Go deep, stay long

The Viscya, September 10, 05

Wake up campers, it’s time to dive.

Another bright sunny morning heading down to Barnegat Light. The seas had been high all week, so we were worried about the visibility. Roger agreed to head a little further off shore and hit the Viscya.

The Viscya was a steel steam ship sunk in an collision with the Hargraves. Now she’s a large field of debris on the bottom. There are four large boilers and a large engine in the center of the wreck. Many steel ribs and plates can be seen with good relief for fish and lobster to hide.

We had the usual 50ft of visibility on the surface, but the bottom was down to 10 ft. This varied from place to place on the bouncy castle for sale wreck. Tropical storm Nate was off the coast generating some swell. Unfortunately this translates to surge on the bottom. Swimming was a bit of a challenge fighting to stay off the wreck in the surge, but close enough to see.

A good time was had by all, and plenty of fluke came up. We did our second dive right there, and grabbed some more fluke and seabass.

The Dry Dock, August 05

The surface interval

Saturday morning we were blown out. Sunday started as a rather rough ride out, but we were able to stay close enough inshore to keep the waves down in the 2-4 range. Most of the month we have enjoyed clear water on the surface with varying vis below the thermocline. Today was just the opposite. The surface vis was in the 2-4 foot range, and the bottom was 10-20.

Roger tied into the wreck and Pat and I jumped in to do some fishing. Hitting the water and not being able to see the line was quite a shock. As we descended the water got dark very quickly. Not a good day to forget my good flashlight. I turned on my backup flashlight, and tied off my reel. Inflatable Water Slide The Dry Dock is an old wooden wreck with lots of holes for fish to hide. It is not big, but I wanted to make sure Pat felt comfortable with the return route.

Old Barnie

We started making a sweep for fluke, and ran into a few right away. They were mostly hiding under the sand between the ribs of the wreck. After bagging a couple, Pat started to get cold, so I took her back to the anchor. At this point I switched to Seabass mode. After getting a few I headed back up myself.

The second dive was much like the first. Get a few Fluke before the other divers show up, then go for Seabass. Pat and I had switched flashlights, so I was able to see much better.

By the trip home, the waves had settled down quite a bit. Picturesque clouds had formed over the beach, and we got a few nice shots of the lighthouse on the way in.