looking about. I still saw no lobsters but we did find a small ray in the sand, and some hermit crabs and quite a few tube worms which I stopped and played with, poking each one to make it pull into its tube. It was kind of like playing Whack a Mole in some places, poking all about, I was amused and could have stayed and played but there was more to see. A little farther along I found a perfectly intact Oak Leaf. Not as in cluster, as in leaf. I looked all around and could not find the tree. How does a single leaf make it 8 miles out to sea and 80 feet down with out a crease or tear? Things that make you go Hmmm. I put it in my pocket. As we looked about I also found a scallop, which made me chase it, so I put that in my pocket too. And a little farther than that I found a tiny moon snail, so I added him to my collection too.
About now Als reel was about to run out of line so we headed back. On the return trip we found Captain Rons surprise and left it be for future divers. Right before the anchor line Al hit a snag and had to wrap up the reel for straightening out later. My hands were really cold again but I tuffed it out and I ran my line out towards the far side. The Visibility was slowly declining (along with my finger mobility) so we went back and headed up. The thermocline at about 30 feet a welcome relief. This time getting back onboard was more of a challenge. The granny line was gone and the seas had picked up a bit, then as I hit the ladder my BPW and tanks shifted. I must not have had the straps tight enough and with the rolling of the boat each step I took I was pulled precariously to the left. Dang!!! And I had been doing so good.
Once back on deck we secured our gear and headed home. Walter napped a little with one eye open on the way back in, I have no idea where he got the idea that someone would draw a moustache on him if he slept.

Railroad Bridge

The sea was wet as wet could be,

The sands were dry as dry.

You could not see a cloud, because

No cloud was in the sky:

No birds were flying overhead—There were no birds to fly. - Lewis Carroll

There are no bad dives, just some dives that are better than others. I have had better dives but there are still things to report.
We were going to dive the Bluffs Wreck tonight. We walked down to the shore and there were about a dozen surfers in chest high waves, enjoying the surf to the north of the jetty. The wreck lay to the south, about 300-400 feet out under those 4 foot crashers. While there was an occasional lull in the sets there was also a good strong current, pounding waves almost as tall as I was and the sets started right where we wanted to be. I was not sure about this. We were going to take a pounding.
I thought our alternate site would be in order. I’m sorry but I just wasn’t confident about it.
We headed over to the Railroad Bridge. I haven’t been there since October and I always enjoyed these dives. Timing is everything and we were off a bit. We were dead center between Low and the incoming high tide. But looking in the water we were going to have some decent visibility.
Now we just needed something to see. It was warm, about 75 F on land but the big news is the temperature of the water. A whopping 68F with the incoming tide no less. The Back Bay was only 57F on Thursday. This is crazy.
We put on our fins and walked out and dropped down. Visibility for me was about 15 foot maybe a bit more.
While not anywhere near as plentiful as Thursday at the Back Bay, there were a few horseshoe crabs still going at it hot and heavy. And all the large starfish were here, hundreds and hundreds of them. Hermit crabs were not in abundance but I did find one and held on to it to bring home to my cousin for his saltwater tank. My dive buddy found a dead fish. He poked it but it wouldn’t move.
We headed out under the bridge and the current was ripping and we were swept along and out the far side. The bottom was blanketed with a thick layer of mussels and many blue claw and rock crabs were hiding in among them.
There were quite a few small fish under the bridge and we did see a few pole spear size ones also. I only saw one flounder and that was in the mid sized range. This time Mark found a dead crab.
The ride though the bridge pilings caused me to loose my hermit crab but I did find a second one and stuck it in my dry suit pocket for safekeeping.
As we looked about I found the tiniest baby crab I have ever seen, smaller than my fingernail but absolutely perfect. I picked him up and played a minute or two but we were moving on already.
We came back through the bridge the current still making it a challenge, especially with the dive flag, but we made it. With the visibility you could look up and see the sun shining on things at the surface of the water. The bridge, the dive flag. It was kind of nice to look at and would take you by surprise a little at first.
Back near the bulkhead we looked around a bit more and Mark found several graduates of the local fishing boats Fillet and Release Program. Again he poked them and they didn’t want to move.
We surfaced and paddled back in. There was definitely not a great deal to see here tonite so we were calling it a dive. Things are taking their time coming back to life in this area.
I was traveling on my way home and at about Lavallette when I remembered the hermit crab in my dry suit pocket...............Ooooooohhhhh..............I headed straight to my cousins and pulled him out of the pocket and dropped him in the tank. He had made it alive, barely, but he had made it.

Hankins Wreck

“I came just about as close to death as a man can get and still come out breathing. The place was Mexico; a man-eating shark was staring me right in the eye.“Johnny Weissmuller

Again with the early stuff. Message was “Dive is on. Be at Clarks Landing Marina at 6:30 sharp“. The problem is that I did not know exactly where at Clarks Marina to be at 6:30 in the morning. Luckily Jim, our Jack of all Trades, fearless leader, dive buddy, mate, trip organizer and bottle jockey was at the dock and waving me in to the slip of the Blue Fathoms.
We were short a few in our group this morning but were still 4 strong besides Jim with Al, Al, Dave and myself.
Captain Tony walked me over to the Ships Store and let me buy him a cup of coffee while we waited to see if anyone else was going to show. The cashier informed me the coffee was free, a courtesy of the marina. Aha, it was going to be one of “those “ dive days.
The wind had picked up a bit and there were cornrows of fluffy clouds in the sky, and the seas were light and gently rolling as we headed out to the Hankins. Another wreck I have never dove on (there are a lot of those).
There are a number of late 1800's wrecks that go by some variation of "Hankins". No one is quite sure why. The most likely explanation is that they were all originally charted by some fishing boat captain who is now forgotten except for his name.
The "Big Hankins" is the remains of a large unknown circa early to mid 1800’s schooner. The wreck consists of a series of low walls and some machinery piles and wooden planking . This vessel probably sunk in the late 1800s or around the turn of the century judging from the design of the anchor. It is fairly spread out and sits in 75-80 feet of water.
When we arrived at the site there was no surface current so it was decided not to use a Carolina Line, everyone could easily navigate to the ball and down. My legendary navigational skills being what they are, our fearless leader made the executive decision that I would get towed over to the down line to ensure my timely arrival. Good decision, worked like a charm.
Al went in first and tied in and the Styrofoam came up and the pool was open. The remaining Al and I budded up and rolled over. I was towed over to the ball and down I went. We were tied in to a low portion of the wall of the wreckage and there was a slight current and about 15-20 foot of visibility. I tied in my reel and led the way (don’t laugh, I can follow the string back, we wont get lost). The first thing we came upon was a large fish that looked like a rock and blended in almost perfectly. During the surface interval I asked about it and it was thought to be an Ocean Pout, but upon looking at some pictures, it definitely wasn’t. It looked more like a cross between a Sea Robin and a Monk fish. Either way, I had to poke it.
We headed out along the low wreck wall which was covered in assorted sealife and I stayed close to the sand looking in all the crevices and holes to see who was home, and hopefully grab me some dinner. This was at times difficult as my reel would unwind as I swam along and just when I wasn’t expecting it....it would stick and stop me dead in my tracks and BOING me back a foot or two. This had to look pretty amusing to Al who was watching from behind.
In several of the holes along the sand I found large crabs dug in and looking defensive, but no lobster. Along the length of this section were numerous areas where a portion of the wall had collapsed providing large caverns perfect for hiding fish. Shining our lights in these areas, they were filled with sea bass and tautog, many of them a size of interest to our spear gun toting friends.
We ran out to the end of the wall, hitting an expanse of sand and turned to come back, my reel of course jamming. And then it happened. I couldn’t believe it. I looked up and there it was, I started pointing and making OoooH!!! OooooH!!! bubble noises with my regulator. Right in front of me.....on the other side of the wall......just swimming along...... I saw my first SHARK!!!!!! I COULDN’T BELIEVE IT!!! It was 20 feet long, it was just like in Jaws, teeth the size of Ginsu Knives.....well maybe not, but it was soo awesome. I was excited..... And Al? He was looking the other way. And then.... It was gone.
We headed back to the line looking around and in and under hoping I had missed where all the lobster were congregating but to no avail. And my reel, well it got the best of me and so I just started winding it up like a big ball of string, I would deal with it on the surface.
We came up the line, over to the ladder and up. This ladder a new experience for me also with the platform on top and having to pull your fins through and jump down.
We snacked and talked and relaxed during the SI waiting for Dive 2. The wind started to pick up and the waves came in a little harder but was still doable. We must have been slightly off balance, possibly with too much tank weight on one side of the boat because every time I stepped on the starboard side of the boat, it pitched and listed to the side. Jim reserved comment on my observation and told me to suit up and get in the water.
Something was up with my tank, only 2000lbs but we couldn’t find any leaking so it would be a short dive. Over the side and when I surfaced....I was at the ladder. Our mate for all seasons quickly located me and brought me back to the downline and we were on our way. This time at the bottom Al ran the line and I went sight seeing, again hugging the sand and poking and peeking around. Reaching the end of the wall we turned and came back to the line and I headed up as Al continued to look around. As I did my 3 minute hang, I could see Als bubbles coming up from beneath me, growing huge as they ascended. I amused my self watching my reflection in the bubbles as they approached, it was really entrancing and I wished I had a camera with me to capture the images.
Once back on board we waited for Jim to untie from the wreck and come on up. While I came home empty handed there were several lobsters and some nice sea bass brought up. The ride back in was a bit choppy but it looks like we got the best day of the weekend in for our day on the water.

Back Bay Update

Back Bay Update - You know you want to know
“Everyone” said there is nothing to see. “Everyone” said the water is still too cold. “Everyone” said the viz is horrible, brown like tea. “Everyone” said there is an algae bloom. “Everyone” was wrong.
After last weeks entanglement with the down line I wanted to try slinging my pony. And when I went to pick up my tanks the weight pouches for my cam bands came in so I could try them too and get rid of the double back plates.
It was really warm this evening, 80’s warm, and hard to justify putting on artic thermals and wool socks, but we did. And then we kitted up down by the water. There were easily 20 or 30 horseshoe crabs in the shallows near the beach, all paired up in tandem racing about. These things are like dang rabbits, they really need to be more discreet. We had to watch where we were stepping as we waded out, they were everywhere.
We dropped down and looked and ....... We could see. We could see pretty well as a matter of fact. The water was the clear green we all know and love and it was 57 F. I just checked my computer again to be sure and it was 57 F. Hmmmm
We took a heading out towards the pilings. I was not the keeper of the compass tonite (Hey! I found our way back last time!), clearer heads prevailed and so I followed. We passed several more honeymooning horseshoe crabs as the shoreline gave way to the “deeper” water. And then looked about to see what was new.
There were quite a few small flounder hiding along the bottom and one rather large one which begged to be poked and sent off in a cloud of sand. There were also hermit crabs everywhere we looked. Many of these were quite large and insisted on playing with us. And we of course obliged.
In many places you could see the turned sand where a large sand clam had dug its way in, the fresh bottom sand still a different color around the hole. There was a really big conch making its way across the sand. I have never seen one of these in the bay before.
The mass orgies of crabs were gone and they were dispersed across the bay floor hiding in among the algae and seaweed and the occasional rock or piece of cement. Size seemed to be the theme here as there were several rather large specimens which raised their claws to ward us off as we passed overhead. Several of these were of a good enough size that we made sure we were clear of them as we passed although I could not resist boxing a few rounds with one along the way.
The fields of teeny tiny starfish were gone and instead there were scattered lone starfish still smaller than the palm of my hand. I was also surprised to see a startled blue claw run from us carrying a much smaller baby crab under her arm. I didnt realize that crabs looked after their young like that. There still were not any bait fish swimming about that I saw but the moon snails were out. We came across one partially out of its shell. The body looked to be 3 or 4 times the size of the shell and way too big to fit back in. But when it was placed on Marks hand it started to pull itself inside and it just kept sucking itself in until it was totally inside the shell. Pretty amazing. Scattered about the sand were quite a few pieces of what appeared to be bowl shaped collars. They are actually the egg mass of the moon snail. The eggs are pressed together with sand particles and held together with mucous making the collar flexible with a feeling like gritty rubber. During the summer, the eggs hatch causing the collars fall apart and the snail larvae become part of the zooplankton in the water until they change into tiny little moon snails. You would never guess this by looking at them.
Not much of anything else was new out there, but it is coming to life. I will have to keep an eye on it. I am not sure how I feel about slinging the pony versus the bracket. And I am pretty sure I dont like the feel of the weight pouches as the weight is no longer evenly distributed and pushes down on my shoulders causing me to constantly force my legs down to adjust. I will have to try it a few more times to see if I get used to it.