May 08 Trip Reports
May was a great month of diving. So much so, that I have not had time to write individual trip reports and will lump them all into one;
May 3rd MWDC Trip on the Gauntlet to Misery Island
Weather conditions were not the best for this trip, but its always a fun time to be out on the boat with Heather and Dave, who run a great boat. Our afternoon charter was to the USS New Hampshire, but seas of four to five feet redirected us to Misery Island. Dave and Heather explained the site and we set off in teams to have fun. Club members Steve P., Jim M., Tony K., Andrea, Jeff and me participated in this trip. My buddy was a little underweighted, so he ended up cutting his dive short and headed back to the boat for more weight and to work on his buoyancy. I continued on and came across a long 3 by 20 section of old wooden wreckage. There were no spikes in it, just steel pins. Passing this wreckage I came across scallops and had a nice 71 minute dive by myself. Vis was about ten feet, temperature 46. My hands were warm since Ive gone back to three finger mitts for cold water diving. We decided to try for more scallops on our second dive, but had no luck. I shared what I had with anyone who was willing to learn how to shuck them, with Jeff and Andrea the only takers. We all had a fun trip.
May 23rd MWDC Trip on The Dive Locker to the Race
After a delicious cookout at the Burnham Inn on Thursday night, club members Jim M., Adrea, Jeff and me along with friend and fellow Cape Dive Club member John Billings participated in this trip with Bryan Burnham as Captain and Jerry Cronin as DM. We were blown out of our original destination, The Race, so ended up going to Manomet Ledge for some lobster diving and sightseeing.
The conditions of this site are beautiful, nice big boulders and rocks with areas of sand further out. Visibility was 20 feet and the water temp was cold. I caught one lobster, and two fish (which I gave away) then headed to Joes fish Market to purchase several more lobsters for tonights dinner. We all had fun, with Andrea getting in three dives and logging the most bottom time! Andrea is a great diver and fun to have on the boat, I look forward to my wife getting to dive with her once the water warms up a little.
May 29th MWDC Trip - Scallop Dive with Daybreaker
Jeff, Andrea, John and me joined friend John Hannon to dive with Fran. This was my first time on Frans boat and I was not disappointed. Fran is in this business because it is a true passion, clearly evident with his knowledge of the local area and help he provides when answering our questions. This was also my first scallop dive, and it was really an enjoyable dive. Most of the divers dove solo, but Andrea and John teamed up. Fran will drop you off in the water along with your dive flag and its off to pick up scallops or just enjoy the scenery. A few small lobsters were seen, along with flounder and tons of scallops. Once you finish the dive, you can either tie off your bag to the flag line or shoot it to the surface. Always looking to keep my skills sharp, I choose the latter, which since my flag sunk, also showed Fran where I was. Ill have to add a tuna ball to this flag if I want to use it in the future, it was weird looking at the flat crushed from the 50 fsw depth.
We all went hom with scallops and everyone had a great time. We also met two new friends, Pete Cannon and Ron Gaudet. We had a nice cold beverage after the dive, and I wa amazed that Fran and his son help carry your gear up to the loading area, what great service!
May 30th U853 on Canned Air with Advanced Diver Magazine
Persistence paid off for this group as this trip was several months in the making due to three blow outs last year and two for this year. Jeff Toorish, Chief Photojournalist for Advanced Diver Magazine, was working on writing an article and wanted to photograph the wreck. Jeff, Roup I am a Fish Baker and I spent the night on the boat and in the morning were joined by fellow divers Tony F, Deb G, Jerry W, Joe R and Armando H.
Arriving at the U853 the line Captain Wayne Gordon had set on a previous trip was gone, so Roup tied in at the stern. During his tie in, Roup was attacked by a small cunner fish. It bit his lip (see picture), and bled for the rest of the day. I didnt really believe him until I looked closely at his lip!
Conditions were unbelievable on the wreck with thirty feet of visibility! I have over forty dives on the U853 and have never seen it this good. The navy anchor and wreckage off of the starboard side with the conning tower in the background was a sight to see as I walked the grapple down past a few ghost lines during the untie. The temperature was 47, making for a comfortable dive in a drysuit and five finger gloves. Tony spent one of his dives inside the sub going from one end to the other (dont try this unless qualified). Everyone had good dives and appreciated the great conditions. Hopefully, Jeff will have enough shots for the article and Ill look forward to it in a future issue of Advanced Diver Magazine.
May was a great month of diving. So much so, that I have not had time to write individual trip reports and will lump them all into one;
May 3rd MWDC Trip on the Gauntlet to Misery Island
Weather conditions were not the best for this trip, but its always a fun time to be out on the boat with Heather and Dave, who run a great boat. Our afternoon charter was to the USS New Hampshire, but seas of four to five feet redirected us to Misery Island. Dave and Heather explained the site and we set off in teams to have fun. Club members Steve P., Jim M., Tony K., Andrea, Jeff and me participated in this trip. My buddy was a little underweighted, so he ended up cutting his dive short and headed back to the boat for more weight and to work on his buoyancy. I continued on and came across a long 3 by 20 section of old wooden wreckage. There were no spikes in it, just steel pins. Passing this wreckage I came across scallops and had a nice 71 minute dive by myself. Vis was about ten feet, temperature 46. My hands were warm since Ive gone back to three finger mitts for cold water diving. We decided to try for more scallops on our second dive, but had no luck. I shared what I had with anyone who was willing to learn how to shuck them, with Jeff and Andrea the only takers. We all had a fun trip.
May 23rd MWDC Trip on The Dive Locker to the Race
After a delicious cookout at the Burnham Inn on Thursday night, club members Jim M., Adrea, Jeff and me along with friend and fellow Cape Dive Club member John Billings participated in this trip with Bryan Burnham as Captain and Jerry Cronin as DM. We were blown out of our original destination, The Race, so ended up going to Manomet Ledge for some lobster diving and sightseeing.
The conditions of this site are beautiful, nice big boulders and rocks with areas of sand further out. Visibility was 20 feet and the water temp was cold. I caught one lobster, and two fish (which I gave away) then headed to Joes fish Market to purchase several more lobsters for tonights dinner. We all had fun, with Andrea getting in three dives and logging the most bottom time! Andrea is a great diver and fun to have on the boat, I look forward to my wife getting to dive with her once the water warms up a little.
May 29th MWDC Trip - Scallop Dive with Daybreaker
Jeff, Andrea, John and me joined friend John Hannon to dive with Fran. This was my first time on Frans boat and I was not disappointed. Fran is in this business because it is a true passion, clearly evident with his knowledge of the local area and help he provides when answering our questions. This was also my first scallop dive, and it was really an enjoyable dive. Most of the divers dove solo, but Andrea and John teamed up. Fran will drop you off in the water along with your dive flag and its off to pick up scallops or just enjoy the scenery. A few small lobsters were seen, along with flounder and tons of scallops. Once you finish the dive, you can either tie off your bag to the flag line or shoot it to the surface. Always looking to keep my skills sharp, I choose the latter, which since my flag sunk, also showed Fran where I was. Ill have to add a tuna ball to this flag if I want to use it in the future, it was weird looking at the flat crushed from the 50 fsw depth.
We all went hom with scallops and everyone had a great time. We also met two new friends, Pete Cannon and Ron Gaudet. We had a nice cold beverage after the dive, and I wa amazed that Fran and his son help carry your gear up to the loading area, what great service!
May 30th U853 on Canned Air with Advanced Diver Magazine
Persistence paid off for this group as this trip was several months in the making due to three blow outs last year and two for this year. Jeff Toorish, Chief Photojournalist for Advanced Diver Magazine, was working on writing an article and wanted to photograph the wreck. Jeff, Roup I am a Fish Baker and I spent the night on the boat and in the morning were joined by fellow divers Tony F, Deb G, Jerry W, Joe R and Armando H.
Arriving at the U853 the line Captain Wayne Gordon had set on a previous trip was gone, so Roup tied in at the stern. During his tie in, Roup was attacked by a small cunner fish. It bit his lip (see picture), and bled for the rest of the day. I didnt really believe him until I looked closely at his lip!
Conditions were unbelievable on the wreck with thirty feet of visibility! I have over forty dives on the U853 and have never seen it this good. The navy anchor and wreckage off of the starboard side with the conning tower in the background was a sight to see as I walked the grapple down past a few ghost lines during the untie. The temperature was 47, making for a comfortable dive in a drysuit and five finger gloves. Tony spent one of his dives inside the sub going from one end to the other (dont try this unless qualified). Everyone had good dives and appreciated the great conditions. Hopefully, Jeff will have enough shots for the article and Ill look forward to it in a future issue of Advanced Diver Magazine.
