Last dive of 2011

Almost as tradition, I try to dive on December 31st at Dutch Springs, a quarry in Bethelham, PA. I remember diving there many years ago on December 31st, and having a dozen or so divers at "the lake" in freezing temperature's and sometimes blowing snow or freezing rain. As the years progressed, more and more divers were diving at Dutch Springs on December 31st. This year, the weather was beautiful, with clear sunny skies. It was in the mid-40's, and there was no ice on the lake. Not surprising...but there were well over one-hundred people at Dutch this time (probably more like 150).

I arranged to meet a group of friends up there, including Wendy, Frank, and Nick. We met on the student side and ended up with a group of ten of us, incuding a Dutch newbee and "Bob" the oldie-but-goodie. We decided to enter the cove and swim to the staircase and structures in the corner where the koi tend to hang out. From there we would follow the road, over the unmarked boat, and to the helicoptor. The plan worked out well for some of us, but as the dive progressed, dive teams broke off from the main group and we ended up at the helicopter with only four divers. Since I was diving a single steel 98cf tank with only 2500psi, my dive had to end here, and Bob and I surfaced at the helicopter bouy, leaving one buddy team to continue on to the Helldiver plane. All througout the dive, my mask leaked from the right side, causing me to constantly clear my mask. To make matters worse, my drysuit was leaking at the exhaust valve, making for a cold left arm for the last half of the dive. I should not complain, since Wendy's new drysuit leaked like a siv due to her fleece vest collar reaching up into her neck seal, leaving a nice open route for cold water to flow into her suit. She must have dumped a gallon of water from her suit whens he was done. Kudos to her for being a trooper and even completing the dive with 45 degree water flowing into her drysuit.

It was a fun day on the lake, and a nice way to end the year. After I drove the hour home, I got ready for my New Years Eve party and tipped a few! Can't wait for diving in 2012!

City of Athens - Cape May 9/25/2011 - with video

The "City of Athens" is one of those wrecks I've been wanting to dive for some time. The fact that it is in South Jersey, and 20 miles off-shore, makes it a bit tough, especially since there are few (if any) charters from Cape May. I got lucky recently when a group of divers "met" on a New Jersey dive website, and a diver with a boat in Cape May offered up to host us.


A little history on this wreck. The "City of Athens" was a passenger liner built in 1911, and was 330 feet long. She was a steaming along on May 1st, 1918, when she was rammed by the French warship "La Glorie". This collision resulted in 65 deaths. Today, she sits in about 100-105' of water, 20 miles east of Hereford Inlet.


The weather report called for rain, but we decided to forge ahead anyway. We got lucky and found the day begin with clouds, and not a drop of rain. The ocean was calm, with 1-2 foot waves along with rolling swells that were pretty far apart (for now). We arrived on-site and the hook was quickly set for dive one by Sean and Kevin. Jeremiah and Tony followed on their rEvo rebreathers. Anthony and I stayed on the boat until Sean and Kevin came back up. Once they surfaced, Anthony and I splashed and made our way down the line. The vizability was fairly mucky on the way down, but did open up to about 10 feet at depth (100'). There was not much to see on our first dive, since the anchor was off the wreck and there was only one piece of wreckage to see. We poked around, passing Jeremiah and Tony, and had a pretty uneventful dive. I would have to say that this dive was on the disappointing side, but not to worry, since dive two would make up for that.


We chose to move the anchor for dive two. Since it was calm with little or no surface current, Sean and Kevin went down for dive #2 and moved the anchor to the real wreck. This area is where the HUGE engine is along with four massive boilers. They came up to give us a report of 50 feet of viz, and the wreck was visible from the 70' mark on the anchor line. Anthony and I splashed and began the descent. Sure enough, at about 70', I could clearly see the engine and four boilers. Jeremiah and Tony were also seen swimming around these parts, as they were catching (many) lobster.


As I approached the top of the engine, at about 80', I saw a monster Blackfish (Tog). I loaded my JBL 38 special speargun and began hunting him. As I was, I saw an Atlantic Spade swimming at the top of the wreck. I picked him off with a well placed shot and put him in my bag. I've never had one, but it sure looked delicious. I tried finding that tog, but he didn't get that big by being dumb. There were some nice sized black seabass all around the wreck, but they were out of season by a few days, so I had to pass on them. On the bottom were some doormat sized flatties (fluke/flounder), but I left them alone while I was hunting for bugs. After about 40 minutes, my NDL was down to 4 minutes and I called it a day. I got Anthony's attention, and he also was close to his NDL limit. We both ascended, ending what would be one of the better dives of the season.


When it was all said and done, we ended up with fifteen lobster, all between two and five pounds, a black fish, and the Atlantic spade fish (which I sauteed the next day for lunch with a lemon butter caper sauce).


On the way in, while resting in the v-berth, I was awakened by a small bird landing on my leg. We had a stow-away! A green (or yellow) finch made the trip with us. It was friendly to the point that Jeremiah caught it and it fell asleep on his chest. Later, I would pick it up from the floor and it fell asleep in my hands as I was gently holding it. I held onto it until we arrived back in port, where I was able to safely place it on solid ground.


Here is the Youtube video from this dive.

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.

Chaparra wreck 7/10/2011

On Sunday, July 10, Jeremiah and I went to Barnegat to dive with our friend, Anthony, on his private boat "Tranquility". We planned on three dives, but settled for two. I actually settled for one, since I wasn't feeling 100%. We hit the Chaparra, which is in 80 feet of water. The Chaparra lays on a sandy bottom, making for decent viz. She was sunk by a mine laid by the U-117 (from WWI), with 6 casualties. She lies on her port side and is generally flattened out. There is relief from her engine and boilers, as well as other other areas, and she is a good lobster/fish wreck. Today was no different.

I was wearing my Liquid Image HD Wide Angle video mask (video to follow), and was using my JBL 38 spear gun for the first time. I've had this gun for 10 years, but it's never seen water. I lost my pole spear on a wreck the day before, so this was my backup gun. I guess the bands were a bit brittle, since one of the two bands broke at depth as I loaded it for my very first shot, which I must say was still a good shot that ended with a nice sized black sea bass ending up in my bag.

Jeremiah and I dove while Anthony stayed topside (with Jeremiah's fiance Kristen) We did a 45 minute dive, and viz. was about 25 feet. After my first sucessful shot, I was disappointed on the next two. I saw what is the biggest black sea bass I've ever seen (video to prove it), but I guess the single band didn't give my gun enough umph to go through the fish, letting him swim off and away after getting hit in the sweet spot (not sweet enough I guess). Another black sea bass had the same good luck but not after getting skewered by a well placed shot. I think I like this gun. It gives me a reach I don't usually get with the pole spear.
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The rest of the day, all I caught was a sunburn. Jeremiah and Anthony hit another "secret wreck" on the way back in that was in 55 feet. Viz. was about 10 feet since we were closer in shore.

A bad day of diving is better than a good day at work!

I originally posted a youtube video of this dive, but Youtube blocked it due to my choice of music to accompany the video....Pink Floyd "Sorrow". I guess it was a copyright violation. As a result, I loaded it onto Vimeo. Here is that working link...http://www.vimeo.com/26367903. Enjoy.

What can go wrong will go wrong

Today I did two wreck dives off NJ with the Tuna Seazure. I'll keep this brief.
Dive #1: Unknown wooden wreck, low lying, probably 100-120 years old, mostly buried in sand. Problem #1: Liquid Image HD camera mask had dead batteries. #2: Drysuit inflater valve was left inside out (by me) from when I pressure/leak tested it yesterday. This was an easy fix, but just one more thing... #3: got in water without bailout/stage bottle...realized this at 20' and came back for it. #4: got my foot tangled in the gear line (that hangs from the boat to 15') when I rolled in. #5: wreck reel got really screwed up/tangled at depth. Had to cut it and re-tie it on the bottom. #6: LOST POLE SPEAR on hang! Good news? Not much, but I did shoot two nice black sea bass, viz. was nice, and temp. was nice too.

Dive #2: Dove the Emerald wreck. Got on the wreck and it was as if the black sea bass knew I didn't have a spear. There were more mature seabass on this wreck than any I've seen in a while. The other divers cleaned up! Viz. sucked (10' max), and there was quite a surge.

Tomorrow is another day...

Adventure Aquaruim

I just spent the past six weeks working at the Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ, as "Scuba Santa". It was a rough six weeks, since it was done on ALL of my days off from my regular job, so it was a busy six weeks. I have to admit, I wasn't sure I'd make it through to the end, since it was eating up ALL of my free time. However, it wasn't that bad, and diving at the AA was quite fun. I was either "Scuba Santa", "Elf #2", or the stand-by safety diver on the surface. When it was all said and done, I did fifty-two (52) dives and logged 23 hours and 15 minutes of time under water. It was pretty awesome diving with M.C. (the hammerhead shark), Bob (one of the three huge turtles), tiger sharks, stingrays, bow-mouth guitar fish (shark rays), a silky shark, white tips, black tips, and dozens of other animals. During almost every dive, Bob the turtle, would dive bomb us, nibble on our communications wire, bite my butt, and just all around annoy us. She (yes, Bob is a she) is like a toddler, who just wants to see what is going on. Overall, it was an excellent experience. If anyone gets the chance to be a diver (paid or volunteer) at the Adventure Aquarium, I would recommend it. They are a class act.

The pictureabove is me with my daughter, Katharine, who came with the family on my last day.

Scuba Santa Links

Here are a few links from the Scuba Santa diving I'm doing at the Adventure Aquarium.

This one is from the Philadelphia 10's show. I'm the elf in the water for this one:

Philadelphia NBC 10's Show

This is me as Santa. I make my appearance at the 5:53 mark. Make sure you change the settings to watch it in 720p HD:

Scuba Santa on Youtube

Scuba Santa

For the past several years, I've wanted to dive at the Adventure Aquarium, but never got the chance for whatever reason. Recently, I began training as a "biologist assistant", which is a fancy term coined up for a seasonal part-time diver in the Scuba Santa show. That's right, I'm in their holiday show that runs from Black Friday through January 2nd. When I'm not at my regular full-time job, I'm at the aquarium, diving in the Ocean Realm exhibit or the Shark Realm exhibit as Scuba Santa or (more likely), #2, also known as Santa's Helper Elf!

To top it off, they are actually PAYING me to do this. Granted it does include other stuff, like feeding the animals, cleaning, and other real job stuff, but they are still paying me to dive!

If anyone wants to attend the "Breakfast with Santa" event, here is the link: http://www.adventureaquarium.com/breakfastwithsanta.cfm

If anyone wants to work for the aquarium, they have job listings posted here: http://www.adventureaquarium.com/currentopenings.cfm

Well, I'm off to help Santa!

Wreck Diving off of Barnegat's secret spots 10/20/10

Jeremiah, Anthony, and I went a few miles offshore today on Anthony's boat, which is a 22' dual console, from his house in Waretown. His friend & neighbor, Rob, came along to bubble watch and keep an eye on the boat as we went under. We motored out of the lagoon and into the bay, which was flat as a pancake. We then his the open ocean and were happily surprised by the conditions. I'd call this "Lake Atlantic". Not a wave or ripple to be seen.

We went to a spot so secret that Rob actually deleted the numbers from Anthony's GPS once we were on the wreck. He calls it "El Buggo" since it usually delivers high numbers of lobsters. It is an unknown & unnamed wooden wreck with a few feet of relief from the sides and not much else. The ribbing makes for ideal conditions for lobsters to hide, sort of a lobster condo. The three of us hit the water and found zero current, zero surge, and about 25' visibility. The bottom temp was comfortable 63 degrees. We spent a good amount of time hunting and found a bunch of lobsters, but most were eggers and didn't make it back with us. The "Bender" tickle stick proved successful and once again, Jeremiah was the bravest of us when it came to reaching into the unknown to see what he could see. I was lucky enough to spear a Trigger fish, which I've never seen here before but heard they taste great. It turns out that Anthony hit this fish a few minutes earlier, but he wasn't able to get him to his bag. He was hunkered down under some wooden ribbing and I hit him with a front shot with the paralyzer tip. Our total runtime on this dive was 50 minutes and then it was time to move on to another wreck.

We moved to a railroad barge in 60' of water that was intact and upright. After a totally flat surface interval, we heard what we thought was thunder, but it was most likely the Air Force doing bombing training missions about 15 miles away. Before we hit the water, Rob said that this wreck is known for lost anchors, and if we come across one, it would be nice to bring one up. We hit the water and found about 10' visibility. A huge tog was swimming in one of the holes but he was too smart and too fast for me. I did manage to spear one decent sized black fish, and so did Anthony. No bugs were brought up. Jeremiah found a large danforth 43 pound anchor and about 25' of chain. Using my lift bag and reel, we managed to bring it to the surface as a gift to Rob. We had a 43 minute dive, 63 degrees bottom temp and about 10' visibility.

Tolten 8/29/10

NOAA was way off. What they said should be 2-3 Feet were actually 2-3 INCHES. I was expecting the worst with Hurricane Danielle out in the ocean. It was Lake Atlantic today as we hit the Tolten on the Ol'Salty II. Flat as can be. Although the boat was a bit crowded for my taste, the diving was good. The viz was EXCELLENT all the way to the top of the boilers, but then it went down to 5'. We could see divers 60' from the surface, and from the boat we could see divers 25' down! The descent was like the Carolina's. You could see all the bubbles and divers well below you.

Jeremiah and I had two dives on the Tolten. He was diving his Revo rebreather and I was on doubles. We brought up one lobster on dive #1 that was about 3 1/2 pounds and quite tasty. Jeremiah also got some mussels. I didn't see too many fish worth shooting, but others said they were there. I guess they knew I had a new paralyzer trident tip on the pole spear and stayed away from me.

There appeared to be lots of newer divers who need to learn etiquette for how to deal with divers on their way up or on their stops. Stop above them> Move off the line> swim below them> get back on the line to continue descent. Do not barrel through and kick them please. I know you are new, but please have some common courtesy (sorry for that, it was bothering me).

Great job by the crew, who were awesome.

I will post some video in the future from this dive, as I was wearing my Liquid Image HD Video mask. Give me a few days.

NJScuba has a very good write up about this wreck here

Here is a VERY poor quality (cell phone) video I took from the boat while heading in. Nice and smooth!

A few YouTube video's

I just figured out how to make my YouTube video's true "HD", so I made a few from last months dives. Both of the video's here are on an unknown wooden wreck while diving from the Sea Lion. The first is just the dive, edited down from 45 minutes to about 10. The second is the same dive, but is just a 6 minute video that has me getting tangled in a rope from a derelict lobster pot. Thanks to Jeremiah for untangling me.

YouTube links:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_raN__SlXvo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh6a7nNlZ70

Make sure you change the settings on the YouTube page to watch them in 720DP for true High Def.

Farewell Fi

I have to admit it....I love diving. Not much would make me stop diving. I've been diving in New Jersey for a good ten years now. I hear of divers not making it back safely once in a while; any number is too many, but I don't usually know them personally, so it doesn't really hit home. I read about them on the scuba forums, and occassionally I actually know them by name. When I first met my wife, I had the pleasure of meeting her step-father, Jim Ryan. This is back 8 years ago or so. He was a diver, so of course I liked him right away. I met him only twice when he asked me if I wanted to join him on the "Seeker" to a dive to the Algol. I didn't have the right gas in my tanks for that deep dive and had to pass. He went and had a medical emergency as he entered the water. Unfortunately he didn't make it back. Since then, I've read of several divers who didn't make it back, but I keep on diving. Why not...it won't happen to me. Right? I got some of the best training out there. I've got well maintained equipment. I train regularly at Dutch. I carry a bailout bottle. I carry two computers, two knives, a wreck reel and three regulators. In my mind, I'm ready for any emergency that comes my way. I dive with some of the best divers out there; divers who I wish I had even half of their knowledge.

My dive buddies have the same love of diving. They have the best equipment, they train regularly, they carry more gear than some shops sell, they dive all year, diving hundreds of times a year. They are very accomplished divers. Wreck divers, cave divers, ice divers, and all of the above combined. One of these divers was my good friend Yasuko Fiasco Okada, aka Fiasco, aka Fi. She had all the right gear, the right training, and the right attitude. She may have been only 5' tall (on a good day), but she filled a room with her cheer. It was more than her bright white smile, her glowing face, cheerful and playful attitude. She just had "it". Everything was right with her...until July 31st, 2010, when I got a call from the owner of my local dive shop. Fi was diving on the Arundo; a wreck I've been to. The Arundo is a WWII Freighter sunk off the Jersey shore due to enemy action April 28, 1942, with max. depths up to about 140' or so. Unfortunately, this was to be Fi's last dive. What happened? I can speculate, but I won't. Let the Coast Guard do their investigation, let the people post on the dive forums, let rumors fly. The fact is that nobody will ever really know for sure what went wrong.

We'll never really know what happened at the bottom, but what we do know is that I lost a friend. This one hits home. She's been to my home...many times. She's celebrated birthdays and promotions at my home. She's delivered beer to my home (a case of beer for each time my PBA card got her a break...she filled my fridge many times). We've been on trips to Canada to dive the St. Lawrence Seaway and Lake Ontario, and to Block Island to dive the U-853. We've chartered boats together to dive rock piles and wrecks in New Jersey. We've had dinner, drinks, laughs, and good times together. Really good times. She was always smiling, laughing, telling funny stories, making faces.

This one hit close to home.

Fi, I'm really going to miss you.

Sea Lion Diving - July 22nd

It's been a very long time since I've done any updating to this site, and its about time I posted a dive report and video or two. 2010 has been an off year for diving for me, but so far I've managed a few ocean dives. My most recent was a dive from the Sea Lion out of Brielle, NJ on 7/22/10. Here is the dive report:

Thursday July 22nd, 2010 with video!

The Sea Lion went out on Thursday, July 22nd, 2010 for some shallow diving on some inshore sites. Capt. Al had an unknown named wooded wreck in mind for dive number one. Clearing the inlet, we were met by flat seas and a sunny sky. A bunch of dolphin greeted us on the way out. I estimated at least twenty. We arrived on site and were tied in. What was pea soup on the way down opened up to about 15' viz. on the bottom and water temps were nice, probably near 60 degrees. I'd know if I actually checked my computer. This was a good wreck for natural navigation, but Jeremiah and I ran a reel almost out of habit. Old wooded ribs were laying in the sand, boxed in by a few feet of relief on both sides from what was the hull. Not a bad hunting wreck. I saw a few lobsters, but only one came up with us. Not too many good sized black sea bass or black fish to speak of, but I brought my pole spear just in case. After about 45 minutes at 75', it was time to come up.

We moved to a site that the Capt. "ran over" before and he wanted to check it out. Mates Sal and Dan went in and spent about 20 minutes diving what turned out to be loads and loads of cement pipes that just went on and on. Not much in the way of food, so we moved on.

We planned on hitting the Delaware, but the Tuna Seazure was already on site with divers in the water. Capt. Bill was kind enough to offer a spot next to his boat, but we chose to motor over to the Brunette, not far away.

We arrived on the Brunette to find a private fishing boat just leaving. Jeremiah and I hit the water and descended right to the shaft where we were tied in. I ran the reel and also brought the pole spear. The shaft led us to the nice sized prop at one end and the big engine at the other end. Isn't it funny that shafts do that? Makes it too easy to navigate. Past the engine were other odds and ends, and we had relief at least 15' in this area. I shot a sea bass in the engine which I later gave to Jeremiah, since he deserved it anyway. I hit it with the spear and Jeremiah had the catch bag. The bass managed to squirm off my tip (gotta change to a paralyzer tip) and Jeremiah was able to snatch it up with the bag before it swam off. Props to him for the catch. I also need to give him props for helping me get untangled in some heavy rope that I got caught in that was attached to a derelict lobster pot.

We spent about 45 minutes at depth and then called it a day. I wore my Liquid Image video mask and recorded both dives from end to end. I also took some topside shots that I will link to my photobucket account.



Here is the photobucket link

Here is the link to Youtube with the video from the dive on the Brunette: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qnak8hqHCdk

Cranford Ferry 5/22/10

May 22nd, 2010

The Scuba Connection chartered the Independence II on Saturday, May 22nd. The original destination was going to be the Gulf Trade, but it was decided to stay inshore. We chose to hit the Cranford Ferry. A short ride out and we arrived....to find the Gypsy Blood already hooked in and diving. Capt. Jim let Capt. Dan join them and we hit the water shortly after. Sea's were flat and the sun was shining. Surface viz was about 15', but viz on the bottom was about four feet. Bottom temp. was 46 degrees or so depending on which computer I checked. I had a 41 minute runtime with a shallow max. depth of 54 feet. My partner was Alex, who lost me due to the terrible viz. He almost shot a bag to surface, but found (the other) Mike still down on the wreck with a reel, and he was able to find the anchor line. During my tour of this wreck, I was surprised to see a free swimming eel that I was able to get on video using my Liquid Image HD mask (video to be posted later after I edit it). There was very little in the way of sealife, with the exception of a few black sea bass hunkered down along the wreckage.

The second dive was on the JoAnn, which is part of the Axel Carlson Reef. Viz was much better, with at least 20'. The sealife on this dive was amazing. HUGE Tog (Blackfish) and lots and lots of Black Sea Bass. Alex and I did a few swim through's and spent about half an hour just poking around the intact Tug. I cut the dive short since the 50 degree water was pouring in my right arm and it was not very comfortable. I guess I need to check out my drysuit again.

New Years Eve (day). What a way to end the year.

On December 31st, 2008, I was supposed to be on the Tuna Seazure, a dive boat docked in Brielle. The weather did not cooperate, so I was relegated to diving by backup plan; Dutch Springs. Not that there is anything wrong with it, its just that I have had a pretty dismal dive season, and was hoping to end the year on a high note.

On December 31st, Dutch is opened for three hours, from 11:00 am until 2:00 pm. I hooked up with a group on the Wreck Valley website; Frank, Nick, Shelly, and Eric. As we suited up, the skies darkened, the wind howled, and then the snow began. Being as nutty as we are, we kept trudging along, gearing up in the biting cold.

We began with a midwater nav to the trolley. The viz. was outstanding. At least 50' or more. The cold weather was not being nice to my gear. My drysuit inflator valve was being stubborn and my regs were acting up. My primary was giving me a little too much h20 on each inhalation, so I ended up switching to my backup reg. I also had a 40 cf sling bottle if it came to that, but it didn't. It's nice to have that insurance plan on my left side though. We got to the trolley, and then swam to the hole. I chose not to go down to the bottom, since I was diving a single 119, and thought it wise to conserve my gas supply. Eric and I hovered in the mid 70' range while Frank, Nick, and Shelly went to the 100' range. After swimming out of the hole, we swam east, to a virtual forest. I've never seen so many trees in Dutch before. I had no idea they were there. Then we passed by "the bleachers"; a small structure that actually looks like an old bleacher set. Then it was off to the tanker. Shelly took a few shots of the tanker with her camera, but she couldn't fit it all in one shot, so its in three pieces. After the tanker, I had 1000 lbs left, and decided it was time to break from the crowd. Eric and I had already planned for this, and gave the rest of the group the goodbye wave. We surfaced on the platform buoy near the tanker and began what looked like a marathon distance surface swim. As we were swimming back (in the snow), we realized we were near the helicopter, and decided to drop down for a quick swim-through. As I exited the front of the helicopter, I thought it would be nice to do a midwater swim. The viz. was so good that I could clearly see the road, and decided to take it to the bus. As my luck would have it, my gas supply was now at 500 pounds, so I decided to do the prudent thing and call it. We surfaced and began a long calm swim back in.

The water temp was a balmy 43 degrees, and we had about a 40 minute dive. The viz. was the best I've seen it in a couple of years; at least 50' and even more in some parts. I took a couple of topside pictures and posted them on wreck valley. Here is the link. Shelly took a couple of underwater shots. Here is that link.

Shark River Inlet Night Dive - Bioluminescence and Baitfish

Wednesday, October 15th:

Bioluminescence and Bait fish. These words describes the main characteristic of Wednesday nights Shark River inlet dive. Stephan and Yasuko organized a group to dive the Shark River Inlet, that included Joe (x2), Me, Rob Infante, and a couple doing a “Discover Local Diving”. While standing on Ocean Avenue, I saw the waves crashing onto the beach and noticed something I’ve never seen before. The caps of the crashing waves were a glowing greenish blue color, a produce of bioluminescence. When Stephan put his hand in the inlet and moved it back and forth, the bioluminescence created was amazing. In all my years of diving, I’ve never seen this in New Jersey to this extent. This is something that I think of when doing a night dive in the Caribbean. You could also see the baitfish breaking the surface all along the south side of the inlet.

With the incoming tide slowing down from the ripping current we saw when we first arrived, Rob and I got in the water. Not wanting a cluster of divers knocking into themselves, Rob and I began our dive. The current was westbound, and it was a moving at a solid pace. It was reminiscent of the drift dives in the St. Lawrence Seaway. We stayed against the south wall and let the current do the work for us. The bioluminescence was amazing. Any movement created a wash of moving colors. Rob’s fins created a greenish/blue vortex; the baitfish (millions of them), that were so abundant that they were literally bouncing off of our faces, would create a bioluminescent trail, which was amazing to watch with our lights out. The baitfish were so abundant that you had to tightly hold your regulator in your mouth or they would bounce their way in. I could actually hear them hitting my drysuit and mask. At times they were so thick that you literally could not see beyond them. At one point, I saw a crab reach our and grab a baitfish and pull it in for its dinner. It was quite amazing seeing this little claw snap out and grab this passing silver morsel and begin chowing down. In addition to the quadrillions of baitfish, I also saw several eels; one big one and at least four smaller ones. Other sealife included a flattie, dozens of crabs, a pair of horseshoe crabs in the process of making some puppies, and lots of small fish. Unfortunately, I missed the butterfly fish that Yasuko saw.

Rob and I let the current take us for about fifteen minutes and then it just stopped dead. Ahhh….slack tide. After about three of four minutes of slack, the tide turned to the east, and it was time to ride it back to our entry point. Along the way, we passed by another dive who was looking for specimens, and had bottles, jars, and nets hooked to his drysuit. We also managed to find the rest of our group. When Rob and I were near the bridge, we could hear the siren sounding to advise that the bridge was being raised. We also heard the motor of a large boat motoring underneath the drawbridge. Lucky for us we weren’t in the middle of the channel. Uh…maybe I spoke too soon. Rob and I were now at 30’ and had a sandy bottom, surrounded by fish carcasses. We weren’t exactly in the middle of the inlet, but we sure weren’t by the wall. We ended up about 30 feet off the wall, but were able to work our way in to our entry/exit point even with the current where we were met by a bubble watcher (Mike Galvin).

The viz. was lousy; Five feet on the top end, less if you’re a pessimist. I can’t give you a temp, because I didn’t even notice any coldness in my Oceanic drysuit. We got a late start, and as a result, ended the dive late. Having to get up at 4:30 am, I cut out as soon as possible and made it home by 11:00. Just in time to catch the last few innings of the Philly’s beating the Dodgers to capture the top spot in the National League for the first time since 1993.

Arundo - July 13th, 2008

Elite and Blue Water Divers chartered the Gypsy Blood for Sunday, July 13th, and went to the Arundo, which lies about 17 miles offshore at the edge of the mudhole. Rob called my wife and got her permission for me to go. He also called Fiasco (Scubafi) and Stephan (Stfr). I had no drysuit since mine was out for repair, so Rob loaned me his (old) one. I also had the wrong gas, so Rob gave me a set of double 98's with air.

Sea's were 2-3 feet with a few larger swells, but it flattened out as the day went on. I went in and began descending. At about 75 feet, my primary HID canister light went out. At 90 feet or so, my reg. began acting up, breathing like crap and causing me concern. At 100 feet, the nitrogen narcosis kicked in. All three combined caused me (correctly) to turn the dive. I left ScubaFi and Stfr at the top of the wreck and went back up.

My canister light was filled with seawater and my reg. may need some adjusting. Rob loaned me a Dive-Rite 10w LED light to use for dive #2. I played with my regs and tried to get in for the second dive, but I didn't feel 100% confident, so I chose to sit out dive #2.

Rob was able to catch a few bugs and a bunch of scallops. He was nice enough to give me one of his bugs in exchange for the Bender tickle stick.

At home, I flushed my light with fresh water and then placed them in front of a dehumidifier. After an hour, I checked it and it worked perfectly, even the battery that was wet. Now all I need to do is find out where the leak came from. Wish me luck.

Rich Galiano's site, NJScuba.net, has a great write-up on the Arundo: http://njscuba.net/sites/site_mud_hole.html#Arundo

June 30th...I should have stayed home

I was really hoping to get out on the Tolten this season. I've been there once before, but bad weather kept it to one dive. The Independence II had a charter to the Tolten on Monday, June 30th. Richie Kohler was hosting a four day advance wreck diving class on the Independence II dive boat out of Point Pleasant, NJ, and there were a few vacancies on the boat. In addition to Richie Kohler, the dive boat also had well known underwater videographer and photographer Becky Kagan, and NJScuba.net's Rich Galiano.

Divers came from far and wide to take this course under the direction of Richie Kohler. Two divers drove up from Kentucky, and a third came from New Orleans, LA. And I thought my one-hour drive sucked.

As soon as we left the inlet, the seas made me as sick as I have ever been. I don't usually get seasick, but today was just one of those days. It was a miserable 75 minute ride to the dive site. After arriving at the site, I let everyone else get into he water before I slowly began suiting up. When you're seasick, the best place to be is in the water. As soon as I splashed, I felt the seasickness go away, but the water pour in my drysuit. I got no farther than 15 feet down the line when I realized that my neck seal blew. I was not happy, and exited in disappointment.

Maybe next year. Like I said, I should have stayed home, but who knew. But hey, the company was good!

May 24th on the Atlantus

Its mid June, and by this time I had expected at least five offshore trips, equaling ten ocean dives. That would be just enough to count one on each finger and max out the fingers on each hand. Unfortunately, when I count my ocean dives so far this year, I still have eight uncounted fingers. Thats right; I've only been out on the ocean once this year. Both were off the Atlantus dive boat out of Atlantic City on the John Marvin and the Glory wreck, back on May 24th. I have a few Dutch dives tossed in for good measure, but they don't really count. I have a day of diving planned for June 30th to the Tolten on the Independence II dive boat, that was chartered by Deepsea Detective Richie Kohler. I can't wait for that one.

Here is the report I posted on NJdive.com:

I was on a mini-vacation with the family this past weekend in Wildwood Crest. I got permission from the wife to spend a day on the water, or in this case, under the water. I teamed up with East Coast Diving Supply out of Northfield, which is near Atlantic City. They were going out on the Atlantus Dive Boat out of Atlantic City for a shallow dive to the John Marvin, which is a clamming boat that sank in 1993.

I made the boat with plenty of time to spare. This boat is roomy and comfortable. They have brand new benches, which were just installed prior to this dive. Before this, they had a center table, but according to the regulars, this is a more roomy and more comfortable way to get ready. I agree.

There were eight divers, not including the crew. This included two father-son teams (Mike & Joe, and John & John Jr.). John Jr. was diving a drysuit at the tender young age of 12. I saw him two weeks earlier at Dutch, and recognized him only when he put his drysuit on. There was only one other person I recognized, Stephen M, who I dove with once before on the Independence II dive boat. This was to be my first ocean dive of the season, so I was happy to have it be a shallow one. The weather cooperated, with clear sunny skies, and flat seas.

The John Marvin has a max. depth of about 70'. I hit the water at 9:02 am to temps in the high 40's. One of my computers gave me a temp. of 49 on the bottom, while the other said it was a balmy 50 degrees! I got down to find a nice intact wreck. Viz. was at least 30', and there was little or no current. I was able to easily penetrate the wheelhouse from the port side, and I spent a few minutes taking some pictures. I got a shot of my air escaping from a hole in the top of the wheelhouse. I swam around for a bit, and then realized (incorrectly, I might add) that I was the only diver left down on the wreck. I went back up to find that Stephan was still down there taking pictures. I had a short dive of only 32 minutes, but it was a good dive.

Dive number two was on the Gloria wreck, which sits about 2 miles from the John Marvin, and also sits at 70'. I hit the water at about 11:30 and found a broken up wreck with good viz, about 25-35'. I tied my wreck reel to the debris and went for a tour. I found a piece about 20' high with some nice easy penetrations, so in I went. I took my crappy point and shoot camera and took some 30 second mpeg video clips (that I'll try and load somewhere), and also took a few crappy fuzzy pictures. I stayed down for another short dive, ending at only 36 minutes.

I have to say that I was very happy with the Atlantus Dive boat, and would dive them again if I were to venture down their way. They were a knowledgeable, helpful, and pleasant crew. Nice job!

I had posted some short mpeg video's on youtube and linked them here, but for some reason, when I went to play them, they were each only one second long. Thats odd, since they are each 30 seconds long. When I figure it out, I'll reload them here. In the mean time, enjoy the three pictures posted above.