Posted by: mcjangles | February 11, 2008

The Quarrior Strikes Back

I don’t really like to post quarry reports but what the hell there is nothing else going on so here is the over dramatized version of today’s dive…

Diving Bainbridge is no joke

If today was a month it would be March because it came in like lamb and went out like a lion. Morning was bright and sunny and not too cold, by the time we got out of the water an arctic wind was howling, the temperature plummeted, and a part of the drive home from Bainbridge was in blizzard like conditions. But enough about the weather we had a mission. The past couple times we visited Bainbridge we have tried unsuccessfully to find the mythical “barn”. Today the elite team was Dan Martinez, Dr. Gozum, and myself stepped up to the challenge one more time. This time we took some tips from yesterday’s seminar by John Yurga on shipwreck research and got information BEFORE we hit the water.

We threw caution to the wind (light to none at this point) and chose to ignore the ominous warning sign left by some previous traveler (above) as we took a different tact than previous missions by entering on the other side of the little peninsula in hope of surprising the barn before it had a chance to hide. Armed with sophisticated reconnaissance equipment we set out in conditions about the same as last week at 39-40F and a solid 20 feet or more of visibility. We wasted no time dropping to 90 ffw and bypassed the boat via a jump to “A” line. After that the details get sketchy and we followed a trail of destruction on are singular mission to find the “barn”. Some evil force has left in its wake upturned vehicles, leveled buildings, and great rocks shewn about like they were nothing more than marbles. They say discretion is the better part of valor… we chose the lesser part. Finally out of the gloom appeared the silhouette of the remains of the great hall. After all these weeks we had arrived at the “barn”. Dan and Marvin wasted no time storming the entrance while I remained outside snapping pictures in a state of great trepidation and awe. At last the draw of the mystery of the great barn was too overwhelming and I entered and was instantly basked in the green glow filtering down through the holes from above like rays from heaven. After some congratulatory high fives we triumphantly headed for home (and a chilly deco). To the victor belong the spoils!!

Discovery!

(This is not a barn)

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Posted by: mcjangles | February 6, 2008

Museum of New Jersey Maritime History

Last weekend Danny and I took a break from diving to take a little field trip out to Beach Haven, NJ (LBI) where we met up with Capt. Bartone to check out the Museum of New Jersey Maritime History. This non-profit museum contains a ton of information on the Jersey coast and is a great resource for wreck divers. There are lots of artifacts recovered and donated or on loan from divers from local wrecks on display as well as binders full of shipwreck research and photos. In addition there is a nice library and DVD collection that are all available to borrow. There is a great S-5 exhibit complete with personal artifacts recovered from the wreck and underwater images of the wreck as she sits today. The museum is definitely worth the trip out to LBI for the serious wreck diver on anyone with a general interest in the maritime history of our coast.

Bell from the Bidevind

Gun sight from the Ayuruoca (Oil wreck)

Engine room telegraph from the Resor

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Posted by: mcjangles | January 12, 2008

It’s been a summer

1-12-2008

With the spurt of spring like weather the last couple days I let John talk me into switching from Sunday (weather looking terrible) to Saturday for the Tuna Seazure’s season ending trip to the Glory wreck. This large steel wreck in 70 fsw has never been properly identified and is thought to possibly be the Kennebec or Lake Frampton. There were some decent 4-5 foot swells as we cleared the inlet but they quickly laid down and Capt Bill punched it. The short ride barely gave me enough time to get dressed to tie in. Heading down it was nice to see the visibility much better than the past two weeks in the 15 foot range with nice ambient light. The water temperature was ~44F top to bottom. The anchor line came down across the two large boilers providing a nice view. We were hooked in on the top of the engine just aft (nearly touching) the starboard boiler. I took my time exploring and had a great time checking out the wreck from stem to stern for a solid 90 minutes. I was surprised how many little pieces were off the sides of the wreck that I hadn’t noticed before. There was a decent surge on the bottom which made running my reel a little tricky. I even managed to tangle myself up twice. Other than that it was a great dive for what will probably be my last ocean dive until spring. Until then you may refer to me as the Quarrior! (cue Scandal)

PS: Mad props to Bill Trent for letting me borrow his meg head while mine is in the shop for “upgrades”.


Theme music

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Posted in Kennebec, New Jersey wrecks, wreck diving | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: mcjangles | January 6, 2008

Sucker for winter sunrises

01-05-2008

The Astra was my first dive of 2007 so it was only fitting that we made it out on the Tuna Seazure today to the Astra for my first dives of 2008. Headed out around 0800 in slightly bumpy 3-4 foot seas. Temperature dropped a few degrees from last week and was 42 top to bottom. Visibility on the wreck wasn’t the best in the 10 or less range. We were hooked in next to the prop shaft about equidistant from the boilers and the (semi) intact stern section. A decent number of very small bugs were spotted with only 1 keeper boated.

Best wishes for 2008.

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Posted in ASTRA, New Jersey wrecks, wreck diving | Tags: , ,

Posted by: mcjangles | December 30, 2007

San Jose 12-30-2007

Today the Tuna Seazure sailed with a full boat to one of my favorite southern Jersey wrecks the San Jose. This 330’ passenger freighter sank in a collision with the Santa Elisa in January 1942 in the very early days of “Operation Drumbeat”. Today she sits in 110 fsw off Atlantic City. The wreck has been blown up and dragged and although the term “steel junkyard” definitely applies, the outline of this old banana boat can still be found and followed by the careful eye. Also there are some spots that survived intact allowing some minor penetrations. My favorite spot on this big wreck site is the huge steering quadrant in the stern, which is picturesque even on the poorest days. You can get underneath and looking up at the silhouetted “wheel” with fish swarming it is really cool. Unfortunately it can be hard to get divers to fill a trip to this wreck as the bottom in this area is silty mud which gives this wreck a bad rap based on the potential for lousy bottom conditions.

The day started off brisk and required nimble footing on the frosty dock but we got loaded up a little early (or late depending on who you ask…) to try and beat feet to the weather that was supposed to pick up later, and headed out just as the sun was rising.

Meg vs. Optima

The Atlantic cooperated and was nearly flat as we cleared the inlet and only picked up slightly as we got further out. Dan Martinez got us tied in pretty quickly and we wasted no time heading in. I was excited as this was the first taste of salt for my new Meg. Conditions on the bottom were dark but the visibility was decent in the 10’ range and I could make out other divers lights from much further away. Water was about 44oF from top to bottom. We were tied into a high spot on the starboard side of the wreck. I followed the hull forward for a bit and examined a row of empty portholes hoping one had been missed by previous divers to no avail. I turned back to the tie in when I reached the end of the section and tied off my reel before heading aft. I managed to find the steering quadrant which never seems to get old. There are also some rooms you can penetrate in this area. Proving the old “different day, different wreck” adage, I rounded a corner and in the dark conditions found what I thought was a large opening into the wreck which turned out to be a very cool swim through between the rudder and hull that I had never noticed/done before. I took my time poking around back to the anchor and headed up at the 60 minute mark for a chilly deco. Everyone opted for 1 dive which made the sweetest part of the trip… back at the dock by 12:30!

Not a bad day

More info on the San Jose

Operation Drumbeat (copies currently $0.34!!)

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Posted in New Jersey wrecks, SAN JOSE | Tags: , ,

Posted by: mcjangles | November 23, 2007

Let there be light

Finally getting around to cleaning up some artifacts from this season… so here are a couple quick shots of the cleanup progress of one of the cage lamps I got off the India Arrow earlier this season. It came out pretty nice and when I get time I’ll probably put a new light fixture in and restore it to working order. This particular lamp had a hook so it was actually a work lamp rather than a fixed lamp for lighting (makes sense since I found it in the engine room).

Before

The lamp actually comes apart into 3 pieces…

The base
The cage
The globe
Put them all together and voila…

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Posted in artifacts, INDIA ARROW, New Jersey wrecks, wreck diving | Tags: ,

Posted by: mcjangles | November 19, 2007

I guess the cat’s out of the bag (or loop?)

Coming soon to a blog near you…

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Posted by: mcjangles | November 12, 2007

Pinta 11-11-07

Sunday the Independence headed out with full complement of 10 customers + crew. Most of the usual suspects along with some new faces were onboard making it a fun day out on the ocean which was much more inviting than NOAA would have us believe. There was a gentle swell as we headed out the inlet which turned into a 3 foot chop as we got further out. With the horizon looking like the teeth of the devil we stayed closer to shore and hooked into the Pinta. There was some surge on the top of the wreck but if you got down in the shadow of the wreck the conditions were pretty nice. The visibility was variable depending where on the wreck you were and I would say ranged anywhere from 10-20 feet, so not bad at all. With the water temperature still in the mid 50 it was a very nice dive.

My only dive on the Pinta prior to this was a few years ago when I signed up for a night dive to test dive my brand new canister light. In my excitement to try it out, I neglected to charge it and left my reel on the boat. Needless to say I didn’t see much of the Pinta that day, so even though a lot of people will groan at the mention of “Pinta” I was happy to be back for a proper tour. Today the Pinta is a much different wreck then it was (as I’ve been told) just a year ago. She has broken down significantly and many new areas are open for exploration including the engine spaces. I spent about half of my 60 minute bottom time breaking in Capt. Dan’s new pole spear (I only got 1 sea bass) and the other half poking around the wreck. I think only 1 lobster came on board, but I think it’s safe to say everyone was just happy to be out and sneak in a late season dive in the ocean.

More info on the Pinta

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Posted in New Jersey wrecks, Pinta, wreck diving | Tags: , ,

Posted by: mcjangles | October 31, 2007

U-869

10-30-2007

With the democratic presidential debate taking place at Drexel I decided it would be in my best interests to avoid the zoo and take a break (plus my parking lot was closed) and take the opportunity to sneak out on a late season trip to the U-869 on the Independence with some friends.

I’m sure most wreck divers are familiar with the story of U-869 which lies in 230 fsw off the coast of New Jersey, but in case you have been stuck in space for the past 10 years be sure to check out the links below. Bill Trent and I were tasked with tying in which was a snap since Capt Dan dropped the shot literally right next to the gun mount which is just aft of the blast damage at the control room. The conditions on the wreck were pretty nice with at least 20-25 feet of dark visibility. We headed forward and poked around looking for some of the monster lobsters known to reside on this wreck. I watched as Bill reached for a lobster practically in the open next to a life boat canister when I realized he was about to grab a decent sized monkfish by the tail. For a second I almost let him land on it because I’m sure it would have been entertaining, but I had a change of heart and flashed him with my light, and he was able to take an alternate route to the bug and bag it. I moved forward and grabbed 2 “smaller” bugs in the 3-4 lb range. Coming back I spotted a huge claw through a hole in the top of a pipe. I managed to get my hand on the beast. I thought I had it by the carapace but it turned out it was its knuckle! After an epic battle, I extracted the 8.5 pound sea monster from the pipe and into the bag it went with the other 2. Now that I had dinner (for a while) covered I poked around the conning tower and control room area (which appears to have collapsed a bit since last year) before heading up. I really need to upgrade my camera system so I can take it on these deeper wrecks because there are some really spectacular shots to be had.

U-869.com

Hitler’s Lost Sub (highly recommended)

Shadow Divers

The Last Dive

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Posted in New Jersey wrecks, submarines, U-869, wreck diving | Tags: , , ,

Posted by: mcjangles | October 22, 2007

Stolt Dagali 10-21-2007

The Independence headed to the Stolt Sunday for some sweet late season dives. When the weather cooperates, this really is my favorite time of year to dive. We had a full boat of 10 customers +crew, including some folks that came down from Boston. The original destination was the Lillian, but with 6 foot ground swells the day before and this wreck’s proximity to the Mud Hole, Capt Dan opted for the Stolt which has enough relief to get up out of the bottom haze. There was some pea soup on the surface but below 40 or 50 feet it opened up to a solid 25 feet on top of the wreck where we were tied in at about 60 feet. The warm 65o surface water was on the top of the wreck and down as far as 80 feet where the 55oF bottom water kicked in. I heard reports of 5-10 feet of vis on the bottom, so we were glad we opted out of going to the Lillian.

In between dives Charlie relayed his story about the “biggest lobster he’s ever seen” and formulated an attack plan to go back for the bug with claws “bigger than his head”. With an assembled crew and a new “tickle stick” he went back down for it but was unsuccessful in bagging the beast. He did however get a nice 4-5 pounder and a few other bugs came up.

For as often as the Stolt gets hit I think I have only managed to get on her once before so I was looking forward to doing some more exploration. For my dive I dropped down into the engine room which is pretty wide open from the continued deterioration of the wreck. I erred on the side of caution and tied my line off since this would be my first time in this area. I took my time scanning the machinery and engine spaces for goodies and it wasn’t long before a came across a nice stainless and brass gauge with the glass face still intact but cracked. After some mild coaxing I managed to break the copper pipe it was attached to and into my goodie bag it went. I continued my journey in and down and hit about 120 fsw before turning and heading back. Back outside the wreck I spent some time poking around some of the opened up areas up top and was surprised at the number of brass backing plates still present. Just goes to show even the popular wrecks that get hit weekly during the summer still have goodies for the taking.

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Posted in New Jersey wrecks, STOLT DAGALI, tanker, wreck diving | Tags: , ,

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