Cold! If the thermometer had been an inch longer we’d have frozen to death.
~ Mark Twain ~
It was chilly today…..we will leave it at that for the time being.
A bit of chill in the air this morning as I set out for the lady GoDiver and a day’s diving. Arriving at the marina, yesterdays wind had died down and the morning was clear and crisp.
With choices of hundreds of wrecks to visit, the #9 Wreck is decided upon. Again I am lost. The best I can tell you is that it is a wooden barge in 80 feet of water and you can’t dive it unless you have dived Wrecks 1 through 8 first. I lied and we went diving.
I have no idea how the new wing managed, as I believe I spent the entire dive puffing air only into my suit for warmth and not the wing. I felt dry in my suit but the cold settled in as I made my way up and hanging in 15 feet of icy cold water with a crystal clear view of the dive ladder was tortuous.
Let’s just say that the warmth of the cabin brought surface interval discussions of hot tubs in the snow and trimmings for the “new” boat, including the hot showers, heated rails and salon with the 42 inch plasma TV. OK so maybe not the TV…. But the rest of it for sure…..Please buy the old boat……
An
yway….back to the task at hand. All four computers gave a different water temperature. We had 37F, 39F, 41F and 42F. Take your pick. Artifacts were found, sinkers rescued, lobsters harassed and rays and eel pouts spotted. Bob recovered a very respectable fish with a clean shot through the head and Howard brought up a plethora of scaled creatures with the worst dental work I have seen in a long time. I poked them too.
~ Mark Twain ~
It was chilly today…..we will leave it at that for the time being.
A bit of chill in the air this morning as I set out for the lady GoDiver and a day’s diving. Arriving at the marina, yesterdays wind had died down and the morning was clear and crisp.
Four of us loaded on board, myself, Howard, John and Bob, and the new heater (that looks like Wall-E of movie fame) was going full force. An apparent recent reorganization onboard worked wonders and with all our gear loaded on board the head was empty and we were sprawled across the seats as we headed out of the inlet with only the icing on the windows giving hints of the day to come.
With choices of hundreds of wrecks to visit, the #9 Wreck is decided upon. Again I am lost. The best I can tell you is that it is a wooden barge in 80 feet of water and you can’t dive it unless you have dived Wrecks 1 through 8 first. I lied and we went diving.
I believe this is also referred to as the Sylvanus, or the Steam Canal Boat Austin - piloted by SYLVANUS GREENWOOD -- reportedly a well-known boatman on the Erie Canal. This Steam Boat reportedly went down with all hands near Perth Amboy, N.J. about February 1903.
The water was flat and the air cold as we headed north for our first dive. We discussed our local wreck museums, past dives, wet dry suits and dive trips south. Time passed quickly and suddenly we were there.
As I geared up my fingers ached from the cold and relief was found in the steamy water bucket we dipped our hoods and gloves in before slipping them on. It took me a minute to figure out why my mask was so foggy as I wiped at the lens with my gloved hand, but ice had formed inside the mask and Howard gave it a scraping and a warm dip to get me on my way.
With little current running we were tied in off the stern and soon divers dropped one by one in the water and down the line.
With little current running we were tied in off the stern and soon divers dropped one by one in the water and down the line.
As I slid beneath the water the lone thin strip of exposed skin on my forehead made its presence known and threatened an ice cream headache if not attended to and so I descended with my hand on my hood warming the errant area just enough to ward of the chill. The water was a dark green and thick with those little stringy thingys so popular this time of year, but as we neared the wreck the water cleared and a respectable 20-30 feet of visibility showed 3-4 foot high wooden walls and planking stretching out before us.
I peeked and poked the tiny blackfish taking refuge near the sand and in each nook there seemed to be a large sinker neatly placed on display. I soon took up sinker hunting, filling my pocket up to the top. I barely had room to squeeze in my brass artifact find and no room was left for a souvenir shell. My fingers were now numb from the waters cold and I turned on back to the anchor line and thoughts of the warm cabin.
I have no idea how the new wing managed, as I believe I spent the entire dive puffing air only into my suit for warmth and not the wing. I felt dry in my suit but the cold settled in as I made my way up and hanging in 15 feet of icy cold water with a crystal clear view of the dive ladder was tortuous.
As I grabbed hold of the ladder I could feel the slushy beginnings of ice forming and John reached down and grabbed my manifold to help me up and keep me from slipping back into the water.
Let’s just say that the warmth of the cabin brought surface interval discussions of hot tubs in the snow and trimmings for the “new” boat, including the hot showers, heated rails and salon with the 42 inch plasma TV. OK so maybe not the TV…. But the rest of it for sure…..Please buy the old boat……
An
yway….back to the task at hand. All four computers gave a different water temperature. We had 37F, 39F, 41F and 42F. Take your pick. Artifacts were found, sinkers rescued, lobsters harassed and rays and eel pouts spotted. Bob recovered a very respectable fish with a clean shot through the head and Howard brought up a plethora of scaled creatures with the worst dental work I have seen in a long time. I poked them too.Our second dive was at an all too familiar wreck, the Bell Holder. Bob remembered the actual name of the wreck, but I forgot it already, but I will ask him again.
I had been debating whether to make the second dive as I was just thawing out from the first but could not pass up a chance to visit my good buddy, Edgar D. Conger III. Eddie is a gargantuan eel who has taken up residence in the very end hole of the wreckage where the mast or long wooden post extends out into the sand and I always stop to see him when I am there and he comes out to greet me. It would just be rude to be in the area and not stop by and so I once again suit up and drop over the side. Large blackfish were spotted here also and lobster but only small ones were talken. We were all cautious, calling it at about 30 minutes and feeling much better not waiting around for the cold to send us up once more.
Once more onboard we raised the dive ladder and looking out at it from the cabin, the icicles that once dripped down as we climbed the ladder pointed straight up in the air making for an unusual sight. But we warmed up as we headed on in, the warmth of the cabin, sunshine and flat seas slowly softening the memory of the cold edge of the day.