Me thoughts I saw a thousand fearful wrecks,A thousand men that fishes gnawed upon,Wedges of gold, great anchors, heaps of pearl,Inestimable stones, unvalued jewels,All scattered in the bottom of the sea. – William Shakespeare
The forecast was ominous and it was freezing when I arrived at the dock. But the skies were clear and the wind had died down. We hurried to load everything on board the Blue Fathoms.
It was decided not to tempt fate and stay close to home, so we were headed out to the Mohawk….a wreck I have been on before.
I know I already told you about her but here are a few more facts. The “first” Mohawk was a Clyde Liner that burned and sank in the Delaware Bay on New Years Day in 1925. Her replacement, “this” Mohawk was built in 1926 and in 1929 in heavy fog it collided with the steamship Jefferson and had to run aground in Seabright where the passengers were lowered into lifeboats and rescued by the Coast Guard.
They repaired her and since they were short a vessel after loosing the Morro Castle (seeing a trend here?) they put her back into service from New York to Havana, Cuba.
It left New York for Havana on January 25, 1935, as did the freighter, Talisman, which was headed to Bahia, Brazil.
The two ships collided and while the Talisman was able to limp back to port, the Mohawk sunk fast. The air was so cold that the lifeboats were frozen to their rigging and had to be cut loose with axes and hand knives crushing crew members and sliding on the deck dumping passengers into the freezing ocean water. The ship sank and rolled over with life boats still frozen in place. 35 people were found dead and 10 more remained missing despite the fact that the Algonquin was on site picking up survivors within 45 minutes. The Captain went down with the ship.
At the tribunal it was decided the Mohawk was at fault for the collision but the Talisman was at fault for not trying to rescue the survivors, they never even lowered their lifeboats to pull people from the water.
Within 24 hours, President Franklin Roosevelt urged for Safety at Sea Regulations, a bill for marine safety, targeting building materials and loading standards.
Since the ship could not be salvaged and was blocking the shipping channels it was blown up and wire dragged….I love the fact that during WWII the wreckage was mistaken for a German U-Boat by a blimp and blown up one last time.
We geared up and threw ourselves into water that was warmer than the air at 63F. The water was flat, calm and clear clouding slightly as we descended onto the pointy end of the wreck. We set about looking around. The bow is the most recognizable portion of the ship and we swam all around it. Looking about in the mangle wreckage we noted a huge blackfish hiding and made note to tell Al, the clubs new Vice President and big fish spearer.
There was a big ocean pout hiding under one of the hull plates and I tried to thump him with my flashlight but missed, later we came across a really large conger eel in his hole and as I went to extend my arm, Mark gave me the “oh no…don’t do that” sign..twice. So I didn’t poke him. We saw another smaller eel and more pout along with several types of starfish and myriads of baitfish, blackfish, sea bass, stripers and tog in various sizes.
Our time was up and we headed up the line. Al had speared himself a fish, although not as large as the one on his last dive….and lobster came up also. Some hot soup and dive banter ensued until it was time to go in again.
I made a less than graceful entry with my gear coming loose but righted myself and down we went again, this time running the reel out in another direction. More ocean pout and eels in the hidey holes and several really large crabs, but no lobsters appeared. At one point we looked down and there was an enormous white, pout, eel looking fish lying quietly on the bottom. He looked to be in some sort of distress and we let him be.
Farther along Mark reached down and pulled up a tile, one of the octagonal marble tiles that the wreck is known for. Sweet. We turned and headed back to the tie in and poked around the debris there. Apparently one pound sinkers grow in patches on the bottom of the ocean and I was busy harvesting a half dozen of or so for whatever reason, when I see Mark locked in a life or death battle with something in a large pipe. He came up empty handed but he was not giving up. As he waited for another chance I looked down and saw another set of keeper claws and made a grab for them myself. I came away with one antennae and Mark had not faired any better. Our computers were telling us our time was up and we headed for the surface.
While we came up empty handed, (except for the tile, an antenna, sinkers and a shell) Walter, Al and Rick had faired much better with fish and lobster disbursed among them.
63F water temps, 2 foot seas and 15 foot of viz…. another great day of diving.
Mohawk in October
Ocean City Maryland
"The sea is everything. It covers seven tenths of the terrestrial globe. Its breath is pure and healthy. It is an immense desert, where man is never lonely, for he feels life stirring on all sides."
~ Jules Verne….20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Confusion is my middle name and that is how Friday started out….we got a little of a late start as everyone scrambled with last minute stuff to get ready….but then, we were off. We had left too late to catch the last ferry so we drove on down, Mark, Big Jim and myself, with Jim at the wheel, and arrived in Ocean City, Maryland late but with no problems.
We checked into the rooms and passed out. Our 5:30AM wake up would come way too quickly.
We were up and at WaWa, someone’s favorite “restaurant”, bright and early getting lunch for the day and then on to the diner for breakfast. We met the rest of the group there and fueled up for the start of the day. And what a group we were. Mark, Jim and myself…Bob another local diver and Chris, a friend of the captains…the Shore Scuba Crew of Dave, Eugene, Kenny, John and Patty…and the infamous Captain Rob of Pirate King fame.
After loading up the boat, we pulled out in somewhat foggy conditions, but with great expectations. Our destination had changed several times before ever arriving in Maryland and as we headed out, it changed once again.
We were now on our way to the Saetia, a 322 foot coal fired steam engine that was sunk on November 9, 1918 after hitting a mine from the U-117. All 65 of her crew got off safely and she then sank quickly in 110 feet of water.
We were all exhausted on our way out, the Shore Scuba guys had arrived after we did, and everyone settled in for a little nap. I was forward on the bunks with Mark in the outer room bunk and Jim at the top of the stairs. Patty was in what was to become her favorite napping position, she just laid her forehead on the table and went to sleep. And the rest of the gang just lay strewn about. I could just not sleep as the fog and humidity had everything wet and my allergies were kicking in so I got up and opened the cabin door to note “smoke” coming through the louvers of the closet door. I very calmly said “Mark, should there be smoke coming out of there?” He jumped straight up, not sat up, not one end up and then the other but his entire body went straight up in the air, Jim came flying down the stairs along with Eugene and the captain was there not 5 seconds later. I had definitely gotten everyone’s attention. Turns out it was steam and it was overflow from one of the engines overheating, but it was enough to wake everyone up and get their blood pumping.
We were just about at the dive sight so we busied ourselves getting ready. Jim tied us in and Mark, Chris and I jumped in first to go down and meet him. I knew we were on the wreck when I hit it. Visibility was the length of my arm and I have short arms. Hugging close to the wreck we headed out to see if things would improve but no luck. I kept one hand on the wreck as we moved along and stayed close to Mark. From what I could see it looked like this would have been a nice dive under better conditions. There were a myriad of nooks and crannies to look in and surprisingly we found no lobsters hiding in any of them and the growth on the outside of the wreck seemed to have a bit of a red glow. We headed out a bit into the sand and occasionally came across some debris but you had to run head first into it to see it so we headed back in and up.
Bob jumped in as we came up, he was going to pull the hook, and as he did his SMB made an escape attempt. Mark leapt into action and repeated his New Years rescue dive. Without a word or hesitation he jumped over and recaptured the errant gear. Once again, his rescue training paying off.
Topside things were not looking up and we were going to continue in on one engine. While we talked about the situation and had lunch we were visited by….a whale! It breached the water directly in front of us and we all stood at the bow and waited for it to surface again. We were not disappointed when it came up again about 100 feet off of our port side and you could see that it again swam under eyeing us up to see what we were all about. Directly afterwards we watched what appeared to be a fin again about 100 feet off of our port side and we guessed at what it could be. Turns out, it was one enormous sea turtle and that was its head sticking out of the water we could see from so far away. Not bad for one lunch interval. We immediately followed this with 10 lbs of cookies and 10 lbs of Nestles crunch bars and Reeses peanut butter cups. (John took quite the fancy to the peanut caramel cups) and upon us all entering a sugar induced coma the captain headed on in.
On the way in we made our second stop on the Arthur T Hall, a 165 foot coast guard buoy tender, sitting upright in about 120 foot of water. This wreck is intact with even the railings still in place with the top sitting at about 70 feet and swim throughs at the main deck and below. We were greeted with about 10 - 15 feet of visibility (what a difference a few miles makes) and water in the mid 60’s range. We really enjoyed this dive swimming from deck to deck and looking all about. While there was growth all about the wreck, it looked like a ship and you could make out where you were going and what you wanted to see next.
After coming up we headed on to the marina. It would be a long ride home on one engine but we would be fine.
We were met by the dive shop truck taking our tanks for fills and we headed back to the hotel for a shower and dinner.
We were meeting the shop to pick up our tanks at 5:30AM and for the life of me I can’t figure why diving has to occur at such ungodly hours. The fog was still with us as we headed out once more. This time we were doing 2 dives on the Washingtonian and then calling it a trip.
The Washingtonian was a short lived 407 foot freighter. Built in 1914, it was carrying a cargo of sugar from Honolulu when, in January of 1915, it collided with the 300 foot, 5 masted wooden schooner Elizabeth Palmer and sank upside down in 90 – 100 feet of water. The collision caused a huge hole in her starboard side and she sank fast, but luckily all of her crew escaped in lifeboats. There is not much left of the Elizabeth Palmer, once the largest wooden schooner a float, but for a few ribs sticking from the sand with the majority of the wreck lying buried, but the Washingtonian still has enormous boilers and a mass of broken hull plates and such a long debris field that there is still a lot to see.
We arrived at the Washingtonian, a little slowly, but without incident and tied in. Well… a little trouble with the tie in but Jim took one heck of a tour with the chain. He came up reporting sharks abounding on the wreck and 20-30 foot of viz. Divers clamored to get in the water.
The top of the boilers came quickly into view as we descended and schools of fish swam over it. Most of the sharks had retreated and just remnants remained. But the boilers were impressive. The rows of rivets up their sides looked like hand holds for a climbing wall. They were as wide across as my hand and rows of them lined the sides. There were several abandoned nets and ropes laying hanging in several spots and definite thermo clines as you made your way to the sand.
Visibility was close at the bottom and we ran a reel and tried moving out into the sand to see if it cleared. Diver fin error was not the reason we couldn’t see and we headed back and looked about the hull plates debris surrounding the boilers. There were some sea bass and tog swimming about and as we came to the end of a piece of wreckage I caught sight of 2 enormous black fish swimming around the corner and disappearing into the wreckage. A large lone trigger fish tried valiantly to fit in the middle of a school of bait fish and spade fish were about. As we headed up, I was looking up at the light coming through the water and the outline of our boat when Mark tapped me on the shoulder and pointed down. The fog must have burned off and the ambient light lit up the wreck below us and the schooling fish below us put on a show to watch throughout our hang time. We were warm, relaxed and entertained, I could definitely do a second dive here.
During the surface interval we snacked and ate and snacked…this group will never starve…
I walked up to the bow and there were bodies strewn about napping…I had to laugh…I noted out loud that the scene looked like something out of a movie where the boat had been adrift for 3 days and the captain immediately threatened to throw me overboard if I continued. This was apparently another sugar induced incident as there was a milk crate filled with candy wrappers in the center of the deck. Ken admitted to knowing where the last Caramel peanut butter cup was hidden but never did divulge the information. I moved to the stern of the boat and we proceeded to eat pistachio nuts and try our darnedest to throw them overboard, into the wind…apparently the entire boat was in a laxidazical mood.
Mark had our surface interval timed and was soon nudging me along to get back into the water. We took the camera this time to see if we could get some shark pics, but as we reached the wreck there were none about so he tied it off to the line and we took off to explore some more.
We again ran out the line of hull plates looking about and then over the wreckage to the other side. Down one end we came across an abandoned grapple and decided to come back for it later. We went out in the sand and there were large flounder swimming about. As we went along I notices something strange in the sand below and I headed for it. It was 4 or 5 flounder all piled one on top of the other and buried in the sand. You know without a doubt what I did…….I poked them and they took off in a hurry. Mark had not seen them and when they scattered I could here him yell “holy sh**!!” into his reg. That got a smile out of me and on we went swimming up and over and about through schools of fish and wreckage. The water was cooling and the bottom thermo cline was moving up noticeably. Before we headed up we went over to retrieve the grapple and Mark carried it with him.
At the line I took the camera (do we see a problem here? Yup) and we headed on up. As we were hanging a school of huge spade fish just engulfed us and swam about. They were close enough to reach out and touch. Mark was urging me to take pictures, but like the blonde who holds the camera backwards I just couldn’t get the thing to work. Mark did reach over finally and turn it on but I still was not having much luck and I don’t think I ever got a picture. Oh well…
When we got up we started to break down our gear and get ready to head in….one slight problem was a clip on the line stuck over a knot and a volunteer was needed to jump in and free it. Someone who was still in their suit….I hated that back zipper at this moment…..and made a mental note to take the suit off first from now on…. I jumped in and swam over and freed the clip and climbed back on board. As soon as the guys hauled in the anchor we would be on our way home.
Once back at the marina we loaded our gear in the truck and said our good byes…we were heading back to the hotel for a quick shower and making a beeline for the last ferry to NJ. The Pirate King was going to make the trip back to Cape May in the morning…I wish it luck.
Lady Godiver
Wouldst thou – so the helmsman answered - Learn the secret of the sea?
Only those who brave its dangers - Comprehend its mystery!
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Leisurely…..That is how I would describe arriving at the dock at 7:30AM. Leisurely….That is how I would describe the day. Nice. Nice and leisurely.
I was invited to join a group of divers on the Lady Godiver, with Captain Howard and with no 6AM boat call, I liked their style already.
It was cool out this morning…not cold… not autumn brisk…just cool. But the day held promise. We loaded on board and I was pleasantly surprised I that I either knew or knew of all the divers today, Captain Howard, Bartman, Jack, Francis, Rich, Mark and myself. The sun was shining and the seas were not flat but they were comfortable as we headed out.
The decision was made to go somewhere with high relief due to the currents and the Big NW Barge was chosen. This is the largest of the pieces of wreckage in the Northwest Barges which I had been diving on just a few weeks before, a group of 6 to 8 barges in about 70-75 fsw off the coast of Barnegat Light.
We talked diving on the way out. Places to go, places we have been, they are a very well traveled group and a wealth of knowledge. The sun warmed things up and although it appeared that the powers that be were messing with us, the numbers were slightly off, it didn’t faze these guys in the least. After a little coordination and cooperation between Howard and Jack we were right on the sight and dropping anchor.
Bart tied us in and one by one divers geared up and rolled in the water. Howard graciously set up the granny line. I don’t know if it was something they usually did or if he had heard of my legendary navigational abilities, but either way it was appreciated. We went down the line through a haze of green water and jellyfish. There were a mixture of different of jellies and even some of the “mystery egg casings” from my last Railroad Bridge dive. They seemed to like the warmer surface temps and as we reached the sand they had thinned considerably.
I was running the reel this time (don’t laugh, I can do that) and Mark was playing tourist (and even poked a fish or two). I wanted to run out my reel and see how it was working as I had some trouble with it sticking earlier in the season. The visibility was hazy and in the 5-10 foot range at the bottom of the line. I tied on to a piece of the wreck and almost immediately ran head first into a large wire trap that had been opened and upended. Scared the doody out of me but did remind me that I had to look up and not at my reel as we went along. Mark gave me a few reel pointers as we moved about and as we continued the visibility improved slightly and my navigational abilities improved immensely. I have been spoiled not having to run the line often and this was good practice for me.
We ran out a good portion of the reel before turning back (I don’t think I ever ran my reel out all the way…I don’t know if the line is tied to the spool or not…I should check that) and upon reaching the anchor took a swim the other way. At 77 fsw the bottom temperatures were only 63F, we have cooled down some and the wildlife was sparse. I did see a nice sized set of claws in a hole in the wreckage but there wasn’t a lot of room to reach in, as the opening was narrow and angled, and after a few tries I moved on.
I diligently reeled my little heart out and we were back at the tie in. My new steel 119 was performing admirably and while I still had plenty of gas left I was running low on NDL, so we poked around a little bit at the tie in before heading up.
Another new ladder for me to try. I felt some wiggle in my tank as I climbed up, I would have to adjust my harness next dive but for now, with some help, I was over and making my way to the bench. It wasn’t bad….a few more tries and I will have the hang of it.
We lounged about and snacked as we waited for the rest of the divers to come up, just enjoying the day and the company. When all were accounted for we readied for the next site. Rich had been wanting to go to the Viscaya all season and we were going to give it a try.
As we approached the Viscaya we could see another boat on the site fishing. We were out on the ocean, the sun was shining and this was not they only wreck in the sea. No problem….Oh look! Over there….. about 150 yards….the Cornelius Hargraves. That works.
The Cornelius Hargraves was a 211 X 45ft four masted coal schooner running at full sail at night in October of 1890. Although she had the right of way and her crew saw the Viscaya…the Viscaya did not see them and they collided, immediately sinking both vessels in 84 feet of water with a tragic loss of life on the Viscaya but all 10 of the crew of the Hargraves were saved. The captain took a lifeboat and abandoned the vessel, later to be charged with cowardice by a crew member who survived by floating on a door. One other lifeboat was put in the water and the crew on that rescued several victims of the Viscaya from the sea and finally several other members lashed themselves to the masts protruding from the water and were rescued the following morning by a passing ship.
We suited up and dropped in. There weren’t nearly as many jellies here and upon reaching the bottom we discovered much improved visibility and a slightly stronger current was most likely the reason. Mark was running the line this time and I was poking…I mean touring. I have a new pistol grip flashlight since having problems with my primary and my backup flooding. I don’t really like it but it works. As we swam along there was a small ocean pout that seemed to be following me, staying just out of my reach but not put off by the fact that I was trying to poke him. I entertained myself by chasing after him for a few minutes trying to smack him with my flashlight like in a whack-a-mole game. I didn’t get him.
I looked in the hideyholes and while I saw several crabs, I found no lobsters. As I looked about the sides of the wreck, I could see they were covered in soft corals and aneomes and I spied the last of the butterfly fish swimming about. Out in the sand we came across several winter flounder and the regular assortment of sea bass and other fish. I picked up a shell to add to my collection and we enjoyed a leisurely swim about the area. Leisurely…it kind of sums up the day. I like it.
As we headed in we took a slight detour to check out some numbers and we rested and talked diving and photography among other things. Rich took some great videos on the wrecks and he found a…..some kind of little critter that he was hoping to identify. Some rope had been rescued and several lobsters were taking the ride in with us. Not a bad day on the water.
Only those who brave its dangers - Comprehend its mystery!
~Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Leisurely…..That is how I would describe arriving at the dock at 7:30AM. Leisurely….That is how I would describe the day. Nice. Nice and leisurely.
I was invited to join a group of divers on the Lady Godiver, with Captain Howard and with no 6AM boat call, I liked their style already.
It was cool out this morning…not cold… not autumn brisk…just cool. But the day held promise. We loaded on board and I was pleasantly surprised I that I either knew or knew of all the divers today, Captain Howard, Bartman, Jack, Francis, Rich, Mark and myself. The sun was shining and the seas were not flat but they were comfortable as we headed out.
The decision was made to go somewhere with high relief due to the currents and the Big NW Barge was chosen. This is the largest of the pieces of wreckage in the Northwest Barges which I had been diving on just a few weeks before, a group of 6 to 8 barges in about 70-75 fsw off the coast of Barnegat Light.
We talked diving on the way out. Places to go, places we have been, they are a very well traveled group and a wealth of knowledge. The sun warmed things up and although it appeared that the powers that be were messing with us, the numbers were slightly off, it didn’t faze these guys in the least. After a little coordination and cooperation between Howard and Jack we were right on the sight and dropping anchor.
Bart tied us in and one by one divers geared up and rolled in the water. Howard graciously set up the granny line. I don’t know if it was something they usually did or if he had heard of my legendary navigational abilities, but either way it was appreciated. We went down the line through a haze of green water and jellyfish. There were a mixture of different of jellies and even some of the “mystery egg casings” from my last Railroad Bridge dive. They seemed to like the warmer surface temps and as we reached the sand they had thinned considerably.
I was running the reel this time (don’t laugh, I can do that) and Mark was playing tourist (and even poked a fish or two). I wanted to run out my reel and see how it was working as I had some trouble with it sticking earlier in the season. The visibility was hazy and in the 5-10 foot range at the bottom of the line. I tied on to a piece of the wreck and almost immediately ran head first into a large wire trap that had been opened and upended. Scared the doody out of me but did remind me that I had to look up and not at my reel as we went along. Mark gave me a few reel pointers as we moved about and as we continued the visibility improved slightly and my navigational abilities improved immensely. I have been spoiled not having to run the line often and this was good practice for me.
We ran out a good portion of the reel before turning back (I don’t think I ever ran my reel out all the way…I don’t know if the line is tied to the spool or not…I should check that) and upon reaching the anchor took a swim the other way. At 77 fsw the bottom temperatures were only 63F, we have cooled down some and the wildlife was sparse. I did see a nice sized set of claws in a hole in the wreckage but there wasn’t a lot of room to reach in, as the opening was narrow and angled, and after a few tries I moved on.
I diligently reeled my little heart out and we were back at the tie in. My new steel 119 was performing admirably and while I still had plenty of gas left I was running low on NDL, so we poked around a little bit at the tie in before heading up.
Another new ladder for me to try. I felt some wiggle in my tank as I climbed up, I would have to adjust my harness next dive but for now, with some help, I was over and making my way to the bench. It wasn’t bad….a few more tries and I will have the hang of it.
We lounged about and snacked as we waited for the rest of the divers to come up, just enjoying the day and the company. When all were accounted for we readied for the next site. Rich had been wanting to go to the Viscaya all season and we were going to give it a try.
As we approached the Viscaya we could see another boat on the site fishing. We were out on the ocean, the sun was shining and this was not they only wreck in the sea. No problem….Oh look! Over there….. about 150 yards….the Cornelius Hargraves. That works.
The Cornelius Hargraves was a 211 X 45ft four masted coal schooner running at full sail at night in October of 1890. Although she had the right of way and her crew saw the Viscaya…the Viscaya did not see them and they collided, immediately sinking both vessels in 84 feet of water with a tragic loss of life on the Viscaya but all 10 of the crew of the Hargraves were saved. The captain took a lifeboat and abandoned the vessel, later to be charged with cowardice by a crew member who survived by floating on a door. One other lifeboat was put in the water and the crew on that rescued several victims of the Viscaya from the sea and finally several other members lashed themselves to the masts protruding from the water and were rescued the following morning by a passing ship.
We suited up and dropped in. There weren’t nearly as many jellies here and upon reaching the bottom we discovered much improved visibility and a slightly stronger current was most likely the reason. Mark was running the line this time and I was poking…I mean touring. I have a new pistol grip flashlight since having problems with my primary and my backup flooding. I don’t really like it but it works. As we swam along there was a small ocean pout that seemed to be following me, staying just out of my reach but not put off by the fact that I was trying to poke him. I entertained myself by chasing after him for a few minutes trying to smack him with my flashlight like in a whack-a-mole game. I didn’t get him.
I looked in the hideyholes and while I saw several crabs, I found no lobsters. As I looked about the sides of the wreck, I could see they were covered in soft corals and aneomes and I spied the last of the butterfly fish swimming about. Out in the sand we came across several winter flounder and the regular assortment of sea bass and other fish. I picked up a shell to add to my collection and we enjoyed a leisurely swim about the area. Leisurely…it kind of sums up the day. I like it.
As we headed in we took a slight detour to check out some numbers and we rested and talked diving and photography among other things. Rich took some great videos on the wrecks and he found a…..some kind of little critter that he was hoping to identify. Some rope had been rescued and several lobsters were taking the ride in with us. Not a bad day on the water.
Rescue Me
“I have heard there are troubles of more than one kind. Some come from ahead and some come from behind. But I've bought a big bat. I'm all ready you see. Now my troubles are going to have troubles with me!”
~ Dr Seuss
I arrived at Dutch Springs at 8AM and unloaded my gear on the peninsula and parked up in the upper lot. On my way back, I stopped at the Wreck Valley campsite and said hello to the guys. Hambleto, Benham, BingBing and Terry were just finishing up their morning coffee.
Eventually, I was called back to the peninsula to join in the discussion already in progress with my dive buddies and we kicked back and talked for about an hour. But soon the promise of diving and good weather and decent visibility got me kitted up and in the water in record time…..I am doing that a lot lately.
I was trying out my new tank and gingerly stepped off the platform to check my weighting. My mask immediately fogged up as I sank. I thought about it for a moment…..but I didn’t think the new tank was the cause of the problem….. So I flooded, cleared and headed out.
About 50 yards out, my mask fogged again, I flooded and cleared and as I looked down through my freshly cleared mask, on the ledge below me I spotted a diver…just laying there, slightly crumpled on the bottom…I didn’t think my new tank caused that either…..so I went down to investigate. I shook him gently but he didn’t move. His regulator was still in his mouth and a slight stream of bubbles emanated from it. I immediately rolled him over, no small task, this was not one of the little skinny newbies here, I held his reg in place and started up with him. My heart was pounding as I tapped air into his BC, I was afraid I was going to send him to the top like a Macys Parade balloon but we arrived topside intact, albeit a little quickly. I immediately completed inflating his BC and checked for breathing but I couldn’t feel anything now so I started breaths as I towed him to the dock.
Apparently there is no rest for the weary because after I got him to the group on the dock I heard splashing and thrashing and I turned to see this diver in the midst of a full blown panic attack arms flailing unable to catch his breath. Could this be the missing dive buddy? I immediately set out shouting “Inflate your BC….Stop struggling…Inflate your BC” but he wasn’t listening. As I got closer I dropped down, came up behind him and clamped onto his tank and inflated his BC and towed him to the dock also.
The group was impressed but Ernie wanted to see what I would have done if I couldn’t sneak up behind Mr. Panicky like I did. So, I showed him and we moved on.
Jeesh, I just got in the water…what else could go wrong. I dropped down, my mask fogged on cue, I did the flood and clear thing, again, and headed out once more and this time I got about 100 yards and started looking for mydive buddy Josh. We were in about 50 feet of water but it was so silted up it was hard to see. It had to be from the numerous classes going on. There are a lot of bottom crawlers out there. Finally out of the clouds of silt appears Josh and he is frantically signaling me with what looks like the out of air sign. I couldn’t believe it, we were only in the water a short time, what happened to his air? I immediately held out my octo and grabbed his webbing. He gave me the OK sign, I thumbed up, he nodded and up we went. What a day!
I again headed out and soon found myself lost in a cloud of silt once more. This was not going to work, I couldn’t see a thing, I couldn’t even tell if my mask was fogged up. I made a few turns and headed back when suddenly there, again on the bottom, was a dark mound looking suspiciously like a diver. This was ridiculous, would it never end? OH NO!!! It was Josh…. I shook him, he moved slightly but was otherwise unresponsive. I immediately grabbed hold of him and holding his regulator in place headed up with him. Much faster than I had planned but we were up. I floated him and started breathing as I towed him to shore. About half way in, he sat up! I couldn’t believe it! “Let me take you in” I admonished him, but he refused and grabbed his inflator and descended. I immediately followed after him in case there was another problem. If there was going to be one, it seemed today was the day. And sure enough, my mask fogged. This was getting old. We were about half way to the platform total chaos broke loose. My regulator failed and as I reached out to Josh, so did his! And then his safe air went berserk and all that was left was my little yellow Sherwood octopus. I immediately offered it to Josh signing him “2 breaths”, but I still didn’t let go juuust in case. He did give it back, and I again grabbed his webbing and we headed up, passing that little baby back and forth between us. Talk about task loading…..
I needed coffee….this was just too much….was there no one there but me? WTF
Josh and I peeled off our gear and headed up to the snack bar for some refreshment and snacks. We then sat under the trees and again the conversation turned to diving. We discussed some local accidents that had happened this past dive season, an assortment of mistakes and strange occurrences had wrecked havoc on the dive community this year. Some had good outcomes, some not so good. Heck, one of them was mine on the Northeast Sailer. Things do happen.
And one of the things that needed to happen was a dive. The plan was to go out to the platform, over to the school bus, out to the plane, over to the Comet and up to the platform and out on the other side of the peninsula. OK let’s get going.
I had switched masks and as we descended….clearness…no fog…..a beautiful thing…… and no bodies strewn about…..sweet.
We passed the platforms and made it all the way out to the school bus. After a quick trip through the bus Josh started out for the plane but I was signaling him to slow down. My little fins were having problems keeping up with the Mario Andretti of divers here. I caught up and we were finning along when I caught a strange movement out of the corner of my eye. I blinked quickly because I couldn’t believe it, it looked exactly like a diver having a grande mal seizure!!! Would this day never end!! I immediately went over and grabbed hold, working diligently to keep us level in the water column, while holding the regulator in place and riding out this bucking bronco of a seizure. When it finally ended I headed on up to deal with this topside. When we breached the water and were inflated I started swimming for shore, seizure boy in tow. The spotters in the tower spotted us and immediately went into action, like ants they were running to their stations, shouting orders. I was tired and lost deep in concentration, towing my little heart out. Ernie, on the other hand was wildly signaling the spotters he was OK and yelling back at them…..what team work!! He told me I looked just like a professional…everyone thought so….so determined…so convincingly serious. I was a little proud…and a little embarrassed, I am after all quite humble….
I swam back out to the group and continued on to the boat called the Comet. Upon reaching the Comet, my dive buddy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. AKA Josh and I had to hover for a few minutes to let the rest of the group catch up. While we did, I was momentarily distracted by a large fish, hanging enticingly close and blowing me fish kisses. He begged to be poked. Josh moves much too quickly, it must make him suck down his air really fast, cause right there on the Comet it happened again. At first I thought it was a petit mal seizure, but quickly realized, he was out of air, AGAIN. He grabbed the regulator from my mouth and began to drain my tank. I quickly recovered with my trusty octo. This time we got him back on his own air supply and without further delay, headed for the platforms and dry land.
Without further interruption we hit the far dock and as everyone arrived we counted heads. As we were standing there, we realized, Ernie was alone! No buddy! Sh** Like a well oiled team, we sprung into action. Josh started searching the surface for bubbles, while another member headed up to contact EMS and another headed for higher ground hoping to get a better view. Despite Joshes attempt to suck my tank dry I still had the most gas left and Josh and I were about to head out to the Comet…I didn’t remember seeing Ernie with a dive buddy after the Comet and that particular attraction had some overhead and tight penetrations. A good place to start. We had a plan and it was in motion. A quick interview of Ernie revealed one small fact….Ernie did not loose his dive buddy on the Comet….hmmmm
What now? I didn’t remember seeing Ernie leave the school bus with a dive buddy either…ohhh nooo!!!! It has been a long time since then….this was not a rescue…..this was going to be a body recovery……
I immediately tied off a spool underneath the dock and began to make sweeps over the soft silty bottom. This was a challenge as the slightest touch of the line or myself absolutely destroyed visibility. I was working diligently keeping the cloud of bottom matter to a minimum when some inconsiderate clown churned up the entire area! (I think it was Ernie but I don’t want to say anything, cause if its true...that would have just been mean of him) I was now working blind, sweeping side to side and feeling my way along.
Suddenly, Josh tapped me on the shoulder, he had hit pay dirt and found what we were looking for, we could go home! Thank goodness.
As we packed up our gear we were again lost in diving conversation. Nothing unusual for a group of divers at Dutch. And eventually the conversation turned to good natured kidding. Nothing unusual for a group of divers anywhere. It was brought to my attention that some of you out there think I make up things in my dive reports. Let me set the record straight. I do not. Everything is true. Every last bit of it, It is reported as seen through my eyes, but its all true.
Even the events of today….. my Rescue Certification check out dives…………And yes, I was so professional and convincing in my rescues that I did have the staff at Dutch believing there was a real life problem there for a while.
I am almost a Rescue Diver…imagine that.
I arrived at Dutch Springs at 8AM and unloaded my gear on the peninsula and parked up in the upper lot. On my way back, I stopped at the Wreck Valley campsite and said hello to the guys. Hambleto, Benham, BingBing and Terry were just finishing up their morning coffee.
Eventually, I was called back to the peninsula to join in the discussion already in progress with my dive buddies and we kicked back and talked for about an hour. But soon the promise of diving and good weather and decent visibility got me kitted up and in the water in record time…..I am doing that a lot lately.
I was trying out my new tank and gingerly stepped off the platform to check my weighting. My mask immediately fogged up as I sank. I thought about it for a moment…..but I didn’t think the new tank was the cause of the problem….. So I flooded, cleared and headed out.
About 50 yards out, my mask fogged again, I flooded and cleared and as I looked down through my freshly cleared mask, on the ledge below me I spotted a diver…just laying there, slightly crumpled on the bottom…I didn’t think my new tank caused that either…..so I went down to investigate. I shook him gently but he didn’t move. His regulator was still in his mouth and a slight stream of bubbles emanated from it. I immediately rolled him over, no small task, this was not one of the little skinny newbies here, I held his reg in place and started up with him. My heart was pounding as I tapped air into his BC, I was afraid I was going to send him to the top like a Macys Parade balloon but we arrived topside intact, albeit a little quickly. I immediately completed inflating his BC and checked for breathing but I couldn’t feel anything now so I started breaths as I towed him to the dock.
Apparently there is no rest for the weary because after I got him to the group on the dock I heard splashing and thrashing and I turned to see this diver in the midst of a full blown panic attack arms flailing unable to catch his breath. Could this be the missing dive buddy? I immediately set out shouting “Inflate your BC….Stop struggling…Inflate your BC” but he wasn’t listening. As I got closer I dropped down, came up behind him and clamped onto his tank and inflated his BC and towed him to the dock also.
The group was impressed but Ernie wanted to see what I would have done if I couldn’t sneak up behind Mr. Panicky like I did. So, I showed him and we moved on.
Jeesh, I just got in the water…what else could go wrong. I dropped down, my mask fogged on cue, I did the flood and clear thing, again, and headed out once more and this time I got about 100 yards and started looking for mydive buddy Josh. We were in about 50 feet of water but it was so silted up it was hard to see. It had to be from the numerous classes going on. There are a lot of bottom crawlers out there. Finally out of the clouds of silt appears Josh and he is frantically signaling me with what looks like the out of air sign. I couldn’t believe it, we were only in the water a short time, what happened to his air? I immediately held out my octo and grabbed his webbing. He gave me the OK sign, I thumbed up, he nodded and up we went. What a day!
I again headed out and soon found myself lost in a cloud of silt once more. This was not going to work, I couldn’t see a thing, I couldn’t even tell if my mask was fogged up. I made a few turns and headed back when suddenly there, again on the bottom, was a dark mound looking suspiciously like a diver. This was ridiculous, would it never end? OH NO!!! It was Josh…. I shook him, he moved slightly but was otherwise unresponsive. I immediately grabbed hold of him and holding his regulator in place headed up with him. Much faster than I had planned but we were up. I floated him and started breathing as I towed him to shore. About half way in, he sat up! I couldn’t believe it! “Let me take you in” I admonished him, but he refused and grabbed his inflator and descended. I immediately followed after him in case there was another problem. If there was going to be one, it seemed today was the day. And sure enough, my mask fogged. This was getting old. We were about half way to the platform total chaos broke loose. My regulator failed and as I reached out to Josh, so did his! And then his safe air went berserk and all that was left was my little yellow Sherwood octopus. I immediately offered it to Josh signing him “2 breaths”, but I still didn’t let go juuust in case. He did give it back, and I again grabbed his webbing and we headed up, passing that little baby back and forth between us. Talk about task loading…..
I needed coffee….this was just too much….was there no one there but me? WTF
Josh and I peeled off our gear and headed up to the snack bar for some refreshment and snacks. We then sat under the trees and again the conversation turned to diving. We discussed some local accidents that had happened this past dive season, an assortment of mistakes and strange occurrences had wrecked havoc on the dive community this year. Some had good outcomes, some not so good. Heck, one of them was mine on the Northeast Sailer. Things do happen.
And one of the things that needed to happen was a dive. The plan was to go out to the platform, over to the school bus, out to the plane, over to the Comet and up to the platform and out on the other side of the peninsula. OK let’s get going.
I had switched masks and as we descended….clearness…no fog…..a beautiful thing…… and no bodies strewn about…..sweet.
We passed the platforms and made it all the way out to the school bus. After a quick trip through the bus Josh started out for the plane but I was signaling him to slow down. My little fins were having problems keeping up with the Mario Andretti of divers here. I caught up and we were finning along when I caught a strange movement out of the corner of my eye. I blinked quickly because I couldn’t believe it, it looked exactly like a diver having a grande mal seizure!!! Would this day never end!! I immediately went over and grabbed hold, working diligently to keep us level in the water column, while holding the regulator in place and riding out this bucking bronco of a seizure. When it finally ended I headed on up to deal with this topside. When we breached the water and were inflated I started swimming for shore, seizure boy in tow. The spotters in the tower spotted us and immediately went into action, like ants they were running to their stations, shouting orders. I was tired and lost deep in concentration, towing my little heart out. Ernie, on the other hand was wildly signaling the spotters he was OK and yelling back at them…..what team work!! He told me I looked just like a professional…everyone thought so….so determined…so convincingly serious. I was a little proud…and a little embarrassed, I am after all quite humble….
I swam back out to the group and continued on to the boat called the Comet. Upon reaching the Comet, my dive buddy, Dale Earnhardt Jr. AKA Josh and I had to hover for a few minutes to let the rest of the group catch up. While we did, I was momentarily distracted by a large fish, hanging enticingly close and blowing me fish kisses. He begged to be poked. Josh moves much too quickly, it must make him suck down his air really fast, cause right there on the Comet it happened again. At first I thought it was a petit mal seizure, but quickly realized, he was out of air, AGAIN. He grabbed the regulator from my mouth and began to drain my tank. I quickly recovered with my trusty octo. This time we got him back on his own air supply and without further delay, headed for the platforms and dry land.
Without further interruption we hit the far dock and as everyone arrived we counted heads. As we were standing there, we realized, Ernie was alone! No buddy! Sh** Like a well oiled team, we sprung into action. Josh started searching the surface for bubbles, while another member headed up to contact EMS and another headed for higher ground hoping to get a better view. Despite Joshes attempt to suck my tank dry I still had the most gas left and Josh and I were about to head out to the Comet…I didn’t remember seeing Ernie with a dive buddy after the Comet and that particular attraction had some overhead and tight penetrations. A good place to start. We had a plan and it was in motion. A quick interview of Ernie revealed one small fact….Ernie did not loose his dive buddy on the Comet….hmmmm
What now? I didn’t remember seeing Ernie leave the school bus with a dive buddy either…ohhh nooo!!!! It has been a long time since then….this was not a rescue…..this was going to be a body recovery……
I immediately tied off a spool underneath the dock and began to make sweeps over the soft silty bottom. This was a challenge as the slightest touch of the line or myself absolutely destroyed visibility. I was working diligently keeping the cloud of bottom matter to a minimum when some inconsiderate clown churned up the entire area! (I think it was Ernie but I don’t want to say anything, cause if its true...that would have just been mean of him) I was now working blind, sweeping side to side and feeling my way along.
Suddenly, Josh tapped me on the shoulder, he had hit pay dirt and found what we were looking for, we could go home! Thank goodness.
As we packed up our gear we were again lost in diving conversation. Nothing unusual for a group of divers at Dutch. And eventually the conversation turned to good natured kidding. Nothing unusual for a group of divers anywhere. It was brought to my attention that some of you out there think I make up things in my dive reports. Let me set the record straight. I do not. Everything is true. Every last bit of it, It is reported as seen through my eyes, but its all true.
Even the events of today….. my Rescue Certification check out dives…………And yes, I was so professional and convincing in my rescues that I did have the staff at Dutch believing there was a real life problem there for a while.
I am almost a Rescue Diver…imagine that.
Inlet Sept 9
Why does Sea World have a seafood restaurant? I'm halfway through my fish burger adn I realize, Oh my god...I could be eating a slow learner ~ Lynda Montgomery
We couldn’t decide on the Point Pleasant Railroad Bridge or the Manasquan Inlet so we took a look at both. The current was still moving but the water seemed clear as was the approaching night. As we stood and watched the inlet current we could see it visibly slow down and our minds were made up for us.... We were here...the slack tide was approaching fast...lets get wet.
I had the advantage of a few more minutes to get ready (or did I? Hmmmm) while the meter was being fed some additional funds and with a burst of speed I was ready....with all of my gear and forgetting nothing, thank you very much.
We walked over to the sea wall, gave a last look around and rolled on over. The water was cooler than I expected, only 64F, but still comfortable and about 6 or 7 foot of viz. Turning on our lights we descended to see who was awake.
Along the wall were an abundance of small sea bass and they were very busy ignoring us as we passed. I poked several who swam just a few short feet away and gave me a very annoyed look. I poked them twice....one didn’t catch on even then... so I poked him three times....must have been a slow learner.
We continued on and as we reached the jetty the visibility was cut in half and the surge picked up slightly. At one point we could hear boats overhead and knew we had wandered a bit too far from the rocks and moved on back in. There were still plenty of sea bass but they were still only juveniles, but we did see several trigger fish as we went along...my first tropicals of the season. The rocks were festively adorned in an assortment of leaders, sinkers and lures donated by hapless fishermen over the summer months. Crabs were nestled in the cracks and crevices and star fish littered the mussel lined floor. Soft corals and sponges clung to the rocks and it seemed all was right with the world.
I did my best imitation of “it is getting time to turn around soon” and after some additional signing and discussion we turned to ride the tide back in. Along the way I stopped to play with a small oyster cracker. I knew not to poke him on the forehead yet I still flicked him a bit but he held his ground. Gotta love him. There were also two more tropicals that I know I should know the name of...but I cant place them.... They are bottom fish.... Flat on the bottom and a greenish yellow in color with faint stripes running horizontally down their bodies and they were decently sized too. Oh well, I will have to look them up.
A little further along we came across a small fish just laying quietly among the rocks, a puffer fish, doing his little “you cant see me...you cant see me” dance. But I did see him and gave him just a small poke, but he swam in a small circle and came back....and he still didnt move.... So I gently cupped him in my hands and he began to blow up. Not wanting to scare him into exploding I opened my hands and he still stayed on lying in my hand a little while longer before swimming away as he slowly deflated.
There were no other unusual visitors the rest of the way in and the sea bass were backed into their holes sleeping. Only a few crabs were out and the water was getting cool so we climbed up the rocks and onto the wall and headed on home.
I had the advantage of a few more minutes to get ready (or did I? Hmmmm) while the meter was being fed some additional funds and with a burst of speed I was ready....with all of my gear and forgetting nothing, thank you very much.
We walked over to the sea wall, gave a last look around and rolled on over. The water was cooler than I expected, only 64F, but still comfortable and about 6 or 7 foot of viz. Turning on our lights we descended to see who was awake.
Along the wall were an abundance of small sea bass and they were very busy ignoring us as we passed. I poked several who swam just a few short feet away and gave me a very annoyed look. I poked them twice....one didn’t catch on even then... so I poked him three times....must have been a slow learner.
We continued on and as we reached the jetty the visibility was cut in half and the surge picked up slightly. At one point we could hear boats overhead and knew we had wandered a bit too far from the rocks and moved on back in. There were still plenty of sea bass but they were still only juveniles, but we did see several trigger fish as we went along...my first tropicals of the season. The rocks were festively adorned in an assortment of leaders, sinkers and lures donated by hapless fishermen over the summer months. Crabs were nestled in the cracks and crevices and star fish littered the mussel lined floor. Soft corals and sponges clung to the rocks and it seemed all was right with the world.
I did my best imitation of “it is getting time to turn around soon” and after some additional signing and discussion we turned to ride the tide back in. Along the way I stopped to play with a small oyster cracker. I knew not to poke him on the forehead yet I still flicked him a bit but he held his ground. Gotta love him. There were also two more tropicals that I know I should know the name of...but I cant place them.... They are bottom fish.... Flat on the bottom and a greenish yellow in color with faint stripes running horizontally down their bodies and they were decently sized too. Oh well, I will have to look them up.
A little further along we came across a small fish just laying quietly among the rocks, a puffer fish, doing his little “you cant see me...you cant see me” dance. But I did see him and gave him just a small poke, but he swam in a small circle and came back....and he still didnt move.... So I gently cupped him in my hands and he began to blow up. Not wanting to scare him into exploding I opened my hands and he still stayed on lying in my hand a little while longer before swimming away as he slowly deflated.
There were no other unusual visitors the rest of the way in and the sea bass were backed into their holes sleeping. Only a few crabs were out and the water was getting cool so we climbed up the rocks and onto the wall and headed on home.
Northwest Barges
I'm horrified of lobsters. And shrimp and lobsters are the cockroaches of the ocean. ~ Brooke Burke
The Yo-153 is a 156 X 30 foot tanker sitting upright in 80 fsw off the coast of Long Beach Island. This WW II refueling tanker was the 134th vessel sank as part of the artificial reef program and renamed the Helis, which is French for propeller, after an adult beluga whale with a propeller shaped scar that wandered into the Delaware River for several days before heading back to sea in 2005. Doesn’t matter...We didn’t dive there.....again..... Someday I would like to.....
5:30 is veeeery early in the morning...thank goodness Mark didn’t pick me up then.....6:30 is very early in the morning also and that is not when we got to the TomKat......this is how the morning started and it was not just us. Due to some “battery issues”....solved with some good old fashioned ingenuity and several sets of jumper cables (which Al would not wet his finger and touch, I personally hid behind Jim...and John...and Pete...)....we were on our way....slightly behind schedule. Myself, Mark, Al S., Jim R., Pete and John. Gary was our Mate and Eric our Captain.... A full boat and we were off.
The call was for 2-4 and building but we were greeted by the lesser waves and plenty of sunshine. Due to our late start, we did not go to the Helis but did opt for the Northwest Barges, another new site for me. This is a group of 6 to 8 barges sunk in a common area in about 70-75 fsw off the coast of Barnegat Light. It is speculated that there once was a mooring here and barges coming from different areas were tied in awaiting their next tow. Due to “inclement” weather several of these barges sunk at various times, and the result is a debris field of low lying ribs and pieces, covered in typical ocean growth and harboring pokable fishes.
We arrived at the sight and Mark made his maiden voyage tying into the wreck on his own. After a few minutes of wrestling with some tangled chain, he had us tied in to the local high spot and the bottle arrived topside inviting me on down to join him. In my usual burst of speed I was the first in. The Carolina line makes life so much easier for those of us who are directionally challenged. I found my way down the line going through some dark murky soup filled with large particulate and an unending supply of small jellies to arrive at the tie in and be greeted by clear green water, a mild current and 20 to 25 foot of viz. I stopped for a moment to admire Marks work (nice job by the way) and tune in my trim and then I immediately dropped down to visit a curious sea bass and then... we were off.
The sets of ribs extending from the sand are covered in sponges and corals, with an abundance of the soft white variety making the area look that much brighter. In among the nooks and crannies were numerous small stripped bass and tog, but I did not see any lobster. In the sand were several pairs of sea robbins, it must be mating season for them, and one small skate swimming about.
While we still ran a wreck reel, with the visibility we easily moved along from barge to barge using my flashlight to peek in holes and looking about. Just before we turned to come back, I looked down and spotted something in the sand.... It was a rather large titanium dive knife. I picked it up and carried it along as Mark reeled the line back in. A little farther along I spotted an oversized hairy looking moonsnail shell and snapped it up for my collection and we continued on back to the tie in. Here we spent a few more minutes checking about, where I found an extremely large fishing weight which I rescued and then headed up...with flashlight, shell, lead weight and extra large dive dagger in tow. A momentous task as the line was jerking about, the seas seemed to be picking up. Mark relieved me of several of my items and we continued on up.
We were followed up by Jim who had a very healthy sized blackfish and a pretty lobster....with eggs and back she went. With everyone else safely onboard we snacked, napped and exchanged stories as only divers can. During the SI the Captain immediately recognized the newly rescued dive knife as one recently lost by a diver on his last trip to the sight. I had him call the diver and ask if he wanted to sell the sheath. OK...while we did get him on the phone, after I had my fun I gave the knife back...but how many opportunities do you get like that?
The waves picked up a bit as we sat but were still manageable and we readied to go in again. Down the line which was dancing about and to the wreck and this time we took off across the sand to another string of barges. Mark noted one lone flounder in the sand which I missed and I picked out another skate and this time the area was dotted with fish the size people like to poke with pole spears. We looked about for the telltale signs of a little pile of sand in front of lobsters den but none were to be seen and then I spotted a set of claws waaaay back in a hole. I played my light back and forth in front of him inviting him out to play but he was really slow coming. A quick grab, a bit too soon, and he was gone and he made it clear he wasn’t going to play with me anymore so I moved on.
We looked around a bit more and it was time to head up. Back at the tie in the line was bucking... And remembering my task loading of the previous trip up I clipped off my light before heading up. Remember how I gave that knife I found back? No good deed goes unpunished. I must have clipped off my light to my SMB clip aaaand off it floated out of reach and rising fast. Yikes!!
We arrived topside and readied for the ride in. Two more keeper lobsters came up this trip and my bag had surfaced ahead of me but too far off the boat to grab and was now heading north at a fast clip......if anyone in Poughkeepsie sees it, please let me know. The ride in was a bit bumpy but not enough to stop several of us from grabbing a little shut eye after a long day. I think we got the best day of the weekend again.
Friday at the Railroad Bridge
“Animals living in the waters, especially the sea waters . . .are protected from the destruction of their species by man. Their multiplication is so rapid and their means of evading pursuit or traps is so great, that there is no likelihood of his being able to destroy the entire species of any of these animals.”
-- Jean-Baptiste Lamarck, 1809
It was a Friday afternoon, the sun was out, a perfect day to get wet…..and I had dive buddy…..Woo Hoo!! Dr Steve was heading down for his first time diving this area and he also was hoping to get some pictures, so we were going to hit the railroad bridge.
We met at the park and took a look at the water, it was clear and calm, with tons of small clear egg casings floating about, and you could still see the current out in the center and under the bridge. We went back to our cars and geared up.
Down at the water I let the flag out to check the current and it had slowed. We put on our fins and dropped down. The visibility was about 5 foot and the ride under the bridge was quick. We headed for the rocks along the train tracks to see who was out and about. Some conger eels had been spotted resting there previously and I was hoping to see one.
We poked about in the rocks, moving high and low, and peeking in all around. We were rewarded with several butterfly fish of varying sizes and an assortment of the regular tenants. Small bass and blennies abounded along with many crabs and our never ending assortment of starfish. There is some question as to whether we found a small eel in one of the dens or not. The pictures will tell and we will know more later.
After about 20 minutes we headed back, but the current under the bridge was still going strong. I maneuvered the flag around all the pilings and pulled it along, finding a handhold and pulling the flag up to that spot before moving on. This worked well all the way under the bridge and out to the far side….almost. On one of my pulls the slackened rope had caught on something under water and the flag was stuck. Dang!! So close. I tried to free it and got caught in the current and rode it back through the bridge once more , making the mistake of trying to swim for the far shore instead of the bridge side. I didn’t make it and was now at the docks. Steve joined me, he had seen me go by and followed…he will learn.
I hung on to the dock deciding my next move and exchanging pleasantries with a gentleman on his boat in the next slip. This apparently is a common occurrence at these docks and the boaters are quite used to seeing divers in their slips. Steve was in the next slip down with another boater and next I saw him he was up on the dock. So, I guessed we were getting out here. I handed up my gear and the two reached down and pulled me aboard. We put on our tanks and walked back over to the park. Never dull.
We dropped our gear behind our cars and were contemplating going up to the Back Bay for a second dive or even checking the inlet to see if we were off on the tides when the car in the next space pulled out cutting dangerously close to mine. Ut Ohhh. A diver across from us called to me “He hit your gear!” Dang again!!!
And sure enough, upon a quick check, my regulator was in pieces, and the offending car was gone. This was turning into a not fun thing…..
Well, I had 2 choices, head for the shop and see if it could be repaired or put my pony reg on in its place and do a second dive. Hmmmm….what would my Mother say to do? Who cares…I put my pony reg on in its place and we headed back for the water.
As we descended for the bottom, I could still feel the current from the bridge nearby, but we were staying east of the bridge this dive and seeing some other sights. We headed to the far side and the grass, passing over a large winter flounder in the process. Once up in the silt an
d shallows we came across numerous hermit crabs skittering about and several crabs dug into the soft silty sand. There were also the most concentrated amounts of egg casings here and they were driving me crazy. We headed out towards the middle and deeper water.
We were greeted by the continuous bed of mussels and small fish. I pulled out my compass and took a heading…..LOL….we all know that didn’t happen….I used it to smash open a mussel and quietly waited….. They were a bit timid at first, but they soon got over it. Sea bass, stripers, cunners….they all started milling around. The more brazen of the bunch nudging closer, urging me to smash open more. After opening 2 or 3 and setting them down for fishie snacking, I started to hold them out. You could see their little fish brains turning…”ohhh….I want it..should I…no..ohhhh” then you could almost hear them whispering…”you go…
no you go…chicken of the sea…brawwwk braawwwkk….” It didn’t take long and the larger braver fish started darting in and out for a bite. Soon they all joined in and I couldn’t open the mussels fast enough!!
We headed out again, looking about and came across one of the party boats fillet and release projects and I knew it was time to turn around but Steve was on the chase for a picture. We went a little farther and I signaled to turn but when I looked back he was gone. I surfaced and looked for his bubbles. I knew the boats were in for the day, the last of them, the Queen Mary, coming in just before our dive, but I w
as being cautious. Steve soon surfaced with a big grin,
he had gotten some great pictures of a large pink rimmed jellyfish before turning back.
Heading back towards the bulkhead I again swam over a large winter flounder and as I hovered over him I swear he tried to blink. There was this “Oh Sh** she sees” me look on his face and he tried to stare me down. I poked him and off he went. You know I didn’t go the whole day without poking anything…come on.
As we hit the slope towards the wall we came across some small sea robbins darting about and several of those doubled up crabs carrying each other about. Then, inside of an abandoned piece of tubing we saw an odd little fish…he looked like a sea robbin with a little dangly growth on his head like an angler fish. I looked it up and think it is a feather blenny, Steve got several pictures and he thinks he may have seen it before and I believe he thought the same. We headed back up. We had just about sucked our tanks dry and it was not a bad day.... minus an incident in the parking lot which I now had to take care of.
We said our good byes and I headed for the shop, hoping they were still open. They were, and after having to explain twice why pieces were coming out of my regulator in his hand, I was assured it was repairable and given a loaner til the parts come in…. Thank you Pro Divers. Now it was a good day of diving.
We met at the park and took a look at the water, it was clear and calm, with tons of small clear egg casings floating about, and you could still see the current out in the center and under the bridge. We went back to our cars and geared up.
Down at the water I let the flag out to check the current and it had slowed. We put on our fins and dropped down. The visibility was about 5 foot and the ride under the bridge was quick. We headed for the rocks along the train tracks to see who was out and about. Some conger eels had been spotted resting there previously and I was hoping to see one.
We poked about in the rocks, moving high and low, and peeking in all around. We were rewarded with several butterfly fish of varying sizes and an assortment of the regular tenants. Small bass and blennies abounded along with many crabs and our never ending assortment of starfish. There is some question as to whether we found a small eel in one of the dens or not. The pictures will tell and we will know more later.
After about 20 minutes we headed back, but the current under the bridge was still going strong. I maneuvered the flag around all the pilings and pulled it along, finding a handhold and pulling the flag up to that spot before moving on. This worked well all the way under the bridge and out to the far side….almost. On one of my pulls the slackened rope had caught on something under water and the flag was stuck. Dang!! So close. I tried to free it and got caught in the current and rode it back through the bridge once more , making the mistake of trying to swim for the far shore instead of the bridge side. I didn’t make it and was now at the docks. Steve joined me, he had seen me go by and followed…he will learn.
I hung on to the dock deciding my next move and exchanging pleasantries with a gentleman on his boat in the next slip. This apparently is a common occurrence at these docks and the boaters are quite used to seeing divers in their slips. Steve was in the next slip down with another boater and next I saw him he was up on the dock. So, I guessed we were getting out here. I handed up my gear and the two reached down and pulled me aboard. We put on our tanks and walked back over to the park. Never dull.
We dropped our gear behind our cars and were contemplating going up to the Back Bay for a second dive or even checking the inlet to see if we were off on the tides when the car in the next space pulled out cutting dangerously close to mine. Ut Ohhh. A diver across from us called to me “He hit your gear!” Dang again!!!
And sure enough, upon a quick check, my regulator was in pieces, and the offending car was gone. This was turning into a not fun thing…..
Well, I had 2 choices, head for the shop and see if it could be repaired or put my pony reg on in its place and do a second dive. Hmmmm….what would my Mother say to do? Who cares…I put my pony reg on in its place and we headed back for the water.
As we descended for the bottom, I could still feel the current from the bridge nearby, but we were staying east of the bridge this dive and seeing some other sights. We headed to the far side and the grass, passing over a large winter flounder in the process. Once up in the silt an
d shallows we came across numerous hermit crabs skittering about and several crabs dug into the soft silty sand. There were also the most concentrated amounts of egg casings here and they were driving me crazy. We headed out towards the middle and deeper water.We were greeted by the continuous bed of mussels and small fish. I pulled out my compass and took a heading…..LOL….we all know that didn’t happen….I used it to smash open a mussel and quietly waited….. They were a bit timid at first, but they soon got over it. Sea bass, stripers, cunners….they all started milling around. The more brazen of the bunch nudging closer, urging me to smash open more. After opening 2 or 3 and setting them down for fishie snacking, I started to hold them out. You could see their little fish brains turning…”ohhh….I want it..should I…no..ohhhh” then you could almost hear them whispering…”you go…
no you go…chicken of the sea…brawwwk braawwwkk….” It didn’t take long and the larger braver fish started darting in and out for a bite. Soon they all joined in and I couldn’t open the mussels fast enough!!We headed out again, looking about and came across one of the party boats fillet and release projects and I knew it was time to turn around but Steve was on the chase for a picture. We went a little farther and I signaled to turn but when I looked back he was gone. I surfaced and looked for his bubbles. I knew the boats were in for the day, the last of them, the Queen Mary, coming in just before our dive, but I w
as being cautious. Steve soon surfaced with a big grin,he had gotten some great pictures of a large pink rimmed jellyfish before turning back.
Heading back towards the bulkhead I again swam over a large winter flounder and as I hovered over him I swear he tried to blink. There was this “Oh Sh** she sees” me look on his face and he tried to stare me down. I poked him and off he went. You know I didn’t go the whole day without poking anything…come on.
As we hit the slope towards the wall we came across some small sea robbins darting about and several of those doubled up crabs carrying each other about. Then, inside of an abandoned piece of tubing we saw an odd little fish…he looked like a sea robbin with a little dangly growth on his head like an angler fish. I looked it up and think it is a feather blenny, Steve got several pictures and he thinks he may have seen it before and I believe he thought the same. We headed back up. We had just about sucked our tanks dry and it was not a bad day.... minus an incident in the parking lot which I now had to take care of.
We said our good byes and I headed for the shop, hoping they were still open. They were, and after having to explain twice why pieces were coming out of my regulator in his hand, I was assured it was repairable and given a loaner til the parts come in…. Thank you Pro Divers. Now it was a good day of diving.
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