NJ/NY Wreck Dive Reports

[wrekdiver2]

First a couple of messages to fellow WV'ers:

ScubaK-Dawg: Nice diving with you today, Kevin. Darn shame about your "buddy", eh?

SueMermaid: You would have LOVED today! Yes, I'm being very sarcastic.

Marcos: Here's your dive report.


Due to the NE wind and the gloomy marine forecast, the Dina Dee and her full boat of passengers headed for the Pinta. When we got there, we found a boat fishing the wreck so we opted for a nearby barge.

Conditions on the barge (sorry, I can't remember the name) were not too bad. The barge is relatively intact in 85' of water, but some wreckage extends out into the sand. We encountered (depending on who you asked) 10-15' of visibility. Several nice blackfish and sea bass were seen. One lobster and a rusted pair of needle nose plyers were brought up. There were even two sightings of a fishing pole, but it definitely wasn't worth bringing up.

The anchor was pulled and we headed inshore to the Cranford for a second dive. This former car ferry/restaraunt sits in 70' of water . She is quite broken up. Here, we encountered (again, depending on who you ask) 15-20' of vis. I believe a pair of lobsters came up and there were a couple of nice blackfish hiding amongst the wreckage

The all-important water temperature has not changed in two weeks: 41F at depth, 43F at 30', 45F at 15'.

Capt. Tom put the new grill to work and we had our fill of hotdogs and hamburgers.

For anyone interested in doing some diving, the Dina Dee will be going out at least one day next weekend and hopefully both days!

 

[DEEPLOU]

Did the Iberia outside of Jones Inlet (long Island). Unfortunately the vis was at most 10 feet but more like about 5. Water temps were about same as Brian reported. Piled on those undies and three fingered mits were a must. Saw some small begauls and not much else. Topside was little lumpy. Checking the weather bouy later it showed we were getting almost 5 footers at about 6 second interval. After getting into calmer waters, Capt Frank of the Sea Hawk broke out the grill. Thanks to Capt Frank, mate Eddie and myself we feasted on hot dogs, kilbasa, and chicken.
Lookin foward to what awaits next week.

 

[ScubaK-Dawg]

Damn Brian, you beat me too the report. Great diving with you too. Oh, by the way, thanks again for the lobster, It was excellent. I'm looking forward to many more of those this season.

 

[TTSkipper]

You guys are killing me, I can't wait another month for my drysuit to come in!

 

[SueMermaid]

Thanks for the report, Brian, I really really wish I had been there, especially in light of the hot dogs on board. :sick:

 

[wrekdiver2]

SueMermaid: You wouldn't have liked yesterday, but today you would have loved...

TTSkipper: Read the end of this post and you may not want to wait for the drysuit to come back...

Beautiful sunny day with maybe 2' seas...

Went out on a friends boat today for a single double-tanker...

We hit the Arundo and had about 25' of vis....bunch of lobster were down there, but I was only to bring up 1 that was legal, didn't have eggs and I could actually catch....managed to find a single scallop as well.

One of the guys I was out with found an intact box of rifle ammunition....I knew beer bottles were down there, but not the ammo...of course, they found it after I came up...oh well, maybe next time.

Water temp at depth was still 41F, but at about 40' it came up to 43F.

Better yet? The top 20-30' was 50F!!!! Boy, that sure felt good after freezing my...umm, well you know whats...off!

 

[TTSkipper]

I can typically deal with the cold, I did two 35 minute dives to 90 feet at Dutch a few weeks ago, 45 deg top to bottom in my 5 mil but I had a 4 hour SI. My concern is that if I go on a chartered boat I will really be freezing my butt off on the 2nd dive.

SueMermaid: You wouldn't have liked yesterday, but today you would have loved...

TTSkipper: Read the end of this post and you may not want to wait for the drysuit to come back...

Beautiful sunny day with maybe 2' seas...

Went out on a friends boat today for a single double-tanker...

We hit the Arundo and had about 25' of vis....bunch of lobster were down there, but I was only to bring up 1 that was legal, didn't have eggs and I could actually catch....managed to find a single scallop as well.

One of the guys I was out with found an intact box of rifle ammunition....I knew beer bottles were down there, but not the ammo...of course, they found it after I came up...oh well, maybe next time.

Water temp at depth was still 41F, but at about 40' it came up to 43F.

Better yet? The top 20-30' was 50F!!!! Boy, that sure felt good after freezing my...umm, well you know whats...off!

 

[DEEPLOU]

Unfortunately I had to cancel out on a trip to the Oregon last Sunday. What really hurt was the report that they had excellent vis and flat seas.
Some nice bugs and artifacts were brought up.
Well its time to pack for tomorrow morning. Won't know where we are going till we hit the end of the inlet and see how the ocean is.

 

[DEEPLOU]

Sat. May 15 went to a wreck called "Happy Days". Not sure where the name comes from but... Seas were little lumpy, half the paying customers developed a little green around the gills. (i not one of them). The wreck itself is somewhat scattered. I am told it was an old wooden scooner. Although the temp on the bottom was very northeast, 41 deg, the visability was very Carribean, 50 to 60 feet. Loads of scallops were brought up as well as 8 lobsters of varing sizes. Half of them were in excess of 3 lbs each.
Due to the somewhat heavy seas, the ride back was interesting.

Tommorrow ,if mother nature cooperates, it will be the Oregon. Hopefully she will cooperate. reports indicate they had similiar visability last week on this wreck also.

 

[wrekdiver2]

Saturday 5/22
We headed to the 120 wreck. Flat seas. 20-25' of vis and lots of fish and a few lobsters. Water was 43F on the bottom, definitely warmer up top.

2nd dive was to the Cadet. 45F on the bottom. 20-25' of vis. Some fish and a pair of bugs came up. There's a new addition to the Cadet that I don't think was there a week ago when I dove it. It seems a memorial/tombstone was place on the wreck for an Angelo Polcardi (1948-2004).

Sunday 5/23
We headed for the Parking Lot and ended up on the Coney Island. Nearby, were the Venture III and Jeanne II sharing the Algol and the Ol' Salty on the Stolt. In the distance, the Diversion appeared to be on the Beth Dee Bob. They sure don't call it the Parking Lot for nothing! 41F on the bottom and 54F up top. A pair of bugs were brought up in the 30' vis

We moved over to the Captain Bart for our 2nd dive and found similar conditions.

For those that are interested
The Dina Dee has an open boat to the Arundo on 5/29 and an open boat on 5/30 that will be kept inshore.