It was cold this morning….O Dark Thirty…. and cold enough to wear my drysuit under roos to the boat. I had to drive myself to the marina…what is up with that? It was still dark out. What was I thinking? I could be home all snuggled in bed. I was thinking that we were getting some great dive days in and I didn’t want to miss them, that’s what.
I was heading for the Lady Godiver and diving with a group of friends - Jim, Steve, Jack, Bart, Ernie and Howard. An interesting day of diving and company. The seas were moving this morning with rolling swells in the 2-4 foot range and the sun came out shining. Not a bad day so far.
As we headed out past Barnegat Light we could see the remains of the scalloping boat that had grounded and fell over. Just lying there on its side on the shoal. It has been there a good part of a week and we wondered what would become of it. We wondered if you could dive it, we are divers, that is what we do. And we wondered if it was salvageable and when it would be moved too.
We headed out to the Gulftrade, but it had a fishing boat sitting on it so we headed to the Sea Hag, which was also occupied and finally on to the South Ridge. The South Ridge is an unnamed unidentified wooden wreck, located on the Barnegat Ridge, that is quite broken down but goes on and on.
Two tries to hook in and the Captain was not feeling the love. I believe, at one point, I heard the boat was going up for sale as soon as we got back. We got pulled off the wreck twice by errant swells and he ordered a shot line dropped. In minutes we were tied in and ready to go.
I was buddying up with Ernie for this dive and it was the first time for both of us on this site, so down the line we went not knowing what to expect. We arrived at the sand at 80fsw and much to our delight we had 64F water temperatures and 30 foot of visibility. Woo Hoo!
Ernie tied in his reel and checked out a hole with fresh dark sand in front. You know there is always a lobster at the tie in…but alas we were not the first ones down and it was empty. We moved on peeking all around and did not see anymore lobster but we did find lots of other friends to play with. The sea bass and black fish and blue fish were plentiful and big, really big. They were swimming over and in among the wreckage. Each time we came to the end of a piece of wreckage we could see the next piece and headed out to it. There were some scattered starfish and moonsnails and each time we moved to a piece of wreckage we came across piles of fluke stacked one on top of the other in the sand and they were huge. They just layed there, I am sure thinking “Ha! Ha! Out of season…you loose” But…… I poked them anyway, poking is still in season. Since there were no lobsters to hunt, Ernie got into the fun of things and started poking them himself. Another convert….you are all coming over…don’t fight it.
I had one rather large guy just buried in the sand looking at me with both eyes (that both eyes on the same side of the head thing takes some getting used to) and I opened my catch bag to see if I could get him to just scoot on in. I knew I couldn’t keep him but it would have made one heck of a story. I juuuust missed him. You know I will be trying this again, it’s like a challenge now, Coe-Ed Fluke Wrestling Diving …hmmmm.
It was time to turn and we headed back in, stopping at section of planking making a shallow cavern for the local sea life. Ernie was on one side and I peeked in on the other. In between the boards Ernie spotted a large spade fish and scooted it over for me to see. Upon seeing this fish I immediately poked him back towards Ernie so he could see him. We ended up playing water hockey with this poor fish for several minutes before he got pissed and swam off in another direction.
Back at the line we headed up and as I looked at my computer I had 5 minutes of deco and for the Iife of me couldn’t figure out why. As I hung on the line it came to me….I had forgotten to enter my nitrox mix into the computer before going in. Oh well, 2 more minutes of hang wasn’t necessary but wasn’t going to kill me.
As I arrived on deck, Howard was getting ready to go in. With all the talk of clear warm water and big fish everywhere, he had to go down and see for himself.
We had an enjoyable surface interval and regaled each other with stories of the dive and other subjects. We didn’t talk about Mark. He shouldn’t miss dives. And soon Howard was back on board with his catch bag bulging. He had definitely shot the biggest sea bass of the day, it was huge. And he was smiling and all was right with the world again. The boat was no longer for sale. It is amazing what ills a good dive can cure.
We could have stayed here for a second dive but it was getting late and we headed for the East Ridge on the way in.
The sun was shining and the seas had laid down some, life was good. We arrived on the site and dropped the line in and the pool was open. This wreck is identical to the last in that it is broken down and unidentified and lying on the Barnegat Ridge, but sits at 90fsw.
We dropped over the side and went on down, this time I was to run the reel. The day before we were talking about reels and I had mentioned how mine was temperamental and I had just run it the dive before, determined to find the problem and fix it or buy a new reel. Of course the reel had operated flawlessly and of course upon hitting the sand, I had not pulled out 3 inches of line before it jammed. Big time jam. I ended up cutting about 6 or feet of line off before clearing it and after tying it in we moved out. The visibility was cloudier on this site and there was a bit of a current on the bottom. I spent a good part of the dive staring at my reel while Ernie jammed his arm in holes everywhere after lobster. There were many fewer fish here but each hole had someone home. Most you could see were shorts but the first one he pulled out was over 3 lbs and had probably another pound of eggs, so back she went. And she was pissed! Most crustaceans her size didn’t get that big by being stupid and would have been back, way back, in their hole in a heart beat. This one just stood there brandishing her claws and snapping away, I swear she tried to jump up and get me as I swam over her. Never under estimate a womans scorn. As we moved along Ernie managed to grab two more in the 2-3 lb range but they were also with eggs and went on back. The rest were shorties and at one point he found one really tiny bugger (pun intended) so small it was hiding in a clam shell.
It was just about time to turn around when we saw the blinking of the strobe on the line. We had made a huge circle, but still had to wind the line back in, and so headed on back. My reel had worked flawlessly out and back…so frustrating. At the tie in we headed up and at about 5 foot up the line my computer blinked and gave me deco time again….this time 15 minutes! Ernie kept shaking his head, he was still well within his limits…what was up with mine?
Ernie hung with me for most of the time and he was running low on air and headed up as I finished my time out. Now I know why guys with planned deco bring toys with them…how boring. I got onboard and we waited for the last of the other divers to come up before we headed on in.
A few more lobster came up this dive but everyone reported pulling out several females laden with eggs. What is up with that? Was this a wreck for wayward lobster? All single mothers? Abandoned after a night of lobster whoopee? Where were the guys!!! They should be boiled and soaked in drawn butter!!! Ahh….
A nice relaxing ride in … a few laughs…. 2 lbs of peanut butter pretzels… Think I might have to do this diving thing again.
I was heading for the Lady Godiver and diving with a group of friends - Jim, Steve, Jack, Bart, Ernie and Howard. An interesting day of diving and company. The seas were moving this morning with rolling swells in the 2-4 foot range and the sun came out shining. Not a bad day so far.
As we headed out past Barnegat Light we could see the remains of the scalloping boat that had grounded and fell over. Just lying there on its side on the shoal. It has been there a good part of a week and we wondered what would become of it. We wondered if you could dive it, we are divers, that is what we do. And we wondered if it was salvageable and when it would be moved too.
We headed out to the Gulftrade, but it had a fishing boat sitting on it so we headed to the Sea Hag, which was also occupied and finally on to the South Ridge. The South Ridge is an unnamed unidentified wooden wreck, located on the Barnegat Ridge, that is quite broken down but goes on and on.
Two tries to hook in and the Captain was not feeling the love. I believe, at one point, I heard the boat was going up for sale as soon as we got back. We got pulled off the wreck twice by errant swells and he ordered a shot line dropped. In minutes we were tied in and ready to go.
I was buddying up with Ernie for this dive and it was the first time for both of us on this site, so down the line we went not knowing what to expect. We arrived at the sand at 80fsw and much to our delight we had 64F water temperatures and 30 foot of visibility. Woo Hoo!
Ernie tied in his reel and checked out a hole with fresh dark sand in front. You know there is always a lobster at the tie in…but alas we were not the first ones down and it was empty. We moved on peeking all around and did not see anymore lobster but we did find lots of other friends to play with. The sea bass and black fish and blue fish were plentiful and big, really big. They were swimming over and in among the wreckage. Each time we came to the end of a piece of wreckage we could see the next piece and headed out to it. There were some scattered starfish and moonsnails and each time we moved to a piece of wreckage we came across piles of fluke stacked one on top of the other in the sand and they were huge. They just layed there, I am sure thinking “Ha! Ha! Out of season…you loose” But…… I poked them anyway, poking is still in season. Since there were no lobsters to hunt, Ernie got into the fun of things and started poking them himself. Another convert….you are all coming over…don’t fight it.
I had one rather large guy just buried in the sand looking at me with both eyes (that both eyes on the same side of the head thing takes some getting used to) and I opened my catch bag to see if I could get him to just scoot on in. I knew I couldn’t keep him but it would have made one heck of a story. I juuuust missed him. You know I will be trying this again, it’s like a challenge now, Coe-Ed Fluke Wrestling Diving …hmmmm.
It was time to turn and we headed back in, stopping at section of planking making a shallow cavern for the local sea life. Ernie was on one side and I peeked in on the other. In between the boards Ernie spotted a large spade fish and scooted it over for me to see. Upon seeing this fish I immediately poked him back towards Ernie so he could see him. We ended up playing water hockey with this poor fish for several minutes before he got pissed and swam off in another direction.
Back at the line we headed up and as I looked at my computer I had 5 minutes of deco and for the Iife of me couldn’t figure out why. As I hung on the line it came to me….I had forgotten to enter my nitrox mix into the computer before going in. Oh well, 2 more minutes of hang wasn’t necessary but wasn’t going to kill me.
As I arrived on deck, Howard was getting ready to go in. With all the talk of clear warm water and big fish everywhere, he had to go down and see for himself.
We had an enjoyable surface interval and regaled each other with stories of the dive and other subjects. We didn’t talk about Mark. He shouldn’t miss dives. And soon Howard was back on board with his catch bag bulging. He had definitely shot the biggest sea bass of the day, it was huge. And he was smiling and all was right with the world again. The boat was no longer for sale. It is amazing what ills a good dive can cure.
We could have stayed here for a second dive but it was getting late and we headed for the East Ridge on the way in.
The sun was shining and the seas had laid down some, life was good. We arrived on the site and dropped the line in and the pool was open. This wreck is identical to the last in that it is broken down and unidentified and lying on the Barnegat Ridge, but sits at 90fsw.
We dropped over the side and went on down, this time I was to run the reel. The day before we were talking about reels and I had mentioned how mine was temperamental and I had just run it the dive before, determined to find the problem and fix it or buy a new reel. Of course the reel had operated flawlessly and of course upon hitting the sand, I had not pulled out 3 inches of line before it jammed. Big time jam. I ended up cutting about 6 or feet of line off before clearing it and after tying it in we moved out. The visibility was cloudier on this site and there was a bit of a current on the bottom. I spent a good part of the dive staring at my reel while Ernie jammed his arm in holes everywhere after lobster. There were many fewer fish here but each hole had someone home. Most you could see were shorts but the first one he pulled out was over 3 lbs and had probably another pound of eggs, so back she went. And she was pissed! Most crustaceans her size didn’t get that big by being stupid and would have been back, way back, in their hole in a heart beat. This one just stood there brandishing her claws and snapping away, I swear she tried to jump up and get me as I swam over her. Never under estimate a womans scorn. As we moved along Ernie managed to grab two more in the 2-3 lb range but they were also with eggs and went on back. The rest were shorties and at one point he found one really tiny bugger (pun intended) so small it was hiding in a clam shell.
It was just about time to turn around when we saw the blinking of the strobe on the line. We had made a huge circle, but still had to wind the line back in, and so headed on back. My reel had worked flawlessly out and back…so frustrating. At the tie in we headed up and at about 5 foot up the line my computer blinked and gave me deco time again….this time 15 minutes! Ernie kept shaking his head, he was still well within his limits…what was up with mine?
Ernie hung with me for most of the time and he was running low on air and headed up as I finished my time out. Now I know why guys with planned deco bring toys with them…how boring. I got onboard and we waited for the last of the other divers to come up before we headed on in.
A few more lobster came up this dive but everyone reported pulling out several females laden with eggs. What is up with that? Was this a wreck for wayward lobster? All single mothers? Abandoned after a night of lobster whoopee? Where were the guys!!! They should be boiled and soaked in drawn butter!!! Ahh….
A nice relaxing ride in … a few laughs…. 2 lbs of peanut butter pretzels… Think I might have to do this diving thing again.