Dive buddies first NJ ocean dive - Algol from the Indy II

On Sunday, June 22, I finally got to take my dive buddy John out on a boat and dive an offshore wreck (actually an artificial reef).  We dove the Algol from the Independence II.  Since it was in the middle of the Mako Mania shark tournament, the Captain decided to leave the dock at 6:00 am instead of the usual 7:00 am, which turned out to be a very smart move as we later found out.  The Algol (http://njscuba.net/reefs/site_nj03sr_uss_algol.html) is a 459' Victory ship freighter that was intentionally sunk in 1991 as part of the NJ artificial reef program.  The superstructure starts at 70', the main deck is at 110', and it bottoms out at about 140'.  Since John was on his virgin tour of NJ ocean diving, we kept it shallow, never going deeper than 92'.  The hour trip out to the site was smooth. We tied into the Algol at the high spot of 70'.  Shortly after we arrived, we saw other boats arriving.  They were there to fish, or chum for sharks since this was the Mako tournament.  Within a short time, there were at least five other boats in the general vicinity, and we were a good 15 miles offshore.  After splashing, John and and I descended to find 30' visibility and a slight current on on the superstructure of the Algol.  Since it was his very first time diving in these conditions, I decided to forgo the speargun, and concentrate on John.  For his first dive in these conditions, he did great.  We stayed relative close to the superstructure, but I made sure to do a few swim throughs and penetrations.  John generally stayed on the outside, relatively close to me.  He did surprise me once by swimming through one large room from end to end, very similar to the picture below.

We stayed down for about 30 minutes or so before calling it.  As was expected, John burned through more gas than he expected, but I told him this was perfectly normal for a first timer.

The second dive was much nicer.  Although the viz dropped to about 20', the current was gone.  While descending the line, I let go at about the 50' mark and finished the descent with a free descent to the superstructure.  I looked up behind me to see John doing the exact same thing.  It was a picture perfect descent, and I wish I had my camera.  On the ship, it was pretty much the same as the first dive, except this time I bagged some mussels, which were covering the superstructure deck.  I could't wait to ascend to the 30' mark where the thermocline was waiting with warmer water.  Once we reached this mark, the viz improved drastically, and the water temperature was much more comfortable.

Two dives gave us a run time of about 65 minutes.  Two nice dives for two nice guys!

Traditional New Years Eve day dive at Dutch Springs

Lenny C., Mike B. and John S.

For several years, I've done a single tank year end dive at Dutch Springs.  It has become a tradition that I hope continues for years to come.  The dive buddies may change over time, but the tradition continues.  This year I made the trek with John S. and Lenny C., both very competent divers.  We were all in drysuits, but I was the only one with dry gloves, and what a difference it made.  I did a last minute repair on a small slice in the right glove that made all the difference in the world.  Add hand and feet warmers, and I was toasty.

We hit the peninsula side and made our way to the platform at 25' to get acclimated.  Lenny lead the way with a mid-water swim to the crane by the island.  From there we made a right turn and went until we hit the edge of the hole and followed it a short distance until I could see the trolley come in to view.  This trolley was built in 1946 and ran in Kansas City until 1955 when it was sold to the Philadelphia Transit Company (which eventually became SEPTA).  This specific car was named SEPTA 2255 but its name was changed to "New Jersey" for the nations bicentennial. We spent a few minutes in and around the trolley and then turned back to the crane.  From there we followed the island until we saw the wooden crusier.  We followed the line from this boat to the Silver  Comet, which sits in about 50' of water.  The Silver Comet is a 50' metal pilot boat and was sunk at Dutch in 1994.  It was originally built and used for the Worlds Fair in New York City and subsequently ferried crews to their ships on the Delaware river near Philly. After a few minutes playing in and around the Silver Comet, we made our way up the line and back to the platform.  From there we went to the wall for our safety stop.

Total dive time was 35 minutes and we hit a max depth of about 60 feet.  Visibility was 30'-40', and the water temperature was a balmy 43 degrees. The peninsula side was fairly empty, and we only saw a couple other divers during our time in the water. The student side seemed to have more divers, but that was to be expected on such a pleasant day.  Nice way to end 2013.

Twilight Dive - "The Dykes" artificial reef

Brady H., Bob Lang,  Lenny C.

Its been a horrendous year for me when it comes to getting out into the Atlantic Ocean for some diving.  This has got to be the slowest dive season for me in over a decade. I was lucky enough to make it out on the "Blue Fathoms" dive boat out of Clark's Landing Marina in Point Pleasant this past Wednesday.  This was a charter by Langs in Ewing, NJ.  Divers were me, Lenny C., Bob Lang, Kip, Bill, and Brady H.  It was a planned one-tank night dive.  Conditions on the way out were ok, but deteriorated while enroute to the dive site, which was The Dykes (this link has a nice write-up and excellent pictures of this dive site).  The 2-3 footers increased to 3-5, and the swells were increasing. We arrived and set the hook, and in I went with my buddy, Lenny C.  Conditions below the surface were crappy.  On the way down, viz was maybe 5'.  On the bottom, it was 5'-8' at 65', and the bottom temp was 54 degrees.  I tied in with the wreck reel, and Lenny C. and I began our search.  I left my pole spear on the boat, which was a good idea, since I saw only one decent sized fish the entire time on the bottom.  The Dykes is known for lobsters, since the ribbing from the vessel is great for them to hide out in.  It must have worked in their favor, since I didn't even see a sign of any crustacean.  After about half an our of seeing not much, we headed to the anchor line.  Before ascending, I filled up my catch bag with mussels, which covered the vessel. The ride up the anchor line was worse than the ride down, since conditions were deteriorating minute by minute. We made it in on time for me to spend some quality time on the Point Pleasant Beach boardwalk with the wife and kids.  Like they say; a bad day of diving is better than a good day at work. 

New Years Eve Day Tradition

Me with John S.

Lenny C. and John S.

For as many years as I can remember, I've tried to do a dive on New Years Eve Day.  This year I went to Dutch Springs with John S. and Lenny C.  Air temp was 31 degrees, and the water temp 45 degrees.  We hit the cove and dropped to the pump house, hitting a max. depth of about 70 feet or so.  We worked our way up by the stairs and along the wall.  We had a nice dive, but I cut my drygloves on a zebra mussel and it caused a small leak by my right thumb. Its an easy fix, but I'm just pissed at myself for grabbing something with these gloves on.  Anyway, this was John's first cold water dive, and only his third dive with his new drysuit. It went pretty well for him.  Lenny was diving double 120's, which is too much for this old back.  I was diving a steel 100, along with John.  We had about a 30 minute or so dive.  Viz. was probably 30 feet.  It was a nice time, and a great way to end the year.  I'm hoping for much more diving in 2013.

Wreck Bonanza off Barnegat NJ

Amazing surface conditions!

Anthony C. and I hit three wreck sites today (7/3/12) since we both have some time off.  His friend Rob Captained the boat for us so we could dive as he fished.  Too bad Jeremiah Hupka had to work!  Surface conditions couldn't have been better.  The weather report was calling for 1' seas every 10 seconds.  It was a clear sunny day which began pleasant enough, since we left the dock in Barnegat before 7:00 am.

Once we got out of the bay, the seas sat down to 0' waves.  It was Lake Atlantic!

Anthony and me on the surface

Dive #1 was on the Yellow Flag, which is an unidentified wooden schooner, sitting in 82' of water.  Anthony and I each brought our JBL pole spears with paralyzer tips.  The fish-finder/depth finder showed a load of fish over the wreck...or so we thought.  We entered the water with no current and 10+ feet of viz on the surface.  At about 25', it dropped to 5' viz. and the temp dropped from 70 degrees at the surface to 54 degrees on the bottom.  What the fish finder thought was fish was actually a dense thermocline, which lasted for about 20'.  Once we dropped through it, at about 50' depth, the wreck and the sand, which was still a good 30' below us, was clearly visible.  Thirty feet of viz on an in-shore wreck!  Amazing.  We had no current, no surge, great visibility, and full tanks.  We set off hunting, but didn't find too much.   Clearly this wreck was hit recently and someone cleaned it out. I didn't see a single flatty.  Anthony and I bagged one bug as a team near the end of the dive, and I hit one black sea bass.  Anthony hit four keeper sea bass.  He also played with a few other lobster, but only one came to visit us on the surface.  After a 38 minute runtime, the dive was over.  Stats: 82' max. depth, 38 minutes, 54 degrees bottom temp, 70 degrees surface temp.  At the surface, I realized I lost my spear tip.  Luckily I had a spear gun as a backup on the boat for dive #2.

Dive #2 was on the Brick Barge.  This is an old broken-up barge in 71' of water.  Our intention was to go down the anchor line to the hook and turn right to the main section.  We entered the water to find the same conditions as dive #1, and where we hooked was a great spot.  We spend our entire dive in this one area.  I brought only one sea bass to the surface, but Anthony cleaned up with six.  Stats: 71' max. depth, 36 minutes runtime, 54 degrees on the bottom, and 70 on the surface.

Anthony on the bottom of the Brick Barge

Dive #3 was on a clammer that sunk many years ago.  Actually, this dive was on the dragger that came off the boat as it sank.  It is nearby, but not with the clamming boat.  I brought my spear gun down, and once I got to the hook, I noticed that the tip on my speargun was gone!  I lost two tips!  I left the speargun at the hook and became Anthony's light & bag man.  This was one of the best fishing spots I've ever seen, and we cleaned up!  I lit up where he wanted to hunt, he shot, and I bagged.  We had to keep this one short since Captain Rob had afternoon plans.  Viz. on this dragger was only 20', which is still great for an in-shore wreck.  Stats: 71' max. depth, 55 degrees on the bottom, 71 degrees on the top, 20-20' viz, a slight current, no surge, and lots of black sea bass!

We ended up with sixteen black sea bass and one lobster.  Not bad for a few hours of fun.

 Logged dives #426, 427, & 428.

Here is the YouTube link to the edited video from the dive:

Cape May Reef 6/24/2012

Manny-Yunk II

Some of our catch

The Manny-Yunk II with four divers hit the Cape May Reef today. Sean, Kevin, Jeremiah Hupka, and me.  We had room for other divers, but none came through since it was a last minute thing.  Weather was perfect and seas were pretty flat. We saw dolphin on the way out and back.

Dive #1 was on the Hooters Reef:  49 minutes runtime, 63 degrees, 79' max. depth,  viz 10'-12'.  She is not as intact as the link shows, and was in many pieces with a few areas of 10' relief.  Fish and lobsters came to visit us on the surface.

Dive #2 was on the subway cars. 47 minutes runtime, 63 degrees, 61' max. depth, viz. 15'.  Most were collapsed on themselves, but there were a few that still had some portions still standing.  There were also a few reef balls mixed in with the subway cars.  There were loads of fish, and many were brought to the surface.

Jeremiah Hupka getting psyched to shoot things.

Dive #3 was on the Salt Barge.  31 minute runtime, 64 degrees, 62' max. depth, viz. 10-15'.  This was a fun dive since the current was so strong.  It felt like the drift dives I've done in the St. Lawrence Seaway.  I'd kick up-current to one end of the barge and enjoy the drift down-current to the other end, and then do it all over again.  There were loads of fish, and again, some made it topside. There were also very cool coral type fans growing on the top of the reef.  I had an ear issue trying to get down, and after four tries, I finally cleared my ear so I could descend.  I decided to forgo the speargun and bag, and concentrate on taking some video.  I wish I brought the spear gun down, since there was much to shoot.

Logged dives 423, 424, & 425.

Here is the YouTube video from this dive.  Make sure to change the settings to watch it in HD!

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City of Athens - Memorial Day Weekend 2012 - With video.

On Sunday, May 27th, I was able to get a much desired spot on the private Manni-Yunk II sport fishing & Diving boat out of Cape May, NJ.  I was diving with Sean, Kevin, Jeremiah, and Andy.  We left the dock at about 8 am, after Kevin did a shallow no-vis dive to tighten the right prop. at the gas dock.  On the way out, we decided to hit the City of Athens. The "City of Athens" was a liner that was built in 1911, and sank in 1918 with 67 casualties after a collision with the French Navy cruiser "La Gloria".  It sits on the bottom at about 110' about 24 miles off the New Jersey coast.  I dove this wreck last year with these same guys, and we had 50' viz.  I was hoping for the same today, but was not that lucky.  It was 15' at best.  We left under clear sunny skies and flat seas.  We hit a patch of moderate fog for a little while, but that burned off.

After the hour + ride out, and a quick tie-in, it go time.  I descended with Jeremiah, but spent the majority of my time around the boilers taking video.  I left my spear and bag on the boat, and hoped I didn't come upon any keepers.  There wasn't too much in the way of sea life for me to bring up, but I did see a monster eel stuck down in one of boilers.  You can see him on the video that I will post here soon.  I kept my two dives relatively short and conservative, with a total dive time of 1 hour exactly, and a maximum depth of 97'.  Bottom temperature was 54 degrees, and viz. was 10-20 feet.  There was a distinct thermocline at 55' which separated the warm blue water with the colder and murkier green water.

Logged dives #419 & #420.  As always, diving with the guys on the Manni-Yunk is a great time.

Link to the video: Youtube Link