Trip report 7/26/05

[Boston Diver Services]

Today I joined Capt. Jim Sullivan of Boston Harbor Diving Co. in looking for some new wrecks for us to go to. Our first dive was in search of the Sweet Sue which sank in the outer harbor in 1980. She was a 40’ fishing boat so we knew she would not be an easy target to land on. She is reported in approx. 70fsw. After we scoped out the area we decided to dive on a nice bump we spotted on the bottom finder. The viz was very poor until the thermocline then improved to maybe 10’. The bottom temp was a cool 43F. There was some small wreckage in the area but no Sweet Sue. We did find some bits of china and pottery. One piece of china has a calendar for 1888 printed on the front.
For dive two, we decided to find some better viz. and went in search of the Herbert, which sank off Nahant in 1924. We had five sets of numbers for her between us. After a thorough search of the area we decided to take a look at a large object sitting in 100fsw. We descended the line through two thermoclines and expected to again find some pretty rocks to look at and then there she was, not 10 feet away! The viz was excellent, by far the best I have seen in a long time. It had to exceed 25 feet. We landed right next to the ship’s boilers, which tower at least 15 feet off the bottom. The wreckage is covered in fishing and lobster gear. Much of the ships decking seems to be buried in the sand. Due to the wrecks depth we were limited in the area we could explore. Nitrox will come in handy next time.
Dive three was a nice shallow dive to Harding’s Ledge. This is the site of lots and lots of wrecks over the years. Some wreckage litters the site but centuries of storms have left little to find. With a max depth of 20fws the water was nearly 60F. Again we found some pottery but nothing special.

 

[jchaplain]

Too cool!
It's nice to hear that there a still a lot of unfound, unexplored spots out there in the outer harbor area! Sounds like you had a great day!
John C.

 

[Gabriel90512]

Pat I'll traid that nice ash tray i found on our 2nd dive last weekend for your 1888 china

Today I joined Capt. Jim Sullivan of Boston Harbor Diving Co. in looking for some new wrecks for us to go to. Our first dive was in search of the Sweet Sue which sank in the outer harbor in 1980. She was a 40’ fishing boat so we knew she would not be an easy target to land on. She is reported in approx. 70fsw. After we scoped out the area we decided to dive on a nice bump we spotted on the bottom finder. The viz was very poor until the thermocline then improved to maybe 10’. The bottom temp was a cool 43F. There was some small wreckage in the area but no Sweet Sue. We did find some bits of china and pottery. One piece of china has a calendar for 1888 printed on the front.
For dive two, we decided to find some better viz. and went in search of the Herbert, which sank off Nahant in 1924. We had five sets of numbers for her between us. After a thorough search of the area we decided to take a look at a large object sitting in 100fsw. We descended the line through two thermoclines and expected to again find some pretty rocks to look at and then there she was, not 10 feet away! The viz was excellent, by far the best I have seen in a long time. It had to exceed 25 feet. We landed right next to the ship’s boilers, which tower at least 15 feet off the bottom. The wreckage is covered in fishing and lobster gear. Much of the ships decking seems to be buried in the sand. Due to the wrecks depth we were limited in the area we could explore. Nitrox will come in handy next time.
Dive three was a nice shallow dive to Harding’s Ledge. This is the site of lots and lots of wrecks over the years. Some wreckage litters the site but centuries of storms have left little to find. With a max depth of 20fws the water was nearly 60F. Again we found some pottery but nothing special.

 

[warpig]

if you're trying to get divers excited about wreck diving to drum up some business, you're doing a damn good job of it.

when my dive buddy and i can plan a weekend out, you can bet we'll be giving you a call.

thanks for the report!

Today I joined Capt. Jim Sullivan of Boston Harbor Diving Co. in looking for some new wrecks for us to go to. Our first dive was in search of the Sweet Sue which sank in the outer harbor in 1980. She was a 40’ fishing boat so we knew she would not be an easy target to land on. She is reported in approx. 70fsw. After we scoped out the area we decided to dive on a nice bump we spotted on the bottom finder. The viz was very poor until the thermocline then improved to maybe 10’. The bottom temp was a cool 43F. There was some small wreckage in the area but no Sweet Sue. We did find some bits of china and pottery. One piece of china has a calendar for 1888 printed on the front.
For dive two, we decided to find some better viz. and went in search of the Herbert, which sank off Nahant in 1924. We had five sets of numbers for her between us. After a thorough search of the area we decided to take a look at a large object sitting in 100fsw. We descended the line through two thermoclines and expected to again find some pretty rocks to look at and then there she was, not 10 feet away! The viz was excellent, by far the best I have seen in a long time. It had to exceed 25 feet. We landed right next to the ship’s boilers, which tower at least 15 feet off the bottom. The wreckage is covered in fishing and lobster gear. Much of the ships decking seems to be buried in the sand. Due to the wrecks depth we were limited in the area we could explore. Nitrox will come in handy next time.
Dive three was a nice shallow dive to Harding’s Ledge. This is the site of lots and lots of wrecks over the years. Some wreckage litters the site but centuries of storms have left little to find. With a max depth of 20fws the water was nearly 60F. Again we found some pottery but nothing special.

 

[MSilvia]

Cool! I can hardly wait to check that wreck out Pat, and it sounds like a nice china find too!

 

[Boston Diver Services]

Here is a front and back shot of the china plate we found. P.

 

[MSilvia]

Very cool! Too bad the last name is missing.

 

[warpig]

that is just too cool. thanks for the pics!!

Here is a front and back shot of the china plate we found. P.

 

[ScubaNorth]

Very cool! Too bad the last name is missing.

Josiah Wedgewood the father of English Pottery born 1730 Burslem England. This may have been part of a cargo as the end products cups, plates, etc would not have such blatant advertising on them. Looks like a display board of some type with the calendar, kind of like display markers you see in a glass shop for Waterford Crystal or such combined with the calendar your insurance agent give you. Looks like a real nice find, makes a great conversation piece. Now go north and find the Margaret for me and we can all dive for china til our hearts are content. Just kidding I don't think that pottery would be an incidental find.

 

[Boston Diver Services]

Where is the Margaret ? Never heard of her. P.