Shedding light on the PINTA

Cargo of lumber spilling out of the PINTA broken holds


Stern of the PINTA

Sunday the NOAA guys were way off and we headed out to the PINTA on the Independence II in seas that were quite nice, proving once again that sometimes you just have to stick your nose out and sea. The PINTA was chosen as the first New Jersey dive for a group of wreck diving students who had traveled all the way from Kentucky and Louisiana to see what diving in the North Atlantic is all about. We were tied in quickly and divers were quick to splash in the off chance that the deteriorating weather forecast for the afternoon was correct. After everyone else was taken care of I hit the water with camera gear in hand to work on some new techniques. My goal is to get some wide angle shots of some deep shipwrecks using long exposures and this was my first time trying out a tripod. Descending down the line and expecting to find the bow I scratched my head as I landed in the sand next to the rudder (I guess NOAA aren't the only ones handing out bad reports). The visibility was a bright 20 feet or more. There was a decent surge on the bottom that made getting crisp focus a little tricky with longer exposures. The pictures aren't that great but I accomplished what I needed to. I was able to barely make out the lights from Richie's class doing drills in the distance and got a decent shot without them ever seeing me by using a 2 second exposure. In the image of the stern above I was out in the sand and could just make out a shadow of the wreck and had no idea the 2 divers you see had just come down so using a tripod definitely gets results that are not otherwise possible.

At the end of the day most people were able to sneak in 2 dives and we were hitting the inlet by the time the forecast caught up with reality. A great day of diving and some out of towners were wondering what was up with all the hype of deep, dark, and dangerous that is usually associated with New Jersey diving.

The now exposed engine room area


Close up of engine


Cargo

Cape Hatteras report

June 20-22

This past weekend the gang headed down to Cape Hatteras for three days of diving on some great wrecks in the clear warm Gulf Stream waters with Capt JT on the Under Pressure. Friday we hit the Proteus. This 390' passenger freighter sank in 130 fsw in 1918. Hitting the water the visibility was incredible and continued down to the wreck. I was greeted by large numbers of sand tiger sharks and a sleepy green sea turtle who didn't seem too impressed by my intrusion. Large schools of baitfish swarmed the wreck making wide angle shots difficult and I found myself cursing at them repeatedly into my DSV throughout the dive. I headed off to the stern and found a huge school(?) of sand tigers congregating aft of the majestic rudder and propeller. I crossed paths with Danny who pointed out a porthole and although a little bent up had enough sand blasted shiny brass poking through the growth to seduce us into a second date. Back by the boilers schools of baitfish were swarming between them with schools of hungry jacks on their tails.

After some surface interval fishing Danny and I headed back in to try and get the porthole. It posed a tougher challenge than we originally thought but after 30 minutes of pounding we had it on a bag.

Saturday and Sunday the plan was to dive the E.M Clark. A tanker torpedoed in WWII and (allegedly) one of the best dives off the East coast. Alas as is often the case in Hatteras plans didn't play out as well as they did on paper. Saturday we had good seas and even hooked into the wreck but you could have heard a pin drop as JT announced it was undivable. To prove it to us he dropped a 15 lb weight over the side which was promptly waterskiing horizontally off the stern in the 3kt current. With heavy hearts we headed in to the paddlewheeler where we found the current "better" but still kicking at around 2kts. Eventually we ended up on the Keshena. This small wreck was an ocean going tug that sank during rescue of the torpedoed J.A. Mowinckel during WWII. As the wreck is in only 90 feet of water the open circuit guys weren't too thrilled about blowing an expensive Clark mix (a nice advantage of the rebreather), but JT and Bill were nice enough to lend some doubles so everyone could get a dive in.

The vis on the Keshena wasn't as good as the Proteus but still a nice 30 feet or so. The wreck is pretty broken down except for the bow which rises about 20 feet off the bottom. It is still continuous so navigation is easy. Sand tigers were also present here along with lots of trigger fish.

Sunday the wind was still blowing out of the south and with rougher seas we went with JT's judgment that the current over the Clark would probably still be kicking and decided not to risk being in an area with not many other options and headed for the USS Tarpon.

The Tarpon was a US submarine that sunk in 140 fsw while under tow to the scrapyard in 1957. The seas were a little bouncy on the ride out and we were given the option of stopping at the Dixie Arrow, but we opted to soldier on and give it a go. On site the conditions were again spectacular and most of the sub could be seen laid out before you around 70 feet. We were tied in near the conning tower which has fallen/been pulled into the sand. I wanted to give a go at making a panoramic composite image of the sub and spent most of my dive snapping shots down the hull. Many sand tigers surrounding the wreck along with lots of other life which made for an incredible dive.

We pulled hook and trolled over to the Dixie Arrow for dive 2. Must not have been my day because "I trolled for 2 hours and all I caught was this sunburn". Oh well, it was fun. On the Dixie Arrow the visibility was around 40 feet and i nearly crashed into a sand tiger descending the line which terminated between the boilers and huge engine. Danny and I swam forward towards the bow passing some large barracuda and BIG sand tigers. Most of the mid section is pretty flattened out until you get to the bow which still stands high off the bottom. A great dive and a great way to end out the trip. Can't wait to get back!

Proteus

Keshena

Tarpon

Dixie Arrow

Rhein - ocerous?

Snuck in some time today while packing for Hatteras to clean up some of the stuff I got off the RHEIN a month ago. Here is a cage lamp and some light gimbles that were recovered from inside the foc'sle of the wreck. They came out pretty nice. The brass screws were missing from the one gimble for some reason which is why the rings are laying down, I will have to replace them.

RP Resor

Made it out to the Resor on the Independence II today in glassy flat seas. The conditions were spectacular with over 50 feet of visibility near the surface and 30-40 feet on the wreck. We were tied in at the very stern adjacent to the deck gun which is still holding strong to its mount after 66 years of being submerged on its side. Temperature on the bottom at 120 fsw was 46F with the surface water much warmer in the neighborhood of 60 degrees. I splashed amidst a pile of scallop guts as Jim and crew were busy shucking away at their harvest from dive 1. I was trying out my new camera set up and was very pleased with the results for my first crack at it and with no strobes. At the end of the day it was smiles all around and the cooler was packed to the brim with scallops, lobsters, and a trigger fish that learned the hard way that lingering around the boat ladder is a bad idea.

I took this at my 50 foot stop

Capt Dan and Capt Frankie at 20 feet

New Toy

Picked up my new toy last night... needless to say I am one happy camper :-)





Thanks Arch!

Pinta and Immaculata

Mark Clark with a nice milk bottle on the Immaculata

Got out to the Pinta (85 fsw) Saturday and the Immaculata (100fsw) today. Great dives and weather both days from the Independence II. Visibility in the 30 foot range on both wrecks with bottom temps around 46F. Blew out my wrist seal on the Pinta so just dropped into the hold and played around with some ambient light shots before calling it short. This was my first time on the Immaculata and it's a great wreck. Bugs and bottles everywhere. Lots of both came up, including some other odds and ends like a nice antique beer stein.

All Pinta pictures are at this link --> Pinta Pics
All Immaculata pictures at this link --> Immaculata Pics

The Pinta was carrying a cargo of lumber when she went down

Arriving on the Immaculata

This bottle is still there

This one is not ;-)

Remember to clean up when you're done

Departing the Immaculata


My bottles

Dykes

Today the Independence II sailed with the group from the Diverision Dive Club to the schooner barge Dykes. The torrential downpour and howling wind through the night at the marina convinced me there was no way we were making it out, but I awoke to sunny skies and light breeze just as NOAA predicted. With a slight swell running the ride was smooth and short. Danny got us tied in quickly to the tip of the bow and divers wasted no time hitting the water.

Inside the Dykes bow

Reports of 20-30 feet of visibility and 46^oF on the bottom came up along with some nice seabass and bags of mussels. With the encouraging report I grabbed my camera and headed in. This was my first time on this wreck so I spent some time poking about. The bow is pretty intact and comes about 20 feet off the white sandy bottom at 65 feet. The vis was indeed quite nice and bright with lots of ambient light but lots of particulate floating about which made my photography challenging (the surge didn’t help either). Towards the end of my dive I had some fun smashing mussels open for the bergalls and getting swarmed by them. Another great day of diving and Capt Dan was even kind enough to save me one of Helen’s famous pierogies, which was delicious as always.

Before

After

A couple more pics