Hudson Grotto

A Grotto is an internal organization of the National Speleological Society (NSS). They generally function as the local NSS chapter/club. Many Grottos however, operate in areas outside of their local area, with many operating in several states. ...Wikipedia

Probably not what I am looking for

A Grotto is any natural or manmade cave near water or flooded or liable to flood at high tide that is associated with historic or pre-historic human use…… Wikipedia

More like it.

Hudson Grotto. I have not an idea on god’s green earth what a grotto is……and yet I offer to spearhead a social at one…….

So I Google….. I get several definitions, some sorting through is required, and one question lingers……

Hmmmm….. so is there coffee?

Much coordination and buffoonery goes into planning this event. People hem and haw regarding the merits of diving the cold waters. Who knew this grotto defies the laws of nature…. The bottom is spring fed and 72F and according to everything I have ever learned….. heat rises and therefore the warm water should extend to the surface right? Sorry must have hit my head and forgot where this was…..

We now approach the date and have been adopted by Scuba West Dive shop and have diving passes, a grill, a scuba cake and prizes. Much thanks to them and to Boats (Todd) who helped with all this.

We also have our divers who include a pair getting up 5 hours early and waiting patiently in the parking lot to begin, our foreign national who is unsure if she is bringing Ketchup or is expected to whip up a batch of catsup, Pinky of Pinky and the Brain fame adding chocolate doughnuts and begging to dive Sherpa the event, a Halcyon backplate and wing bringing sausage kabobs and one diver who refuses to leave Arizona and attend a social until it gets warmer here. Gotta love Florida, its’ never dull.

I awaken early morning with a booming headache but know I have to pull it together and get moving. Three hours later I have it under control and am on my way.

I arrive at Scuba West and sign in and Pinky grabs my tanks and tosses them into a cart heading for the water and hauls up my gear tote leaving me to carry my coffee and an inflator hose. I could get used to this.

When I arrive at the pavilion, there are chocolate doughnuts to go with my coffee, a grill is at the ready with coolers lined up next to it and a row of tables laden with plates, condiments and a really cool cake in the image of a beach. Saaaweet! I have to plan stuff more often.

Everyone is getting ready to dive and I begin to set up my gear. There is one small problem. I am 3 feet too short for the gear table. I assemble my gear, add the inflator hose, climb into my drysuit with just shorts and wool socks when I feel a gear issue erupt. My redundant buoyancy corral management system has disengaged. I seek out MissD for immediate assistance and the first of quotables for the day is uttered. After several minutes of silence and lack of movement I hear “Oh! I thought you wanted me to look down your pants”. Heads snap up and in a moment laughter erupts. This will be in my dive report.

I make my way over to my rig and slide an arm into the harness. I cannot jump up high enough to catch my other arm and drag a chair over for assistance. I hear a murmur from EANdiver… something to the effect of “this has emergency room written all over it”….. and slide into my harness. I jump down from the chair now hanging from my rig and pull it forward hoping not to be flattened face first as it plummets towards me. Life is good and I survive. But they definitely need to cut the legs off that thing.

As I pass by FlyingVisit, she is getting a bit of assistance gearing up and all heads snap up as we hear Boats proclaim “I’m not sticking ANYTHING between her legs!” Laughter again erupts as his face reddens and someone else hands Maz her crotch strap. Another one for the report for sure.

We make our way towards the water and climb in. A little help from Skim and my errant mask is there and I am ready to conquer the quest for poker chips. Chips have been laid along the walls of the grotto for finding and turning in for prizes. Super little touch and thanks again to Scuba West and Boats.

We descend the line and make our way into the cool dark waters, 61F to be exact. There is a platform at about 20 feet and we regroup, adjust our buoyancy and head on down to a line that runs the perimeter of the cavern at about 30 feet. Following this along there are ragged limestone walls, settled with silt and in the larger of the indentations sit amusing little oddities to gawk at as you pass by. A tree is with large branches is perched in one corner and we follow past it as it sits hauntingly still with branches outstretched waiting to snang anything that comes too close. As we move along I spy a chip and grab it and place it in my drysuit pocket. After this I move outward a bit to allow others to peer about and find some chips too.

After the first traverse we follow on down to about 60 feet and repeat the traverse with new and different outcroppings and ledges dispersed along the walls. There are Buddhas and gnomes, deer other little ditties in these alcove like indentations also. And you muse as you pass and see each one.

Below this level the grotto goes deeper to about 100 feet and has a well like indentation going even farther down. We don’t continue on as the wetsuit clad divers are starting to chill now and so we go on up to what we hope is sunshine and the smell of chicken on the grill.

As we remove our fins and prepare to climb out of the water the local residents swim all around us. There are catfish….. really big ones and snapping turtles, one is going undercover with a full coating of flowing green algae covering his shell. Many smaller fish dart in and out …..this is a poking heaven.

We arrive at the pavilion and Mc Loving has arrived freshly out of work, minus his gear…. Oops….. and we are joined by a new face Spectre and his sidekick Beanie. She spends the afternoon feeding hotdogs to the turtles and bread and icing to the fish in that kind of child wonder and fun that makes you smile. We all take a turn going over to watch.

Lunch is grand and my thanks to everyone who helped. Pinky’s wife makes excellent pasta salad and MissD the chicken was great. There were hotdogs and hamburgers and HAL does make a tasty kabob.

We sit and eat and talk and laugh and the time goes all too quickly. A group plans one more round in the water and in they go as the rest of us sit and continue to chat. Our 2:00 or 2:30 planned departure extends toward 4:00 as we slowly load up and prepare to leave.

We will do this again. And my thanks to everyone who helped with this and made me look good. And to Pinky who had lugged my gear in the beginning of the day…. I have to tell you as I was carrying my tanks to the lot, he offered to take them, but I said no, I have ‘em….. he was carrying his purse and 2 tissues, he had enough to handle……. His legend will live on. Takes all the pressure off of me.

Hot Buttered Lobster

Ingredients:

· live lobsters
· boiling salted water
· melted butter

Preparation:

Bring a very large kettle of salted water to a rolling boil.
Using long tongs, quickly but carefully lower live lobsters into the boiling water.
Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until lobsters are bright red.

Serve with melted butter for dipping.

I arrived among a flourish of running children and small and large dog scrambling on bright tile floors…. Bedlam at its best…..

The plan was to rest the evening and in the morning…..dive, dive, dive.

As I arrived, Becca, who has had some computer troubles lately, was trying desperately to get some much needed help in Key Largo from a computer guru in India to no avail. While she set out dinner I had a heart to heart with our friends overseas and got things moving along and by the end of the evening we were sorted out and kicked back just relaxing and gabbing away…..

Morning comes too quickly and we load up and head out for the Garden Cove Diver boat. It is the last of the lobster season and a small group of us are heading out so see if there are any left after the frenzy of the season. Our boat, a 36 foot 6 pack, offers ample room to spread out gear and relax for the ride. My DIN dilemma is quickly sorted out with the removal of plugs from several adaptable valves and we are on our way.

Today Becky is trying her new Hollis regulator and I am taking a pair of HOG fins on their maiden voyage. The air is warm, such a pleasure after our strange and cold winter, but the water still cool. There are three of us diving and we each opt for a different suit trying to figure out the best option for the day.

Scott has chosen to layer his 5ml and vest with a skin for good measure. I am going straight 5ml and Becky has chosen a 3ml with added hooded vest. Time will tell.

The captain has suggested we try one of the lesser hit reefs as lobster season is coming to an end and many spots are now picked over. We stretch out leisurely on the deck as we head out.

I have heard stories of the damage this past winter to the waters. Fish kills of tropicals that were just not prepared for the temperatures the waters dropped to. Turtles in distress and turtle rescues of numbers so large that wading pools were put in rooms to accommodate them all. Eels of bright green, blackened and washed up on the beaches and coral….. beautiful colored coral, turned dead and gray. It will take time for the waters to recover. I wonder what I will find. Any fish to poke, bright colors to distract me, polka-dotted lobsters with no claws waiting to be grabbed….. hmmmmmm.

We arrive at our first site and the captain moors us between four coral patches. Each offers a different opportunity to poke around and find the elusive hot buttered lobster…. Well not buttered yet maybe, but they will be.

We kit up and stride off the stern platform. Scott first, followed albeit slowly, but followed by me and then Becky, who hit the water with an…. “Oh My!” The look on her face told it all….. she was back on the boat much quicker than we ever got off and pulling my 3ml over her already layered suit. He second water entrance was followed by a huge grin…… much warmer .... and we were off. The water is a cool 72F and a thick dark color. Only about 30 foot of visibility here but we are not to be deterred.
.

Scott was taking pictures and we were hunting and keeping track of each other proved difficult. But not as difficult as finding the elusive hot buttered lobster.

At the tie in was a small coral head very easily described….. 3 feet tall, 2 branching corals and a tiny lobster hiding in a hole. Sing that to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas…. It grows on ya.

We swim out to one of the larger coral heads. There is much more gray than I want to see but we do see sponges and branching corals holding firmly in place. Tube worms are scattered about with feather duster looking arms waving in the current. Hiding in amongst the structure are some temptingly sized snappers but alas Speargirl has no spear and a poke with my finger is the best we can do. We swim all about looking over and under but no lobster are to be found.

We move on over to a second spot and check below the coral ledge but still no lobster. Some black tetra are about and yellow butterfly fish, but no lobster. We swim around to the far side and there in a tall coral formation are two long thin antennae poking out from a hole. I make a grab and come up with only antennae and I try diligently to ease them down and out of the hole but come away with no luck. I suddenly feel something bounce off of my arm and as I look down I see a small lobster shoot for the hole with my little friend and Becky in hot pursuit. We look at each other and Becky motions tiny. They were both too small to keep and the thrill of the hunt was the best we would get so we moved on to try again. As I again round a corner Becky is trying to tickle out something from beneath an outcropping and she motions "big" this time, but his hiding hole is too far back and he too lives another day.

We head on back to the boat for a little warm sunshine and a new tank.
With dives this shallow we are not taking a surface interval but still manage to hang about and talk a few minutes before going back in. We vow to keep better track of Scott and we all step back into the water one by one.

Our third site is similar to the first two but still no lobster and Scott has run out of things of interest and motions to move on to the next site and we follow. We still find no lobster and spend our time looking diligently while pointing out things of interest for Scott to take pictures of.

Different fish are hiding amongst the corals, a large ray lies nestled in the sand, but no lobster. As we look about we find sea biscuits laying at the reefs edges and French grunts swim past. One of those ugly fish that looks like a rock hides nestled in the reefs edge. I think they are toad fish but they sure look like rocks to me. There are pink sponges that look like fingers made from playdoh and large spiny sea urchins peek from crevices daring you to stick your hand there to check about. Looking high and low for the elusive lobster, as we come around the ledge we lose Scott once more.

We go back up and over and look all about but to no avail and so up we head to look for either him or his bubbles at the least. On the surface we scan the water but see no sign of him. We checkout the boat in the distance….. quite the distance, we have swum out really far. And so we opt to surface swim back and watch for Scott to pop up looking for us. We lie on our backs and kick our way along while talking away about past dives and friends and family. We see no sign of Scott but pass over white coral heads reaching near the water’s surface and expanses of dark green water. As we look behind us the boat is still a fair distance away and we question our wisdom of swimming back but continue on.

As we approach the boat the captain calls out that Scott is already there, having swum beneath us undetected in the limited visibility the water offered today. Hmmm……

Our third dive was to be a drift and I was to be charged with carrying the flag.….. I am still new to them …… they will learn. The captain lines us up on the stern swim platform and one by one we enter the water vowing to keep together this time.

This reef is larger and has more life on it, corals of all shapes and sizes protrude as we swim past. Wavy fingers of multicolored corals and sponges.... some look like they are covered in a brown fur and others are bowl shaped. Large heads of brain coral spatter the scenery while star corals with their little tiny florets covering them are interspersed. Again we come upon a huge ray half buried in the sand. His wingspan is well larger than my arms can extend and his eye follows us as we move past but not a muscle is moved.

Our last site I was so intent on my search for lobster I didn’t really take in all the reef had to offer and barely noticed the fish and scenery but here I moved along like a tourist. Juvenile hogfish swim past and a huge grouper is nestled amongst the jutting reef structure. Many more sponges and corals are here. There are sheet corals layered one atop the other and sea fans sway in the current held fast to the reef with bright purple base. Small puffer fish hide in the reefs holes and rainbow parrot fish swim in and out.

The reef structure is much higher here and in some places natural bridges form swim throughs for fish and divers alike. The flag carrying diver can’t go through them…. Don’t ask why I know.

Queen angels swim regally along, disappearing in a cave like hole and reappearing a short while later. Damsel fish and blue tetra swim about, while butterfly fish and more parrotfish scurry past.

We are soon ready to surface. Three dives and we are starting to feel the cold. Time to call it a day. We all three surface, together, and the boat comes to pick us up.

We ride in eating oranges and snacks and soaking up the sun. Hot buttered lobster…. Wish I had some……but I don’t …. there is always next season……. and I enjoyed the day none the less. A burger and sweet potatoe fries at Mrs. Macs and my day is complete.

Rebecca loves her new regs. The way they breathed and the easy set up…they are her primary now. My fins…. Not a fan. The pocket too deep and the top edge flat across instead of curved made me uncomfortable and dug into the top of my foot. The spring straps on one fin swiveled around and came off on one side each time I removed them at the ladder. I didn’t even use them the third dive, I swapped them out from my old fins. I will keep on looking.

Diving in New Jersey

Earth hath more silver, pearls, and gold,
Than eyes can see or hands can hold.
Yet the treasure I want so dear,
I can neither see nor hold or make seem clear.

~ Anne Bradstreet
They say you can’t go home….. I am not so sure that is true……

It was cold in Florida….. So I did what any red-blooded displaced Jersey Girl would do. I packed up and headed north for some good old Jersey diving. I arrived just in time for the snowstorm of the month.

My ride, the LadyGoDiver, my buddies for the day, Captain Howard, Francis, Bart the Moon Snail Master, and Captain Stan.

As we wait for the last of the outgoing tide to clear the dock so we can load onboard, Bart jumps up and clears the snow from the deck.

The heater fires up and we head out of the inlet on gently rolling seas and contemplate where to go.

The wreck of choice is the Bell Holder. Now, a lot has happened since the last time I dove this wreck. The Bell Holder is no longer the wreck where they found the bell holder but not the bell. The bell has since been found and now it truly is just the Bell Holder.

As usual there is always something……things always happen….. like someone forgets their fins when they jump in…… you know …..things ……(was Bart this time....not me!)

I suit up and make my way over to the port side, place my knee on the gunwale and launch myself over the side…..such grace……. I’ve still got it.

There is a strong surface current and one by one we are towed forward to the anchor line and we descend.

The water is dark and green, almost a jewel tone, and thick with egg casings. Millions of them floating all around. As I reach the wreck at about 62fsw, I tie in and head out. This wreck is familiar to me and I look about to see what changes may have been made with this crazy winter weather. I am heading towards the bow to look for my friend the resident eel. He is always there but I am thinking this strange season may have forced him out to deeper water to keep warm and I am right. His little home is empty….the blinds are pulled, the lights are out and his mail is piling up.

Not much else has changed. There is still the long mast like wood jutting out into the water. It is taking a beating and I can see the signs of deterioration showing on its length. The walls are covered in assorted corals and anemones; it all just awaits the return of sea life with the warming of the waters.

My fingers are starting to feel the cold of the 38F water, I use 5ml gloves because the 7ml are just too thick for me, but I don’t want to leave just yet….and so I continue on. I see no fish around and the visibility is only about 5 feet so I peer closely as I move about. There are starfish in the sand. Not huge ones, not tiny ones, but a respectable supply of midsized ones. With no fish to poke I have to settle for poking the lonely stars laying scattered about. I am just making sure they are still with us and not frozen solid. Hey….someone has to check on these things, inquiring minds want to know.

Shells choices are limited. The only ones I see are clamshells…….hundreds of huge empty clam shells lay piled against the wreck, pushed in with the working currents of the season. As I move off a bit into the sand to see if anything is unearthed I see the definitive ridges in the sand showing the waters movement but not much else.

I am approaching 30 minutes and freezing fingers and remember that Bart is off collecting sinkers and Stan is digging for gold, time to go up and see if they have had any luck.

It is a cold hang on the line but I do and float watching a gazillion egg sacs float past. Sadly they remind me of snot and I am not imagining new little friends to poke. Just elongated jellied sacs encompassing a round brown spot. They practically block out the green of the water. But I work to look past them and can still make out the emerald green color so familiar to me.

As I climb the ladder I have hooked my reel to my scooter ring and my fingers just don’t want to work the clip. Bart reaches down and grabs the reel and I climb onboard with a soggy thump.

A few minutes of warming in front of Wall-E (swear the heater on board looks just like the robot from the movie) and I am ready to hear how everyone did. We had navigational glass, a brass valve and antique sinkers, lobster and other goodies. Life is good.

We head over to our second site, we are going off shore to look for some better viz and heading for the Cobblestone Wreck, another familiar site. As we make our way out hoods and gloves sit steaming around the heater. A close watch is kept on all to prevent the annual melting of the dive gear and we do good.

As we get ready for dive #2 some of us fall by the wayside……it wasn’t me that said Stan wimped out….but he did. Others of us launch ourselves into the sea. The current is still cruising along and we are still getting rides to the anchor line.

I drop down and note that the water is clearer, about 15 feet of viz, not as many egg sacs, not quite as green, and a whole degree warmer at 39F at 87fsw. I hit the wreck and reach for my reel. There is a decent current on the bottom this time and I plan to hug the wreck. Do you remember Bart taking my reel on the ladder? Me neither. Doh!! No biggie, I just locked on to Bart’s line and followed it out till I found him. I began rooting around as he did and while Bart found sinkers and other treasures, I found an odd piece of wood and a long metal spike.

As he reeled on in, I trailed behind looking for things to poke and again found no fish out and about. The cold kept this dive shorter and up we went. To the boat and the warmth of Wall-E.

Upon surfacing I still had my spike in hand but the piece of wood I had carefully balanced in my pocket was gone. And Stan wouldn’t jump in and find it for me …… go figure…..

As it turns out my spike isn’t brass (I still don’t believe it ) but if I paint it up pretty and give it a story…… no one will ever know.

A tiny crab is found in among the days treasures and offered to me to poke…..alas he is frozen solid and putting him too near the heater produces grilled crab.


We are making a third stop today on the Stanley H., a new set of numbers, and throw out a buoy as Captain Stan shows us his boating skillz. Without a doubt…… “THAT was going in my dive report”……

This site shall be revisited…… there may or may not be any gold bars, if I told you they would have to kill me…. Really….they told me that…… and we brought up none of the silver and china this trip…. Just too cold and tired at this point. I am sure Howard marked where the 12lb lobster sat on the porthole through which you could see the safe and what appeared to be the outline of a bell. He will be going back….. true story…. Will just have to save it for another day……..

We caught up on the local gossip and revisited past trips, ate cookies and smiled a lot….. it’s what diving is all about, at least for me. Good times, good friends, good dives…… you’re not rid of me yet. I will be back. I love diving in New Jersey, it's good to be home......

Devils Den

These Florida people LOVE their initials. They have initials for everything. They say “went to DS and NPR”. I have no clue….. But I will become one of the gang …. I will use initials…. From now on I will say… Them F people LOVE their initials. They have initials for everything….. it just seems wrong….. but when in Rome…..ahhhh

And so you F people….. here is my dive report

Devils Den with the Two F Gentlemen

l got up very early….. just let it be known….. but Skim was driving and as long as I didn’t get lost trying to find him he would get me to the dive site……

And so my morning begins….. feed the dog, pack the car and off I go to find the parking lot of choice. We were going to Devil’s Den. Cave country is officially flooded and cold air and strong winds have made diving scarce in these parts and a day at the springs was in order.

Devils Den is a karst window, an underground spring, inside of a dry cave which the ground overhead has opened up, exposing the water to the outside world above.

This is no small cave with a little sump inside. The water surface extends approximate 170 feet, end to end and the sump is shaped like an inverted mushroom, with the edges extending out beyond the water’s surface. The rock around these extended edges hold myriads of ancient fossils embedded in the limestone walls and 4 cave entrances.

In the mornings, on a cold day, when the cold air meets the constant 72F water, steam rises from the surface and it is said early settlers seeing this “smoke” believed this to be a direct sign of the spring being connected to the Devil and a gateway to Hell, thus giving it the name, Devil’s Den.

This is what you see….. What you don’t see are the 4 caves extending beneath the pools surface. These are blocked off by a latticework of plastic piping and rebar or grim reaper signs stating nothing beyond is worth dying for.

It is down the passage known as Chamber 3, at approximately 70 feet that there have been discovered the remains of extinct animals from the Pleistocene Age over 2 million years ago including a salamander, some anurans, a slew of turtles, an alligator, a lizard, and a bunch of snakes and along side of these the bones of early man from over 75 thousand years ago.And this is our playground for today.

Brian drove and we made it to the dive site without detour or drama….. well maybe a slight detour through the Mickey D’s drive through… which left Chris yearning for Cinnabuns the whole day.

We arrive at Devil’s Den and pull into the loading zone. A quick trip to the potty and my 2 nights in shining armor are….. gone. We all know my amazing directional abilities. The area we are in is at the back of the office and I walk down the road, through the grass, over the fence, down the path, through the gate around the side and in through the sliding door to be greeted by a pleasant gentleman who asks “are you diving with the other 2 guys? They just left” and he opens a little door and lets me out the back of the building 20 feet from where I started. And are my two little gentlemen escorts standing there awaiting my arrival? Noooooo…. Like Pinky and the Brain they are off plotting more confusion for my day.

We unload the truck to picnic tables near the Den entrance. I lug tanks, bags and a crate full of dive gear….out of which falls a 2lb soft weight. Pinky, who is carrying a small gym bag, the size of a Kate Spade purse, and an empty coffee cup, picks up the weight and like a true gentleman….. gently places it atop my oversized load. I can’t thank him enough… really… I try, but I can’t.

We suit up in the brisk morning air… the gentlemen into the chilly neoprene of their wetsuits, and I, with sweats intact, into my dry suit……hehehehe…..

You enter the Den through a vine covered narrow passageway, down a steep narrow set of stone steps, arriving in a huge cavern of limestone rock etched out over eons of time with cracks and nooks and crannies, and long stalactites dripping from above. A low narrow archway leads to even steeper wooden steps going down to the water.

Did I mention steps….. like a gazillion o f them….. I let Brian go first…just in case… so I have something soft to land on. This all leads to a wooden platform at the waters surface. From here, as you gaze up and around at the ancient rock formations lining the walls you see the beams of light center stage coming from the moss and vine framed opening above. It truly is beautiful and impressive.

We pull on our fins and masks and slip beneath the water’s surface. Here the water is dark and clear and we turn on our lights to explore what lies beneath. Well some of us do….others are still perfecting that on off thing……

There are limestone rock formations at every turn and in several places huge rock pockets form long swim throughs as we circle the sumps walls. There are deep dark pockets to peer into and we have been forewarned entry of any of the caves of jutting off the main room is not allowed. They are truly inviting and I do take a peek. The upper cave entrances have signs blocking their entrance; one a grim reaper and one just don’t go here sign. The lower caves are blocked with a matrix of rebar and plastic piping.

And… there are fish. Great big catfish and little bitty perch and teeny baby fishies….. all just itching for a game of chase and poke. As I circle around I stick my head in all manner of crack and crevice, shining my light into the darkness, sometimes seeing the rounded rock walls meet the sandy silty floor and other times just seeing the narrowing of the passages as they funnel into nothingness.

All along the walls are fossils, hundreds of them, embedded in the stone. Sand dollars and shells of all shapes and sizes…… millions of years old….older than my 3rd grade teacher even….. you just move along and they follow one after the other and you can reach a finger out and touch what was such an unfathomable long time past.

After an hour we head up and clamor atop the platform and ready for the long walk up…. you know it’s really far….. you know there are 57 stairs…… uphill stairs…..all of them….every last one of them….

We sit outside as the sun peeks its way out. It doesn’t really warm up but the brightness is welcomed. We eat chips and talk diving and all manner of things as we while away the time between dives. And as the time for dive two approaches, my companions begin to waiver in the chill February air. What is up with this weather F people…. Who did you guys piss off? Ahhhh, but in the end they manup and don their frigid wetsuits and rush to the warmth of the cave and spring water.

We plan on only a short dive…..just check things out once more and then we are heading home to heat pumps pumping and big screen TV’s and that super bowl thingy….. but for now, just once more around the dance floor. Nooks and crannies, little fish just out of reach, shimmery puddles of air caught against the overhead rock just waiting for a finger to come along and swirl them back into tiny bubbles floating up into the water. Deep holes and lacey openings leading to who knows where and remnants of days gone by. All in this little cave half filled with water, that looks like the land that time forgot.

Our dive is done and all that is left is the final climb back to sun and civilization. A climb up the narrow rickety stair case. Did I mention steps….. like a gazillion o f them…..

We load up the truck, I slip into my rig, grab 2 more tanks and someone takes his little gym bag and a tissue and we load up the truck and are soon on our way home. Did I mention my home has no steps…. Home Sweet Home…….

Pompano 2010

And I, I took the road less traveled by. I was using a GPS system. ~Robert Brault

As I sat drinking my coffee, I thought……what the heck.

I tossed clothes, dive gear and the dog in the car and started driving for the coast… the other coast…. Pompano Beach to be exact, a short 5 hour drive…. And so the adventure begins.

To get the logistics out of the way let us just note:
Jersey girls don’t pump gas. Still.
My GPS hates me and gets me lost on purpose.

I finally arrive and check into the no tell hotel and unload. Note to self….I gotta be more particular making my reservations.

The Golden Girls are out and about. It is past their bedtime and they have foregone the early bird special to wait for me and pick me up to go to dinner. Sorry guys, just cause you had a 20 hour drive down and 12 previous dives you should not be tired. You also should not remember the words to the theme song from golden girls…..

Let it be known they bought dinner and it was quite good, as was the company and conversation. But it was getting late and we all need our beauty rest for morning so we called it a night.

I have met Dominic and Bob from NJ here in Pompano and am joining them for a day of diving and catching up on the local Jersey news and gossip. We are diving with South Florida Diving Headquarters and our boat, the Safari Diver, leaves at 9am, a most civilized hour, but the air is still a bit brisk here in Florida. A chill is in the air and sweatshirts are in order.

Our first stop this morning is the Sea Emperor. This is a 171 foot shallow draft barge that was filled with large cement culverts and sunk off the coast of Boca Raton. This artificial reef was donated as part of a fine levied on a dredging company that destroyed some reef habitat off Palm Beach County. It listed as it approached its final resting ground dumping the large culverts to the bottom and then flipped as it sank coming to rest upside down.

I have dived this site before. There is a large moray eel and huge ray that call the place home and they joined us for most of our dive.

The eel keeps a close watch on all that goes on and as you swim in and out of the open spaces along the barges hull the eel peeks his head out from within eyeing all that goes on. This eel has been a regular on this site for years and swims in and out of the wreckage and winds his way among the divers keeping everyone in a constant state of precaution and awe. He is a long thick ribbon of green and snakes his way in and out of holes in the wreckage and large sections of conduit with a graceful fluid motion that you could watch for hours. As he suddenly appears from a crack or small space you are startled but you don’t look away. You see his curious eyes and make out the small indentations on each side of his head. His mouth opens wide as if yelling something and you can make out his pointy little teeth and then… he is off and you watch as foot after foot of his body makes its way on to his next watch post.

There are sponges and corals and all manner of strange sites growing from slowly deteriorating hull and herds of blue tetras and yellow butterfly fish swim past. Sea urchins and the occasional sea slug are scattered about along with queen angel fish, orange squirrel fish and multi hued parrot fish swim in and out of the large cement tunnels littering the sea floor.

We are now down to the sand and on cue from the sand rises a huge ray who floats by us, making only the slightest movements with the outermost edges of his body, veering off the last moment to swim around and come back to look again. As I move along the sand looking for a shell for my bucket I am buzzed several times with the slow precise pattern of swimming up along the sand and veering up and back in a large loop only to repeat again. They are a brown gray mottle atop with their eyes in front and long spear shaped tail behind and as they make their loop you can see their white underbelly mouth. It does get your heart to pumping but you still can’t look away.

After several traverses and circles of this site it is time to go up from the 73F water to the 60F air…brrr.

Our second stop for the morning is a ledge. This requires some navigational skill as there is a false ledge jutting out from it and if you are not careful you can drift to the end of it and then nothing but sand….

No…. I do not offer to navigate….. I follow Thelma and Louise who proceed to swim off the ledge… on opposite sides….. being compass impaired, I do not try to correct them but having no idea who to follow I swim between them, taking in all the sea life below and chasing fish in and out of the stags head coral and huge barrel sponges. We are actually not lost but have over compensated for the false ledge and run over the far side of the ledge catching fish, flora and fauna galore. Hog fish and trunkfish, small trumpet fish and displays of bright blue and yellow abound. Damselfish and small squirrelfish, spotted trunkfish and spotted eels. Parrotfish of all design and sponges and corals in barrel shapes and long fingers.

Warm water and soft currents and endless sights to see and all too soon this dive came to an end.

Captain Sean took us in for tank refills and lunch and soon we were on our way out once more. This time to the Union Express, a 170 foot freighter, broken in two and laying in 110 feet of water 1 ½ miles east of the Pompano Pier.1. Originally a freighter in the Northern Sea, she later carried food and supplies in the Caribbean. In 1990 the ship was seized by US Customs for drug running and in 1992 she was sunk by the Pompano Fishing Rodeo as part of their artificial reef program.

We dropped down on this site and my requisite blonde moment occurred. We hot dropped from the back of the dive boat and began to descend when I notice Bobs fins tangled in the flag line. I helped to untangle him and caught my trim, looked down at my computer to continue my descent and …. and …. and there was no computer…..from about 30fsw I went back up, flagged the boat, the captain handed me my computer and looking out we saw two sets of bubbles…. not together . They were searching for me and so I descended on the nearest set of bubbles to continue the dive. I quickly caught up with Dom and we swam back to find Bob and continue our dive. Like Batman and Robin to the rescue they had been searching for and found me. I believe Dominic said he fought whale sharks and pirates and 2 alligators coming to my rescue. I don’t want to doubt him but really… 2 alligators!!!…one I can believe but 2…..

The wreck was reminiscent of a jersey wreck with cloudy green water and only about 15 foot of viz. There was just a slight current running and only the 74F water gave hint to our real location. Broken in two with low lying walls in the center the wheel house rising up from the water at one end and the bow propped at an odd angle at the other this ship lays north to south. We swam the length out and back and looked in and about the rear structure. It is stripped of its propeller and anchor chains, but fish swim in and out of the slowly deteriorating walls. I imagine there would be barracuda normally on this wreck and several large fish but with our limited visibility I am sure the larger inhabitants were just out of our sight while I am sure we were not out of theirs.

An excellent little dive just feet from two other dives I would like to make, the Rodeo-25 and the Miller Lite. These are part of the Wreck Graveyard, a group of 7 wrecks within 1000 feet of each other. Too soon our time was up and so were we. The air warmed by the sun making sitting on deck quite pleasant.

Our final dive and off gassing was to be the Qualman Tugs. A group of 2 pusher tugs and a 34 foot vessel called the Dorman. We were told divers can usually see the resident Bull sharks leaving the area as they descend but we did not. Visibility had deteriorated below the water line as the sun began to make its appearance above. Groups of fish swam in and out and size and variety of sponges and corals never cease to amaze me.

After drifting through this area we were soon on a reef and off to sightsee and off gas.

I began this dive carrying the dive flag, but with constantly clearing my mask from a persistent leak (I have grown some pretty long hair but have no idea how to manage it, especially around my mask apparently) about half way through I passed it off to Dominic and spent some time looking inside the barrel and vase shaped corals and sponges. There were ones of almost every color and deeper than my arm could reach. Fan corals waved in the currents and small fish swam about. I took the flag back for a bit as Dominic found a spotted eel who seemed quite disoriented. Totally outside the reef and wrapped around some coral outcropping. I am hoping the pictures he took came out so I can add them here.

For a long stretch we moved along and no fish were in sight. It took me a moment to figure out what was wrong with the picture below me. The corals and sponges and anomies dotted the ledge but no fish swam about. And suddenly as if on cue, schools of fish began to appear again, spade fish and angels and all of their friends. Weird.

Visibility was getting worse and so much time in the water was taking its toll of cold. Amazing how water in the 70’s can go from feeling so warm to so cool by the end of the day.
We were back aboard and headed back to the docks where we sat and talked til dark. Just relaxing on the dock, smoke a cigar, rinse the gear, talk of NJ and diving winter and summer. Family and friends. As a great dive day fades into the warm night air.

The rest? Well …. Let’s just say that the Bit** on my dashboard took me home a different way then we came, just one more adventure which again included more than one gas station….. yes the trip can be made on one tank of gas….. Oh well…. And Dominic and Bob eat “healthy”…they inspired me to stop on the way home and pickup chicken and a salad….. but as we all know…. I am hopeless… I followed it with a HoHo. Oh Well…

Thanks guys, for dinner and great dives….. safe home.

Vandenberg Day 2

I love all men who dive. Any fish can swim near the surface, but it takes a great whale to go down stairs five miles or more; & if he don’t attain the bottom, why, all the lead in Galena can’t fashion the plummet that will ~ Herman Melville

The conditions were stellar, the dives unbelievable and the company grand. A repeat performance was in order and plans were made.

We are once again diving with the Captains Corner Dive Center and the dive boat Sea Eagle, a 60 foot aluminum vessel that you may recognize from the James Bond Movie License to Kill. We left our gear below the day before and our tanks were filled and waiting for us onboard when we arrived. With my computer on my arm and cup of coffee in one hand and dive light in the other Randy still had to trail behind me picking things up. Big thank you by the way.

A short 35 minutes later and we are on the Stern mooring ball. The skies are a little grayer this morning. Some threatening black mixed in but the air is warm and the water once again glass flat, unbelievably clear and an amazing shade of blue. Are we excited? We are suited up and making a mad dash for the starboard side even before the Captain declares the pool open. We have barely given the crew the OK when we are deflating and making a midwater beeline for the ship.

You can immediately make out the outline of the deck as you descend and as you approach, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger and you begin to appreciate just how massive this ship is. We arrive on deck where another smaller American flag waves in the current and can see the swim back to the mooring line will take a little effort. There seems to be much more life on this end, still small, but with many more blue tetras and yellow butterfly fish. Small herds of white baitfish that remind me of NJ cunner swim by and a few more barracuda eye our every move. Large parrotfish appear everywhere snacking on the newly forming blanket of algae and damselfish, angelfish, arrow crabs, and the occasional sea urchin and varying shades of shrimp fill out the local inhabitants.

Over the course of our dives we drop down on the starboard side of the ship to see what is there and enter through a hole cut in the hull swimming through and down a floor past machinery I do not recognize and never will. Sorry guys. We do notice the tiniest of fish in here flitting about. It appears the interior is already being used as a hatchery for local fish and the interior bits and pieces making for safe hiding places until they grow a bit more. The Vandenberg has already begun fulfilling her next assignment moving through the years from troop carrier to reef.
We swim round the stern investigating the huge rudder planted firmly in the sand. The propeller has been removed and I imagine it would have made quite a site if it was still attached.

Finding another cut out we enter and small lockers or cabinets line the walls. We move down a hallway and there are small rooms and doorways to each side and as we get farther into the ship we recognize the crews quarters. Bunks line the walls and desks and cabinets do also. Small showers and heads with the porcelain still in them appear in the beam of our lights. Not much room for our sailors to live and work their weeks or months at sea. Not much room for divers with doubles either and the silt is already settled along the floors and walls in a thin carpet, foretelling things to come. Many of the areas are narrow and turning around is not an option. Backing out the only way to go.

There is a huge elevator shaft mid-deck and as you drop down you can enter and explore floor by floor, getting off at the openings lining the walls. There is way too much here to see.

Fish are already gathering on each radar dish grazing the cutouts and using the bowl shape to stay out of the currents. The walkways and railings harboring life as they swim about looking for a space to claim as their own.

For a little while we drop down holes, cutouts and doorways traveling just a short distance to see what is there and popping back up to move on to the next as we make our way along the deck. Small hallways and ladders…. Closet sized rooms and niches abound……. If I ever served on this vessel I would have had to run a wreck reel to the coffee pot… used a GPS to find the ladies head…. A bread crumb trail to the upper deck and sunshine. When I was younger I worked for a shipping line in the port office and when the ships came in I would take clients on tours, showing them the engine room and holds and living areas before arriving at the Captains Quarters for a drink and then done. But this has so much more, more spaces, more rooms. It held so many more people and did so many more things.

We move up and down stairways and follow ladders up and down the walls as we move from room to room. With the exception of the small hatchery we found aft, there is no one here but us and it is kind of eerie as we pass generators, valves, sinks, cabinets, tables, ladders, stairs and doorways all recognizable, all painted and intact…. just a little dust on top….. brush it a side and you could use it…. You could walk here…..you know someone did once.

It will be interesting to see the difference a year makes. Next fall I will be back…to see how things have changed. Where the corals and anomies have taken hold. What fish have bought a “condo” and call which places home. Where the big guns hang out and who deems this spot “cool enough” to relocate to. I hear a large eel has laid claim to the anchor chain although I couldn’t find him. He must have been out. The barracuda are already lurking seeing if any of these “diver people” spears them dinner. It is unfortunate that some divers have chosen to make graffiti walls by writing in the new layer of algae covering the walls, but by next year it will be just a memory as the growth thickens and fills it in.

The dark clouds have blown past and the sun has come out. We make our way back in past the cruise ships and marinas and a cold drink and snack await right at the dock.

Convenient….sweet….. just the way to end the day….. maybe a little Duval Street later on but for now …. Cheese Burger in Paradise…… just not the Portobello mushroom and swiss …. trust me.

(Randy took the pics!)

The Vandenberg

Curiosity is only in vanity. Most frequently we wish not to know, but to talk. We would not take a sea voyage for the sole pleasure of seeing without hope of ever telling. ~ Blaise Pascal

Built in 1943, the Vandenberg was first commissioned as the troop transport USNS Gen. Harry Taylor serving in WWII and at the end of the war it brought troops home and carried refugees for relocation. In 1958 it was decommissioned.

In 1963 the Air force refitted it as a missile tracking ship and re-commissioned it the USAFS Gen Hoyt S Vandenberg monitoring US and Russian missile launches and the US space program. The telescope mounted on the wheelhouse was used for this.

It was retired again in 1983 and in 1996 it was used as part of the movie thriller Virus starring Jamie Lee Curtis and Donald Sutherland before finally laying to rest on May 27, 2009, off the coast of Key West, Florida. The Gen. Hoyt S. Vandenberg became one of the 3 largest vessels in the world sunk as an artificial reef when it hit the bottom at 140fsw.

The Vandenberg measures 10 stories high 523 feet long and is over 71 feet wide. Some parts were rearranged and welded elsewhere to keep the top of the structure interesting and at least 50 feet below the surface.

From the bow there is the foremast and moving back the wheelhouse with a telescope mounted atop and seats for gun turrets as well as 2 large radar dishes, as well as the wheel house, crow’s nest, and a balloon hanger called the underwater Margaritaville because of the support of Parrot head Jimmy Buffet fans provided for the project.

Openings for penetration dot the deck and sides of the ship.

I got a message that a friend and his client would be diving the Vandenberg sometime this week and I was invited to join them. Here I am in Florida and still diving with the Wreck Valley tri-state crew….. go figure. I love it.

Bill made arrangements for us to stay at the Navy Lodge in Key West on base and found us a charter on the Sea Eagle. All I had to do was drive there. Pumping gas is still not this Jersey girl’s forte and they hide gas stations in store parking lots and you have to run a wreck reel to find your way out. Let’s just say I got there… a little late but got there.

9AM is a civilized time to set sail and we were loaded onboard doubles, deco bottles and assorted diving play toys and ready to roll in no time. The crew helpful and has a great sense of humor making for a tremendous day. The Blue skies, 85F water and 70-100 ft viz helped to, I will admit.

A 30 minute trip out and we were gearing up and giant striding off the side of the boat like rats abandoning ship. To the beat of a Jimmy buffet song I waddled over to the side and plummeted into the water impressing all who looked on. What can I say…. I have a gift.There was a slight surface current, swimmable but a workout. I dropped down about 20 feet pulled along the hang line a few feet to the mooring line and at about 40fsw, with the bow of the wreck in sight I let go and floated down on her with little to no current for the remainder of the dive.

The water was a crayola color blue with just a hint of green and I arrived on deck at 85 fsw with Bill nowhere in sight…… And they say I get excited and have no patience…..

This ship is still newly sunk and there is very little growth on her. I sparse carpet of white covers the deck but I am sure the other sponges and corals of more color are not far behind.

Tucked under and about all the ships hardware are long legged shrimp of varying size and color and small bait fish swim about. Tiny schools of butterfly fish swim circles about the mooring line and blue and yellow fish of solid and all manner of stripe configuration flit about.

We head back along the deck and I peek over the side again and again seeing only sand and the anchor chain on each side of the ship. Doorways and cut outs beckon me and I peek my head in and maybe just a little trip to see where these stair lead or what is about. I know we are touring the deck this time but there is way too much to see. On deck sits the sockets for gun turrets and two large radar dishes, one of movie fame. It wasn’t blown up and is perfectly intact and welded to the deck. We move along and I am eerily aware of how few fish I see. I know next year this will be a totally different dive and I take in all the outside structure for future reference.

This is our recon dive and we haven’t come across Bill yet so we turn and head back to the bow swimming along the walkways and following the routes walked by our servicemen so many years ago. A lone barracuda about 3 foot long hangs in the water just off the side of the ship stalking our movements and appearing each time we emerge from a swim through.

At the bow we meet up with Bill and begin our trip to the surface. Well…. Maybe a quick trip down the hull to the hawse pipe and to see the chain….. But then up the line. The bottom of the boat and the hang line in sight the entire time as we look up and the outline of the Vandenberg below as we look down. Large jelly fish float along in the water column framed in the blue water, their pink red veins well defined in the clear water.

It will take me forever to get used to removing my fins before I climb a dive ladder….. just doesn’t happen in Jersey…. You hit the ladder and you keep moving. Things are leisurely here….. the crew greets you, takes your fins, little pull on the manifold, dive platform… must all go with the civilized sailing hour….. I can do this…..

After an SI filled with snacks and stories of diving around the country and the world we are once again lined up like 4th graders in the cafeteria waiting our turn to step off the boat. They claim they seldom get days like this, so clear, so little current. We are lucky…. Me …… I don’t know any better this is my first time and this is what I will always expect.

We pull down a few feet and then let go of the line, like parachutists choosing our landing area as we survey the deck of the ship. The same small bait fish swim about the deck as well as the tiny bit of color from the tiny butterfly fish and friends. There are parrotfish now and some decent sized black angelfish appear here and there. The lone barracuda floats effortlessly trying to keep an eye on all the comings and goings.

We swim aft once more, this time poking in all the holes and doorways, down into the hull before the bridge, choosing which of the large cutouts to explore we find ourselves in among machinery. Machinery is my nemesis, I have no idea what I am looking at, I can just tell you it wasn’t the kitchen and these were not can openers or blenders…. I don’t think.

We now come out a hole cut on the starboard side and work our way back up to find more playrooms. I go in a doorway and down a stairway and back up and stick my head through a porthole shaped opening in the door and Randy is right there camera in hand. Will have to get that picture. We swim all about and finally turn for the line.

We make our way once more along the deck and dropping down occasionally but as we come across the bridge I look up and hanging in front of me, majestically fluttering with the waters currents hangs an American flag. I stand on the bridge, just as the captain and crew one did( well maybe they weren’t wearing fins but they stood there) leaning on the railing and just watching the flag wave. The bow of the ship behind it, framed by the bluest blue of the water and fluttering as if in a slight breeze, still so new to the water you can make out each star and stripe. I just leaned and watched imagining this proud ship sailing above the water.

Time to get going and as I hit the bow I dropped down the starboard side to the hawse pipe with chain running from it to the sand. I moved across the bow sitting so straight in the water and peeked in the port hawse pipe and sank down to the chain where it stretched out beyond my sight into the sand. The waterline markings are still clear on her hull, the chains links all intact. It looks just like it should be afloat. At the tie in sits a lone damselfish. Feisty little suckers and I bat back and forth with him getting in my needed dose of fish poking. We move up the line and the last of the divers are hanging at the 20 foot line until it is just myself and a crewmember. He gives me a questioning look, but my little trip down to the chain cost me a few more minutes than the rest but I am just a minute behind them and I follow him back to the ladder as he collects the line and hanging stage bottles.

Not a bad day… excellent actually…. So good we are staying an extra day and doing it again tomorrow. Thank you Mr. Barrow for inviting me.

(Randy took the pics)

Coral Spawning

I never drink water because of the disgusting things that fish do in it. ~ W C Fields

First of all, let me just say “everyone should eat at the Waffle House once in their lifetime” …….. and that is enough…… apparently waffles are not their forte. We will leave it at that and move onto diving.

I threw my 90 lb dog in the car and drove to the Keys. I was staying with a friend …. So imagine me… my dog….Becky, her 2 lb dust mop dog …I mean Maltese…. Her 2 boys and 2 of their best friends all at her house… it was rockin….. but these stories are for another time…….

Captain Slates Atlantis Dive Center is at the very north end of Key Largo and has a big white boat called the Coral Princess II, our chariot for this adventure……. And a captain with a penchant for watermelon…. Luckily I brought plenty. The shop sits on the dock behind the boat with covered tables, showers and rinse tubs for the divers use. I would recommend them and their friendly and helpful crew if you get the chance to come down.

Becky and I met up with the rest of our group and we were off to Dry Rocks Reef to see the Christ of the Abyss statue and coral spawning.

Hard coral is formed thousands of tiny identical individual polyps. Over time the polyps lay down a skeleton that is the foundation of a coral reef. While some heads of coral grow by asexual reproduction, many others spawn by “Broadcast Spawning.” The coral polyps send their eggs and sperm into the water in massive quantities by a mass simultaneous release. When egg and sperm unite, they form a larval-stage called “planula”. These drift in the current and those that are not eaten or otherwise destroyed look for just the right surface to attach to and grow, thus forming additional coral formations and reefs. These mass spawning releases have been carefully tracked and predictions of the occurrence are based on just the right timing when conditions of water temperatures and phases of the moon coincide. Tonite was the night,

Our first dive was to acclimate ourselves to where the coral heads were and which ones we wanted to watch. In the clear 87F water, our visibility was limited only by the beam of our lights. I was using a 10W canister and not missing a thing.

We descended to the top of the coral reef and made our way down along its walls looking all about. Since this is a marine sanctuary, there is no fishing or taking of marine life and since this is Florida, many divers have a look but don’t touch attitude, these fish hid quietly among varied corals and sponges with that “you can’t see me” look in their eye. By the end of the evening….they were duly educated. If you shine your light in front of a Spanish lobster (they are black with teeny tiny white polka dots all over them and no pincer claws) they keep a sharp eye on the light and slowly move backwards to safety….or my hand….. they are really spiny and yes Captain Bill, I screamed like a girl when I grabbed them…. But then again… I am a girl….. so all is good. But alas I also had to then release them and move on.

Tucked in among the various corals and sponges all configuration of parrot fish lay quietly hiding. These fish are bright teals and greens with some sporting reds and yellow accents. Some had huge scales that you could see the texturing and fine shadings of black and brown. They are beautiful fish. Toad fish lay in amongst the coral fragments with varying colors, their texture blending almost perfectly with the rough coral rocks. Large heads of star and brain corals were interspersed and since this was the second release, we noted which of the nodes were filled with their soon to be released gametes and which were now empty from last weeks spawning.

Large brown angel fish swam close to the rocks for protection and blue on blue striped fish swam among them. There were Black angel fish with yellow tails and small red squirrel fish swimming about. In the sandy valleys between the sections of reef swam large trumpet fish, either unafraid or dazed by the brightness of my lights. I could get almost close enough to pet them. Peeking in the nooks and crannies I spied a long red tentacle…. Could this be an octopus? Alas no… but are really cool 4 armed starfish with long wiggly arms over a foot long. There were magenta crayfish looking things hiding in the holes and their eyes sparkled pink when you shone your light on them.

And then suddenly my light shone upon a man in flowing robes, with his arms spread out and raised, palms up, towards the surface and the skies. A surreal sight appearing from the dark and depths. The Christ of the Abyss Statue.

The original "Il Christo Degli Abissi" statue was placed in the Mediterranean Sea off Genoa, Italy, in 1954. In 1961, a second statue "Christ of the Deep" was cast from the same mold and ultimately donated to the Florida State Park Service. At 4000 lbs and 9 ft tall, in 1965, the bronze statue was placed on a concrete base and placed in John Pennecamp Marine Sanctuary at Dry Rocks Reef. An unauthorized plaque was attached in the late 1980’s reading:

"If I take the wings of the morning
And swell in the uttermost
parts of the sea,
Even there your hand will lead me
and your right hand hold me fast.
1927 In memoriam 1988
Michael M. Kevorian"

The statue is magical at night. Invoking each diver as they came upon it to stop for a moment and reflect. As I read the plaque my eyes moved up the robes to the uplifted arms and my light could barely made out the shimmering surface of the water above. I remained still for a few moments and just watched.

After an hour in the water it was time to head up and grab some coffee…. The captain put a fresh pot onboard so I would drink coffee while he ate watermelon…. Hmmmmm. I like it.

11:20 seemed to be the appointed witching hour and we geared back up and dropped one by one into the water. As we made our way along we checked each coral head to see what was transpiring. On the large star coral heads the polyps were slowly opening and tiny tiny elongated white gametes were wiggling their way out and into the water. As you shone your light on your hand it filled with hundreds of these tiny creatures as they caught in the current of the water and started their life’s adventures, settling they knew not where.

Dark green coral heads with smaller polyps were beginning to burst open and rounded white balls began to appear. Looking kind of like hundreds of whiteheads dotting the coral. These would soon also release into the waters to be carried along.

We all know I couldn’t sit still and watch forever and I soon began to look around again. Several times among the rocks I spied and unusual burst of color in the beam of my light. Octopus! Sweet! They flowed more than moved…… and oozed and ebbed among the corals hiding just out of reach. Most preferred a bluish teal hue, changing color occasionally with the new surrounding corals but soon returning to their preferred color of the evening.

But there was one…there always is in the group. I call him Skeeter. He was a little bit country…. And a little bit rock and roll. His body slightly bigger than my fist, his tentacles just slightly longer than my forearm, he was much braver and more curious than his friends. He was sitting quietly in a small well in the coral, the tell all teal color, leaning at times slightly to the greenish tint. I placed my hand at the edge of the makeshift cave and waited…. He advanced slightly giving me the octo eye and waiting. So I wiggle my fingers and he moved a bit more. Then he was out! Just oozing about and giving me the once over, his tentacles tickling my fingers and moving up my hand.

And then it happened. A small crab mesmerized by the light swam into my beam not watching what else was going on and Skeeter was on him in a heartbeat. This little crab was swimming for his life trying to use me to hide as if I was a part of the safety of the reef. Skeeter was mid water and drooling over the thought of crab Rangoon just ahead and the two of them swam and bounced off of me in a whirlwind of drama worthy of Mutual of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom. As they began to approach my mask, I kept swatting the little crab back out into the open but he was quick and he was determined. One final swat and he was off and Skeeter, unhappy at losing his snack, dropped back down to the reef and settled in among the various colored corals and sponges to wait for more.

I moved on to see what else was waiting in the dark recesses for me to light up. Sitting in between tow waving blue gray corals sat a hogfish. A large hogfish which could have made dinner for a small family had this not been a no kill zone. And this guy was holding his ground. Took a poke to send him on his way and that was only but a few feet. These things are funny looking with their wavy little finger thingies on their backs and googly eyes staring out at you. I like em.

More colorful fish and lobsters about and in one hole the largest stone crab I have ever seen. Tucked in the mouth of this small cave in the reef face, he looked like something out of Jurassic Park. A small black and white striped angel fish with long flowing fins top and bottom at least 3 times his length flitted in and out. Tube worms looking like brown makeup brushes with white handles were tucked among the corals. As they pushed out of their white tubes the flowing heads rippled in the current. a herd of red squid aobut 8 inches long swam back and forth between the divers making a race track kind of circuit amongst us. And finally, just below the boat, there sat a large coral head and it began to puff thousands of tiny future corals into the water. They flowed off of this coral like puffs of smoke in the water. Thousands of tiny gametes sweeping past the glow of each divers light. Absolutely amazing. How they predict these releases. How each coral gets the memo and they release simultaneously across the ocean floor. There were two releases this year because there were two full moons close together and all the corals knew…. They all knew and they all waited. Humans cant coordinate 6 people on a dive boat with lunch but millions of coral polyps ranging in size from tiny pinheads to small nail heads can orchestrate mass sex and birthing across the ocean floor. Amazing. Absolutely amazing.

Not sure what is next….but we will see.

Venice Beach 2009

To me there is something completely and satisfyingly restful in that stretch of sea and sand, sea and sand and sky- Complete peace and complete fulfillment. ~ Anne Morrow Lindbergh


It is Labor Day Weekend and I have just arrived….. too late to book a charter ……they are all full but the stretch of beaches call to me. I miss my beach diving, I have not gotten into the inlets this year like I am so used to. I missed the changing of seasons... It’s time to get back into the rhythm of diving for the sake of diving. A beach, a wreck, a cave, a spring….. Florida should have so much to offer if I just jump in.

Only so much gear fit in my car for the trek down. Kayak, dog and clothes needed room too and so I have but the bare minimum with me at the moment. I have only one single tank with me and have used down a good portion wire brushing the stains on the pool bottom and need to rent. Cleaning is quite the chore here. So I toss a rash guard and regs, fins and a dive flag in the truck. Hmmmmm. Doesn’t seem quite enough somehow….. add my BPW….. still so bare…… a towel…… a 3ml just in case….. that’s it there is nothing else….. so minimal….. I think I like it.

I am headed for Venice Beach, just a short ride from my temporary digs. The trip should be short and uneventful but as usual it is not. I need gas….still a blot on my independent nature. Last time I tried a man from the next pump had to come over and show me how to get it started and as I pulled out another man pulled me over and suggested I screw the gas cap back in and close the little door. This time faring only slightly better I pulled out into traffic only to see flashing lights behind me. Pulling over I am gifted with a $276 speeding ticket. I question this whole process but continue on my way.

I stop at the shop at the bridge and rent a tank for the day and continue on to the beach and the group I am meeting. Once there, I am late and see only dive flags in the water and they all look alike and I have no way to know which is them. A group leaving the water informs me there are jellies in the water today so I throw on my 3ml and head for the surf.

I haven’t done this dive in 2 years but remember….swim out a couple hundred yards, drop down, look for black sand. The water is flat, lake flat. And warm, 88F warm. I walk out a bit, put on my fins and drop down to swim out. Visibility is around 7ft but this is usual for this area due to warm water algae blooms. I navigate using the ridges in the sand to keep me on course. Yes, l know how to do this! It doesn’t require a compass silly!

As I swim along I hit….. cement blocks? Covered in flowing brown algae. With fish. I don’t remember this, I like it but I don’t remember it. I head to the surface to see where I am. Right where I want to be and there are dive flags all around me. Very strange……. But not one to pass up a chance to poke I drop back down.

The blocks are around 3 feet square and dropped in a similar fashion to the jacks in Manasquan inlet. About 20-25 feet across in a long meandering line. In among the blocks I begin to peek about and several curious spade fish come out to see who is there. They are no longer curious and no longer about. There are white fish, almost clear in color and small bait fish with horizontal stripes. They are really quick. And grouper…. about 18 inches long. Picking up some shells I find hermit crabs of various sizes and tube worms in the sand. I come across some sand dollars and pick a few to take home. The occasional sheep head goes past and various corals and sponges dot the landscape and this is all very interesting….but where are the sharks teeth? The black sand denoting the underwater river bed? Where are my friends? I decide to head in and await their return and some answers and so I surface and begin to swim on in. As I approach the beach, I see the Bulla children frolicking in the water and as I turn I see a group swimming inand waving….. I have found them.

After a short SI we head out again. Apparently the state has been busy putting in an artificial reef…. Right on top of the riverbed! Unless we swim out much further to the next bed, the tooth hunting is slim.

Colin, Kris, Jenny and I swim back out and just beyond the blocks drop down to see if we can get luck at the edges of the bed. I am again greeted with the occasional fish in the open sand and jelly fish with long waving tentacles swim past. I am lucky to only watch them but Kris is not watching and gets stung. You can hear her yell even under water….Ouch!

I don’t find any teeth…. I find a petrified manatee rib, a prehistoric chicken bone, a fossil of a clam shell (really cool), and a rock in the shape of a tooth…. I am losing interest fast and off I go in search of things to poke.

There are tube worms to torture and small fish and a flounder hiding in the sand…..not anymore. A lone pink coral lies on its side and I pick it up and replant it in the sand. Small curious fish follow after me staying just out of reach, they are quick learners.

As I watch, a small sponge slowly moves across the sand. A bit fast to be moving in the current and I look closer. Do sponges have skinny little legs? I don’t think so…. I pick it up and it is a 2 fer. A large hermit crab in a shell covered in sponge. Sweet!

I have been cruising about sightseeing for over an hour and it is time to head back in and I move along picking up interesting shells for my bucket. Coming over the blocks there are more grouper and fish and I later learn I missed the 3foot ray swimming about.

We soon surface and swim back in talking about all we saw and what we found. Colin picked up the top part of a meg tooth, the bottom part nowhere to be found. Jenny found a few small teeth as did Kris along with a beer can and abandoned inflator hose. Her sting has subsided and the day is full of sun and warmth as we talk about the new reef and the fish. Past finds and friends old and new. Divers are divers, Florida or NJ. A day in the water is always better than a day on land. I will keep at it. Who knows?

G. A. Venturo Tug

Don't be dismayed at goodbyes, a farewell is necessary before you can meet again and meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends. ~ Richard Bach

Someone once said to me “it’s always something with you”…….. that’s true…and it’s not a bad thing……

As usual, it was not just another day and not just another dive. It was late afternoon and I had had it with packing and the heat and humidity. A quick call to the Old Salty and I was going night diving….. Jersey night diving ….. woot woot!!

Nothing is easy for me and I am getting used to that. The site was to be the Venturo tug. Try googling that, it is of course not the actual name or all there is to it.….

The Sea Girt Reef is one of the oldest artificial reef sites in New Jersey. Reef-building activities at this site date back to 1937. On Thursday, October 17, 1996 as part of the Sea Girt artificial reef an old Navy tugboat was sunk in 80 feet of seawater and on Aug 16th of that year several APV’s (armored personnel vehicles) found a final resting place nearby. The site is called the “FCO Reef” (Fisherman’s Conservation Organization) The Tug boat was later renamed the G. A. Venturo in memory of Captain Greg Venturo, an avid fisherman, author, diver and founding member of the FCO who lost his life while diving.

I arrive at the Old Salty and am the first one there. I am soon joined by Benny who will be mating but not diving this evening. He promises me a cart to get my gear down the dock but I get tired of waiting….. or maybe too excited….. and lug my gear down myself.

In the parking lot I am met by Patty Miller and my excitement is increased with the thought of brownies and cookies. My last Jersey dive for a while is to be a home run and the surprises are not done coming yet.

As everyone loads onboard there is much hustle and bustle with the Captain and crew. Apparently the bridge is broken and a crane has been brought in to lift it so timing is everything and we have to wait a bit till this is done. Taking full advantage of this little lull in the action, Benny and I make a snack, drink and ice run. Kudos to the Marina Deli for re-opening and helping us out.

We arrive back at the boat and load onboard and I am met with another pleasant surprise. The rest of the divers have arrived and among them is an old friend and diver, Rafael. Rafael and I took our open water together at UDI and headed out the very next day for our first official dives at Dutch Springs, meeting up with the Wreck Valley crew. Talk about always something….. make your introduction to diving with Spratman, Johnny Rocket, and that crew…. It endeared them and diving to my heart…but back to the dive.

The bridge is opening and with Captain Nick at the wheel we make our break for the ocean. The evening is clear and warm with the sun just starting to set and the seas lay calm as we head out. The boat ride alone is worth the trip and I enjoy the time as everyone readies for the dive.

It is dark as we arrive on site and Dave jumps in to set the hook. I am to dive with him this evening and jump into my dry suit with just shorts, socks and an under armor shirt. I slip into my harness and as I am about to step off the boat Dave appears with a report. 10-15 foot of Jersey green viz and an entertaining show of jellies and bioluminescence on the way down to 54F bottom temps. Yes!! Move! Hurry up! I’m coming in!

We move on down the line and the light show begins with little tiny sparkling specs lighting up like twinkling stars and as I play my light around small jellies undulate and glide through the water with their transparent bodies soaking up the light in a milky white haze.

We arrive on the tug and Dave ties in and we are off into the sand to look for the APVs. We run out the reel as we fin along and mountainous piles of starfish dot the sand. In between these run beds of sand dollars with their thick brown coats and bright white ones lay among them waiting to be plucked and placed in your pocket. A skate is ousted from his bed and some small fish hang sleeping just above the sand. Some got to sleep….others were not so lucky.

There were scattered moon snail egg casings lying about and I picked up several shells looking for an adult but found only hermit crabs. I settled on a large one and carried him along pointing out all the sites and shining my light in his eyes when he didn’t pay attention. Alas we didn’t pay attention either and at the end of the reel had not come across the tanks. Making a quick sweep to see if we could snag them, we still came up empty and headed back in. Coming across yet another skate sleeping in the sand I placed the hermit crab atop of him and waited for the show. It was quick and foreseeable. The skate took off like a shot and the hermit crab tried to hold on but was quickly tossed like a rider from a bucking bull.

Arriving back at the tug we make a circle around it in the sand looking about. The sides are covered in a canvas of sponges, corals and anemones that played colors as the lights swept over them. The smooth sand bottom held a few small fish long ago given up on the hopes of a peaceful night’s sleep and more starfish and sand dollars.

We moved up the sides to the rail and again circled. Some larger taug were up here and as you poked inside the tug a few were nestled in along the walls. There were some small striped fish that looked like spade fish here, but they had an odd bump on their heads. I am sure they were spade fish none the less, maybe just smacking into things in the dark of the reef. Along the rails were teeny tiny mussel shells interspersed amongst the flora and fauna. And lining the deck were fuzzy white anomies waving in the gentle movement of the water.

A lone large eel had had enough of the ruffians intruding upon his nightly beauty rest and slowly made his way along the deck below me. I hovered and watched his graceful movement and he, soon slipped over and down the side of the tug and squeezing into a small hole below decks to resume his nights rest.

One more quick run down to the sand and I find a final shell for my bucket and we are on our way back up the line to the surface and warm night air. I again watch the light show as I hang and feel a sad tug inside that it will be a while before I get to do this again. Maybe.

As I climb the ladder Benny is waiting to greet me and pull my first fin through and bring me onboard. We talk diving and sights as we shed our gear and as I look over the side into the dark water I see shapes swimming about in the glow of the boats lights. Squid, about 18 inches long are swimming all about the boat playing in the soft light. I envy the last of the divers as they must be seeing them on their hang.

Captain Nick grabs a pole and tempts them as they swim about. But he gets no takers, just a show of these little buggers playing about in the light.

As we head back in the buffet begins…. Sandwiches and sweet juicy watermelon. And brownies….ones Patty made JUST FOR ME…. it’s in my dive report......It must be true….. so keep away! LOL

I sit on the table on the Lido Deck and watch the black of night meet the water, broken only by the small wake behind the boat as we head in. With the masterful timing born of a true captain we enter the inlet and slowly make our way in with each bridge open and awaiting our return home.

I am sad to be leaving my beloved Jersey diving, but if this was to be my last one for a while it will hold me. It had a bit of everything. Warm air, soft seas, and friends old and new. Fish to poke and play with, a new site to see, stories to tell, cart races on the dock and brownies. Life is good. As I unload my gear, I muse...... you know….. I can do this again next Wednesday night….. I don’t leave until Thursday morning………

And Captain Nick cocked his head and said…..Maybe…We will see…… So boys and girls….. give him a call and let’s do this….one last time ….. again…..

To all my friends……May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.