fencingfish
June 28th, 2009, 05:55 PM
Yesterday I went out with Cape Ann Divers to Egg Island and Never Fail Ledge. We were supposed to do Paddock Rock and Egg but the current was ripping so we chose more sheltered dive spots.
Egg Island vis was pretty terrible 10-12'. Surface temperature at the dock was around 60 degrees F and 52 at depth. My buddy and I went down to the boulders but the current had kicked up all the silt so we spent most of the dive in the more sandy areas where vis was better. Nothing too exciting to see, some skates and some small-ish lobsters and pollock. Max depth was 51 in the sandy area and dive time was 42 minutes. Current was definitely pulling at us, but it wasn't too bad.
For the second dive we went back to Paddock but even though the tide was coming in, the current hadn't let up any. We went over to Never Fail Ledge instead. I had never dove there before. What a beautiful dive site! We picked up another buddy who's buddy from the first dive was having equipment issues. Vis was better here, between 17-22' with much less current. I led the dive, heading south along the wall until one of my buddies hit half a tank and was feeling cold so we headed back. We could have easily gone down to 70' or so, but we kept between 35' and 50' to avoid the thermocline. I saw a mutant 6-armed sea star and a HUGE lobster as well as a small scallop, a tautog, and a wall of frilled anemones (photos attached). Dive time time was only 35 minutes as buddy #1 used up most of his tank swimming circles above us trying to find warmer waters. There were some communication issues toward the end of the dive when buddy #1 indicated we should go up b/c he was cold and getting low and buddy #2 mistook his "I'm cold" gesture for a regulator problem or being out of air but everyone was fine and we surfaced with no issues.
I took my camera and was a little nervous about it after a flooding mishap in May but it worked fine and I got a couple of good pics. Weather was great for the first dive and a half. It was foggy leaving the harbor, but cleared by the time we got out. Sometime during the second dive the fog rolled back in and completely obscured everything. It was a great charter and two really awesome dives! I will definitely dive with Cape Ann Divers again.
Egg Island vis was pretty terrible 10-12'. Surface temperature at the dock was around 60 degrees F and 52 at depth. My buddy and I went down to the boulders but the current had kicked up all the silt so we spent most of the dive in the more sandy areas where vis was better. Nothing too exciting to see, some skates and some small-ish lobsters and pollock. Max depth was 51 in the sandy area and dive time was 42 minutes. Current was definitely pulling at us, but it wasn't too bad.
For the second dive we went back to Paddock but even though the tide was coming in, the current hadn't let up any. We went over to Never Fail Ledge instead. I had never dove there before. What a beautiful dive site! We picked up another buddy who's buddy from the first dive was having equipment issues. Vis was better here, between 17-22' with much less current. I led the dive, heading south along the wall until one of my buddies hit half a tank and was feeling cold so we headed back. We could have easily gone down to 70' or so, but we kept between 35' and 50' to avoid the thermocline. I saw a mutant 6-armed sea star and a HUGE lobster as well as a small scallop, a tautog, and a wall of frilled anemones (photos attached). Dive time time was only 35 minutes as buddy #1 used up most of his tank swimming circles above us trying to find warmer waters. There were some communication issues toward the end of the dive when buddy #1 indicated we should go up b/c he was cold and getting low and buddy #2 mistook his "I'm cold" gesture for a regulator problem or being out of air but everyone was fine and we surfaced with no issues.
I took my camera and was a little nervous about it after a flooding mishap in May but it worked fine and I got a couple of good pics. Weather was great for the first dive and a half. It was foggy leaving the harbor, but cleared by the time we got out. Sometime during the second dive the fog rolled back in and completely obscured everything. It was a great charter and two really awesome dives! I will definitely dive with Cape Ann Divers again.