Various wrecks - Barnegat area

Today we hit two wrecks and a range buoy with Rob, Anthony, Jeremiah, and me. We went out of Barnegat on Rob's 24' Grady White. The marine forecast was for 3-5' waves with winds at 8-10kts. It started a bit rough, but the seas calmed down nicely to a pleasant 2' waves and a pleasant breeze.

The first spot was only known as "295" because that is the number of this wreck on his list. It is a broken up wooden wreck with about 3' (or less) of relief along two beams, with lots of ribs. I got a decent sized fluke with my JBL 38 special spear gun. As usual, Jeremiah got lobsters. The viz. was pea soup for the first 50', where I literally could not see my fins. Once we got past 50', the viz. opened up to about 15'. I had a crappy fill, and had to keep the dive short, and did a 35 minute dive in the 70'+ range.

The second wreck is nicknamed "El Buggo" due to the number of lobsters that are found there. Today it did not live up to its name. We did nail some fish, and a few incrustations did manage to find their way to the boat. Jeremiah got two nice sized lobsters in the 2+ pound range, as well as a few 1 1/2 pounders. I got one nice sized black sea bass, and Anthony was the winner with a really nice fluke. The viz. was the same as the first dive. Pea soup until you get to the 50' or so range, and then it opens up to about 20'.

The third dive was done on the range buoy. Jeremiah took my spear gun down to what we thought was the bow of a wreck, but the only thing he dove on was an underwater buoy, exactly the same as the one on the surface. He shot two nice blackfish, but did manage to lose my speargun shaft. On a positive note, he came up with a danforth anchor on a chain and rope. While Jeremiah was diving, there was some fishing going on topside. Every time the line went out; sometimes before it hit bottom, a fish was hooked. Most were small black sea bass that were released, but Anthony did bring in a nice 3 pound one that was the biggest of the day.

Props go out to Rob for being such a awesome Captain and host. We'll have to do this again very soon. This sure was a nice way to spend a Tuesday. When we came back in to the dock, an earthquake hit the area just before we tied in. The people on the dock felt it shake, but unfortunately, we missed the excitement.

I was wearing my Liquid Image HD wide angle video mask. Video below...

July 31, 2011 - Arundo - Memorial Dive

A few posts down, you will see a write-up regarding the passing of a close friend and dive buddy, Yasuko Okada. She had an accident while diving on the wreck of the Arundo on July 31, 2010. Exactly one year to the date, several friends, as well as her family, returned to the Arundo. Our mission was to place a granite memorial on the site, as close as possible, if not right on, the site where this happened. With the incredible help of many friends, this went off without a hitch.

At about 3 pm on Sunday, July 31, 2011, the Okada family boarded the Gypsy Blood dive boat from Brielle, NJ, along with eleven divers, with some of their family. The 173 pound memorial was loaded onto the boat, as well as a large bin of loose flowers. After the 15 mile ride out to the Arundo, we set in motion a plan that seemed to work. The memorial was rigged with a 150 pound lift bag and a 40cf bottle, and lowered to 15 feet with a heavy rope. Three divers, Joe, Sunny, and myself, entered the water and began the task of inflating the lift bag and lowering the memorial to the bottom. With the assistance of the belaying team on the boat, we placed the memorial at about 108' on the wreck. The next team had the task of moving it from his spot to the anchor line. While they were doing this, another team was searching for the final resting spot for the memorial, and marked it with a line from the anchor line. Once the memorial was moved to the anchor line, another team moved it from the anchor line and followed the reel line to its final resting spot. The divers included Stephan, Dan, Shelly, David, Sherwood, Elliot, Sunny, Joe, myself, and Rob. We also had supurb surface support from Jim, Bart, Craig, and Kera, as well as Carl.

After all divers returned safely, there was a flower ceremony where not a word was spoken for what seemed like an eternity. All we could hear the spash against the hull of the boat. It was golden silence while we reflected on the loss of Yasuko and what she meant to each of us.