Go deep, stay long

August 5 dive to the Stolt Dagali

Independence II pulls up to the dock

Summary:
Saturday 8/5 Trip on the Independence II to the Stolt. The surface temp was 75+ while the bottom was 50. Highlights include: 30ft of visibility, lobster, scallops, mussels, mermaids and delivery service???? Something’s not right!

Details:
The crew from Adventure Scuba of Conshohocken, PA headed out on the Independence II to the Stolt Dagali. Always looking to clock some more time on my KISS rebreather, I joined the trip.

When we arrived at the wreck, there was a dive boat already tied in. Since their group was finishing up their first dive, they offered to share the wreck. The timing worked out well as they would be doing their surface interval while we dove and vise versa. Bill Trent was crew this day. Since he and I have buddied up on previous dives, I was planning to jump in with him, help tie, then do our dive. With the other boat in place, the plan changed. We could not drop a line, so Bill swam the chain down the other boats line. Divers coming up gave us quite a puzzled look as we went by. Bill was Open Circuit and I was CCR, so he could drop down the line much quicker than I could. I was really no help at all. He quickly found a spot to tie in, as I was still getting neutral. I arrived just in time to send up the signal.

We headed down to the sand to look around. Winter flounder where so thick you could not swim more than a foot or two without scaring one away. Some were so large, I thought they were fluke. Unfortunately they stirred up the bottom as they left. Lobsters were abundant, and even I was able to get my hands on a few. Mine were on the short side though so I left them to scurry back to their holes. Bill had a few nice bugs in his bag, and was now fighting with a big one, deep under the wreck.Inflatable Water Slide I could not see him through the silt, but on occasion I caught a glimpse of the glow of his bright 21 watt HID. Eventually he was the victor. He emerged from the silt and gave the signal to head up. We did not have a scale, but I’d guess the bug was in excess of 3lb.

Some of our divers were just headed down as we went up the line . Only the crew was left on the boat as we arrived. Before long, bikini clad women started swimming by the boat. Is this normal on your dive trips? As it turned out, the other boat was chartered by an all women dive group out of New York. Several members of the group knew Captain Dan and Captain Jay, and have been on the Independence before. With the boats only 30 some feet apart, and the water temp near 80, they decided to stop over to say hi.

The divers on our boat were all men, and the boats were tied into the wreck close together. You can imagine the confusion as our divers climbed up the ladder to see women aboard. After the first double take, many had to check the large letters on the stern, clearly spelling out “Independence II”. Yup, this is the right boat.

Shortly the other boat started up their grill and we were awash with the smell of barbecue. More and more women stopped by mentioning that there was a huge spread of food aboard, far too much for them to finish. Before long the ladies graciously stopped back with some of the leftovers: ribs, chicken, salsa, chips, salad and finally margaritas all wrapped in Ziploc bags. This was the first time I’ve seen food delivered on the Stolt. It was all quite tasty, and after smelling the barbecue for the last hour, we were getting very hungry. The margaritas would have to wait for the end of the second dive.

We headed in for a quick dive, and then to pull the hook. Dave had seen a large lobster in a pipe below our line. Bill and I looked for it, but with no luck. We circled around the side of the wreck into the current. Bill picked up a few more lobster before we headed up to untie. I tried to provide some assistance this time by getting some slack on the line. A few seconds latter and we were flying over the bottom. We scurried up, did our hang, and boarded the boat. We were quickly on our way back from one of the more memorable diving days.

Thanks, ladies for stopping by. It was good to meet you, and the food was great. Whoever made those ribs, they were fantastic! This is one diving day we’ll be talked about for a while.

Dive Report for the Dina Dee II on June 3,06

52 degree and incredible Vis!

The first stop on this weekend’s dive aboard the Dina Dee II was to the Off-shore Tug. The wreck lies in 90 ft of water off Barnegat Light. It is a broken up steel wreck with a mid sized boiler and engine. The bow and stern protrude from the sand, and there are deck plates poking out here and there.

While the skies were overcast, there was plenty of light as we approached the bottom. We could see the beacon at 40-50 ft. Soon we could see clam shells on the sand. When we hit the bottom, we could see the engine from the bow where the anchor line was tied in. Vis had to be in the 40-50 ft range! Seabass and Tog were all over the engine and boiler. Everywhere a piece of wreckage jutted out of the sand, fish would congregate. Lobsters were abundant, but were either small or had eggs. A couple legal ones did come up, but not in my bag. A few winter flounder swam by taunting me as if they know they are out of season.

I entertained myself with the enjoyable vis bouncy castle for sale and large Seabass population. Bottom time goes quickly at that depth, and before long we headed back to the line. One last Seabass made the mistake of peeking out from under the anchor as we headed up. On the safety stop a few dog fish swam over to check out the equipment lines and divers. While they are common up north, I have not seen them off Barnegat Light before.

On the second dive, we went to the Inshore Tug. While only a few miles away, the vis dropped significantly. From the surface down to 30 ft the water was filled with larval critters. They blocked of much of the light on the bottom. Once on the bottom the vis was about 20 ft. The wreck is a grouping of wooden pieces strewn about the sea floor. It has been broken up over the years by clam dredges. Unless you know your way around, a reel is required even in great vis. We hopped from piece to piece. Some were covered with Seabass, and lobster here and there. Dog fish swam about on the bottom here, sometimes a little too close. After coaxing a few Seabass into my catch bag, we headed back to the boat.

Back on the boat, several of the group were surprised I did not get the large Monkfish that was on the one piece. Honestly, I just didn’t see it. The captains breathed a sigh of relief at the news. We got underway as the sun finally started to come out. Another great day of diving!

Dive Report for the Dina Dee II on May 21 06

After the early morning shock from the alarm clock, I dragged myself over to my computer to check the marine forecast. The night before NOAA was calling for 2-4 ft seas, but the NOAA data buoys were showing 6 ft. The forecast had changed overnight, and was now calling for 3-5 ft, and the buoys were still showing 6 ft. I jumped in the car expecting to be blown out at the dock.

We had a full boat, and Captain Roger figured we would poke our nose out and see what the conditions were like. With a south wind, the conditions would be immediately apparent. It was a little lumpy, but not the 6 ft I was expecting. There was an underlying swell around 4 ft with some small chop on top. We agreed the conditions were acceptable, and continued our trip to the San Saba (aka Magnolia).

Roger dropped the hook right next to the prop shaft about 30 ft from the boilers. A quick wrap around the shaft, and the ball was on its way. The vis was in the 20 ft range with a temperature of 50 deg at 80 ft and 53 on the surface. There was enough light to see by once your eyes adjusted. I headed off down the shaft toward the bow.

Seabass were darting in and out of the wreck, and several large Tog were nibbling on the growth encrusting it. As usual Cunners were omnipresent. Some would swim right up to my mask. I was a little fearful of them nipping at my only exposed skin, my lips. After bagging a few large Seabass, and one of the larger Tog, I figured I’d just look around. By this point I was off the shaft, and running a reel which made it difficult to hold a pole spear.

In several places there were piles of rusted screws which appeared to have been contained in boxes. The hardwood was still in the sand around the pile. I kept hoping bouncy castle for sale they were Magnolia bars for which the wreck was nicknamed. There are several high points about the wreck with many hull plates lying in the sand. Small lobster where hiding in a few holes. One big one was seen, but found to have eggs. Several regulation size lobsters came up, but not in my bag.

Back on the boat, several divers mentioned large Seabass around the boilers. They also mentioned a gill net snagged in that area. Since I did not see the boilers on the first dive, I headed that way on the second dive. There were large schools of Cunners around the top of the boiler along with several large Tog nibbling away. I didn’t see the Seabass on the boiler, or the gill net for that matter, but did find a raised deck plate with large Seabass hiding beneath. One made the mistake of poking it’s nose out and finding its way into my bag. Several others cowering inside, but I was unable to get a clear shot.

When I got back onboard Captain Bob was getting ready to do his dive and pull the hook. He just took a short look around, grabbed a lobster or two, then popped the hook. Heading back the seas had calmed down a bit with indications that Sunday would be an even better dive.

Pinta 02, 2006

Independence II pulling in.

Summary:

It’s great to be back in the water! We headed out on the Independence II with a full complement of passengers and crew for a Season Opener Dive on the Pinta. Vis was in the 20ft range. The bottom temp was 42. The surface temp was 44. The sky was clear, warm, and sunny.

Details:

Inland on Saturday night, the wind died down around dinner time. Driving down to the marina on Sunday morning, there was not a breath of air. While the forecast was for 4-6 over night, dropping to 2-4 by Sunday afternoon, I was anticipating much better. When we arrived at the shore, there was a strong north west wind blowing with white caps on the bay. Not a good sign, but Capt Dan opted to take a peek and see how the conditions were. This was a good call as the ocean had only 3-5 foot of chop with a southeast swell. By the time we tied in, the chop was already dying down. By the surface interval we were in 2-4. The residual swell from the southeast was still holding.

Like most Season Openers, people had the standard issues: missing hoses, overhauled gear, leaking o-rings and the ever popular dry suit shrinkage. Most were easily worked out as we all tried to get back into our regiments of donning gear. I had new seals in my suit, so I was just hoping to stay dry. One by one we hit the water, and you could hear people exclaim “boy that water is warm”, or something like that. On the way out Capt Dan told us the sensors showed a 44 deg surface temp. My log from last year indicated 38 degrees in May. 44 degrees would be warm by comparison, but the bottom may be cooler. Soon the report came back from Terry that it was 42 on the bottom. Not bad for April 2.

This was my first time to the Pinta. She is about 200ft long on a sandy bottom in 85 ft of water just south west of the mud hole. She went down in 1963 after a collision with the freighter City of Perth. The Pinta was struck forward of the bridge which looks to have cut her in two, or nearly so. Both sections lie on the port side about 30 ft apart. The cargo of hard wood boards is now strewn across the sea floor.

Terry tied us into the aft section right at the break in the hull making navigation easy. Arriving on the wreck, I tried to tie of my reel, but it jammed immediately. This was not an issue since there were other lines headed off in all directions. Being an intact wreck, I was quickly able to orient myself and find the bow and stern.

The wooden cargo seems to be holing up better than the ships steel hull. Looking at the wood. there did not seem to be much breakdown or marine growth. My first thought was that someone had recently dumped planks onto this wreck. Only after I surfaced and talked to the Capt Jay did I find out that this had been the ships cargo. All of the crevices must make great hiding places for fish and lobster.

The hull is not holding up as well. There has some gaping holes making penetration easy. Most of the upper structure was covered with a flowing array of anemones and hydroids. They were grouped in matching colors almost giving a camouflage look to the hull. Other patches of the hull appear to have a fresh coating of mussels. Groupings of larger mussels appear here and there lower on the wreck. In the debris of the stern section there appears to be the engine complete with valve springs. One mast still juts out of the bow section horizontal to the sand. This is also covered with anemones and mussels. Here and there you find a rope or line hanging from the wreck with masses of mussels encrusting it. I was tempted to bring some home, but figured mussels inshore would not have the best flavor.

After two passes around the wreck, the cold got to my hands, so we headed for the line (bring your drygloves next time dummy). The sun’s heat was welcome over the surface interval. Wet black drysuits were steaming in the warmth. Those in the know turned their gloves and hoods inside out to dry. While we sat soaked up the sun, Capt Dan told us of all the great trips they are planning for the year. We talked about BTS and the Doria displays. Many stories were exchanged before we suited up for the next dive.

The seas were even calmer now maybe 1-2ft. There were still swells that caused some surge on the bottom. There seemed to be more light on the bottom this time, and more fish about. Swimming about the wreck we saw mostly Cunners. In the washout by the bow there was a group of small Ling. I caught a glimpse of one small Tog in the stern section. Here and there were signs of excavation, but no good size lobster were found. Large hermit crabs and Sea Ravens could be seen here and there. After about 40 minutes the cold got to my hands again, so we headed up. At least I stayed dry!

Terry quickly pulled the line, and we headed back to shore. A great day to dive!