Go deep, stay long

It certainly has been difficult to get out diving this fall. However, the few times we were able sneak out, the diving was fantastic. This Sunday we headed out to the Resor with a jam packed boat. Clearing the inlet we had nearly flat seas, and just a breath of a breeze. With the early start, the sun was just rising. We all kept our fingers crossed that the conditions would hold, since NOAA was calling for the wind to pick up a bit in the afternoon.

By the time we reached the wreck, the sun was a bit higher in the sky, and the conditions were still flat. The surface water was a nice Caribbean blue. Dropping down the line it was clear that there was a good current to the east. This made going a bit slow, but we were soon tied in.

While working with the line, shadowy figures kept appearing in the distance. At first I thought the dogfish were back, but it turned out to be bluefish. We saw them inshore last week. Now there was a school buzzing around us on the Resor. Ever few minutes a few of them would dart by. Down on the sand, there were large fluke and flounder almost side by side. Normally we see one or the other, but here the flounder were hunting while the fluke were resting. Both scurried off when approached. Large tog are always around this wreck, and this was no exception. I spotted a few small lobsters, and one good size one with eggs.

I was nearing my turn time when I spotted a nice new Danforth with a long chain. At least I was not going up empty handed. It turns out that the current and the wind were not aligned, and I spent my deco holding my reel in one hand (attached to the Danforth and lift bag) and the shot line in the other. I was just hoping other divers would not get caught in the line.

My hunting efforts had been thwarted, but many others came up with lobster, tog and some nice size pollack. There were various reports of giant lobsters, deep in the wreck, well out of reach. A few folks had ventured out into the sand for scallops, with varying degrees of success.

All in all it was a great day of diving with 30-40 ft of vis and 65 degrees top to bottom. The wind had picked up as we started to head in, but it was still a comfortable ride home.

Independence II

The short answer is: not having your camera, but that’s a story in it self. Today’s dive was to the U-869 AKA the U-who. The Independence was filled with quality NJ divers, but most of them had never been on this wreck. I was diving with a student, Tom, who was also visiting the wreck for the first time.

We headed out early in the flat calm seas left in the wake of Hurricane Bill. We made good time to the wreck. Bill and Brandon went into tie in. It often takes a few minutes since you never do anything fast in 230 fsw. I helped the first group of divers get in, then we geared up. After buddy checks, we reviewed the plan one more time, then splashed.

The surface temp was high 70s, no current, and the water was very clear. Brandon and Bill were hanging, and Brandon took the opportunity to snap off a few of his great shots. If I were not with a student, I would have paused a few moments to give him a model, but Tom was dropping fast, and I wanted to catch up. We passed other groups of divers on the way. Many had lobsters in their bags.

The line was completely slack all the way down to the wreck. No current at any level. This is unusual out here. Often the current changes directions at different levels. There was nothing, anywhere. It was obvious that there were many layers. You could see them as you passed through. The vis would change, and you could see the water go from cloudy to clear to cloudy. Some of the layers were thermoclines, and the temp started dropping. Below 120ft we felt the drop down to 46 degrees. After a few minutes it started to get dark, and I switched on my light. Now I could easily signal my position, and could see my buddy. Tom started slowing his decent. I’m not sure if he was waiting for me, or if he just needed more time to clear his ears. Either way, I caught up.

My gauges indicated that we were within 50 ft of the wreck, but nothing was coming into view. We continued to drop. The faint glow of a strobe lit up the area. The vis had dropped to 10 ft, and the wreck suddenly appeared below us. The chain was wrapped around a cylinder on top of the wreck.

With the short vis, I immediately reached from my reel. I’ve never run a reel on this wreck before, but I did not want to miss the line with a student in tow. Given the depth and conditions, I was concerned that Tom might be nervous. This proved completely unfounded, as he soon grabbed a lobster and put it in his bag. Not that we were here for lobster, but when they are right there, what do you do?

Given the conditions, we swam slowly along the wreck trying to identify anything we could. We reached the Bow, and dropped down the side to the sand 230ft. This was perfect timing for our dive plan as it was time to turn around. We returned slowly to the line and arrived ahead of schedule. With a few minutes left we continued aft, and found that we were tied in just ahead of the break. We quickly inspected the blast area, which contains a jumble of ripped and torn steal, then doubled back to the line.

At this point, I was happy I had run the line. The strobes on the anchor were no longer visible. We were only a few feet away, but could see nothing. For a few seconds your heart skips. Replay your steps. Ok, there it is. I was not so concerned for myself, as my gas plan left me lots of reserve. I never know how conservative a student is with there gas estimates. We reached the line with a minute or two to spare, and signaled UP.

The long slow assent starts. The initial stops are still cold, and now that we are not swimming, the cold can be felt. Clearing the 100 ft stop brought the temp up to 55. That’s a huge change and it felt great. Soon we could see other divers above us. Those we passed on the way down the line, were now hanging at their shallower stops. Above 50 ft the temp jumped back into the 70s and vis was fantastic.

Tom had run his numbers with the VR3, while I was running V-planner. As we discussed, I would have longer deeper stops, and shorter shallow stops. This was more evident that I realized. Most of my early stops, I was 10-20 feet below him. At 40 ft we matched up, then at 20 ft he indicated 10 minutes as I was cleared for the surface.

At some point in this evolution, we were hanging with another four divers around the 20 ft stop. Two divers had ascended the anchor line, while the rest of use went up the Caroline line. Time passes slowly, and we were just hanging there for our stops to clear. I looked down and noticed a very large object moving in the water below us In the clear water, I could easily make out the features of a very large shark. The nose had the distinct features of a basking shark. From above we could not see the mouth, but the snout was unmistakable. I looked to my fellow divers who were transfixed on their gauges. I got their attention, and pointed out the shark. It swam slowly around the Caroline line below us, then doubled back to the anchor line. It swam around the lines in a figure eight, then swam slowly off into the distance. Since it swam between the lines, we knew it was only about 20 ft below us. Comparing its size to the divers on the bow line, I estimate it was a minimum of 20ft. I’ve seen Basking sharks before, but never this clearly. It was an awe inspiring sight!

While we were really psyched at the incredibly cool experience, I was chastising myself for not bringing my camera. Given I was with a student, on a deep dive, I did not want the extra task loading. I was planning on grabbing it after the dive, and snapping a few shots of the other divers entering and leaving the water. Well, I did not have it now, and was quite disappointed! We spent the rest of our decompression looking around for the shark to return, or perhaps one of its school (as Basking sharks are know to swim in schools). No such luck.

Once on the surface, we did talk about the shark, and some asked what type it was.  I’m sure it would have been a much more heart pounding experience for those that did not know. I did grab the camera, and swam around the boat taking a few shots. Captain Dan, and Danny jumped in for a dive and to pull the hook. The sea was flat calm, with no current. It was an enjoyable wait just floating in the water.

Before long we were underway for the long trip home. It was a great day, and many will tell the story of seeing a huge basking shark.

The Lockness stopped by

Saturday, Divers Den North had a charter to the Stolt. Everybody loves this wreck. The drive out was spent weaving and dodging the flotilla of recreational boats. Apparently there was a fluke tournament, and the masses had turned out.

When we reached the Stolt, Terry jumped in to set the hook.  Watching him descend, it was obvious that surface vis looked much better than the week before.  However, when we pulled up a dragger had passed very close to the wreck.  This raised concerns about the vis on the bottom. Terry had us tied in quickly, and the pool was open.  As divers were rolling in, the Lockness arrived from Long Island, and asked to join us.  Before long they were tied in, with their boat just off our stern.  Captain Dan seems to know everyone.  We were soon exchanging stories of dives, trips, and artifacts.

Divers started returning with bags of scallops, bugs and mussels. A couple of nice tog came up also. From the reports the temperatures had not changed much, but the visibility was just the opposite. of last week. It was clear on the surface, and only 10 feet or so on the wreck.

I rolled in with a student, and we headed for the bottom right along the break. The reports were accurate, the vis was bad, with some surge at the top of the wreck, and current past the hull. We did a quick tour of the break, then headed slowly up the super structure. We poked our heads in a few holes, but the vis was just as bad inside. One interesting observation was the number of scallops on top of the wreck, and on the flat surface of the superstructure.

The Coast Guard takes over the escort

While we were in the water, a boat in distress was reported in our area. We got underway quickly, and sped off to assist. Upon arrival, we could see that the boat was low in the water, but they had stopped taking on water. We escorted them toward shore until the Coast Guard arrived on scene. Nothing like a little drama on the high seas.

Nice Set of Teeth

We had another great trip to the Stolt this Saturday. Once we cleared the inlet, the seas were flat with just a slight breeze from the north. Reaching the top of the wreck we easily had 40-50 ft of visibility. Again the top was quite warm with the thermocline starting a 70. On the bottom the conditions drop to 30 ft of visibility, and about 44 degrees. On the first dive, I headed out in the sand in search of scallops. While I ran into lots of skates, winter flounder, and a number of small bugs, there were no large scallops in range of my reel. I made a sweeping arc back to the wreck, but still no scallop encounters. Not even a moon snail to be found. After spotting a few small lobster, and many more flounder, I started back up to the line.

Back on board, someone mentioned seeing a large monkfish along the side of the wreck. With tog out of season, and my first scallop run coming up empty, I opted to have a go with another monkfish aka goosefish. I dropped down the line and started hunting the creature. The usual flounder, ling, eelpout, and small lobster were readily seen. No Monkfish in sight. Doubling back, to the break, I soon spotted him. A battle soon ensued, and the creature was stuffed into my large catch bag. He did not seem happy about the situation. He barely fit in, and may have been cramped. On the way up the line I made sure to keep my hands away from his gaping maw, and keep his slimy flesh away from my drysuit.

We were soon back at the dock, and I had the unenviable task of cleaning this beast. Many people stopped by to inquire about the creature. Most passers by had no idea what it was. The process of cleaning took a while, and made quite a smelly mess. Still the flesh is quite good, and this guy was large enough for a few meals.

If you see a monkfish on the bottom remember two things: they fight back, someone will have to clean him.

The Scuba Connection had a charter to the Lillian this week.  Wayne was out with a class. With a few of the usual suspects in tow, the Independence got underway.   NOAA was calling for thunder storms in the afternoon.  The drive out of the inlet was in heavy fog.  Once that open up, we could see on the radar that the rain was following us out (a bit early).  The worst of it hit before we got to the wreck, and mostly cleared by the time Richie had us tied in.

The passengers soon rolled in, and Richie returned with a nice bag of scallops and bugs.   He had us tied into a large pipe next to the engine.  This section of the wreck stood some 20 ft off the silty bottom.  The surface temp was 58.  Bottom temp was 43-48, depending on who you asked, and visibility was a dark 40.  If the sun came out, this would be a fantastic dive.  As it was, it was just great.

The Lillian was a freighter that sunk back in 1939 with a cargo of sugar. It sank in 150 ft of water after a collision in the fog.   The wreck is on the edge of the mud hole, so the conditions can vary depending on the tide.

After seeing all the scallops coming up, I figured I’d have to go out in the sand to find any.  This proved futile, as the scallops were on the wreck itself.  Once I figured this out, I bagged my share just as my reel decided it did not want to go any further. Flounder were all over this wreck.  Some were so large, I had to check twice.  Many were still buried in the sand.  Those I checked three times.   Ling cod were also about, along with a few Eel Pouts.  One unusual item was the large sponges lodged about the wreck.  These seemed out of place here.  Some were close to 3 feet across, just laying in the sand.  Captain Dan told us to keep an eye out for portholes, so I looked closely as I reeled my line back in.

I headed back to the boilers, and was soon comforted by the sight of the strobe in the distance.  These were great conditions for this wreck.    Back on the boat, we all took turns cleaning scallops.  Several of the passengers had bagged their first scallops, and were learning how to clean them under Captain Dan’s tutelage.

We headed home just as the sun broke through the clouds.  Oh well, it was still a great dive!  The scallop dinner was good too!