WOW! What a Dive!

October 12th, 2008

WOW!   Today’s dive has to go down as one of my top 10 most FANTASTIC dives.  Why?   Where to begin?   Conditions:  50 + ft of visibility.  Over 60 degrees on the bottom. Lots of ambient light. Fish almost performing for our entertainment.

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The bow of the Mohawk

The Independence II headed out for a day of diving.  We decided to head for the Mohawk.   Personally, I have not been there in a while, and was looking forward to seeing the changes in the wreck.   Back when Capt Tom had the Dina Dee II up in Point Pleasant, I used to get visit this wreck regularly.   Today I saw her as never before.

On the way out the we faced a stiff wind from the northeast.   NOAA was calling for 10-15, but it felt more like 20.  The Indy made short work of the chop, and we were on the wreck quickly.   Since I had come down with a cold earlier this week I asked Brandon (aka BAM, aka Dr, Capt, McNasty, aka …)  if he could tie in.  My ears were clear, but I was not sure how quickly I could descend. Brandon agreed, and had us tied in quickly.  After getting the passengers in the water, I geared up.   Just before jumping in, Brandon surfaced and reported on the excellent conditions.

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The Bridge stands off the bottom surrounded by fish life.

Just as he had described, the wreck came into view at 40 ft.  I’ve been on this wreck a dozen times, but never like this!   We were tied into the stern, and I could see the divers off to toward the bow.  There was a very slight current on the bottom, so I opted to head down the starboard (leeward) side.

The fish were hanging out waiting for their for their pictures to be taken.   It was clear that Fluke season was over, because they were everywhere!   Within a few feet bouncy castle for sale of the anchor was a huge doormat with three others along side. (yes it’s fluke spawning season.)   Cunners, sea bass, and tog were everywhere.  Juveniles were about, and bait fish were swimming overhead.  Even a butterfly fish made an appearance.

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Diver passes by the a deck winch

Evidence of the wrecks cargo was evident everywhere. Engines, tires and transmissions were clearly visible among the deck plates.  The ships winches and gear were also clearly visible.  Part of the bridge superstructure still stands behind the prominent bow.

After a great dive I checked both computers to confirm two hours on the wreck.  It was time to head up.  The passengers had finished their dives, surface interval, and were now on dive two.  Brandon had joined me for the last part of my dive, and we decided that I’d pull.

When everyone was on the way up, I jumped in and asked the last diver how much time he would need to hang.  Five minutes.   Dropping down, the wreck quickly came into view again.  I hovered at 60 ft and swam out a little way over the wreck.  Hanging there I was able to determine the structure of the wreck.  How the deck plates gave way to ribs and hull.   It was a wide angle view I’ve never had of this wreck.  I can only equate it to now being able to tell the forest from the trees.

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Engine, transmission and tires from the cargo

There were a few minutes until the last diver would be done his hang, and this view was proving very educational.  The lesson was interrupted when I was startled by a VERY large sunfish. I’m guessing it was between 5 and 6 ft from fin tip to fin tip.  It swam right in front of me, less than 10 ft away.  I’ve seen these fish on the surface, but not on the wreck.  The big eye was definitely watching my movements which I kept to a minimum.  Slowly it swam by, then off into the distance as I regretted not having my camera.

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Deck Gear

I turned my attention back to the wreck, and checked the time.  3 minutes left.   Shortly I was again startled by the large sunfish.  This time it was a bit closer, again passing by very slowly, watching my every movement.  Back to the wreck.    The next pass it became apparent that there were two sunfish of equal size.  I’d never seen them in groups, but there they were. Time was up, and it was time to pull the hook.

During the task I looked up to see three sunfish lined up in formation passing within a few feet of me.   All I could figure was that they knew I didn’t have my camera, and were punishing me!   When I boarded the boat and told the story, Brandon reported that they had also seen sunfish on the surface.  Given 80 ft of depth, they probably were not the same ones, and must be traveling as a school.

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Brandon with gear in tow

We packed up and headed back to port.  A great day of diving under FANTASTIC conditions.   Personally I did not want to leave.  With these condition, who wants to end the dive?

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

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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A few items seen this year on Independence II

September 16th, 2008

Justin’s tile and valve from the Stolt.

Mark and Dan with porthole from the Oil wreck

BAM’s bottles from the Immaculata.

Rob brings back a memento from the Norness.

Mark and Terry with a window from the Andrea Doria

BAM’s porthole from the Oil Wreck.

Dave, Mark and a heavy brass valve from the Pinta.

Those are just the ones with pictures.

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Lillian and Arundo on the Independence II

September 14th, 2008

The Mud Hole!  Always known for bad vis, and difficult conditions.   Today the intrepid divers of Adventure Scuba had the charter, and we headed out for the wreck of the Lillian.  For those of you familiar with South Jersey diving, this is not the Southern Lillian.   This is the real thing.

The Lillian was as US freighter sunk in 1939 after a collision with much larger freighter the Wiegand.  The wrecks is in 150 ft of water about 23 miles from the Manasquan inlet.  Given the distance and the depth, she is not hit frequently.  Given that she is in the outlet of the mud hole, the viability is often poor.  Today was the exception!

We left the inlet with the knowledge that the conditions were forecast to degrade over the course of the day.   The plan was for one dive on the Lillian, then go in shore and hit the Arundo, in 140 ft just north of the mud hole.  The conditions on the way out were favorable, and we made good time.   I took the watch most of the way letting the rest of the crew sleep.   Since I had students today, I knew I could not tie in, so it was the least I could do.   When we hit the Lillian, the waves were 3-4, but the winds were 15+.  This was going to built, but not too much yet.  When Danny jumped in to tie, we could see that the surface conditions were clear, and the sun was clear above us.

Since Captain Dan wanted to jump in later, I went in right away.  We did our checks, and hit the water as soon as the pool was open.  I did my checks and waited at 20 ft.Inflatable Water Slide We did our buddy checks and bubble checks, then quickly dropped down the line.  At 70 ft we felt the thermocline, and the vis dropped off slightly.  I switched my light on, and continued to drop.

We hit the bottom in 150 ft of water.  I was AMAZED at the vis.  We had over 30 ft of of vis with reasonable ambient light.  This was astounding to me.  Every other trip here was in 10 ft of dark viability.  I signaled Kevin to tie off a reel (practice and all).   Then we headed off along the wreck.  Most of what we saw was deckplates, and broken machinery.  My intent was to take a tour of the wreck rather than look for anything in particular.   In retrospect they would have been happy just getting scallops.

We slowly covered the top of the wreck looking in each nook, taking time to understand what we were seeing.  Along the way I stopped to pointed out a few lobsters, scallops, and a rather large monkfish.  I also observed a few open holes where the portholes had been removed.

Time grew short,  or perhaps the better statement is the gas supply dwindled, and we turned on queue.   On the way back I noticed from the empty catch bags, that neither one had capitalized on my birddoging.  We returned to the anchor, and headed up at the designated time.

Decompression was cool at first.  I’ve become accustom to the 48 degrees we’ve enjoyed on the bottom since early August.  Now the 46 degrees seems cool by comparison.  The thermocline came into play quickly, as the vis expanded to over 100ft.  We could now see the entire hull of the Indy above us while we finished our deco in comfort.

While my students failed in the hunter gatherer portion of the class, many of the other passengers had recovered large quantities of scallops and lobster.  There were also reported sightings of portholes, boilers, and assorted artifacts.   I obviously had not made it clear that bribing your instructor with food goes a long toward passing!

Once on the surface, we cleaned scallops and admired lobster, Captain Dan jumped in and did his dive.  He pulled the hook, and Bill maneuvered to pick him up.   Once up, he also commented on the amazing vis.  I’ve only been here a few time, but his reaction speaks volumes.   This was an exceptional day on the Lillian.

With the winds picking up, we headed inshore to the Arundo for our second dive.  The Arundo is the wreck of a Freighter, sunk in 1942 by the U-136.  She sank on the north side of the mud hole in 140 ft of water.  Among other cargo, she was carrying vehicles (jeeps and trucks) as well as a pair of locomotives.  Just for the artifact divers, she was carrying 5000 cases of Canadian beer. (Yup, I’ve got a few bottles.)

When we tied in, I could tell that the wind and current were not aligned.   When I splashed, I was quickly drawn under the boat, as the current was from port to starboard.   While not strong, it’s never comforting to hang a few feet under the large props of the Indy.

Again, once our checks were complete, we dropped down through the clear surface water down to the wreck of the Arundo.  From previous experience, the vis is at best 20 ft.   Today was about average.   We hit the bottom, and I instructed Dave to tie off this time.  During the ride in, they had expressed an interest in the hunter gather portion of the class.  This was not the best wreck for the test, but here goes.   We swam out looking for some sort of quarry.  I’ve never found that many scallops on this wreck, so my concentration was on lobster.  Investigations only showed a few tiny specimens.  Peering under each plate only exposed a large population of eel-pouts.

I tried my best to find some way for my students to prove themselves, but other than a few large tog, there was not much available.   At one point I turned to see them collecting the large mussels connected here and there to the wreck.   Some part of me was repulsed by the thought of mussels from the mud hole, but to each his own.  We finished up our bottom time, and headed up the line.  My bag was empty, but their bags were full of 6-8 inch mussels.

We hit the surface, and headed back to shore.  Kevin was cleaning mussels during the trip, while I tried to grab some sleep. It had been a long day, but a great day of diving!

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My God, Its full of stars!

September 3rd, 2008

The other week we headed out to the U-869.  I’ve been there a few times, and was looking forward to another great trip.   When packing my gear aboard, I was informed that I was just needed for support, and I would be able to do a dive for fun.  Sounds like a plan I can live with!  In light of this plan, I opted to take the second watch.   Brandon took first watch then woke me a few minutes early to  let me wake up a bit.

MY God!  It’s full of stars!    Quite simply, the sky is amazing out there!  After the wake up call, (while Brandon was still at the helm) I went back to the cooler to grab my (now) ice coffee, and a snack.  Looking up was just astonishing!!!!!  I have no words to describe it.  With the light pollution in the north east, we really can not appreciate the amazing canopy that is above us.  30 miles out, there is no other light, and the stars are a carpet of incomprehensible beauty.   The constellations stood out so clearly, I felt I could reach out and touch them. Behind them was the often missed “milky way” which was visible as a blanket of soft but distinct lights.  On course before us were bouncy castle for sale Orion and the Pleiades.  Both more pronounced that my home telescope could hope to show.   I stood in awe for a few minutes, while Brandon kept looking to check that I had not fallen overboard.  Back to work, time to drive!

The eyes play tricks on you during the night.  At one point I could swear a large ship was bearing down on us off the port bow, but nothing showed on radar.   After a few moments of terror, I realized it was few clouds off on the horizon, just visible in the predawn light.  While it was really on the horizon, it appeared to be right at our window.   It’s easy to see how sea stories start.

We approached our destination, and discussions of the days events were rehashed. Plans were formed and then reformed.   After a few evolutions, it was revealed that I was tying in.   So much for that fun dive, but such is the life!  Danny and I geared up to splash.  The line was in, but apparently there was some issue.  It was pulled and dropped again.  (Never a good sign.)  We splashed to find clear water, and a moderate current.  As it turned out the current went all the way down to the wreck.  Since the shot was only a weight, any tension would pull it off the wreck.   We had to swim along the shot rather than pull on it to aid our decent.

After a few minutes of decent, the light dimmed, and I switched on my HID.   35 watts of bright blue light illuminated the surrounding area.  However I could not see any indication Danny’s torch. I stopped my decent and looked up the line.  There was no indication of Danny above me.  Not good!  The depth read 150, a long way to go yet.  I continued my decent.   Slowly the lights went out around me, but the current continued to keep the line just out of my reach.   Deeper, deeper…. Only my lights and gauges were visible now. Deeper… deeper, there, what’s that?  The line went off quickly forward.   I could see the shot, but nothing else.   It’s in the sand!   Damn!

I looked around, but there was nothing immediately in sight.   The vis was good, but hard to tell the distance with nothing but sand.   I tied off my reel to the shot, then headed off into the current ( the most likely direction of the wreck).   After only a few seconds, I could see clam shells and debris, then the shadow of the wreck.   I turned back to the shot.  Danny could now be seen approaching, however he had no light.  He was fiddling with something.  Yup, his light had failed (one of those special buys from NESS).

I returned to the shot, and proceeded to complete the task at hand, put a bag on it and shot it up. Once complete, I turned to see the Danny drifting off into the distance.   He was being pulled by the drag on 300 ft of line, and drifting away from the wreck.   After a quick swim, I grabbed the chain from his hand, and proceeded to walk it along the bottom to the wreck.  We brought it to the top, and dropped it by a solid  structure, then I signaled that I was going to look around.  We were asked to tie into a clam dredge just off the starboard side.  I quickly swam around the area, but could not find a dredge.  I did find torpedo tubes which indicated that we were on the bow.   When I returned I found Danny had wrapped the chain around the structure which turned out to be a bow winch. I guess this would have to be good enough, as the current would prevent us from moving the line much.  I indicated for him to send up the signal.

It had taken a while to tie in, so I only had a few minutes left.  Previously while looking around, my every gaze had been met by sets of claws and antenna.   For some reason there lots of large lobster on this wreck.  With the few minutes left, I grabbed a few, and headed up. The vis had been great, and I was hoping to see more!!!   Maybe I’ll get a second “fun” dive.

The ascent was cool up to the 70ft stop where the water warmed up a bit.   Then it was comfortable to the surface.  The vis here opened up so that the anchor line and the entire hull of the Indy was in view.  After boarding we helped the remaining passengers while the rest of the crew jumped in.

Everyone talked about how great the vis was, and how nice the wreck was.  I was not able to see much, but had to console myself with the fact that my lobster was the largest, and it was only a few feet from the shot line.

On the way home, we all grabbed some sleep, and hoped for another day like this on the wreck.

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