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North Sea Expedition 2009

Sunday, July 12th, 2009
An Exceptional Dive Platform

Last week, a few friends and I had the opportunity to join the North Sea Expedition 2009. This was an all CCR trip to visit some untouched wrecks. The trip was coordinated by a group of Belgium divers who were gracious enough to invite groups from the UK, parco gonfiabili and the USA. The dive platform was the Cdt. Fourcault, a 150 ft converted military vessel. The owner/captain, Pim, lives aboard with his lovely wife Angel. They hosted the entire group in their “home”.

At the beginning of the week Pim made a comment that the highlight of the week is not the diving, but the people. His words could not have been more accurate. I’m not down playing the diving, but it was overshadowed by the people we met. First, the Belgium dive group did a fantastic job of putting this trip together! I can not say enough about how smoothly and professionally this was carried out! Not only did they plan and coordinate the diving, but also supplies (tanks, weights, sorb …), transportation, and even dinner plans in town. Second, Pim and Angel were two of the best hosts anyone could ask for. Can you imagine having over 20 people staying in your house? Meeting, diving, and spending time with them was one of the trips highlights! They also had a great crew assembled for the trip. They all kept the ship and dive operations running smoothly, and safely all week. In addition they were fun and interesting people to meet and work with.

Group Dive Brief

In addition to our hosts, many other great divers were aboard for this trip. We spent long hours laughing and talking about trips, techniques, and gear: what works, what doesn’t. Just a great group to spend time with.

Now lets talk about the diving.

Dive operations were very different from here in the Northeast US. We have some areas around inlets and sounds (Block Island and Rode Island for example) where dive operations must be scheduled around the slack tides. In the North Sea, all dive operations seem to revolve around the tides. There is a dive window of around 2 hours. At the start of this window the current is dropping down to a manageable range. During the dive the current eventually stops completely, and reverses. The trick is to get back on the line before the current picks up and becomes unmanageable.

Drift to the shot

To operate in these conditions, divers use some different techniques than we use here. The ship does not anchor into the wreck. Prior to dive operations, shot lines are dropped on the wreck. Theses use large weights, and grapnels to drop quickly to the bottom, and hook the wreck. Next the dive vessel is positioned up current of the shot line. If possible, the vessel will anchor in this position. However, based on wind and current, this may not be possible. Divers then jump in and drift to the buoy on top of the shot, then descend to the wreck. The first divers secure the line into the wreck. Each diver attaches a marker to the line, and removes it when they head back up. The last diver unclips the line, and the entire group drifts with the shot line.

Giant stride!

A few techniques that are specific to the Cdt. Fourcault: Jumping into the water involves a 12-15 ft drop from the main deck. Now that’s a Giant stride! Any time divers are in the water, one of the three RIB is standing by to assist. At the end of the dive, the RIB can bring the diver back from the shot line. If conditions are right, the diver can simply drift back in the current. Once alongside the diver swims into a platform that is lifted up onto the main deck. No ladder!

Look Ma, no ladder!

This combination of techniques allows for operations in much heavier seas than we would normal consider locally. Since the sea conditions on the North Sea are normally rougher than we experience here, this is a necessity. The US divers were subjected to a trial by fire on the first dive. Jumping into 8 ft seas and swimming to a buoy barely visible between swells. Once there we descended to the wreck into a strong current. On the wreck we enjoyed searching about for artifacts, as well as seeing an abundance fish life different from our own. During the ascent, we hung on the line like flags in the wind. After the shot line was unclipped we then drifted along like plankton. Back on the surface, we bobbed about in the swells until, the RIB picked us up, one at a time. Attached to the back of the RIB is a foam raft (boogie board). The diver climbs aboard the raft, and the RIB heads back to the mother ship, diver in tow. In 8 ft seas, this is quite an experience.

Riding the Boogie Board

The Dives:

Again, I must say thanks to the Belgium dive team for their work in lining up a number of great dives. Many of the wrecks had not been dived before, and we all accepted that they may or may not be worth the effort. For the most part the risk was worth the reward. Conditions on the bottom varied from 10 ft to over 30 ft of visibility. One advantage of the strong tidal current, there is no thermocline. The water was 60 deg F from top to bottom.

Some of the wrecks were intact or nearly so. Others were debris fields in the sand. One wreck was completely engulfed in a sand bar, leaving only the bow, and small tips of debris visible. Others stood up prominently, providing large areas with easy penetration. Here inside the wrecks many artifacts were recovered. Portholes, plates, bottles, spoons, placards, even a telegraph, were all brought into the daylight for the first time in many years.

I’ll try to add more details on individual wrecks, but this post is long enough. Let me end by saying, it was a great trip! Good dives, good friends, good Belgium beer.

Click the image to see all the slides.
Video: How to board a boat Cdt. Fourcault style!

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Posted in Dive Log, Dive Travel, Technical Dives, U/W Photos | 4 Comments »

Fire coral: Beauty and the Burn

Wednesday, February 25th, 2009

My wife and I enjoy identifying the different fish, coals and critters (aka invertebrates) found on the reefs we visit.   I take pictures and video while diving, then in the evening we review them and try to identify any that we do not recognize.    In several video sequences, I captured the action of small fish darting in an out of leafy coral heads.  At the time I believed blades to be some form of encrusting coral.  Little did I know.

On closer inspection, there were small spines protruding from the surface.  This was fire coral!  After years of hearing divers warning me to watch out for fire coral, I finally found out what it looks like.   I assume the small fish I was observing were using the fire bouncy castle for sale coral for protection from predators as they darted in and out between the blades.

Fire coral is not actually coral, but a hydroid (more like a jellyfish).  The sharp calcified spines combined with the stinging cells called nematocysts present double trouble for anyone that comes in contact.   Bushing against fire coral can produce a painful sting which last for days.  Cutting your skin on fire coral can take long time to heal.  Since we strive to avoid contact with any coral, I’ve never been stung.  Hopefully these pictures will help others to avoid the burn.

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Posted in Dive Travel, North East Diving | 1 Comment »

Dive travel photos

Saturday, November 15th, 2008

Here are a few slide shows from some trips (mostly Caribbean). Many of the shots are found in the Dive Log, but again, I wanted to bring them together here.

Georgia, Oct 08
Turks and Caicos, Mar 05

Posted in Dive Travel, U/W Photos | No Comments »

The devil went down to Georgia, and brought a rebreather!

Monday, October 6th, 2008
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Prop and shaft

Due to a last minute cancellation, I was able to jump on Richie Kohler’s wreck exploration trip down to Savanna Georgia. Richie and Captain Dan were the crew for the trip. The passengers included Dive Marshall Bill and myself, along with a few of Richie’s students from Canada, and Arizona. The captain was a long time local fishing operator with a long list of hang numbers from 40’ to 300’.

Bill was driving down, and was kind enough to offer transportation of our gear. Since work has been nuts this last month, this allowed me a few extra days before getting underway. We met at the hotel on Friday night, and discussed the plans. We had an assortment of CCRs aboard, and a token OC diver to keep the sharks away.

In this area the slope of the bottom is very shallow, even 30 miles out the depth is only 100ft. Many of the numbers were in 40 – 80 ft. At that depth, decompression is not a consideration, and in 78 degree water, hypothermia is not either. The main issue getting back to the dive shop before it closes.

We loaded up the boat in the morning, and headed out towards Ossabaw Sound. The first set of number (known as secret spot 32) was not so secret. There was a local fishing tournament in progress, and the area was teaming with boats. One boat was anchored over the exact numbers. We moved far enough away to give the boat room, but still could see relief on the depth finder.  Richie dropped in to check it out. The ball started moving off then we saw the tell tail bubbles (never good). It turned out to be reef rather than a wreck. I was unaware that Georgia had reefs, but apparently they do, and this one had 20ft of relief. Personally, I would have jumped in to take some pictures, but the rest of the crew was looking for wrecks. The decision was made to head out for another set of numbers.

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Tied into … the anchor

To make a long story short, we hit a number of hangs before landing on a nice wreck in 45 ft of water. Of all things, Richie had us tied into the anchor which was located next to a large boiler. The wreck was covered in sponge, hard coral, and gorgonians. Navigation was easy in the 50’ visibility. Several rows of beams headed off  toward the bow. Obviously behind the boiler was the engine prop shaft, and prop. A large school of spadefish hung just above the wreck. Barracuda were here and there, often gathering into an ominous school of their own. Within the wreck, particularly the boilers were large grouper waiting for prey. My old friends the seabass were out and about, along with a few large fluke. It was odd to see them swimming around with angle fish, and trigger fish. I expected to see a few lionfish, but there were none to be found.

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An ominous looking school of baracuda

Swimming about, I found the other divers fanning in the sand near the boiler, engine and around the various wreck structures. When my camera flashed, Richie popped his head out of a cloud of silt with a brass valve in hand. Others held various pieces of porcelain and brass. I entertained myself behind the viewfinder.

Up north, we don’t often get to see wrecks with this amount of light and visibility. Shallow inshore wrecks have the light, but the vis is short. Offshore, deep wrecks have the vis, but there is little ambient light. This was a nice compromise, and I wanted to take advantage of it. The school of spadefish seemed willing to paint a picturesque background for most of the shots. The Barracuda also appeared willing to add to the shots subject matter. This was good, as the divers were too busy to model.

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A school of spadefish paint a backdrop

At the allotted time, we started up, and back to the dock. Plans were made for the next day. We cleaned our gear, and headed to bed. It had been a long day.

The offshore forecast was not cooperating, so the next morning we boarded the boat and headed north to Hilton Head. There was an inshore wreck there reported to be producing china and bottles. Upon arrival, Richie jumped in to tie us in. Again this was a shallow wreck at 30 ft with about 15 ft of relief. Had it been in the channel, it would have been a hazard to navigation. We let the other passengers clear the deck, then geared up and splashed.

According to Richie, we were tied into a winch at the bow. I’ll take his word for it, as I could not identify much. The visibility was varied anywhere from 2 feet to 2 inches. Inflatable Water Slide The skin of the ship was clear, as were the massive boilers and engine. I tried to find my way back to the props, but was unable to navigate clearly. I kept ending up back at the up line. I tried going along the skin of the ship, but kept finding myself in washouts in pitch black. (Pitch black, and 2 ft of vis is not my idea of fun.) Then I tried to go along the top of the vessel. Here there was light, and lots of spadefish. After passing the boilers, and what appeared to be the engine, I was be back over sand again.

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A toadfish I think

After the fourth attempt to find the stern, I heard the worst sound a diver can experience, the boats engines (never good). The engine pattern did not sound like a recall. Perhaps a diver had come up down current, and the boat had to go after him. This would mean that they would go off, then come back and shut down. I reeled in the line slowly heading back. By the time I reached the up line, it was clear that something was wrong. The engines had been running too long. It was also clear that there was no tension on the up-line.

I ascended to find the boat a short way off, the line had parted, and they were adrift. Once I was on the surface they threw me a line, which I quickly attached to the up-line, handed back up. I swam off and waited for the engines to shutdown. Once onboard, Dan explained the details of the incident.

Richie had used a Polypropylene (poly) line for the tie in rather than the standard nylon. Poly line has some advantages in price, and the fact that it floats. On the other hand it does not stretch like nylon, is not as abrasion resistant as nylon, and does not have the strength of nylon. Elastic stretch is good for an anchor line as it absorbs the stress of boat pitching up and down in the waves. In these rough conditions the line had overstressed and chaffed at the bow cleat, and snapped. Lesson learned.

The last few divers eventually appeared. They had varying degrees of success in the hunt for bottles and glassware. None had paid much attention to the sound of the engines.

We strapped down for the trip back to Georgia, and then broke out lunch and hops infused beverages. Richie presented an antique bottle to the captain, who mentioned mounting it with a plaque about “when the rebreathers came to town”.

With the weather picking up, Bill decided to head down to Ginny Springs for a few cave dives. some of the group decided to join him.  However, work was calling so Captain Dan and I opted to head home. Back to those NJ wrecks.

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Posted in Dive Log, Dive Travel | 2 Comments »

Monterey: kelp, seals, otters, nudibranchs and some interesting students

Friday, June 6th, 2008

After a few false starts, and scheduling conflicts, I finally hooked up with Alan Studley for some training out in Monterey California.   This time my wonderful wife was able to join me for the trip.   I booked what I hoped was a nice room for the week.  We packed our bags along with my rebreather and drysuit, and headed out west.  The trip out was long, but uneventful.  When we left NJ, the weather was warm and sunny.  Upon arrival, we were met by the typical So Cal ocean breeze.  The temp had dropped 20 degrees, and I was digging my jacket out of the luggage.   Although it was 10pm, we were in a desperate search of food.  The airlines have now gone to a “pay as you go” meal program, and there was no food for half of the plane.   Fortunately the restaurant at the hotel was open.  We got a light bite to eat, then headed to bed.

The next morning was a wonderful surprise.   We woke to find a few rays of light sneaking between the curtains.  The first order of business was to acquire necessary caffeinated beverages.   Coffee, hot, and lots of it!  Room service!!!!

While we sipped the life giving liquid, we opened up those curtains to check out the view.   As it turns out, our room overlooked Monterey Bay.  Below us was a kelp bed, to the right was the marina.  While the coffee infused new life into our tired frames, we looked out over the bay.  We both commented that it was a shame that we did not bring our binoculars.   While pouring another cup, I noticed a pair of binoculars sitting on the table.  Nice touch!   Armed with binoculars and my wife’s digital camera, we sipped our coffee, and watched the wild life.

Off in the distance we could hear the calls of sea lions.  The marina is protected by a stone breakwater that they have now claimed as home. I would guess that there are over a hundred at a time on this structure alone.

We noticed an object in the kelp bed below us.  On closer inspection it appeared to be the floating remains of an otter.  Given the boat traffic in and out of the marina, I assumed it had been hurt, then drifted over from the channel, and caught in the kelp.   Soon, I was able to pick out what appeared to be a few other otters.  Much to my surprise (and embarrassment) they were all alive.  I was not aware that otters actually slept in the water (a feat I’ve yet to master).   Sea lions and harbor seals climb out of the water to warm themselves, and I assume to sleep.  Apparently otters do not.  Obviously, I need to watch the discovery channel more often.  Once they started moving about it became clear that this was a whole family with several small babies in the group.  I was really starting to regret my decision to leave the video camera at home!

Along with the seals, sea lions, and otters, we also watched the birds diving under the kelp, and bringing up what appeared to be crabs.  They brought them back to their nests in an abandoned building down the shore line a bit.  The event was of particular interest since they did not fly directly from one point to the other.   Instead they took off heading out into the bay, then made a large turn heading back to the shore.   I’m guessing they needed to head into the wind to acquire lift, then they headed home once they had the necessary speed.  (Sea birds are notoriously bad fliers).

As a crescendo to our morning wild life experience, a large pod of dolphins came by just beyond the kelp.  They appeared to be chasing some form of prey towards the shore.  We watched for a few minutes as they churned up the surface in the pursuit.  We’ve only been here for a few hours, and I’m already amazed at the diversity of life.

I placed a call to Alan, and found that the class that was scheduled to start in the evening was moved to the next morning.   That meant that the rest of the day was free, so we spent the time touring the town.   We stopped in the local aquarium, the marina, and selected spots along the water.   I found the store front of Backscatter.com who’s shop was just a few blocks from our hotel.  It was a beautiful day, and we made the best of it.

Wednesday morning, I joined Alan at our classroom which was actually a well appointed garage of one of the students.  Looking around I could see several under water camera rigs, and what appeared to be video equipment.  We set up a sport and classic KISS and prepared for class. Alan and I took turns walking through the operation and setup of each unit.  Alan also showed me some of the upgrades available in the new units. We covered the operational fundamentals of each, and went about preparing them for the next days dives.

In the morning we packed our gear and headed out for the dives.  The offshore winds had picked up a bit.  We tried to head out around Monterey, but the chop was a bit much for our little boats.   Instead we set anchor next to the marina’s breakwater.  After our standard preparation, we splashed and headed down the anchor line.

Once on the bottom, I was again amazed at the diversity of life.  Here were tube anemone standing 6 inches out of the silty bottom. Their tentacles spanned another 6 inches.  Large colorful nudibranch slid along the bottom.  Here and there were huge sun starfish, over 2 feet across. At one point we could hear the sea lions above us so loudly that I was sure they were barking at us.  I was then startled to see one swim right between me and my buddy.  Looking up there was a group of them swimming in concert above us in a ballet of motion.  At first I was surprised at the lack of fish life, but with all those sea lions and seals, they probably don’t have much of a chance.

In the midst of all this, I’m supposed to conduct a class?   Along the way I signaled divers to perform various drills (hypoxia, hyperoxia, hypercapnia …)   Each was performed well, and we continued along the dive.   I must point out at this time that my buddy/student was the owner of all the previously mentioned camera equipment, and I later found out, is an accomplished photographer.   As such he had the unnerving habit of stopping and looking at objects underwater.   While doing this, he stopped and remained completely motionless.  For any of you considering CCR, do not do this during class!  It scares the shit out of your instructor!

During our surface interval we headed into the marina.  Here Alan had previously noticed an adult otter and baby that had taken up home in one of the slips.   We were able to pass a few feet away on our way to the dock.  (Damn, no camera again.)  The second dive went much like the first: a few more skills, and a lot more swimming.

We all survived the day, and headed back to clean out our rigs, and get ready for the next day.  I tried to casually mention the “hang motionless” issue, and got a few chuckles in response.  At least every understood my concern.  Drills had gone well, and it was just a matter of getting everyone comfortable with the units.  We agreed on a plan for the next day, and headed back to the hotel.   My wife had selected a great restaurant for dinner, then we turned in after a long day.

We were up and at them early again.  The marine forecast did not improve, so we headed back to the break water.   Alan had the skinny on a secret wreck, a few hundred feet off the breakwater.  That was our destination. We all suited up, and jumped in.  While I was helping everyone get ready, my student/buddy had hit the water a few moments before me.  When I rolled in and looked for him, he was nowhere to be found.  Again the panic of loosing a student runs through my head.  Alan suggest we descend the anchor line, and guess who’s at the bottom?  Damn, he’s going to be the death of me.  Don’t get me wrong, he’s an excellent  diver.  Its just the initial shock factor of not knowing where he was.

This dive Alan brought his camera.  I wish I had mine!  During the surface discussion, I found that the nudibranchs prey on the tube anemones. During this dive we got to see this in action.  It was quite the sight, and again I need more time on the discovery channel.   Alan was able to get pictures, and we watched as the slow mo action played out.

We took bearings and headed out to the secret wreck.  It turned out to be a good swim, and again we did some drills along the way.  The wreck appeared to be an old wooden barge, broken up on the bottom.  Hidden between the planks were small groups of fish.   I guess we were far enough away from the sea lions for the fish to survive.   Alan got some more shots, then we headed back.

The last few drills were the hardest.  I had briefed them in detail on the surface, but the execution takes some thought.  The frustration factor was climbing, but by the time we hit the surface, everyone was done the class with flying colors!  We cleaned our gear and debriefed for the the week.

My wife and I packed our bags and headed home.  I had spent the week diving, and she had spent the week sightseeing, and stopping at various saunas along the California coast.

Posted in Dive Log, Dive Travel, Instruction, Training | No Comments »

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