Railroad Bridge in November

"Going to the Ocean and not diving, is like going to the Circus and not looking inside the big top..." Anonymous
John had never dove the inlets…..I promised to take him….he is a brave soul…..who was going to take me?......

Not everyone remembered about Daylight Savings…me …..I was all over it, snuggled into the covers for that extra hour of sleep before heading up to Shark River to dive.

I hadn’t left the house yet when my phone rang, I knew I was on time today, what was up now? John was already at the inlet and doom and gloom was the word of the day. There were 5-6 footers breaking in the surf, waves were breaking over the jetty, and white caps were in the inlet and bay. He had put his hat in the car for safety with the howling winds and he just wasn’t sure he wanted to make this his first inlet dive. Chicken…… just kidding.

You cant get to the water and just not dive…..it just isn’t right.

I was up and I was packed….I was diving. I told him to hold on as the trees in my yard were not even moving….I was going to check the Railroad Bridge. As I neared the water, the breeze picked up a little but being so far back in the inlet the bridge was protected and the water practically flat. I made the call for John and Anthony to meet me there and went to grab a coffee as I waited.

As I watched the water and drank my coffee people began to arrive, and then the Pt Pleasant Rescue Team arrived and a few dozen pumpkins with them. I had forgotten all about the pumpkin carving! It looked like they had a good group together for the fun and I watched them ready as I waited for my guys to arrive.

John arrived in full force, carrying on and complaining and generally teasing the heck out of me as I explained about tossing pieces of shell and waiting to see the current slow down instead of trusting the tide charts.

The center of the channel was still running a bit fast as the pumpkin carvers took to the water and you could see the flashes of pumpkin and full out half torsos of flailing kicking legs breaching the water as the participants struggled with their tasks. We watched a bit before suiting up and making our way into the water for our own dive.

We swam all around, hitting the far north shore looking for mussels and going east to the pilings checking for fillet and release projects. We grazed the rocks near the bridge but held off our timing underneath hoping to be there for the train. Not much was about, but then there was quite a bit of thrashing about going on with the carvers spread out in the area so I should not have been surprised. We did see a lot of crabs burying themselves in the sand and just as many large and small huddled together doing whatever it is they do like that. Starfish were still in attendance and stone crabs have not all gone south for the winter yet. Schools of shiners swam past us and tiny flat fish tried their best to blend into the bottom.

We surfaced near the bridge and within seconds the train whistles sounded. We dropped back down and headed on under the bridge. There we were met with the usual bergalls and other inhabitants who were still hiding from all the commotion in the channel. Small fish swam all about us and an eel about 18 inches slithered below us. Yes I had to poke him, no he was not happy about it. But the cement bridge is just not the same. I could hear some commotion but nothing loud and the vibrations just didn’t reach the water. I guess you have to hug a stanchion to get that. We played here for a few more minutes and headed on back in.

The air is getting that winter chill in it and Spikes looked very inviting…….lobster bisque all around was in order and we warmed ourselves over soup and good conversation.

You cant get to the water and just not dive…..it just isn’t right. And a day in the water….it just isn’t wrong.

The Ida K and the Delaware

"The secret of genius is to carry the spirit of the child into old age, which means never losing your enthusiasm." ~ Aldous Leonard Huxley

Like anything else I do lately….Saturday was a last minute adventure. I was not going to go out. I was staying home and getting some of the things on my must do list done….. gotta do them….right? Well a late night call from Jim F. (I swear he offered me candy and a late morning departure) and I gotta do them next week cause I am diving this week.

I hand out candy to all the little kiddies and pile my gear in the front hall for morning, setting my alarm clock for 6:00am, giving me plenty of time to load up, stop for coffee and doughnuts for everyone and make the boat with time to spare to load on for 7:30. What a good plan…..except about 6:30 my phone rings and it is Jim, “Are you coming?” ….turns out some miscommunication regarding loading time….my bad….. (but, as it turns out the later start was so enticing it will happen NEXT week.)

Luckily I live close and make it well before the planned departure…..Thank you Steve for thinking of me!

As I arrive and load on, with no coffee by the way, there is even more time to spare as some work is being done upon the electronics. Shortly, the Captain, with a huge grin on his face and a Woot! Woot!, is throwing the radar unit off the bridge and into the bay. This will be an interesting day. My boat mates are Steve R., Al S., Mr. October aka Al G., Jim F. and our mate Renee. And let us not forget Capt Tony in high spirits this fine morning.

The air is a bit brisk and as we head out there is a bit of ……chop ……yes…. chop to the water. As we head farther out it becomes “chop with an attitude”.

Our destination is the Ida K and I am excited as this is a site I have not been to. The Ida K was originally a 118 foot WWII sub chaser, brought to Pt Pleasant in 1977 to serve as a trawler and scallop boat as she neared the end of her life. She was deliberately sunk by her owners in 1978 or 79 in 90 fsw and makes for an interesting dive as it is a debris field of pieces of metal sheathed hull, propeller shaft, rudder, large box shaped tanks and other interesting shapes along with some added goodies of porcelain and trash can nature.

Al and I buddy up again and head on over into the water. There is the chop to deal with along with a surface current and a bit of wind……all in different directions. Grannylines, tag lines and tows to the ladder were the order for the day here. We make our way to the anchor line and drop on down. Below the surface is our playground and lucky children we are. As Al ties his reel in, 30 foot of visibility and 57 degree water temps, added to being tied directly to a large piece of the wreckage with little fish and other play friends, sends me into a fish poking AAD frenzy similar to turning a 3 year old loose in FAO Schwartz at Christmas. He soon has me focused on the tasks at hand and off we go in search of lobster for Al and more poking for me.

We swim past the large square tanks which used to hold fuel for the vessel and I corralled a few small swimmy guys in the corner of the tank only to have them escape. There are starfish and clams littering the bottom as we move along and soon we are heading off into the sand to some of the “added features”. Arriving at a 30 gallon trash can with wheels, (who needs a rolling trash can at sea, that’s just crazy) a clawed inhabitant is spotted hiding waaay in the back. I go round to see if a lift and dump is possible….it is not and Al is shaking his head as he just squeezes himself in and comes out with a new friend for his goody bag.Farther along some porcelain holds Als attention, but a tire not far off looks promising to me and I move over to have a look. There are no fish to be found, and I know that because I had to move a 1 ½ lb lobster out of the way to look. Taking pity on me, or is it the loster I am using to poke around with, Al opens his bag and offers transport.

We look around a bit more and I spy one more set of antennae and stick my hand in only to come out in the end with a hole in my glove. I give the hand off sign to Al and he goes in for the score, finally coming up with a marginally sized little guy who he lets go. Me? I have a bone to pick with this guy….dive gloves don’t come cheap! And smack fest begins with he and I battling it out to the death. Al grabs Mr. Shortie and tosses him towards his hole, now pointing to his gauges……it is time to go and we turn and head for the line.

As Al goes up, I signal that I will stay a little longer poking around the tie in for a bit longer with the last of the other divers. Looking under and about I follow the line of debris grabbing at a tail or two and finding a nice addition for my shell bucket and safely tucking it away.

Soon it is time to go up and as I hang, I remember the less than perfect surface and hope I can manage the ladder in my doubles…what was I thinking? Singles…should have brought singles…. Oh well.

The ladder was a task, at least for me, and it took a few minutes to maneuver but I made it and we were soon all on board and ready to move inshore a bit for dive # 2. Seems it was a tad rambunctious on the surface while we were gone. Water came splashing over the gunwales and things in the cabin got thrown about including my glasses which hid in fear for their lives thus getting trampled anyway coming out of things in 2 pieces. Better them than me this time.

The vote was taken and we were on our way to the Delaware, another new wreck for me, this trip was a home run of newbies for me.

On her last complete voyage, the Delaware came upon the foundering steamer Benefactor and towed her to safety at Red Hook, NJ before continuing on to her home berth. How ironic.

The Delaware was a 250 ft Steamer carrying passengers and crew totaling 66. In July of 1898, about 10pm, a fire was discovered below deck the crew attempted to put it out with little luck as the fire raged ahead of them and the passengers were awakened and put on deck for the life boats as signal flares were launched. The abandon ship was done in text book fashion with all women and children in the first life boat and a female stewardess as officer in charge. While two Cuban male passengers tried to take flight in the first boat they were promptly rebuffed by the captain and made to wait til the last life boat for their efforts. 4 of the 5 lifeboats were lowered into the water safely and the last remained on deck, unreachable for the flames. The captain and remaining crew lashed hatch covers together in makeshift rafts and lowered them to the water. Two of the lifeboats had hung behind for them and towed them safely away from the burning ship.

In heavy surf, the Coastguard station launched a lifeboat which rowed out the 5 miles to the vessel in remarkably swift fashion, just an hours time, taking on passengers from the smaller boats. Two additional tugs came to the rescue picking up the remaining passengers and crew.
The next morning the Delaware was just about burned to the water line but still afloat and salvage was attempted with the effort being abandoned within site of the shore off Bay Head in just 75 feet of water.

It is said that along with her cargo of nails, soda bottles, olive jars and dry goods, including pipes and buttons, there was a load of ammunition which exploded like fireworks according to the passengers and crew as they awaited rescue. The steamship line rebukes this and claims they were mistaken and distraught and there was no ammunition although bullets are among the treasures to be found if you dig around. They also claim there is a strongbox, containing $250,000.00, still among the buried artifacts and not yet found. Hmmmm

The seas calmed to almost flat here and only the anchor line was needed. We rolled over and dropped down. What we picked up in calming seas we lost in visibility as the water turned a hazy gray green and heavy particulate filled the 15-20 foot of viz surrounding us. We were tied in to a tall boiler and set out to explore with more sea bass on this wreck but no lobster to be found.

We swam about looking in and under things but unfortunately took no time to dig. I collected a variety of weights, square, pyramid and teardrop shaped and put them in my pocket to add to the captain’s collection. The water was oddly cooler here at just 55 F and soon our time to surface came around and up we went, one by one, divers surfacing tired and wet form the day. Yes my left sleeve was a little damp still…so the valve shall be looked at much more closely this time. I had been told once it was not a matter of IF my drysuit would leak…just a matter of WHEN….oh well.

We offloaded to the dock some very nice fresh fish and several lobster. While mine was of a healthy size, I believe Jim’s fat blob of a lobster done squished him in the cooler and an immediate lunch of steamed lobster was necessary. Gracious…..how awful…..Can you imagine!

Last Back Bay Dive in October

I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.
- T.S. (Thomas Stearns) Eliot

We found ourselves at the Belmar Back Bay once more. It was a quick dive, as bay dives go…. For some reason, while the water was still in the mid 50’s, it felt much colder and while the visibility was in the 5-6 foot range it seemed to be forever cloudy and while there were still little denizens scurrying around, it seemed a bit barren.

There were 5 of us and we were looking forward to nothing more than a relaxing evening stroll through the water. It was early evening and a bit cool but promised to be the best day of the weekend. The boats for Saturday had already been cancelled and the Sunday cancellations were expected to soon follow.

The water was clearer than anticipated and we hoped to catch the last of something going on as we dropped on down. It was cool and I was glad my drysuit repairs would be complete by tomorrow. It was time to put the wetsuit away. The time for fish poking was giving way to just poking about and winter diving, with its steaming hoods and ice cream headaches, just around the corner.

The blue claw crabs were small….very small and the starfish were tiny. They looked like the little gold foil stars you got on your papers in kindergarten. There were still some tube worms things buried in the sand at the edges of the vegetation and they closed up as you stuck your fingers in them, somewhat annoyed I am sure. Small winter flounder, not longer than my finger, were scattered around and I chased them. Farther along, a few small eel still slithered along and the spider crabs were big, real big, and busy burying themselves in the sand. The clams were digging in too…. seems they all got the memo about winter and were busy in preparation. Except for a lone tropical that shivered in the sea grass, having missed the last bus out and not long for this area I am sure.We finned along picking up bottles and dislodging the inhabitants to see who was home. Mostly small crabs and all feisty at that, snapping away with their tiny claws and jumping up and down threatening to kick our butts if we didn’t stop and stop now.

I picked up two empty whelk shells for my bucket at home and dropped them in Chris’s bag to keep my hands free for my compass. OK laugh…..he knew it wasn’t true too, but carried them anyway. About halfway along our planned route we got separated and while it is well known that I am navigationally challenged, those who aren’t were still a bit confused. We headed back towards shore and upon reaching the wall waited for the flag carrying portion of our group to catch up.

As we floated about on the surface we reflected on how quickly things had turned and how few live whelk we had seen this season and moonsnails too. Compared notes on our finds today and spoke of doing this again next weekend, a boat and a beach, adive on each. Maybe the inlet this time or Western World or the Bluffs, Allenhurst Jetty, the railroad bridge, Shark River…..so many places to go on a simple tank of air.

I’ve Had Worse

O mother, mother, hear the sea!
It calls across the sands;
I saw it tossing up the spray, like white,
Imploring hands,

Mary Artemisia Lathbury

Like Alice in Wonderland I woke up this morning to a strange place, some foreign land. It was 49F and the wind was blowing in huge gusts…..where was my Indian Summer……my warm sunny days and mild ocean waters?

I was meeting a group at the Back Bay for a relaxing beach dive, some final wetsuit time, the last of the tropicals, soaking up the last warm rays of the season……you know the drill. But somehow, when the night….. met the morning sun, the air temperature had dropped 20 degrees and the wind was blowing just below gale force. This was not good.

Maybe I will skip this one…..Okay, maybe I will go down and look, and talk a little dive talk and skip this one…..Okay, maybe I will put my gear in the truck just in case, but I know I will skip this one……

When I reached L Street beach in Belmar I was met by the sight of a dozen divers milling around debating the scene playing out before them. It was high tide. I don’t ever remember seeing the tide quite this high. The bay water was coming up over the bulkhead all the way to the street. There was no beach, no boat ramp and there threatened to be little parking lot. I believe you could have giant stride off the curb of Rt 35 into the water. The gusting winds were blowing white caps across the bay.

We walked down to the end of the pier where the water was over the bulkhead and ankle deep. As I waited for John to find a shell to check the visibility, my jeans soaked up the water nearly to my knees. Well, now I was wet, might as well dive.

Three of the group had left to get a late breakfast and we called them on their cells with messages of “get the hell back here…we’re diving”. Within minutes they were once again in the parking lot, announcing loudly that this was crazy as they geared up.

An AOW class took to the water first to complete their Search and Recovery dives looking for a lost fin……. And then with all the speed of molasses in winter, John, Chris and myself were in the water followed by Tony and Vince, and Dene and Eddie. Ron was left on the dock with some free flow issues which he was going to attend to while we were gone.

After some discussion of my navigational abilities, it was decided that John would be lead compass and Chris was charged with the flag. Everyone else was to stay in tight and not get lost. My job was to poke things and I was perfectly happy with that.

We slipped beneath the water and were greeted with about 3 foot of cloudy visibility. As we swam the length of the boat ramp the theme was small. Miniature blue claw crabs scurried about the sand and tiny little hermit crabs made their along the bottom. As we made our way to the channel the vegetation gave way to the expanse of silt and sand and very little else.

With the water temperature at a comfortable 59F and the current doing our work for us we continued on turning south to check out the docks and the wall.

As we approached the docks you could see a change in the water. It was much lighter and clarity improved some. The crabs got a little bigger in this area and some spider crabs and starfish began to appear. Several small flatfish were spied and scooted along and upon shaking one bottle an irate little eel stuck his head out and with a final shake was dislodged and swimming away. Several fish skeletons were scattered about with small crabs picking the bones clean for their midday snack. Some small bait fish swam about and orange sponges and purple sea urchins were scattered around the area and the hermit crabs here were the size of baseballs.

As murky as things were, if you looked closely, there were still things to see. I really think you need to do a few dives like these during the season to truly appreciate the others. I have had better dives and I have had worse…..but I don’t regret any of them. The water is a good place to be.

As we loaded our gear back in our cars, the wind still howled putting a chill in the air and the wet divers. It was time to go. John opened his car door and the wind blew his “favorite” hat out into the bay. It floated on the current making its way out to sea, the white caps threatening to sink it as it moved along. A group gathered and tried to corral it by catching it with the dive flag and towing it back. It didn’t work….it especially didn’t work when the flag was thrown and “someone who should have known better” (not me) forgot to hold onto the line. We were now rescuing one hat and one dive flag…. John did what he had to do and put on his suit again and waded out to retrieve the errant equipment so we could be on our way.

A quick stop at Pete and Eldas for a beer and a burger and it wasn’t such a bad dive day after all. Some diving, some talk, some dive stories……some time with dive friends…..there are worse things.....like the Jets game…….

Princess Cheryl Wreck

Many the wonders I this day have seen:

The ocean with its vastness, its blue green,
Its ships, its rocks, its caves, its hopes, its fears, -
Its voice mysterious, which whoso hears
Must think on what will be, and what has been,

John Keats


8AM is a civil hour….I like leaving then. I knew today would be good day….there were little signs….like I found my way to the dock without getting lost. Yea….today would be good.

I was diving the Lady Godiver and the names of my shipmates will be changed to protect the innocent. Actually only John needs protecting so we will only change his name. I was joined by Jim Woods, and the other Jim and an unnamed diver, along with Captain Howard. It was warm this morning and the sun was shining through as we left the dock. A bit of a chop to the water as we weaved our way out past Old Barney, and the ocean proved to be a bit…..snotty, but manageable.

I would be diving wet today, as my dry suit is no longer dry and my wrist seals have to be special ordered because my wrists are too small for the standard ones. Lucky for me the diving is gorgeous right now and wet is the way to go.

We are doing numbers dives today……brand new discoveries to be made…..things to be seen….Like a virgin, Touched for the very first time, Like a virgin…..Woot Woot! Another thing off my dive list. Our first stop is an unknown and we toss out a buoy and then the anchor hoping to snag a piece of the wreckage. The pool is open. The water has a fair amount of particulate and an abundance of small jellies and jelly like egg sacs floating about but we can tell from the top it will be decent visibility. As I go down the line I am gauging the viz with my computer as I am really a horror at eyeballing it. We have about 30 feet and are actually right next to a pot as we reach the sand and take advantage of the good viz and pot line to navigate about. We are at 70fsw, the water is 64F and there is a fair amount of current to fight at the bottom. I am glad I tossed a little extra weight in my pocket just in case.

I fin along the line and at the next pot look into see what has been about. There are several sea bass and a huge lobster inside, so I now know what I am looking for. Off the line there is a small pile of wreckage. Large, thick timbers that have seen some wear. Under a piece of wood is what looks to be a borderline lobster and I ignore him as I haven’t brought a goodie bag down with me. As I poke about, I come across a decent sized sea bass that appears to be snagged in a crevice of the timbers and I give a good yank on his tail, and he squirms and wiggles but he doesn’t budge from his spot. During this time my horizontally impaired lobster friend continuously comes out of his hidey hole threatening me and being a general menace. I finally make a grab, miss and follow him into his hole, pulling out what just may possibly be a keeper. He has threatened me and made me chase him to boot….I am holding on til I know different…..that’ll learn him.

I continue along the line a short while carrying my quarry, who is most dissatisfied with the arrangement, and not seeing any additional wreckage I turn to go in the other direction. This way too are a few small piles of wood and my crustacean friend is cramping my style for poking about. As I come across Jim Woods I drop him in Jims bag and get back to poking about.

Small sea bass hover at each pile of timbers, jamming themselves into each nook and cranny and I poke my way along. But the first pile of wreckage calls to me, and I go back and start to dig. I pull up pieces of the wood and fan at the sand beneath only to have another piece of wood appear. But that’s OK. Each piece of wood shows this to be a wooden sailing ship of some sort, and the condition shows it to be old. None of the wood appears to be charred and a good portion of this ship is buried beneath the sand. That tells a lot for one dive. There is no monofilament or sinkers about so the recreational fishermen have not hit here, just the lone boat with his few pots over the wreck. He may have found it first….but I do believe we “saw it” first. These fish were never poked until I came along. Sweet.

I head on up and join the boys topside to check out the catch bags. Jim and I have 4 lobsters between us, mine was referred to as the “oversized shrimp” and I promptly tossed him back. But as luck would have it…..Jims were not much bigger and all made their way back home also. The other Jim fared quite well though with a huge trigger fish, definitely a keeper.

As we made our way to the next site we compared notes as to what we found. Just a few small piles of wood scattered about but definitely a wooden sailing ship and definitely old. Very old.

We arrive at our next site and Unnamed Diver (UD for short) and I were to head on down and check this one out. The buoy was dropped and we were brought along side and dropped on down. This time I take a goodie bag with me just in case…good thing too.

We have been dropped right on a low lying wreck wall which makes navigation quite simple. This appears to be some sort of wooden fishing boat and you can see the cleats still attached to the boats gunwales. True to form there is a lobster immediately as we go down and while UD ties in the buoy I play tag with our new friend. If only my arms were a little longer, cause I am in his hole but not far enough. Time to move along. It is a small wreck and we follow the line of the gunwale along the sand and look in and about. There are quite a few small sea bass tucked in the debris along the way and one really big conger eel. Did I mention really big? We saw “eye to eye” and are good with that. There were also several more lobster for someone with just a bit longer of an arm.

At the end of the wreckage UD ties off and heads out into the sand and I head on back to try for my first little lobster friend once more. Still no go so I moved on out to a debris field of wood and tangled metal pipes, lifting several of the boards as I moved along. The bottom sides of some of these showed definite charring, something burned before it sank. In a crevice I spy a lone set of antennae and make my grab coming up with a bug for my bag. I move on back to the main rail I have been using to navigate and spy UD with what appears to be several bugs in his bag tying off on the far end of the wreck and heading out into the sand once more.

I poke about a bit more and head off to the sand and the planking and metal pipes to pull up more wood and fan the sand to see what it might hold. As I move on up and down this area I spy another lobster making a run for a hole and grab him also….and in my bag he goes.

Other than charred wood I don’t find much else and come across UD once more and he has liberated a gauge of some sort and it now occupies his bag, except for the few short moments he takes it out to show me. But hmmmmm….that is all that is in the bag…….hmmmmmm…….

We are at 69 fsw, there is still a current on the bottom and the water is 63F. It was only a short time since my first dive and I have reached my NDL. I search out the buoy line and head on up. I am hanging at 14 fsw, 15 fsw, 14fsw…….24fsw. Hmmmm. Lets try that again. I am hanging at 14 fsw, 15 fsw, 14fsw……8fsw…...26fsw. There appears to be a bit of a surge here….a bit strong and I need to concentrate here. I recall my time with Ernie, when Frnak had all the fun….and I got to hover. It served me well…..and I managed to hold my own for my hang.

Once on the surface, Captain Howard spotted me right away and came in for the pick up and I was soon onboard. As stories go….. on this dive “someone”, we wont say who, but it wasn’t me…. Had 5 lobsters make a break for freedom from their goodie bag….

Off in the sand, the propeller and some brass or copper pipe was spotted and there will be a liberation dive coming up. A salvage dive….another thing on my list…..today really is good.

Only one of my two lobster is a keeper and the short guy is sent back down. Since we will be returning here, we needed a name and it is now officially referred to as……… The Princess Cheryl Wreck…… sweet.

As we set sail to our next site we commented on how quickly the fall has passed and how much we were enjoying the warm weather and water. Life is good.

Our next stop was a buoy and drop for Jim and Jim…..they went over and the rest of us relaxed onboard, enjoying the warm weather despite the nuisance of swells of the water. When Jim and Jim returned they reported that they did not have the same luck as we did but were dropped on a huge, as in massive sized links huge, chain that was laid out along the bottom and followed it for almost 200 feet coming across nothing. Too much of this site was sanded in and so we headed out to the Viscaya for our final dive of the day.

I have dove the Viscaya before. A steamer, that was sunk in the dead of night by a collision with the Cornelius Hargraves which also promptly sunk nearby. It was morning before the few survivors were found and the tragedy discovered. Jim W and I were the only two to partake of this dive, and as we went down the line it seemed the visibility was slowly dwindling. We were still at 20+ feet of viz, and the water a warm 64F, with the bottom current still with us.

As I looked around the site was very familiar. We were tied in to near the boilers and I swam up over and around them looking down at the large sea bass hiding inside. Off of the boilers was a large pipe, I remember chasing fish back and forth through here and I swam about revisiting other sights. A large school of trigger fish swam about just off of the boilers and looking high and low not a lobster was to be seen. It was soon time to come up and as I hit the line I grabbed Jims strobe and took it with me, the sign that I was up the line and for him to pull the hook. I hit the surface and was given a tow back to the ladder and after a long day on the water it was appreciated. Jim was just a few minutes behind me and with him he brought a sea bass weighing in at over 3lbs. Not a bad catch. Not a bad day.

Think I will do this diving thing again. After all, I have to go back to the Princess Cheryl.

A Late Afternoon Charter……On a Warm Sunny Day…….

A vivid sense of delight takes hold of one, when for the first time one penetrates the surface. After thousands of years of fear and effort Man has at last succeeded in getting beneath the top layer of the sea, winning a long battle against asphyxia and terror. A palace untouched by human hand, with its gardens of rock and water where living creatures play the part of flowers, is the goal of all our striving.
Philippe Diole ~ The Undersea Adventure. 1953.

I don’t know where to begin. A lot went into this dive. How sweet is it to drive 10 blocks and be on a boat? And how sweet is it when you don’t have to get up at the crack a** of dawn to do it? I could get used to this.

A late afternoon charter on the Blue Fathoms, on a warm sunny day, right around the corner, and we hit 2 wrecks on my list to boot.

After loading all my gear on board we are talking about gear and the ladder. I am not truly fond of the Blue Fathoms ladder. It is a little steep and I can never pull my fins through the top of it, it is a bit of a nemesis for me. Mate Justin swears he can get me through it and is so confident on the subject that I make a quick run home and get my doubles. If I am going to do this…… I am going to do it the hard way.

I have not taken my doubles out for a spin since coming back and now is as good a time as any. I am now loaded on board with a set of double 100’s and two single steel 100’s just in case and all the gear, wings, retractors and doodads that go along with them. I look like a traveling garage sale.

We head out of the inlet with clear sunny skies and a little bit of chop in the water. Fall on the Jersey coast. Our destination is the Pinta. I have wanted to dive the Pinta for 2 years and have never gotten on it. Woo Hoo …… another thing off my diving list.

The Pinta is a 194 foot freighter that sunk on a sunny afternoon on May 8, 1963 in 85 feet of water. Guys…I don’t care what she told you…..size does matter. When a 7547 ton freighter (the City of Perth) hits a 500 ton freighter (Pinta), the little one looses …. and sinks …. in less than an hour. There was no loss of life as the crew of the Pinta, 11 in all including one woman, the navigators wife, abandoned ship and was taken aboard the City of Perth and brought back to port. A defect in the steering mechanism on the larger vessel the cause of the accident.

I have been told so much about this wreck and how intact it was and how interesting. I was also told that she is quickly deteriorating, with the winter storms taking their toll on her. I wanted to see it before it was too far gone, and now I was getting the chance.

We arrived at the sight and conditions couldn’t be better. The water was looking clear and the little bit of chop we had coming out was gone. Al G., Mr. October himself, was to be my partner this dive and he geared up with all the play toys for lobstering as I geared up with index finger extended and ready for fish poking and over the side we went. There was no current on the surface and a Carolina line was not even put out. We finned to the anchor line and went on down.

As we descended the water was a little cooler than I expected, checking in at 59F as the jellyfish floated around us and at about 30 feet the wreck came into view. We were tied in at the mast and as you followed the mast back the ship came into view, lying on its side with parts of the hull still intact, while other parts have fallen in. We went down to the sand and visibility was in the 20 foot range and there was a lot to see. We saw no lobster but an abundance of blackfish and sea bass, and nice size ones to boot. And a lone….large….out of season flat fish. Just off the tie in on the bottom was a strange looking fish and I went down for a closer look. It turned out to be and unfortunate sea bass that after meeting his demise became dinner for a dozen small hungry starfish, making for an unusual sight. While Al was disappointed coming up empty handed, I had plenty to entertain me. Peeking in holes, pulling up boards, nudging fish….my kind of dive.

As we headed up the line I just hung for a few minutes taking in the outline of the wreck and imagining it as it was just a short time ago. I will be back to this one.

The surface current was nil and I hung at the stern of the boat, just floating on my wing like a large pool toy, waiting for Al to make his way up the ladder. OK, this was it, my turn on the ladder, the steep ladder, with the top part I can never get my fins through, and doubles on my back……..what the hell was I thinking……

I grabbed hold of the ladder and placed my fins on the rungs and took a step up….good…so far good…then another step…..and then………ut oh…..my reel was caught on the rung and I wasn’t going anywhere. I unclipped it and handed it up and slowly made my way up the rest of the way. At the top Captain Tony pulled my fin through and then my other and I stepped on down. Mission accomplished……Justin was right.

As we collected everyone on board, the sun was making its way west, sinking ever lower in the sky and we were heading for the Dykes and a night dive. I like the Dykes at night, it is fun, and on my list of dives to do.

On the trip over to the Dykes it was discovered that there was a banana on board. Hmmm….. I explained the reasoning behind the “no bananas on the boat” rule and it was quickly tossed overboard. No worry…..with the tootsie rolls, pretzels rods and box of Dunkin doughnuts, we were not going to miss it.

The Dykes was a 306 ft schooner barge sunk by the State of NJ as an artificial reef in 1983. Interestingly, this predates our current official artificial reef program. The Dykes was originally built as a 5 masted schooner to carry Bauxite, but was soon sold to carry coal and eventually turned into an unrigged sludge barge for New York City. While not the most interesting of dives during the day, at night the lines of low lying ribs and debris make for a fun and interesting dive.

It was still light when we hit the water, a little lighter than I would have liked, but I won’t complain. Still no surface current and we made our way down the line as the light around us began to fade. Thanks to the tossing of the banana, our luck with visibility held out and the water was noticeably warmer. We turned on our lights and swam out. The way the wreck has deteriorated it forms two lines of twisted metal and hull plates with a sandy bottom between them and you swim along lighting up the nooks and crannies and spotlighting the local wild life. It is impressive to shine your light as you come up on a towering piece of the ship and you can peek in the holes like windows into a large fish house. Again, plenty of fish but no lobsters about. While night was upon us, the water was still clear and you could easily make out everyone’s light as they swam up and down the wreckage. I was hoping for mussels but they were scarce and not looking too clean so I moved on. Empty mussel shells littered the bottom and starfish abounded. I again came across the odd 4 legged starfish I have been seeing a lot of lately. I will have to look it up.

The water temps here were 63F and made for a comfortable hang despite my suit still leaking at the arm. I enjoy the time on the anchor line at night. Everything is dark and quiet and you can see the little glowing specks of sea life all around you like twinkling stars and the beams of everyone’s lights in the distance playing about as they make their way up the line too.

Upon breaking the surface Captain Tony was standing on the bow welcoming us back and with the spotlights on, the stern was well lit and a welcoming sight from the blackness of the nights water. I again leaned back and floated, waiting my turn on the not so demon ladder. Handing up the reel first, I make my way up and with help pulling my fins through I am onboard in no time.

The ride in was a little cooler and sweatshirts were called for, but I really enjoy watching the shores lights and night sky on these trips. You pick out land marks from the lights as you get closer and even closer in you easily make out the gap in lights and the inlet, our road home.

A most enjoyable trip. Now I remember what I was thinking….. A late afternoon charter on the Blue Fathoms, on a warm sunny day, right around the corner, and we hit 2 wrecks on my list to boot.

Can You Hear It?

"I love diving, it’s so quiet down there it makes me able to hear the voices in my head much clearer" ~ Anonymous ~

“I’m gonna get some mussels…..I’m gonna get some mussels…..I’m gonna get some mussels….” Maybe.

Where do I begin? It’s tough being born a blonde, having to come up with one blonde moment after the other…..but I seem to manage. The Lady Godiver is waiting for me and I missed my exit on the Parkway….what else can I do? I will soon find out but…… it’s another dive day and a fine one at that.

Luckily I have left early and arrive with time to spare and load onboard. Howard has promised me mussels on the Great Issaic and I am excited. Marinara….white wine and garlic….I cant decide…. so I am having both.

I am joined by Steve R., Gary, the other Gary and Al S. and mussels it is that we discuss on the ride out to the wreck. But alas, there is a boat already on it, my mussels are not to be and we head for the Inshore Tug. Now just to confuse me, they explain the Inshore Tug is not a sunken tug, or any other sort of tug for that matter. It is some sort of wooden sailing ship. Since they have no idea which sailing ship, they call it the Inshore Tug…after all it is inshore. Makes sense to me.

I have had my regulator repaired (its not a year old yet and the shop couldn’t believe what happened), I am test diving a new reel, I have a replacement computer and I again aquasealed my wrist seals(two fingers and the table) and will see how dry my drysuit is today. I am the only set of singles on board and am squeezed out on the bench by all the doubles, and await my turn to gear up and roll over. But I don’t mind as the water is practically flat and looking clear and the skies are warm and sunny. I am enjoying the day already. As I am gearing up I cant find my hood, but luckily Gary has an extra and I am ready to go.

The water has that Jersey green tint and a lot of particulate but it is fairly clear and we have 20 foot or more visibility on the bottom and it was a balmy 64F. Everyone ties off a reel and sets out to see what was around. Going in 3 directions from the tie in I found a plethoria of small sea bass and black fish swimming about a larg piece of the wreckage, sand and some rather large sea robbins in need of some privacy (I poked em anyway), some kind of small fish that I didn’t recognize that kept bumping my mask, like a gnat(do you think he was poking me? hmmm) and the ships anchor. I played about on a piece of the wreckage near the tie in trying to reach in and poke a fish or two, but they seemed to stay right outside my reach, taunting me, rather enjoying it I think. That’s it. I am getting a pole spear. We’ll see whos laughing next time.

The hang was pleasant with the sun shining through the surface and the steamy water temps. Not as many jellyfish today but a lot of particulate and strings of tiny egg casings. It’s that time of year.

Cookies, doughnuts, pretzels and dive stories filled the surface interval. We had quite the group and quite the stories going round. As we could still see a boat on the Great Issaic, we were heading to the San Saba, with Gary promising to show me his “new” digging spot. We were going artifact hunting and stories of a certain porthole …..recovered….or not recovered ….were revisited.

Steve handed me an empty bottle before I went in, and at the bottom of the line the anchor was tied in and I let the bottle go up. The pool was open. I tied off my reel, I was going digging. We finned along looking under things and about. Gary spied a set of antennae and pointed and I made a grab, made two grabs but my arm was not long enough. He stuck his arm in and after a few tries extracted a rather large lobster with eggs. Back she went and we were on our way. Being leader means you find stuff first, like 2 sets of shears about 10 feet apart. Gary found a set of shears, I found a starfish, Gary found a set of shears, I found a rock. Luckily starfish were good as Debbie needed some to feed the fish in her tank so I put them in my bag to bring to her. We continued to look and poke about as we moved along.

Apparently the “spot” we were looking for was far. Very far. When the line on my reel ran out, luckily it was tied on, and I was running low on NDL we had finally arrived, a large open sandy spot. I poked about a bit digging up some pieces of wooden timber and a broken glass bottle, it was time for me to go as I was on a single tank and I gave the signal I was turning back and headed for the line. Not stopping to poke around and with the trial reel running way too smoothly I was back at the tie in in record time and on my way up with gas to spare. As it turned out I would need it, kind of.

Back on board, we start to break down our rigs and the suggestion was made to make one more stop on the way in, something shallow but interesting. It’s such a nice day and the conditions are terrific…… we just cant pass that up ….. and I have just enough left in my tank to partake of the site. Gotta love being good on air. We head in towards shore and a rock ridge that always has some life on it.

We drop anchor and I am the last to hop in. With my knee on the gunwale, Gary pops up from the water and sends me back. Our good luck has not held out and the visibility is measured in inches. One by one the hoods pop out of the water as divers surface all about unable to find the anchor line in the few short minutes they have been down and we call it a day and head on in, definitely not disappointed with the day.

We have several lobster and a sea bass on board. A few artifacts were dug up with both Garys finding shell casings on the San Saba and an anchor has managed to find a new home with us. Flat warm seas, sunny skies, good friends, good conversations, some devil dogs……life is good.

And as for mussels……Spikes makes good mussels, all is not lost. My sleeve was wet and there was a wet spot on the front of my shirt but there was nowhere near the water previously stored in my suit from a dive. I think I am making headway with the aquaseal. I will apparently be making a reel purchase soon…. as soon as Tommy makes me give his reel back. I missed the beeping of my computer, it is now on its way to camp Dive Rite for repairs, but I sort of miss the beeping, but then again the quiet “makes me able to hear the voices in my head much clearer"

For Want of a Dry Suit in a Wet Sea

See! I have a little shovel,
I also have a pail,
And I have a little sailboat
That has a tiny sail.
I take them to the beach with me
But always do forget
To play with them, because you see
I’m busy getting wet
~Anonymous~
Wet does not quite describe the amount of water in my drysuit, but I will get back to that.

Today started off a little shaky and before it was done my drysuit, computer, regulator and reel will have thrown temper tantrums, and yet it was still a stellar day on and under the water.

As I checked my tanks to see which I was taking with me, my first stage began blowing air. Jeez, its 5AM and I can barely think much less figure out what is wrong. I toss the reg set along with a spare in my milk crate and will deal with it at the boat.

I am diving the Lady Godiver with Howard R. and Francis O’Gorman today, it has been a while and I am looking forward to it. Howard has been busy, as a fresh coat of paint covers most of the boat……even the head…..put in specially for me by the way….and I quickly am loaded onboard.

As I show Francis my regulator dilemma, the first and second stage blows clear off of my tank. Old school guys, gotta love ‘em, nothing riles them. He just picks up the pieces, looks a minute and repairs it before we even leave the dock.

We are on our way and the day looks promising. The skies are clear and ever so gentle rolling swells move occaisionally beneath us. Howard said this was going to be the best day of the week and it is looking like he is right.

Our destination is the Chappara and I have been on here before, a 249 foot freighter sunk by a German U-Boat mine in 84 feet of water.

Francis ties us in and I roll over the side to see what the ocean has to offer today. The water is green but clear and as I reach the bottom I have a solid 15 foot of visibility and 66 degree water temps. My computer is in a total frenzy and not accepting any O2 information. It will be making a trip back to Dive Rite, but for now, it joins me on the bottom, beeping its little heart out, along with Howards spare computer and my bottom timer. I can feel some water still coming in my newly patched wrist seal and make a note to check it when I get back on board. Back up computers and warm water make quick work of these annoyances and I am truly enjoying a most relaxing dive.

As I take a look around, there are many small sea bass and black fish swimming about and schools of cunner pass by. Those curious little nippy fish are right with me as I look in the nooks and crannies poking about and poking them as well. There are several ropes laying about to follow but no abandoned anchors attached to them and a lone large sinker is rescued. In a narrow shelter just beyond the tie in (there is always one at the tie in!) I spy some antennae and a flash of crustacean claw. I spend the rest of my dive playing cat and mouse with him but to no avail. I will be giving his whereabouts to the next diver down and expect to see him joining us onboard shortly thereafter.

I am joined by an array of jellyfish on my hang and spend the time looking about. Near the surface, visibility is easily 30 feet and the time passes quickly. Hmmm...Looks like he painted the bottom of the boat too. I am a little slow but make my way up the ladder only stopping to hand off my weights before climbing over the transom.

For Dive #2 we head for the Yellow Flag and after a few passes the anchor is dropped and Francis goes on down to tie us in. My computer is still beeping non-stop and Howard keeps looking around for the culprit. He offers to toss the thing overboard, but I decline. I have located yet another hole in my wrist seal that I missed and wrap a few layers of duct tape around it before jumping in. As I begin to descend the line I come across Francis and he signals me to go back up. The visibility here is nil and he is calling it.

We climb back on board and head back for the San Saba, another freighter sunk in 75 fsw by mines from the German U-Boat 117 in 1918.

Francis has opted not to go in for a third time and that leaves me to tie in. How cool is that, my first tie in! I dropped over the side with my ever beeping computer to keep me company and head on down. At the anchor I am greeted with the site of it nicely wedged in a tall piece of the wreckage and very little for me to do. My first tie in is simple and a success. Woo Hoo! The water is still green but the viz has dropped to 8-10 feet and I tie off my reel before looking about.

The fish are slightly larger and more plentiful here. As I look about I don’t see any signs of lobster but I am a bit distracted. Despite the duct tape I am taking on so much water I can feel it traveling back and forth in my suit as I swim and my reel is sticking every 5 or 10 feet making progress frustrating. I decide to head for the surface and rewinding my reel is tedious but I manage to get it all wrapped in before moving up the line.

I am better on the ladder now and clamour over the transom without help or removing any weights and as I remove my suit and pour the buckets of water from within, Howard comments that there was enough water to maintain sealife in there. I HAVE to get these wrist seals replaced. After my report Howard heads on down, gun in hand, to look about and pull the hook.

While he is down I rewind my reel, which of course flows smoothly now, and change into my last dry clothes. As Howard surfaces, with fish on the stringer we contemplate the warm weather and water and a great day out.

We have on board fish, lobster, and a small artifact or two collected by our resident scavenger. The water is clear, flat and warm. The day warm and sunny. The company stellar…..hey I had the full attention of two great guys gearing me up and throwing me overboard. What more could you want. A dry drysuit maybe….and that dang computer to stop beeping…..but not much more.

Adventure on the Venture…..Venture III

I hope you still feel small When you stand by the ocean

Whenever one door closes, I hope one more opens

Promise me you'll give faith a fighting chance

And when you get the choice to sit it out or dance

I hope you dance ~Lee Ann Womack

Wednesdays dive got cancelled, Fridays dive got cancelled, Saturdays dive got cancelled, Sundays dive got cancelled…….this was getting old.

Monday was not getting canceled. I was there and loaded on the boat before they could change their minds. It was time to dance. This was my first trip on the Venture III and I had heard nothing but good things about Ruth and Capt Paul. They were all true.

Twas a bit chilly this morning and I was informed that it was the first day of fall and long pants time. I was dressed in shorts and a sweatshirt, I never get the memos. The skies were a bit gray and there was some chop but nothing to stop us and so out the inlet we went.

There were 15 of us, a bit of a squeeze but Ruth is a master at making room and fitting gear. Most of the divers were going wet, the last of the seasons die hards. Word was that the water was high 60’s down to depth over the week end, so it really didn’t seem so odd. I was diving dry with just my light long sleeve shirt and wooly socks to hold my feet in the boots, and looking forward to it.

Our first stop was the NE Sailer. I have been here before and it is a pleasant dive. Old wooden sailing ship, low but decent relief with lots of hidey holes for lobster and fish, and a huge chain pile that looks like a fishy high rise.

I geared up and it was nice to just giant stride off the side of the boat into the water instead of clamoring over the gunwales for a change. Swim over to the line and drop down and …. and… and it was warm just like they said it would be. And even better than that…..it was clear, a clear 30 feet and a most pleasurable dive.

My buddy for the day was Chris and he had a mission to collect enough lobsters for dinner. Let’s just say mission accomplished. As Chris locked himself in life and death battles with fearsome crustaceans, I peeked all around and played tag with the numerous, albeit small sea bass and black fish. The only fish worth mentioning size wise were the fluke and they are out of season, and the eels. The eels were epic in size and everywhere. In one hole there were two nestled together like teenagers in heat. Yes I poked them. No they didn’t really care. Go figure

We swam the length of the planking and ribs and turned to come back and have a look around the chain pile. There was some surge on the bottom as we swam along but nothing harsh. No need for a reel on this dive and with the viz and warm water we could have stayed down forever.

But alas, it was time to go up and so we did. This was my first time maneuvering the dive ladder and with the surface current a tad brisk and the seas a tad rambunctious it was a challenge getting on the ladder. This ladder is a bit steep and with my 120 and a pony I just couldn’t manage it alone. I got about half way up the ladder and a little lift on my tank valve helped make the rest of the way.

I stowed my gear and we made plans for dive #2. But, I had a little bit of a problem. I was wet; not just a sleeve or a leg wet but wring out my shirt and my socks kind of wet. You do have to love good dive gear though. When it wicks well you really don’t feel a thing. But none the less…..Nothing is easy. Luckily I had another shirt and it was warm enough to just wear wet socks. Dive #2 here I come.

We stopped at the Spring Lake Sailer and before I ever got in the water, divers were coming up the line. Some miscommunication had caused some trouble with the tie in and the visibility was nil. This site was not to be and we moved on to the Cranford, a 205 ft commuter ferry, sunk off of Sea Girt in 1982 as part of the artificial reef program.

Now I have been on the Cranford before also, but not with 30+ feet of visibility. Again, warm water and clear seas made this dive much different than my previous time there. While it is a small site, you could take in the entire wreck and look out in the sand as we swam about. The fish were more plentiful on this site and the lobsters were still to be found. Chris finished his grocery shopping while I caught up on some long overdue poking. I usually take a shell on each dive and save them in a bucket as kind of a memento for diving. There were sand dollars, and moon snail shells and gi-normous clam shells everywhere and I collected a few in my pocket as I swam along.

The eels were on this site also and black sea bass were abundant. Just behind where we were tied in was a hole in the wreck and swimming just in and out of there were the kind of fish you wanted to take home to your mother. I know at least one diver did just that.

Again, too soon it was time to go up. The surface still held a bit of a current and a chop and grabbing the ladder was still a timing challenge. I am still not getting up the ladder on my own. With a smaller HP100 tank on the ladder was a bit more manageable and as always Paul and Ruth were right there to help. Pulling 15 divers simultaneously out of the water and onto the boat has to be a bit of a timing challenge in itself and they made it look effortless.

I had felt the water running in on my left arm as I descended this time and made note to look for a hole and sure enough…….I was “wring em out” wet and there was a respectable hole in my wrist seal causing my wet demise. My later adventures with Aquaseal and this hole would make the Bartman proud, but back to the dive.

The sun began to peek out as we made our way back in. A most pleasant day out on the water. Jokes and dive stories and a never ending bag of chips. Finish those, I am not taking them off with me!

Jersey diving at its best.

Important Notice Regarding Aquaseal

OK, its been a while and this isnt a trip report, but important information none the less.

I moved to a new house (bummer) but it has a "dive room" (sweet!). Genuine diving work space and I decided to take advantage of it.

Upon examining my drysuit, I discovered a hole in the wrist seal just "slightly" smaller than a legal lobster. Ok maybe "somewhat" smaller, but definately the reason I got drenched last time I used my suit.

With the intention of repairing this before the winter dive season arrives I took my suit to the shop and it was suggested that I try to Aquaseal the hole until they could do the repair.

Hmmmmm....Cheryl and aquaseal....I have never been left alone with the stuff before...and some say for good reason.....but there is no way I can glue my drysuit to my forehead .....I am sure of it.....so I am giving it a try.

I will not ask how to remove aquaseal from a table, or carpet or if the plastic knife will ever come off of my washing machine.....unless you want to tell me anyway.

This is a learning experience. I learned these things.

1. Aquaseal is sticky.

2. No matter how sticky aquaseal is, the patch will fall off.

3. The patch will fall off and land sticky side down on the carpet.

4. If you use your soft weights to hold the patch in place they will stick to your wrist seal

5. It is difficult but not impossible to remove a 2lb soft weight from your wrist seal

6. Place...dont toss your aquaseal covered plastic knife in the trash

7. Store your unused tube of aquaseal in the freezer....really

8. Aquaseal makes bagels stick to your fingers long after you wash your hands.

9. Impatient people with a short attention span should not use this stuff

Now we will have to see if the patch holds! Take me diving guys.