Had some cave diving fun last week in N. Florida cave country.  Picked up a new Light Monkey 12W LED while in town which worked out very nicely!  I only took photos on two dives… Ginnie Springs and Madison Blue… here is a slideshow from those dives…

Click to view slideshow.

Click to view slideshow.

NOAA was calling for 10 knot winds for the weekend so it was looking like we had a good chance of getting offshore Virginia Beach to dive the subs of the Billy Mitchell fleet on the Under Pressure.  However 20 miles out (not even half way there) it was obvious the weatherman was wrong with 20-25 knot winds blowing spray across the bow.  Capt JT made the call to head to the WWII Liberty ship JOHN MORGAN (105 fsw) instead.  In the morning the wind was still whipping and we decided to sneak in one dive and head in.  Nice conditions on the wreck with plenty of ambient light and warm 60 degree water.  Visibility was not that great maybe 15-20 feet.  I was first down and was greeted by a curious group of 5 massive black drum which came cruising over the tank we were hooked into to check me out.  It was pretty awesome and of course they were gone by the time I had the camera setup.  Overall a pretty nice dive and it was good just to get in the water which can be tough this time of year.

Click to view slideshow.

Monday the Independence took advantage of a late season weather window on the tail end of a beautiful Columbus Day weekend to head 70 miles offshore to investigate some more wreck numbers provided by a fisherman. We had 3 sets of marks, all in the vicinity of the Black Sunday wrecks. On “Black Sunday”, June 2nd, 1918, the U-151 sunk 6 vessels. Three schooners, and three steamships. The steamships included the TEXEL, WINNECONNE, and the liner SS CAROLINA which is the most famous of the Black Sunday wrecks. The TEXEL and CAROLINA have been positively identified, while a wreck in the general location of the WINNECONNE was dove that matched the general characteristics of the ship, it was not positively IDed.

After a very smooth ride offshore, the first 2 of our numbers turned out to very low lying (possibly the schooners?) but the 3rd target (in 200 fsw) had 15-20 feet of relief. Based on our preliminary research, we thought this 3rd set was likely the wreck thought to be the WINNECONNE. With the numbers for that wreck not publicly available we couldn’t be sure and figured it would be an exciting dive regardless since it had only been dove a handful of times and never positively identified.

Dan Martinez and I splashed first and began our descent into the cool emerald green water. The water was 62 degrees down to about 130 where it dropped to mid to high 40s. You never quite know what you are going to find and I was excited to see that the shot line brought us directly between two large boilers, neither of which were upright. We pushed several big lobsters out of the way and got the chain wrapped around a sturdy beam. Visibility was dark and a dusty 20-30 feet. A school of cod was hanging in the distance, and scallops covered the bottom. Lobsters in the 5-7 lb range apparently still prowling in the early dawn darkness began taking cover from our lights, but not before Danny nabbed a couple easy targets. Besides the boilers, the wreck was pretty broken down and low lying. We started poking around the debris for clues which might help identify this old girl, and soon found the prop shaft which led us for a good swim to the stern where we found a single blade of the propeller peaking up from the sandy bottom. It was here as Danny set up a beautiful shot that the memory card in my camera crapped out with a big blinking “ERR”. No more photos this dive.

Nothing was recovered this trip to help prove the identity of this steamer as the WINNECONNE but everyone had an awesome time trying. Days like this, trying to unravel the mysteries of the sea is what wreck diving is all about, and we will be back!

Snuck out last Friday (9/30) to the R.P. RESOR (130 fsw) aboard the Gypsy Blood.  The RESOR was a Standard Oil tanker that fell victim to U-boat aggression (U-578) off the coast of New Jersey in 1942.  Due to her large size, and distance from shore, the RESOR is one of the best lobster and scallop wrecks off NJ.  Friday did not disappoint, and all divers bagged up on scallops and lobsters.  Coupled with the 30 feet of vis and 60ish degree water on the bottom it was an awesome dive!

Click to view slideshow.

Kendall and Bill Bedford on the STOLT DAGALI

Saturday the Independence II headed to the STOLT DAGALI with a group from the Scuba Connection.  Despite the gloomy forecast we headed east into some gentle swells and a smooth ride.  Visibility on the top of the wreck was easily 40-50 feet (maybe more?) but a bit dark due to the persistent muck layer on the surface.  Clear water was down all the way to about 100-110 feet where it turned to 10 or so.  It was also nice and warm, I didn’t look, but I think I heard low 60s.  I got to dive with Blaquaman and Blaquagirl on her 2nd ocean dive and had fun shooting some photos in the best conditions we’ve seen in a while.  After they departed,I took a quick look around and was pretty surprised by how much the wreck has changed since the recent storms.  Some of the deck levels have peeled off and the debris field in the sand off the wreck has gotten much bigger.  I peeked into the engine room and what used to be an imposing black void is now partially illuminated by columns of light pouring in from several areas where bulkheads used to reside.  I went in a little ways and was shocked to see how much it has opened up in there.  I didn’t hang out long as it was obvious the rust hasn’t yet settled as clouds of it were still pouring out of fresh holes in the overhead (and I’m on a rebreather).  Should be interesting to see what new artifacts can now be found.

Sunday the forecast was the same as Saturday, but it turned out to be even nicer on the water.  Heading out to the GULF TRADE with a full boat of divers from Treasure Cove, the only ripples to be seen in the glass like surface of the sea were the ones we were creating with our wake!  Sweet!  We weren’t sure how the visibility would be on the GULF TRADE (90 fsw)  but everyone wanted to give it a shot and Tom got us tied in pretty quick so we figured it couldn’t be too bad.  Turned out to be 20-30 feet on top of the wreck and a dark 10-15 on the bottom.  Nice and warm and everyone had some good dives.  A good haul of lobsters were boated along with a few blackfish.

Hopefully things will settle down even more in the coming weeks and the visibility will continue to improve and the winds will stay calm, because this truly is the best time of year to dive New Jersey!

Short video clip from the STOLT dive: