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

Ayuruoca - May 25, 2008

The pinch of gas prices was evident Sunday as the Independence II was the lone boat leaving the inlet in calm flat seas on a holiday weekend. This made a leisurely 14 mile cruise to the Mudhole where we hooked into the stern section of the Ayuruoca also known locally as the “Oil Wreck”. The Ayuruoca sits perfectly upright on the muddy bottom 170 feet below the Atlantic and if it weren’t for the prevailing poor conditions of the mudhole would be one (if not THE) best wrecks off the Jersey coast. The hook was thrown and Dave and Bill wasted no time getting us tied into a boom right next to the aft mast.

Hitting the water I was tempted to reach for my knife to help getting through the sludge on top which was thick as molasses and limited the visibility to a couple feet. Further down the visibility opened up and was quite clear which gave a nice view as I passed the top of the mast at 80 feet and the crow’s nest at 90 feet. Following the anemone carpeted mast down to the tie in at 140 feet about 10 feet off the main deck where the water was 45^oF. Down on the wreck the visibility dropped again depending on how close you got to the silty deck. High off the wreck it was probably a solid 20 feet but closer to the deck it was a very dark 10 feet. Still not bad for this wreck.

It took me a couple minutes to figure out we were at the aft mast and not the forward mast. I tied off my reel and headed off (turned out I was going forward) and found the dog house on deck and got oriented. I swam back along the port rail at around 150 feet to pay a visit to the beautiful helm at the aft steering station. As the rail started to round off at the fantail, I cut in to the steering station under the gun tub. I was confused for a minute thinking I went the wrong way somehow, but I finally realized I was indeed staring at the 7 foot teak and bronze helm. It has become nearly completely overgrown with colorful anemones with only hints of teak peaking through and the spokes barely discernable through the growth. I popped up to check out the deck gun and was pleased to find it still standing intact and picturesque as ever. I quickly swam over the decaying live shells and headed forward to the main break in the wreck. I took my time heading back and took some time poking my light into some rust holes that have opened up in the deck and noted some spots for future exploration. I got to play Jack and the bean stalk on the ascent as the anchor had wrapped around the mast which made for a cool way to end the dive. After a final goodbye to the lone bergall peeking out of the top of the mast at 80 feet I finished my deco in the pea soup which at least was ~10 degrees warmer than the bottom at a comfortable 55^oF.

The Oil Wreck

Ayuruoca pictures including the helm when it wasn't so covered

Dry Tortugas - Diving the Rhein and Araby Maid

May 18-22

Just got back from an excursion to Florida where I had a great time diving the M. S. Rhein (see latest issue of Wreck Diving Magazine) and the Araby Maid.

This was the first time traveling with the Meg and all told it went very smoothly. My overloaded backpack containing the head did decide to bust at the seams revealing the "DANGER this device can render you unconscious without warning" sticker just as the TSA official was carrying it to the inspection table. But other then that and the subsequent sirens and "STAND DOWN!" orders when something in my bag set off the bomb sniffer... all my gear managed to arrive in Florida.

The obligatory shot

The farewell committee

The 3 day trip was aboard the 100' Ultimate Getaway out of Ft. Myers, FL. After loading everyone and their gear we left Sunday and made the 12 hour journey to the Dry Tortugas which lie 100+ miles away and ~70 miles from the closest point of land, Key West. The first wreck we hit was the German freighter Rhein lying in 240 feet of warm clear water. Although the wreck is collapsing in areas it is surprisingly well intact for being down over 60 years. We were tied in midships and seeing the wreck come into view around 130 feet is breathtaking. The anchor line tracked past the kingspost which is still standing as if the wreck is letting you know its defiant heart refuses to fully give up the ghost. The goliath grouper sitting on top at 150 feet only adds to eye candy as we descend to the main deck still 60 feet below. We spent 3 dives exploring this incredible wreck and never made it aft of the engine room. The first two dives we spent exploring the intact bow which rises off the bottom 50+ feet. Around a winch and into the shadows passes a massive tail of a grouper that looks like something Paul Bunyon would have used for a broom letting you know you are not alone. The visibility makes you feel like you are flying along the 5th story of a 10 story building as you round the tip of the bow. We recovered one complete porthole that was laying loose from the interior of the focsle along with a camp lamp and some other brass light fixtures. Other portholes still remained in place on the walls with the storm covers clamped tight. On the last dive I ventured into the cavernous engine room which is now torn open due to the collapsing of the wreck. Water on the bottom was in the low 70s and deco seemed to fly by as we had all kinds of visitors in the 80 degree water near the surface including playful pods of dolphins that we could hear squeaking on nearly every dive, huge schools of barracudas, and on one dive a very interested 8 foot shark of unknown race. 3 dives was merely a teaser and not nearly enough time to fully appreciate the wreck of the Rhein.

Jim and Chris mix gas over the Rhein

Tuesday evening we bid auf wiedersehen to the Rhein and motored the 14 miles to the resting place of the steel hulled bark Araby Maid. The Maid was a change of pace as it was a much smaller and older wreck but spectacular in her own respect. We were greeted with the bow of this old girl and several "small" goliath grouper leaving the wreck in the wake of the bubble blowers. I spent a fair amount of time working my way from bow to stern in between decks. Rows of portholes line the wreck and require a fair amount of work to get which is why at 210 feet the closed ports are still denying the interior residents a cool breeze. I thought for a second I was the first person to get narked on 10/90 when out by the fallen forward mast I thought the wreck was trying to swim away. It turned out to be the biggest turtle I have ever seen giving me dirty looks over his shoulder for waking him up as he slowly picked up speed and disappeared in the distance. On the second dive I was planning on digging around inside. I quickly changed my mind when I saw there was a massive Goliath grouper in the way (along with a couple other "smaller" in his/her entourage). This was literally the biggest fish I have ever seen and decided not to find out the hard way if we could indeed share the somewhat cramped interior of the Araby Maid in harmony.






This was a great trip with great people. The Capt and crew of the Ultimate Getaway run a world class operation. Safety is number one with them and spare bottles were placed on the bottom, at 70 feet, and O2 at 20 feet. They had safety divers in the water to monitor divers and to recover unneeded bottles/gear and were just all around professional guys. Thanks to Jim at Fantasea Scuba for handling logistics of the trip including supplying bailout bottles and onboard gas. And of course thanks to Richie Kohler for running a great trip.

Next time I'll have some underwater shots as it looks like a new toy will be mine very shortly :-)

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