Good day all... I try to give back with these little reports. I enjoy reading others so here goes. On the Dina Dee II out of Barnegat Light, NJ 05/29/22.
This is my first trip this year to NJ, perfect day for it. My trip really started Thurs blending tanks and filling. My son was coming with so I had my double 85's, a 40 for him to sling, his 2 120's, and an extra HP 100 for me to whip off of at the si if needed. All blended to 36% (except for one straggler that ended up with 34%?). I setup all our gear out back Sat and made sure we were good to go and loaded up. Left Sun morning at 2am, forgot my coffee, turned around and really got on the road around 2:15. Picked my son up off and away we went.
It's about 2.5-3 hours to get there and I always try and give enough time that we're early and can grab gas or eat on the way. We arrived @ 5:45. I was thinking we would have been the 1st but mostly everybody was already there. We were loaded ready to go by 6-6:15 but we had to wait for a straggler. Now this is important, we could of gotten out at 6:15, but since someone was late we couldn't leave until 6:45. Guy shows up late, had nothing ready to go, fiddles with his gear all the way out. Was an absolute mess. I know we talk about proper boat etiquette and this is / should be apart of it. We got to the wreck we were supposed to dive (The Great Isaac), but there was a fishing boat on it. Had to switch to a lesser know wreck called "Yellow Flags". The hope was that since we could see the fishing boat he would get his catch and leave and we could switch over for dive 2, but it just didn't work out that way. I don't know if leaving at 6:15 would have gotten us there before the fishing boat, but it definitely would have been a better chance. To top it off the gentlemen that showed up late tore his neck seal for which he did not have a spare and he couldn't dive anyway. That was interesting to watch. Was a mess from beginning to end. Now I believe everything happens for a reason, so we ended up where we did. I'm not one to hold resentments, I'm sure I've turned peoples day into sh!t before, but I do try and learn from others. Always, always, always set up the day before. Everything goes so much smoother and you're not "that guy"...
My son got super sea sick. He swore the days leading up to it that he just doesn't get seasick so he didn't really do anything to prevent it, but man oh man did he. I felt really bad as he was not able to dive. I asked if he wanted me to stay with him and I just wouldn't dive but he said no that he was just going to try and sleep. He did eventually get his stuff on and jump on, but he said he still felt sick @ 20' so he called it for dive 2 also, but at least he tried. He really wants to try it again, and maybe try some different things to help with seasickness.
Dive 1 was pretty uneventful. 80', bottom temp was colder than expected @ 48f or so the perdix says, I don't trust that 100%. I could see that being off by a degree or 2. And there's a fairly large delay I would assume because the sensor is inside... Idk. But it read 48f. The wreck itself is a scattered debris field but there is a boiler and some rather large ribs you can explore around. Maybe 8-10' of relief. Lots of fish. I am not a seasoned hunter but it appeals to me more and more. I brought my bag but wasn't feeling 100% myself so I just explored. A little surge and some current on the bottom, but not bad. I actually like the cold, it seems to help a lot with any type of nausea from being on the boat. Viz was about 10' on this dive. I got in either 40-45 min and actually started to get a little chilled so I came up.
Dive 2 was better... maybe dive one was just knocking the dust off who knows. After the 1.25 hours si I was feeling kind of queasy myself. A little bit of a mess gearing up, hoses under waist band and whatnot, but the captain jumped right in on deck and in 30 seconds got me squared away before I splashed. The sun was higher in the sky so the viz seemed to improve some. I think it was 15'-20' but I'm horrible at that guessing game underwater. The fact is it was better and more interesting than my local quarry and that's all that matters to me. I tried running a reel to explore away from the wreck a little but something must have caught it and it went limp. Had to turn around and head back the 100' or so into current, but found my way. Line had gotten cut on the rib. On this dive I saw a lot of lobster. I fought with one rather large one for a while but he wasn't budging. Almost got my glove twice. I tried to get at him with a shell and he just attacked the shell, lol.. He was a big boy.
Guys on the boat were great, really really great with my son. They all tried to give him hints what they do, made him feel right at home. They all said "we've all been there". Maybe because he's younger, but they were all very nice to him. He's excited to give it another shot, said he learned a lot watching the guys come up with all their catches and they did make him feel apart of. He's really into the idea of hunting / catching dinner. Bummed that he got sick but by the time we got back he was feeling great again. He chalked it up to nerves. Will be more prepared for the next time... I tried to get him to eat on the way, but he was too nervous so I know that didn't help at all.
One more thing... HUGE compliments to captain Gary of the Dine Dee. I haven't been on a lot of boats but I don't think you could meet a more down to earth guy. He loves boating and diving and catching stuff. You can just tell he's all about it, very passionate. The guys were all talking about how they saw a rather large monk fish and Gary suited up right away to go catch it and bring it home for dinner. He dressed it up back at the dock and gave those of us that didn't really catch anything all something to take home. Again, can not stress about how super nice he is.
All in all, fun day. I feel bad for my son, but we really have all been there. He'll be more prepared next time and really for his first ocean dive not everything was going to go perfect. The seas were nice but not perfect... some larger rolling swells to contend with but they were spaced far apart. It seemed to calm down some in the afternoon.
Attached is the monk fish the captain brought up.. I should have asked for some sea bass as there was plenty but I kept thinking about cleaning it and it got me nauseous again. Will be back for more sooner than later for sure!!
This is my first trip this year to NJ, perfect day for it. My trip really started Thurs blending tanks and filling. My son was coming with so I had my double 85's, a 40 for him to sling, his 2 120's, and an extra HP 100 for me to whip off of at the si if needed. All blended to 36% (except for one straggler that ended up with 34%?). I setup all our gear out back Sat and made sure we were good to go and loaded up. Left Sun morning at 2am, forgot my coffee, turned around and really got on the road around 2:15. Picked my son up off and away we went.
It's about 2.5-3 hours to get there and I always try and give enough time that we're early and can grab gas or eat on the way. We arrived @ 5:45. I was thinking we would have been the 1st but mostly everybody was already there. We were loaded ready to go by 6-6:15 but we had to wait for a straggler. Now this is important, we could of gotten out at 6:15, but since someone was late we couldn't leave until 6:45. Guy shows up late, had nothing ready to go, fiddles with his gear all the way out. Was an absolute mess. I know we talk about proper boat etiquette and this is / should be apart of it. We got to the wreck we were supposed to dive (The Great Isaac), but there was a fishing boat on it. Had to switch to a lesser know wreck called "Yellow Flags". The hope was that since we could see the fishing boat he would get his catch and leave and we could switch over for dive 2, but it just didn't work out that way. I don't know if leaving at 6:15 would have gotten us there before the fishing boat, but it definitely would have been a better chance. To top it off the gentlemen that showed up late tore his neck seal for which he did not have a spare and he couldn't dive anyway. That was interesting to watch. Was a mess from beginning to end. Now I believe everything happens for a reason, so we ended up where we did. I'm not one to hold resentments, I'm sure I've turned peoples day into sh!t before, but I do try and learn from others. Always, always, always set up the day before. Everything goes so much smoother and you're not "that guy"...
My son got super sea sick. He swore the days leading up to it that he just doesn't get seasick so he didn't really do anything to prevent it, but man oh man did he. I felt really bad as he was not able to dive. I asked if he wanted me to stay with him and I just wouldn't dive but he said no that he was just going to try and sleep. He did eventually get his stuff on and jump on, but he said he still felt sick @ 20' so he called it for dive 2 also, but at least he tried. He really wants to try it again, and maybe try some different things to help with seasickness.
Dive 1 was pretty uneventful. 80', bottom temp was colder than expected @ 48f or so the perdix says, I don't trust that 100%. I could see that being off by a degree or 2. And there's a fairly large delay I would assume because the sensor is inside... Idk. But it read 48f. The wreck itself is a scattered debris field but there is a boiler and some rather large ribs you can explore around. Maybe 8-10' of relief. Lots of fish. I am not a seasoned hunter but it appeals to me more and more. I brought my bag but wasn't feeling 100% myself so I just explored. A little surge and some current on the bottom, but not bad. I actually like the cold, it seems to help a lot with any type of nausea from being on the boat. Viz was about 10' on this dive. I got in either 40-45 min and actually started to get a little chilled so I came up.
Dive 2 was better... maybe dive one was just knocking the dust off who knows. After the 1.25 hours si I was feeling kind of queasy myself. A little bit of a mess gearing up, hoses under waist band and whatnot, but the captain jumped right in on deck and in 30 seconds got me squared away before I splashed. The sun was higher in the sky so the viz seemed to improve some. I think it was 15'-20' but I'm horrible at that guessing game underwater. The fact is it was better and more interesting than my local quarry and that's all that matters to me. I tried running a reel to explore away from the wreck a little but something must have caught it and it went limp. Had to turn around and head back the 100' or so into current, but found my way. Line had gotten cut on the rib. On this dive I saw a lot of lobster. I fought with one rather large one for a while but he wasn't budging. Almost got my glove twice. I tried to get at him with a shell and he just attacked the shell, lol.. He was a big boy.
Guys on the boat were great, really really great with my son. They all tried to give him hints what they do, made him feel right at home. They all said "we've all been there". Maybe because he's younger, but they were all very nice to him. He's excited to give it another shot, said he learned a lot watching the guys come up with all their catches and they did make him feel apart of. He's really into the idea of hunting / catching dinner. Bummed that he got sick but by the time we got back he was feeling great again. He chalked it up to nerves. Will be more prepared for the next time... I tried to get him to eat on the way, but he was too nervous so I know that didn't help at all.
One more thing... HUGE compliments to captain Gary of the Dine Dee. I haven't been on a lot of boats but I don't think you could meet a more down to earth guy. He loves boating and diving and catching stuff. You can just tell he's all about it, very passionate. The guys were all talking about how they saw a rather large monk fish and Gary suited up right away to go catch it and bring it home for dinner. He dressed it up back at the dock and gave those of us that didn't really catch anything all something to take home. Again, can not stress about how super nice he is.
All in all, fun day. I feel bad for my son, but we really have all been there. He'll be more prepared next time and really for his first ocean dive not everything was going to go perfect. The seas were nice but not perfect... some larger rolling swells to contend with but they were spaced far apart. It seemed to calm down some in the afternoon.
Attached is the monk fish the captain brought up.. I should have asked for some sea bass as there was plenty but I kept thinking about cleaning it and it got me nauseous again. Will be back for more sooner than later for sure!!
