Down too long in the midnight sea...

Posted by: mcjangles | May 17, 2009

Immaculata

Gloomy

“You guys want to dive in this?” – Capt Dan gave the guys from Diver’s Den a way out, but they decided to power through to the Immaculata in the 4-6 foot seas with rain and wind to match. Not half an hour earlier we were all smiling at the fact that we proved NOAA didn’t know what they were talking about in the flat seas within a few miles of Manasquan Inlet. It wasn’t that bad, but enough to make things a little more interesting than one of those lazy summer days we get spoiled by.

Conditions on the bottom at 100 feet were actually quite nice with about 15 feet of visibility and fairly bright considering the lack of sunshine up above. The wreck is like a virtual aquarium with different critters living in each window sized cubby hole of the ribs. Going down the side of the wooden hull seems to alternate between lobsters, big rock crabs, eelpouts, and sea bass, all framed by beautiful anemones. Lots of small lobsters and females with eggs were spotted and harassed but only 2 keepers found their way to the cooler. Lots of BIG seabass up in the machinery “area” of the wreck. In fact this was the first time this year I’ve seen any nice bass. Water is warming pretty quick and was up from the 43 a couple weeks ago to 47 F with a thermocline near the surface to boot.

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Posted in Immaculata, New Jersey wrecks | Tags: Immaculata, New Jersey wrecks

Posted by: mcjangles | May 3, 2009

May showers bring underwater flowers?

stoltstern

The swells were stacking up against the inlet giving us a brief rough patch until we broke out into open sea and had a smooth ride out to the STOLT DAGALI on the Independence II today. We were accompanied by leisurely long period swells that if not for the peppering of light rain would have been glassy.

Dave got us tied in to the tip top of the STOLT at 55 fsw in short order and divers started hitting the water. Reports of wildly varying visibility started coming back as I was getting dressed and after sifting through the available data and determining the overall consensus was GOOD, I finally ended up splashing with the intention of taking pics. I knew it was a good choice when I could see the wreck laid out below me from 20 feet. I hit the top of the wreck quickly and after getting a little more organized I dropped down along the break to the sand at 125 fsw to get out of the strong surge on top of the wreck. On the bottom it was a clear 30 feet (maybe a little more) of visibility and about 42 F. After working my way along the bottom I realized my computer decided it wanted to be in gauge mode for this dive. Figures, the one dive I don’t bring tables. Oh well, I knew about my schedule for up to about 30 minutes or so on the bottom so I’d just keep it a little shorter than I wanted and work my way up along the hull. Dave had mentioned the anemones were in full “bloom” and boy was he right. Every bit of steel acreage on the wreck was covered with large colorful anemones and it was the prettiest I ever remember seeing the STOLT. After a trip to the prop which I had never visited before, I came back around the stern and lazily worked back toward the anchor line taking in the sights. As I was trying to get my stuff stowed away for departure I dropped my new tripod down into the wreck (doh) and had to take an excursion back down 30 feet or so to get it. Coming back up I looked up the line from the top of the wreck and sure enough I could make out the silhouette of the Independence waiting for me 55 feet above. Conditions like these make you quickly forget about a little rain and some clouds.

lookup

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Posted in New Jersey wrecks, STOLT DAGALI | Tags: NJ WRECK DIVING, STOLT DAGALI

Posted by: mcjangles | April 19, 2009

Weekend update

Hit Dutch with Frankie Saturday where he was testing out his new “Fronco-vision” Hero camera. It’s a pretty cool tiny little camera that he has mounted to his head. I got a preview of some of the footage he shot today on the TOLTEN and can say I was pretty impressed for something in this small of a package that you just turn on and go. I should be able to get a clip up this week so stay tuned.

The TOLTEN today was a good dive, especially considering reports from Long Island down to Manasquan were reporting close to zero vis on saturday. I tied in with Steve and was glad to find a nice 15-20 feet of bright viz on the bottom at 95 feet. Temperature was in the low 40s and I had took some time poking about which I haven’t done in a while since I’ve been dragging the camera on almost every dive. I even pulled a lobster out of a hole but it was too small like most of the others spotted. However, a couple keepers were rescued by better hunters from the chilly water. I thought about splashing for a second dive but was having fun snapping surface shots and decided one was enough.

Surface shots from the TOLTEN

Dutch Springs – April 18th

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Posted in New Jersey wrecks, Quarrior, TOLTEN | Tags: NJ, QU, Quarrior, TOLTEN

Posted by: mcjangles | April 10, 2009

Tugs and tanks

Not a bad way…

…to start the day

Headed out on the Tuna Seazure today to the VENTURO. This old tug was sunk in 1996 in ~80 fsw as part of the Sea Girt artificial reef. The wreck is roughly 100 feet in length, offers some decent penetration opportunities, and is still pretty much intact except for the pilot house which now lies in the sand next the main hull. The other unique feature of this site is that there a half dozen or so Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs) that were also sunk as part of the artificial reef, scattered about off the wreck if you know where to find them.

I arrived at the marina just in time to catch the most colorful part of the day before it went into overcast mode. We wasted no time heading out and before we knew it Kenny had us tied into the bow of the VENTURO. Visibility on the bottom was 15-20 feet with lots of big particulate and a little surgy. Temperature was 41 F and even with the cloudy skies it was still reasonably bright on the bottom. All in all a great day on the water.

Upside down APC off the VENTURO tug

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Posted in New Jersey wrecks, Venturo tug | Tags: NJ, VENTURO, Venturo tug

Posted by: mcjangles | April 5, 2009

Dutch (oven)

A couple shots from Dutch Springs today. Visibility was ridiculous and water temp 42. I was trying out my new Stix floats for my camera set up and was quite pleased. With a set a 4 jumbo (listed as 1.6 pounds of buoyancy) I was just a tad negative and think when I hit salt water I should be just about neutral. Sweet.

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Posted in Quarrior, UW Photography | Tags: Dutch Springs, Quarrior

Posted by: mcjangles | March 31, 2009

AUE is getting a boat sale!

Passing this along from Mike Barnette… if you don’t have the Florida shipwreck books they are excellent and this is a great chance to pick them up CHEAP!

From Mike:

After being on the fence for several years, I have finally pulled the trigger on a new boat to enable us to pursue some very exciting projects in the near future. As many of you know, boats siphon money out of your pocket faster than a stripper at 3AM (or so I have been told). With the boat’s pending arrival, I need to make some space in the garage, as well as raise some funds to outfit her with some desired electronics. So, if you have enjoyed the numerous trip reports, images, and information offered on the AUE website over the past 12 years, perhaps you will consider offering a modest donation in return for some goodies:

For $11, get a copy of Shipwrecks of the Sunshine State (2003 book) delivered – shipping/handling included!
For $21, get a copy of Shipwrecks of the Sunshine State (2003 book) and Florida’s Shipwrecks (2008 book) – shipping and handling included!

Should you want to be generous and offer a bigger donation, we highly encourage it! 🙂
In return, we have plenty of goodies such as AUE t-shirts, stickers, or other items (porthole, perhaps?) that can be thrown in to show our gratitude for your support.

Funds can be sent via Paypal (barney00@tampabay.rr.com) or check (snail mail address can be found on the AUE website); be sure to include your address and any associated notation.

The AUE telethon will run through the month of April or until I liquidate my book supply, whichever comes first. After that, its time to hit the water in pursuit of some awesome shipwreck projects.

Please pass this on to your fellow divers and help the cause!

Thanks,
Mike

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Posted in Florida wrecks, Shipwreck research

Posted by: mcjangles | March 22, 2009

SUNday

Beautiful day at Willow Springs today. Viz was a spectacular 5 feet (or less) but the topside scenery made the drive worthwhile.

See you at BTS next week!

Church down the road from Willow

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Posted in Quarrior | Tags: Quarrior, Willow Springs

Posted by: mcjangles | March 16, 2009

Grey Area

Sunday marked my return to the sea after a 3 month hiatus. Got out on the Tuna Seazure, and after 3 months of blow outs, I nearly shed a tear at my reflection in the “glass” as we cleared the inlet into the Atlantic. Definitely not a typical day in March but no one was complaining especially the guys that drove up from DC and VA Beach.

We initially tried for the DELAWARE but Kenny reported no viz so we pulled up and headed over to the “Emerald“. On the way we passed a pod of dolphins enjoying the calm conditions and in no time I was on the bow throwing the hook again. It was hard to tell if we hooked anything or not as with no seas and no current the line just stayed limp. eventually Capt Bill gave Kenny the go ahead to splash since the GPS said we weren’t moving and the ball popped up in short order.

After everyone returned excited about the good conditions on the bottom I geared up and jumped in with the camera. The visibility was a nice 20-25 feet but a little dark due to the overcast skies we had all day up above. I didn’t look at the temperature but other divers reported 40 F. I spent my dive playing with the camera and didn’t venture very far as the engines on the EMERALD are very pretty all by them selves. I spent about 45 minutes tooling around on the bottom and if it wasn’t for my leaky drysuit I probably could have gone a little longer and looked for some lobsters.

Everyone else had a good time, feeling fortunate for the good early season conditions. 3 or 4 legal lobsters were boated with several larger ones eluding hands that were probably slowed a little by the cold. Kenny attempted to sneak up on the BIG blackfish (plural) in the engine but ultimately found out they have a much higher tolerance for cold and he was forced to tap out of the battle prematurely. There’s always next time…

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Posted in EMERALD, New Jersey wrecks, Uncategorized, wreck diving | Tags: EMERALD, NJ WRECK DIVING

Posted by: mcjangles | March 4, 2009

I’m kind of a big deal…

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Posted in GULF TRADE, MOHAWK, New Jersey wrecks | Tags: AWESOME, GULF TRADE, MOHAWK

Posted by: mcjangles | February 21, 2009

Where eagles dare…

Since my bad luck with the weather continues and I got blown out of another weekend of diving I decided to take up bird watching. Well not quite, but when I learned that the Conowingo Dam is considered one of the best places east of the Mississippi River to see bald eagles I figured I’d check it out. Only 20 minutes from my house I had nothing to lose and it turned out it lived up to the hype and I saw 10 or so eagles in the short time I was there. Seeing these majestic birds soaring across the Susquehanna River is not a bad way to spend a cold (but sunny) February afternoon!