2007 Year End Summary

My diving season has come to an end. It began in January, diving the Mohawk off of the Ol'Salty, and ended in December, oddly enough, also diving the Mohawk off of the Independence II. I didn't get in nearly as many dives as I intended for 2007, since I had four day trips to dive wrecks off the coast get called either at the dock or the night before. I'm not thrilled with the low number of dives I logged this year; its my lowest number in five years, by far.

Here is a summary of my 2007 dive year:

1/7/07: 2 dives on the Mohawk from the Stingray.
4/14/07: Dutch 5/19/07: Dutch (wreck dive cancelled, needed to get wet)
5/26/07: 2 dives on the Beth Dee Bob from the Stingray
7/4/07: 1 dive on the Tolten. Got pissy, so 2nd dive called.
7/25/07: Night dive on the Brunette wreck
7/29/07: Seagirt wreck and then the Pile of Rocks dive (super) from the Outlaw.
8/2/07: 1 dive on the Rockland County from the Stingray dive boat
8/4/07: 2 dives on The Dykes on the Stingray
9/11/07: Dutch 9/29/07: U-853 off Block Island from the Explorer dive boat
10/28/07: Dutch (another offshore trip cancelled - at the dock)
11/18/07: Dutch (training dive)
11/25/07: 2 dives diving with Richie Kohler and John Yurga on the Delaware wreck from the Independence II 12/8/07: 2 dives on the Mohawk from the Independence II
12/8/2007: Mohawk Wreck with the Independence II dive boat.

For the 2008 dive season, which begins soon, I hope to get at least 10 more dives in than I did in 2007.

12/8/07: Mohawk wreck from the Independence II

The Scuba Connection chartered the Independence II for Saturday, 12/8/7. I was to be a Divemaster's choice. It was decided we would hit the Mohawk. This was probably my last wreck dive of the year, and I just realized that I hit the Mohawk in January for my first wreck dive of the year too. What comes around goes around.

Jim from the Gypsy Blood was one of the mates. I think he lost a bet or something, cuz he has to work for Dan. Or maybe Dan has something over him...I don't know.

The day started dreary and rainy, with 2-3' seas. It ended with sunny skies and a flat ocean. I got two dives in with a total run time of 78 minutes. I'd have stayed longer, but it was cold as shit. Anyway, it was 46 degrees on the bottom, and 44 degrees on the hang. Actually warmer at depth. Viz. was a very good 25+ feet. 3 lobsters came up, but no fish. There was a monster eel lurking around in the wreck as Sean was stalking a black fish.

Sunday was the last dive of the year for the Independence II. I wish I could have made it out, but obligations prevented it.

Diving with Richie Kohler and John Yurga 11/25/07

The Independence II posted a trip that most NJ wreck divers would give their left (you know what) to go on. Me being one of those, I couldn't pass this one up. Capt. Dan was going to a wreck with two diving legends, Richie Kohler from the Discovery Channel's Deepsea Detectives, and John Yurga, a very well respected diver who has been involved in more discoveries than I can list. To top it off, they would be using an "air-lift", in other words, a tube with a vacuum from an air compressor sucking sand and other stuff off a wreck in the hopes of exposing artifacts.

The trip posting didn't say which wreck we would be diving, but it would be in a shallow depth, no more than 80'. The day of this trip turned out to be a perfect day to dive. Clear, sunny, no wind, and flat seas. My dive buddy, Scott, and I made it to the dock by 6:15 and we were loaded by 6:30. The Independence II is docked at Clarks Landing Marina in Point Pleasant, NJ. The roster was filled to capacity, with an extra diver thrown in for good measure.

The wreck was to be the Delaware, which was a steamer built in Philadelphia in 1880. She was 250' long x 37' wide. On July 8th, 1898 she was carrying 66 passengers and crew, when a fire began below deck. She burned to the waterline, but all of her passengers or crew made it to shore safely. The NJ coastline was clearly visible, making for a fast and efficient rescue. She now rests in a shallow 75' of water.

We left the dock under beautiful skies and flat seas. The boat had seven rebreathers and nine sets of open circuit doubles. The wreck is close, so we were there quickly. Crew member mcjangles went in to set the hook. After a little bit (I am being kind), the pool was opened and divers began gearing up. The report was that the viz. was about 10'. The airlift was assembled and lowered into the water. It was tied to the wreck by the anchor line, waiting for Richie Kohler to move it to a place that we all hoped would be fruitful.

Suiting up, I was pleased to have been assisted by Richie Kohler. He's just "one of the crew" on the Independence II. Scott and I went in with a scheduled 60 minute runtime. We descended to find the reported 10' viz. was "generous" to say the least. The airlift was not being used yet, since Richie had not descended yet. We were tied in by the engine, with boilers to our left and the props to our right. Scott and I began to tour the wreck. We followed the shaft to the propellers and then turned back towards the anchor. I saw only one lobster, safely tucked away deep in a hole. I forgot that Scott had his tickle stick in his bag, so this one got to stay. We passed the airlift, still tied to the engine, and moved forward towards the bow. There are four boilers aft of the engine, one of which was opened on the top, so I dropped into it fins first. Nothing noteworthy, but it was still cool. We then continued towards the bow, poking at whatever was poke-worthy. With a dwindling NDL, we headed back to the engine just in time to see Richie coming down. We passed him on the line and went our separate ways. During our hang, bursts of air bubbles shot past us, letting us know that the airlift was in action. Unfortunately for us, we would have to wait until after our surface interval to get our hands dirty. We ended up with a 60 minute dive, a max. depth of 74', viz. on the bottom between 5' and 10', and a bottom temp of 52 degrees.

After an hour out, we were back in the water. We didn't descend the anchor line, choosing to follow the bright orange air line from the compressor down to the airlift. We couldn't use the air line as anything except a visual reference, since it was not meant to be yanked on. We descended to an area aft of the boilers to find Richie Kohler diligently working the business end of the airlift. He created a nice sized hole in the sand and gravel. Scott and I began poking around the same area, looking for whatever we could find. I brought a sand-scoop from my metal detecting kit down with me. It worked fantastic. I would scoop into the sand/gravel as deep as I could, shake it to let the silt and sand escape through the small holes, and then gently shake the contents out onto a level area for me to sift through. I found a really nice piece of decorative glass that looks like it came from a bowl or vase. This method kept reducing the viz. to zero for a minute, but it only took going up or down a few feet to get out of the silt.

Scott and I were head to head with Richie in the hole he was working. We would gently brush the ground by the business end of the airlift, watching it take away decades of sand, silt, stones and shells. We were in an area that was giving up alot of broken glass, so things were looking promising. This was old thick glass, so hopefully we would find some intact bottles. We exposed the wooden deck area and moved the airlift to expand the hole. When I looked up to an opening in the wreck, either a conger eel or American eel was watching over us, slipping closer and closer to me every minute. When I first saw him, he was only sticking out a few inches. Within five minutes, he was a good foot out, and within a few more minutes, he was clearly getting comfortable and had was out at least a foot and a half. I decided to put Scott in between the eel and me, so I shuffled over him and settled down between him and Rich. What do you know, Scott saw the eel too, and how close he was to us, and decided to do the same thing.

After about twenty minutes of us working the hole as a trio, Richie handed the airlift to me. I was shocked...little ol'me. I've never done anything even remotely close to this, but was more than happy to take on this task. What I wasn't so thrilled about was that Richie wanted me to bring the airlift to the surface when I was done by shooting lift bags. Who am I to complain, but I have to admit that I was a bit worried that my bag would not be sufficient to do the job. Anyway, Scott and I continued working the airlift, making the hole larger by the minute. We found a good amount of broken glass, and also three very unusual objects that we still haven't identified. Rust encrusted, about six inches long, thick on one end (about two inches) and tapering to a point on the other end. Pulling the tapered end resulted in the end coming off, revealing what looked like a shank or something. We found three of them. Richie's determination of what they were is a "P.O.S", which I am very familiar with. Time will tell, as I have it soaking.

With a dwindling NDL, and nobody else coming to take over the airlift, Scott and I began the task of rigging the lift to go to the surface. It was at this time that I realized that my bag was not sufficient. With my bag filled, the lift moved only a few feet. It was also pretty well tied into the wreck. As a result, I knew that the mate would have to finish the job. We began our ascent, using the bright orange airline as a visual reference. Luckily there was minimal current, so it was an easy hang. We ended up with a 50 minute dive.

The mate went in to pull the hook and also sent the airlift to the surface using the proper equipment. A fair amount of "stuff" was found, including painted china, a wooden winch/pulley, lots of broken glass, brass nails, a nice rectangle window about 6" x 4", brass "things", and other little odds and ends.

I need to tell you that Richie Kohler was as down-to-earth as they come. I can't wait to use the airlift next season!

Three wreck dives blown out in a row...

...equals going to Dutch Springs just to get wet.

My planned wreck dive was blown out for Saturday, making it three in a row that got cancelled due to weather. Out of despair, Stephan and I agreed that if this trip got blown out, we'd meet at Dutch just to get wet. A steady rain was coming down, but it wasn't cold or windy. It was actually a nice day except for the rain. For some odd reason, the student side was JAMMED, but the peninsula side was not. We did two dives with a total runtime of 1:40. The coolest part was when we did a midwater nav. from the helicopter to the bus, we decided to stop at the unmarked cruiser sitting on the road. We were poking around when suddenly two freedivers appeared out of nowhere. Stephan was in the cruiser and came face to face with a freediver at 45'. I had my camera out and tried getting a shot of a rebreather diver and a freediver on the same site. I didn't get the exact shot I wanted, but I did get a few. Check them out, I posted them on the Wreckvalley photo gallery. There are a few other shots included too.

Das Boot - The U-853 off Block Island 9/29/07

"May 5, 1945 : Toward the end of the war, the U-853 had taken up station patrolling the waters of the Atlantic off the east shore of New England. Just off Point Judith, Rhode Island, she spotted the S.S. Blackpoint and torpedoed the freighter, sending her to the bottom. This was a mistake, because the sub was in shallow water, with a depth of 130' and there was nowhere to hide. Ironically, Admiral Dz had ordered his U-Boats to cease their attacks on shipping a day earlier, May 4. U-853 probably did not have this information. A Yugoslav freighter witnessed the explosions of the Blackpoint and radioed the information to the U.S.C.G. The Coast Guard and Navy quickly converged on the area with four warships - the USCG Frigate Moberly, the Destroyer Ericsson, and the Destroyer Escorts Atherton and Amick. Using sonar they quickly located the submerged U-853 some six miles east of Block Island. Depth charging was commenced, and continued into the night. At one point, the white hat of a German U-Boat Captain floated to the surface. At daylight, the navy sent a hard-hat diver down and confirmed the destruction of the U-853. All 55 hands were lost, entombed in the boat. "

September 29, 2007: My best friend from college was getting married, and he asked me to be in the wedding party. Rehearsal dinner was Friday night with the wedding taking place Sunday afternoon. Did I mention that the wedding was in Rhode Island? What to do all day Saturday? Visit my alma mater? Go to Newport? Relax? No. The U-853, a piece of history I’ve been dreaming about diving for years, was just a few miles off Block Island, at a depth of 130’. It was decided that my Saturday would be spent trying for a second time to reach out and touch this sub. Last year we were cancelled as we waited for the boat Captain to arrive at the dock. This year I would try again. With what was supposed to be a joint New Jersey / Rhode Island dive contingent, we chartered the Explorer dive boat out of Snug Harbor in Narragansett, RI. This was an excellent choice. The Explorer is a 42 foot fiberglass Grand Banks expedition trawler built for comfort. Although it can hold up to ten divers, Capt. Sutton chooses to keep the number down to six to keep it manageable.

Like I said, this was supposed to be a joint NJ/RI diving adventure, mainly RI plus me. Two spots still needed to be filled and the Capt. Recommended posting for them on Scubaboard. I had a better idea. I ran the dive past a few of my NJ diving buddies and the spots were taken. As the date got closer and closer, the RI divers numbers dwindled as the NJ divers numbers increased. In the end, it was supposed to be five from NJ and one from RI. That too would change by the time the Explorer left Snug Harbor.

The weather report was calling for clear sunny skies with winds to 15 knots. It was looking like we were going to make it out to the sub. We met at the marina at 4:30 am and began loading the gear onto the Explorer. The sixth diver, Bill D from RI, didn’t make it to the dock. He mentioned to me the night before that he was still on the fence. If he showed, he showed. If not, it would be five instead of six. Capt. Sutton was as hospitable and friendly as they come. He gave us an update on the predicted weather; 15 knot winds with 2-4’ seas, expecting to lie down as the day progressed. He told us that last week there was 25’ viz. on the sub. Things were looking up, and it would appear that the angst I’ve been feeling the past few days when thinking about the dive being scrubbed was all for naught.

The ride out was beautiful. The sun was rising from the east, Block Island was on to our west, and the weather was looking good. We arrived at the site to find one of the three moorings gone. The Capt. maneuvered us over the sub and we hooked into one of the moorings and began setting up. Rob would be the first in, as he would be spending the most time on the sub. He was diving a Meg rebreather and knows this sub well. Scott and I would buddy up, as we were both diving open circuit doubles with 40 cf. bailout bottles. Stephan was diving his KISS rebreather and he would partner up with Yasuko, who was diving single steel 100 with a 40 cf. bailout bottle.

Scott and I splashed in at 8:41 and began our descent. My heart was racing as I was realizing that I was finally going down to the U-853. The conning tower starts at 90’, and I thought we were tied onto it. I was watching my depth gauge anticipating the sub coming into view. 70’… only 20’ to go. 80’…only 10’ to go. 90’… I should see it…I should see….100’. Huh? It wasn’t until my depth gauge read 112’ did I see the sub. We were tied into the bow, which is still intact and is one of the most recognizable parts of the sub since it was made with thick steel to bust through ice. The visibility was a disappointing five feet and there was a moderate current running from the bow to stern. It took just over two minutes for me to make it down to the sub. Before I touched the sub I stopped, took in a breath, and reached out as if I was patting the head of my 4-year old. I laid my hand onto the side of the sub as I felt a wave of satisfaction run through me. Finally. It took me a minute or two to get situated, since I was pretty narced and needed to shake it off. We settled at 122’ on the starboard side of the bow. Scott was motioning something about running a reel, but it didn’t register yet. After a minute or two of settling down I motioned to Scott that I wanted to go to the sand, but then I took a look at my NDL and saw it was already in the single digits. I didn’t even attempt to descend past my max. depth of 123’. I could see the round shape of the torpedo at the bow and saw all the deterioration around the sub. The pressure hull was gone and anemones covered the exposed areas. I took a few pictures using my camera, but there was too many particles floating by to make anything of them. We never ventured too far from the line, maybe 25’, but never made it to the conning tower or first blast hole. I was keeping an eye on my NDL and watched as it ticked town to one minute. Up a few feet to give me a few more minutes of NDL until it ticked down to one minute again, and up a few more feet. After the seventeen-minute mark, Scott and I began our ascent. We made a slow and steady ascent, making several stops along the way. Breaking through the thermocline where the visibility opened up twenty feet or so, we were met with a thick layer of jellyfish. I guess I was too excited to notice them on the way down, but they were everywhere. I’ve seen jellyfish before, but this was like no other I’ve seen. It was a forty foot thick layer of jelly blob.

Breaking the ten-foot mark I had a little incident that Scott helped me with. The ascent line had a small loop hanging off underneath the mooring. This loop was made of black rope, so it blended in with my hoses. It got caught under my chin and behind my tank. I tried ascending but all that happened was my regulator was pulled from my mouth. I was able to bite down and catch the edge of one piece, but my mouth was now filled with salt water and my regulator was dangling on my lip. Before I reached for my backup, Scott pulled the line off and I was back in business. It seemed that the top ten feet were a lot rougher now than they were forty minutes earlier. Sure enough, the 2’-4’ seas didn’t lie down as predicted. We were greeted by at least 8’ seas with wind gusts of 25 knots or more. The mate was waiting on the bow with a hook for me to hold onto as he pulled me to the stern of the Explorer. The waves were making the ladder a little difficult to handle, but with the help of the crew, I was safely on board just as the mooring broke. Scott came on board quickly and the crew went into action. Lucky for us, the Capt. covered this exact scenario during the briefing, and he did exactly what he said he would do. We started the engines and circled the bobbing buoys until all the divers came up and were recovered. Not an easy task with 8’-10’ seas and whipping winds. White capped waves were crashing over the bow as the mates were keeping a sharp eye on the buoy for divers breaking the surface. Credit due to the Capt. and his crew for doing a professional job.

In the end, I had a 41-minute runtime that included just over two minutes to descend, 15 minutes at depth, and the remaining time on the ascent line. I had 54 degrees on the bottom.

Due to the weather, we did not do a second dive on the sub, which was both disappointing and a relief. We hit a crane barge near the inlet just to spend a little more time in the water. Sorry, I didn’t write a report for this.

I want to extend my thanks to Capt. Sutton of the dive boat Explorer, along with his crew. I would recommend them to anyone who wants a truly professional experience and a comfortable dive platform.Stephan, Mike, Yasuko, Scott, and Rob.

Pictures from Dutch Springs

I usually don't write-up dives from Dutch Springs, but I did take some pictures from todays dive. Scott, Yasuko, and I got a 75 minute dive in the cove, after a midwater swim from the helicopter. Here are a few shots.



Trees in the fog








Scott in the steel structure








Yasuko over the trees









Rotor blades (minus the blades) from the helicotper








Mike in the steel structure







Fog in the trees

The Dykes - Aug 4, 2007

The Scuba Connection chartered the Stingray dive boat for Sunday, August 4, 2007. The initial idea was to go to the Alex Mac, a scallop boat which went down a few years ago. After a little trouble hooking the remains of the wreck, we decided to hit the Dykes, which was sunk as an artificial reef in 1983. As usual, there is an excellent write-up on this site on NJScuba.net.

While enroute, we were visited by a bunch of dolphin, who were jumping out of the water fairly close to the boat. We were also visited by a leatherback turtle, which I haven't seen in NJ. While we were finishing up our second dive, we were met by something else I've never seen before in NJ. A sharks fin broke the surface and was cruising on the surface about twenty feet off the stern for a short time. Stephan saw it and decided not to say anything, thinking nobody would believe him. Then I saw it and pointed it out. We had a few bags of mussels hanging overboard, so I wonder if that's what peaked its interest. It was most likely a dogfish shark, but we didn't see more than the fin.

I did two dives for a total runtime of 96 minutes. Viz. ranged from 10'-20'. On the first dive I shot my very first fluke and Scott got a couple of lobsters. On my second dive, I left my spear on the boat and brough down my camera for a few pics. They are posted here on wreckvalley. I love taking pictures of the starfish, anemones, shells, and fish. I just wish I had a better camera.

The tickle stick that Scott used is the soon-to-be world famous "Bender lobster tickle stick". Its simply a 2 1/2 foot piece of thick coated copper wire from Home Depot. It can be folded up, bent, straightened out, or whatever, as needed. Its not called the "Bender lobster tickle stick" because my last name just happens to be Bender, but because it bends...get it? What a play on words. As ridiculous as it sounds, this thing actually works. He caught two lobsters using it on this dive, and it was as versatile as they come. Just watch...next year everyone will be using one. Home Depot won't be able to keep this stuff on the shelves, there will be a worldwide shortage of the materials needed to make it, it will cause mass panic.....you'll see. In the mean time, while you're waiting for this to happen, check out my pics from the dive.

Rockland County - NJ night dive 8/2/07

The Rockland County is a tugboat measuring 105' x 24' and built in 1960. On Valentines day, February 14, 1986, she was intentionally sunk as part of the New Jersey artificial reef program, and sits in about 80' of water in the "Sea Girt reef". This reef is located on an underwater ridge known as the "Klondike", which is known for having a sandy bottom and relatively good visibility.

On August 2, 2007, The Scuba Connection chartered the Stingray dive boat for a single-tank night dive on the Rockland County. The wife and some of the kids dropped me off at the dock, with the intention of visiting some friends and family at the shore while I was off diving. Making the dive with me was Scott, Stephan, Yasuko, Sean, Michelle, Paula, Alex and Alec. My wife gave me very specific instructions; come back with sea shells and star fish for our 4-year old daughters upcoming luau themed birthday party. Seafood was secondary. I made sure to tell Scott what my priorities were so they were quite clear; hit the bottom, scoop up what we can, and then enjoy the rest of the dive. I came prepared, with a homemade tickle stick, which consisted of a 2-1/2' long piece of heavy coated copper wire from Home Depot that could be bent in any direction, but strong enough to hold its shape. This tug sits in no more than 80', so I was diving double 98's filled with 36% nitrox, giving me a bottom time of 55 minutes (assuming I was to spend the whole time on the bottom), plenty of time to gather the needed materials and still have time to explore.

After a longer than expected wait to tie into the wreck, the pool was open. Scott and I splashed-in almost last. Upon hitting the tug, we did just as planned. This was a true night dive. There was no bright moon, no ambient light, and viz. was no more than 10'. There was also a decent current. We hit the sand and began bagging up shells and starfish. I made sure to bring a separate bag for them, since I didn't want any "dinner" to damage these valuable goods. In addition to the shells and star fish, I also loaded up on sand dollars. I've never seen so many, they were all over the place. I was able to scoop up a half a dozen at a time. As silly as this sounds, I love sand dollars. I think they're cool. I found a nice sized vacant moonsnail shell, as well as a small "occupied" one too. I also picked up half a dozen star fish of various sizes. After this, it was time to explore the wreck.

Almost immediately, Scott found a decent sized fluke under the stern. I gave him my pole spear and he nailed it with a nice shot behind the head. We began exploring the tug from top to bottom and all around. Swimming by the portholes, I was surprised to be blown away from the tug each time. The current coming through the tug was pushed through these small round holes, creating quite alot of force. This tug was covered with beautiful Sea Anemones, mussels, hydroids, star fish, and lots of other colorful growth. Knowing my lack of lobster catching abilities, I made sure to bag up several pounds of those ferocious fighting, fear inspiring mussels. Wow, did they put of a fight, but don't worry, I came out of it ok. Scott wasn't so lucky, I think one of them gave him a bloody nose.

After exploring the tug for a while, and not seeing anything worth spearing, I dropped my pole spear and bags by the hook, leaving my free to explore further. Swimming along without my spear, I found a nice sized tog just waiting to be taken to the surface. He was about four feet inside, and the opening was about a foot and a half wide. I returned to the hook to retrieve my spear, lined up a shot, and missed. Before I could reload, the tog shot out of the hole upside down, swam around wildly for a few seconds, and then ran directly into Scott's catch bag. If only it had been opened, he would have swam right in. Oh well. I returned my spear to the hook and continued exploring. About twenty-feet from the hook, about three feet in a two-foot hole, sat what I was looking for...a nice two to three pound lobster staring me in the face. I tried, but he was just out of my reach, so I had to return to my catch bag for my homemade tickle stick. I turned around to head back to the hook for the tickle stick and noticed that Scott was still by the hook. When I went to retrieve the stick, Scott made it clear that he was ready to ascend, since that bloody nose the mussels gave him was getting the best of him. Lobster: 1, Mike: 0.

We were the last divers on the boat and we managed to have a 59 minute runtime. Several nice sized lobsters came up, along with one fluke and pounds and pounds of mussels. The mate went in to pull the hook and we were off, heading back to the Belmar Boat Basin. We got back to the dock a little later than expected, but my wife and kids were wide awake and waiting for us at the marina. The kids were so excited to see the starfish, the wife was excited to see me, and I was excited to dive again on Saturday.