Let there be light

Finally getting around to cleaning up some artifacts from this season... so here are a couple quick shots of the cleanup progress of one of the cage lamps I got off the India Arrow earlier this season. It came out pretty nice and when I get time I'll probably put a new light fixture in and restore it to working order. This particular lamp had a hook so it was actually a work lamp rather than a fixed lamp for lighting (makes sense since I found it in the engine room).

Before

The lamp actually comes apart into 3 pieces...

The base

The cage

The globe

Put them all together and voila...

I guess the cat's out of the bag (or loop?)

Coming soon to a blog near you...

Pinta 11-11-07

Sunday the Independence headed out with full complement of 10 customers + crew. Most of the usual suspects along with some new faces were onboard making it a fun day out on the ocean which was much more inviting than NOAA would have us believe. There was a gentle swell as we headed out the inlet which turned into a 3 foot chop as we got further out. With the horizon looking like the teeth of the devil we stayed closer to shore and hooked into the Pinta. There was some surge on the top of the wreck but if you got down in the shadow of the wreck the conditions were pretty nice. The visibility was variable depending where on the wreck you were and I would say ranged anywhere from 10-20 feet, so not bad at all. With the water temperature still in the mid 50 it was a very nice dive.

My only dive on the Pinta prior to this was a few years ago when I signed up for a night dive to test dive my brand new canister light. In my excitement to try it out, I neglected to charge it and left my reel on the boat. Needless to say I didn’t see much of the Pinta that day, so even though a lot of people will groan at the mention of “Pinta” I was happy to be back for a proper tour. Today the Pinta is a much different wreck then it was (as I’ve been told) just a year ago. She has broken down significantly and many new areas are open for exploration including the engine spaces. I spent about half of my 60 minute bottom time breaking in Capt. Dan’s new pole spear (I only got 1 sea bass) and the other half poking around the wreck. I think only 1 lobster came on board, but I think it’s safe to say everyone was just happy to be out and sneak in a late season dive in the ocean.

More info on the Pinta

U-869

10-30-2007

With the democratic presidential debate taking place at Drexel I decided it would be in my best interests to avoid the zoo and take a break (plus my parking lot was closed) and take the opportunity to sneak out on a late season trip to the U-869 on the Independence with some friends.

I'm sure most wreck divers are familiar with the story of U-869 which lies in 230 fsw off the coast of New Jersey, but in case you have been stuck in space for the past 10 years be sure to check out the links below. Bill Trent and I were tasked with tying in which was a snap since Capt Dan dropped the shot literally right next to the gun mount which is just aft of the blast damage at the control room. The conditions on the wreck were pretty nice with at least 20-25 feet of dark visibility. We headed forward and poked around looking for some of the monster lobsters known to reside on this wreck. I watched as Bill reached for a lobster practically in the open next to a life boat canister when I realized he was about to grab a decent sized monkfish by the tail. For a second I almost let him land on it because I’m sure it would have been entertaining, but I had a change of heart and flashed him with my light, and he was able to take an alternate route to the bug and bag it. I moved forward and grabbed 2 “smaller” bugs in the 3-4 lb range. Coming back I spotted a huge claw through a hole in the top of a pipe. I managed to get my hand on the beast. I thought I had it by the carapace but it turned out it was its knuckle! After an epic battle, I extracted the 8.5 pound sea monster from the pipe and into the bag it went with the other 2. Now that I had dinner (for a while) covered I poked around the conning tower and control room area (which appears to have collapsed a bit since last year) before heading up. I really need to upgrade my camera system so I can take it on these deeper wrecks because there are some really spectacular shots to be had.

U-869.com

Hitler's Lost Sub (highly recommended)

Shadow Divers

The Last Dive

Stolt Dagali 10-21-2007

The Independence headed to the Stolt Sunday for some sweet late season dives. When the weather cooperates, this really is my favorite time of year to dive. We had a full boat of 10 customers +crew, including some folks that came down from Boston. The original destination was the Lillian, but with 6 foot ground swells the day before and this wreck’s proximity to the Mud Hole, Capt Dan opted for the Stolt which has enough relief to get up out of the bottom haze. There was some pea soup on the surface but below 40 or 50 feet it opened up to a solid 25 feet on top of the wreck where we were tied in at about 60 feet. The warm 65^o surface water was on the top of the wreck and down as far as 80 feet where the 55^oF bottom water kicked in. I heard reports of 5-10 feet of vis on the bottom, so we were glad we opted out of going to the Lillian.

In between dives Charlie relayed his story about the “biggest lobster he’s ever seen” and formulated an attack plan to go back for the bug with claws “bigger than his head”. With an assembled crew and a new “tickle stick” he went back down for it but was unsuccessful in bagging the beast. He did however get a nice 4-5 pounder and a few other bugs came up.

For as often as the Stolt gets hit I think I have only managed to get on her once before so I was looking forward to doing some more exploration. For my dive I dropped down into the engine room which is pretty wide open from the continued deterioration of the wreck. I erred on the side of caution and tied my line off since this would be my first time in this area. I took my time scanning the machinery and engine spaces for goodies and it wasn’t long before a came across a nice stainless and brass gauge with the glass face still intact but cracked. After some mild coaxing I managed to break the copper pipe it was attached to and into my goodie bag it went. I continued my journey in and down and hit about 120 fsw before turning and heading back. Back outside the wreck I spent some time poking around some of the opened up areas up top and was surprised at the number of brass backing plates still present. Just goes to show even the popular wrecks that get hit weekly during the summer still have goodies for the taking.

Weekend in Virginia Beach

Virginia Beach, VA – Oct 6-7 2007

Bedford and I left Friday afternoon to head down to Virginia Beach with the plan to check out a new wreck in 250fsw that Capt. JT had checked out with some fisherman earlier in the spring. We were quite excited to have the opportunity to dive a virgin wreck and the oppressive traffic on 95 did nothing but add to the anticipation of the trip. After everything was loaded and set up we left the dock on the Under Pressure around midnight for the ~6 hour trip out to the wreck site. I managed to catch a few z’s on the way out and woke up around sunrise just as we were pulling up on the target. JT had some concern that the “new” wreck might actually be the UB-148 which was part of the Billy Mitchell fleet sunk in aerial bombing tests in the summer of 1921. He had another set of numbers believed to be the UB-148 so we motored over to check it out to confirm if the new set of numbers was in fact a new wreck. The numbers he had for the UB-148 turned up nothing so it became apparent that we might end up diving the sub instead of a new wreck. We headed back to the mark and JT snagged it pretty quickly. The plan was for the tie in team to check what we were on, then let Bill and I know on our way down whether or not to pull the hook if we were on the sub so we could head somewhere else.

UC-97, UB-148, and UB-88

The seas had laid down a bit, but there were some good sized swells rolling through as we geared up in overcast conditions. We splashed and met up with Mark and Andrew who were already hanging and giving us the “cut it” signal meaning we were in fact on the UB-148. Heading down the line, the water made a sharp transition from blue 75^oF water to cooler darker water at about 80 feet as we passed through the thermocline. Approaching the wreck there was an unidentified structure sticking up 20 feet or so off the wreck that resembled a mast but it quickly became obvious that this was definitely a submarine. The top of the curved hull was ~230fsw and the bottom at about 255 fsw (I only dropped to 245 and there was at least 10 feet to the sand). The visibility was a dark 30-40 feet and the temperature 48^oF. I’m not sure where we were on the wreck but I followed the hull for a few minutes before following the top of the hull back towards the tie in. I noted several hatches still sealed tight and covered with long pink “grass” that was some kind of growth. In this grass and all over the wreck were chain dogfish sharks that you only see on these deeper wrecks. We cut our dive kind of short since we were going to be moving to another wreck for the afternoon dive and after pulling the hook out of a net/rope we began our ascent.

For the second dive we decided to dive the other new wreck that Capt JT first dive last year and dove again a few weeks ago thought to be the O.B Jennings torpedoed in WWI (Incidentally the Jennings was sunk by the U-140 which was also sunk with the Billy Mitchell fleet and now rests nearby). With reports of an intact tanker sitting upright on the bottom in 280fsw it didn’t take much arm twisting to convince us to check it out. We only had gas for 250’ but we were promised the wreck came as high as 235fsw. I had a nice afternoon nap as we motored over, and awoke as JT was getting back on board after attempting to tie in. Unfortunately the hook had fallen into one of the forward holds and he was unable to get it out as he didn’t have the gas to go to the ~300’ where the hook was. He promised we could see the high part from the line as the conditions were unbelievable with ~100’ of visibility. Mark and Andrew splashed first and were nice enough to pull the hook up to the starboard (high) side of the wreck at 250fsw for us. Heading down the line we were greeted by an unbelievable sight. At about 200’ I could see Mark and Andrew’s lights a good ways in the distance approaching us (they had scootered the whole wreck) and at 210’ the wreck came into view. The image of that huge ship listing to its port side and stretching into the distance as far as I could see will be burned into my mind for some time. The house on the bow was easily identifiable and there were service large holds heading aft. After admiring the view for a minute or two we touched down on the starboard railing at 250’. We headed forward and explored around the bow superstructure and counted several intact portholes. There was also a fire hose lying on the deck just aft of the house. The side door of the house looked inviting but it meant going deeper, and I had to reluctantly keep reminding myself that 250 was my limit on this dive. I took a couple minutes to inspect the hull on the bow looking for a name but didn’t see anything. Heading aft again, we following the starboard rail past the first hold and turned back as we got to the second hold. I spent some more time poking around the bow and noted some machinery on the deck. Time went by way too fast and we headed up at the 25 minute mark after pulling the hook. Deco was uneventful until the 20 foot stop. I was just relaxing on my long hang when I saw something coming up out of the deep blue. Before I knew it a pod of about 8 or so dolphins came buzzing right by me to add a little excitement. The icing on the cake was popping my head above the surface just in time to catch the sun dipping below the horizon and a beautiful sunset. This wreck really is in pristine condition and has only been dove a couple times, and probably one of the best wrecks I have ever dove. Definitely time for a rebreather!

Capt. Jay hooked up

Got it on board just as the other guys were finishing decompressing

90 pound tuna

Overnight Capt JT headed a bit inshore and hooked us into the wreck of the Ocean Venture which we dove in the morning. This freighter was torpedoed in WWII and is now in 160fsw. The visibility on the bottom was excellent and in the 50-60’ range. The first thing I saw when I got to the bottom was dog of a porthole sticking out of the sand. Not a bad start. A little digging revealed a pretty mangled porthole and without any tools I moved on. I had a nice relaxing dive poking around the busted up wreckage. I managed to find the “cathedral” that Capt JT had described to us. This huge box like structure rises probably at least 30 feet off the bottom and light comes through the top and sides giving it a cathedral like feeling and was indeed very cool.

After what felt like a quick hang we were on our way back to port. The seas had only improved as the weekend progressed and it was a relaxing trip home. You can’t ask for more when you can get in 3 great offshore dives in October.

Ocean Venture

CHECK OUT

Gary Gentile's Shipwrecks of Virginia

Capt JT's website

Lillian report

Independence II trip to the Lillian 9-9-2007

All week the weather was looking like I would miss my second try at getting on the Lillian this year. Capt Dan decided to call it at the dock and we were all glad he did because the seas were nearly flat with only some 2-3 foot long period swells for most of the day.

The visibility below the thermocline at 85 feet was about 25-30 feet and gave me the chance to spot the boilers and engines on the way down the line and get a little orientation. The wreck was wire dragged so the wreckage is very broken down and spread out over a huge area which is what makes this a great lobster wreck. The temp was 47 on the bottom where I hit a max depth of 152fsw. I headed over to the boilers and the huge engine which must come 30 feet off the bottom. There were some semi intact pieces that gave some relief to the otherwise low lying collapsed hull plates. In one of these little cubby holes I found what I think was a porthole (it was brass and round?). I had to take off my deco bottles and other gear to squeeze in but it wasn’t budging easily. I think it was the backside of the backing plate, so it must have still been attached and with not much room to work I pressed on. I found the edge of wreckage and swam up and down checking out the wreck and picking up the scallops that were in the sand. There were large winter flounder everywhere and they were literally bouncing off me as I landed on them while I was picking up scallops. I took a leisurely return route and spent some time poking around the engine and boilers again before heading up at the 40 minute mark.

I caught up with “go long” Rob at 20 feet and spent my hang admiring his catch. He had 2 goodie bags bulging with scallops and some good sized lobsters. Back on the boat it was time for lunch! While the other divers were enjoying their second dive I was enjoying fresh sushi. I am convinced there is nothing better than fresh caught scallops. I took a couple of fresh slices of pineapple and squeezed it into a zip-lock bag with the scallops and let it marinate on ice for some delicious pineapple scallop ceviche.

In addition to the pile of lobsters and scallops that came up Charlie found a nice brass cage lamp. The Lillian is another great NJ wreck and didn’t fail to produce.

Thanks to Mark Clark for all pictures.

SS Carolina trip report

SS Carolina trip report: Sept. 2-3 2007

The lifeboats were crowded, and a great wailing of women’s voices rose. There was praying and pleading. The negroes thought we were going to use them for target practice. –Dr. Frederick Körner boarding officer on the U-151 on the sinking of the SS Carolina

The SS Carolina was a 380’ passenger-freighter and the last of six ships sunk on “Black Sunday” by the U-151. The 3 steam vessels and 3 schooners sunk on June 2^nd, 1918 accounted for 14,518 tons of shipping lost. Today the Carolina is one of the best wreck dives off the New Jersey coast where she rests in 240 fsw. I first dove this wreck last year and have been dying to get back.

The weather pushed our departure time on the Independence II back to 0600 on Sunday morning and we cast off the dock just as the sun was peaking over the horizon. Once over the wreck it was nice to see blue water as Billy G. headed down the shot to tie in. He had us in no time and we quickly geared up to go diving. Capt. Dan had found a stash of china last year and was hoping to get back to his hotspot. I headed in with Dan Martinez and it was like we had just jumped into the Caribbean. Descending further we passed through a cloudy haze at the thermocline around 100’ but the visibility opened up again below about 120’. On the bottom we found we had been tied into the starboard side of the wreck in between the boilers and the stern. Touching down on the bottom (44^oF) we did a quick orientation before heading on our mission to try for a porthole we had found last year that we thought was loose. With the vis in the 50 foot range it didn’t take long to find it. I swam over a HUGE monkfish and instinctively went for my knife before deciding that KEEP SWIMMING was the appropriate action. We found the spot we were looking for and quickly went to work clearing debris out from the beautiful artifact and Danny whipped out his hammer but we soon found the backing plate was still in fact solidly attached to a hull plate. Not wanting to waste precious time I headed forward towards the boilers noting some china shards and brass pieces all over the place. I got to the engine and found a huge lobster that was easily 10-12 pounds tangled in fishing line. I grabbed it (I could barely hold it because my hand hardly went around the carapace) without really thinking but I decided to go for karma points and cut it free before turning back towards the anchor line. I managed to inadvertently find Capt Dan’s china hole without realizing it at the time. I still had a few minutes left so I decided to take off my stage bottles and give a shot of squeezing in. No dice. It was a very tight fit and I later found out that the wreck collapsing this year left a hull plate blocking most of the opening that was more open last year. It was still very impressive to see such a large pile of china. The deco was very pleasant above 70’ in the warm clear conditions and the time actually went quickly watching the schools of small skipjack tuna swimming around us.

Afterwards we discussed strategies for getting the china out. Billy, who was diving a sidemounted Prism (very cool rig) said he would give it a shot at getting stuck in there. Not only did he succeed in getting in the hole and bagging up a few intact dishes (he said most of them were broken) he also found a nice deadlight panel that he shot to the surface. He was also gracious enough to share his booty with the rest of us. The china from the hole was first class china with nice gold trim but does not have the New York and Porto Rico Steamship Company crest. John Bridge did find a broken vegetable dish with the crest.

The second dive was Monday morning and most divers were again productive. Danny brought up another plate (mostly intact) and a nice brass doorlock along with some tiles. Mark Dolphin got a piece of a porcelain sink that has a very cool nautical pattern on it. For my dive I went forward again and explored around the boilers which are an impressive sight in themselves (there are four). I cut my dive short so we could get out of dodge and tuck tail to the incoming weather. The line had been let slack so I could pull and it now had good scope that as luck would have it went forward down the centerline of the wreck. So as I ascended I got to see a good portion of the wreck which was very cool and a perfect end to another great trip.

Check out:

Black Sunday

Christina Young's pictures of the Carolina and more

Raiders of the Deep

Fishing for deadlights on the Carolina

Doria trip Pictures

Thanks to Mark Clark for all these pictures...

Dave O showed up late Saturday and slept on the roof...

Capt. Dan takes us to the wreck

Mark and Terry ready to tie in

After dive 1

Capt. Terry hard at work

Danny going to get his window

Mark and Terry with brass window

Back in Montauk after a fun and safe Doria trip

Andrea Doria

Andrea Doria on the Independence II July 29-30 2007

This past weekend I made the trek out to Montauk, NY with my dive buddy Dan Martinez to meet up with the Independence and dive the Andrea Doria for the first time. The Doria sits on her starboard side in ~250 fsw 100+ miles offshore. We departed in the early hours Sunday and arrived on the wreck around 0800. I woke up about 3 miles from the wreck and headed for the nearest rail. The seas were flat and it was a beautiful morning but in hindsight the fried jumbo softshell crab sandwich wasn’t the best choice for a late dinner. I didn’t let this deter my excitement and quickly pounded some Gatorade and water and got dressed to dive. When we splashed there was a slight current on the surface so we took it nice and easy getting down. We first spotted the strobe the tie-in team left on the anchor chain at ~130’ and hit the top (actually the port side) of the wreck at 195’. The visibility was quite nice (30’?) and it was an incredible sight seeing rows of intact portholes and large square windows with the glass intact stretching as far as my light would shine. All the reading about it can’t prepare you for how huge this wreck truly is. We clipped a strobe, did a quick systems check and dropped over the side of the wreck to explore.

Heading deeper it was evident how much the decks are collapsing. The promenade deck has collapsed leaving a “valley” between surrounding teak decking which lays in some areas like pick up sticks. Even with the deterioration of the wreck you can still get an idea of where you are and pick out identifying features. We dropped down (really up) another deck level and followed the “valley” down following the trail of brass window frames that are now lying loose in the debris. Danny picked up a chunk of tiles from the pool and we spent a little time reconnoitering some targets for a future dive and turned the dive after passing some life boat davits. Cruising back with the deck to our side like a huge wall it was possible to look up and see the top of the “Grand Dame” silhouetted in the emerald green hue of the ambient light from above. Back near the tie-in a came across a porthole that I thought was nearly loose and after giving it a couple good shakes decided it would be worth a shot on the second dive. One last look to note its location and it was time to go up after a great 1^st dive on the Andrea Doria.

For the second dive we weren’t playing around and I headed in armed with a bag of tools and Fat Max (thanks Mark) and Danny was following with the video camera in tow. I hit the wreck unclipped Fat Max and dropped over the side to my target. After messing around for a couple minutes I ascertained that this porthole wasn’t as ready to leave as I hoped. Also the way it was sitting I couldn’t get any good leverage on it (plus dropping my hammer into the wreck didn’t help). Not wanting to waste a good dive, I cut my losses and headed off to the glow of video lights to see what Danny was up to. On the way back I circled back to pick up Fat Max (I left him at the job site). Ascending up the deck I looked down and spotted my hammer in a crack and I thought I could reach it. I got my shoulder down and was reaching and realized it was just out of reach. I went to back out and nothing. I was stuck on something but couldn’t tell what. I signaled Danny to come over and check it out but he didn’t realize I was stuck so he just videotaped my misfortune. Finally I just pushed myself straight down and twisted and freed myself. My manifold must have just got lodged in a corner funny somehow. We headed up to an uneventful deco with no current.

After the second dive the mal de mer returned with a vengeance and I tried to get some rest up before the last dive in the morning. Alas it was not to be. If my impressive chum slick was any indication of my hydration level I figured it best to sit the last one out. However everyone else did the dive in perfect conditions and Danny was successful in returning for his brass window, as was Terry. Dan also said he spotted a wine bottle an intact glass out of reach inside a crack in the wreck near the tie in.

The conditions on this trip really were incredible. Both days the seas were flat and the current was minimal to none along with the good visibility on the wreck it was definitely a trip of a lifetime. Although more experienced Doria divers will say how much the wreck has changed and collapsed it is, but being a first timer and not knowing the difference it is still very impressive. The Andrea Doria might not be the “Mt Everest of shipwreck diving” anymore but I would say it is still a milestone dive for those willing to put in the effort to dive her.

Pictures to come...

For more info and pictures check out AUE's impressive virtual Doria museum