Gear review: Aqualung technisub micromask

Let's face it I have a problem when it comes to diving. Part of that problem is having to try every new piece of gear that comes along. After staring at these sweet looking little masks in the shop for a while now I finally caved and picked one up this past Saturday and tried it on Sunday's dive (see Tug report below).

I will jump right into the cons of the mask... There were 2 reasons for my delay in picking one of these up: 1. This tiny mask makes up for its physical disposition with its relatively high retail price ($99.99), and 2. I had noticed at Bainbridge on JC's that the strap buckles connect with kind of cheap (especially considering the price) buckles (see pic below) the type of which I had broken on a Poseidon mask.

The good: This mask is pretty awesome. It's very small and with the lenses very close to your eyes the field of vision is pretty amazing. The skirt is also a nice soft silicone and is probably the most comfortable mask I have ever tried. Additionally for you rebreather folks equalizing and clearing the mask takes virtually no gas and venting gas through my nose was as smooth as if breathing on land.

Overall I am very pleased and will be using this mask as my primary from now on, but will be keeping my fingers crossed on the durability of the buckles.

Micromask (top) and my trusty old Seadive mask (bottom) for size comparison

Close up of buckle with plastic "knob" that I sheared off on my Poseidon mask

You can't go out and play until you do your homework!

So you want to find out more about a shipwreck that you are diving (like where the bell was located)? Or better yet are you trying to identify an unknown wreck? This past Friday Danny and I made a trip to the Independence Seaport Museum at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia to check out their archives and library and do some of our own research on some projects we are working on. The museum is open to the public but the library is available by appointment only and is an invaluable resource as it houses (among MANY other useful resources): the Lloyd's Register back to 1764, American Bureau of Shipping (ABS) records back to 1874, and the New York Shipbuilding Collection (hint: contains some well known wrecks).

Upon our arrival, Matt the librarian was quite accommodating and happy to help us out which was greatly appreciated as we our new to this kind of endeavor. After a quick orientation and some initial directions to head in we were quickly tearing through the collection.

We got several good leads and are looking forward to returning a bit better prepared now that we know what kind of resources are available.

If you haven't been to the Seaport Museum it is definitely worth the trip. In addition to the museum which contains a variety of maritime exhibits including some cool artifacts, the seaport also houses the museum ships USS Olympia and the submarine Becuna, which are open for tours. Divers takes note: the Olympia is the same class as the USS San Diego lying off Long Island and the Becuna is the same class as the Blenny which is off Ocean City, MD.

Olympia

Becuna

http://www.phillyseaport.org/

Tug on this

4-27-08

Independence II trip

Despite the ugly forecast for most of the week Capt Dan decided to give it a try when NOAA downgraded it a bit yesterday. Heading out the inlet we found decent seas inshore but the horizon was bearing its toothy grin which meant the Stolt would have to wait for another day. We ended up on the Venturo tug which sits in ~70 fsw. This tug was sunk intentionally as an artificial reef and sits upright and intact. I found the shot in the sand right off the bow making for an easy tie in. Visibility on top of the wreck was a decent 10-15 feet with a slight current/surge. On the bottom the visibility dropped down to 5 feet or so. Temperatures were 46-48F on the bottom depending whose computer you checked with a slight 2 degree increase near the surface so it looks like the temperature is easing up slowly.

I did a couple tours around the tug and poked inside the engine room. I ran my reel out in the sand looking for edible creatures and some of the APCs (armored personnel carriers) that have been placed around the wreck. After finding only sand dollars and a lonely skate with a bent tail I headed back. I took advantage of my rebreather and spent a couple minutes staring down a school of bergalls (only fish I saw on the wreck) along the railing who looked like they were hoping I had (or was) something for them to eat. There were reports of a rather large bug in an undisclosed location that eluded its captor.

I wouldn’t want to dive the Venturo every weekend but it is a nice little dive and gave everybody the chance to work out the rest of those early season cobwebs.

Thanks to Mark Clark for the pictures.

Dela...where?

Today the Independence II braved the seas and after a democrat vote of the 9 customers on board, the decision was made to change the intended destination of the further offshore Tolten to the Delaware so there would be a greater chance of getting in 2 dives.

Seas were a manageable 2-4 foot on the short ride to the wreck and we ended up tied in on top of the engine at about 65 fsw (sand at ~75 fsw). Visibility was on the poor side in the range of 5'. About half the crowd got in two dives while the other half were content getting wet with one long early season dive. A total of 3 keeper lobster were boated along with a couple decent ling. We cut loose just as the forecasted winds were beginning to pick up and Capt Dan eased her back into the dock around 1:00 making for a nice short day.

Delaware

Oppurtunity knocks twice?

4-13-08

My life has been pretty hectic over the past month or so, but lest anyone label me as an internet diver I made sure my priorities are still in order and snuck in a second trip in three days this past weekend. Sunday was the first trip out for the Independence II and a little thing like moving out of state wasn’t going to get in my way of a dive. We headed out to the Pinta in seas that were a little rolly but not too bad. Frankly I was grateful I didn’t get sick as it usually takes me a couple trips to get my sea legs back after a landlocked winter at the quarry.

Heading in to tie in I was relieved to find much clearer water than Friday’s dive and a decent 15 feet or so of visibility on the wreck. Water temp was 45F from top to bottom at 85fsw and made for a comfortable dive (at least for April). I had a project from last season I was eager to get back to and spent the better part of an hour trying to figure out how to get to it. It appears that the wreck has collapsed a fair bit more over the winter. While this has opened up some additional areas it has also covered others :-(

Lots of small bugs spotted but no keepers were retrieved. There were a fair number of blackfish tucked up inside the wreck but I can never keep track of the regulations on them so I just leave them alone. All in all it was a pretty excellent weekend of Jersey diving.

Salt for your wounds

Ah, the taste of salt. Today was the return of the Tuna Seazure from her winter hibernation. We headed out bright and early and made a stop at the Great Bay “raw bar” on the way out to the Kennebec for some fresh clams on the halfshell (don't ask). Seas were quite nice but there was a persistent fog for most of the day. On the wreck we had sub par conditions with 1-2 feet of what could be called poop soup visibility at ~70fsw. Add in a decent surge and it made for a challenging dive. Nevertheless, everyone still made lemonade and clocked in bottom times in the hour range, and the temperature was actually a comfortable 46^oF which seems warm for this time of year but who’s complaining. One toddler lobster was boated and returned to the sea by an unnamed gentleman who also called the visibility 15-20’ so if nothing else we learned who’s judgment is suspect. Not the best day, but sure beat working, and most importantly kicked off what should be another outstanding dive season.