This Past Week
Wednesday the 5th – OPEN – We ran with two divers out to the Spartan on the Sea Girt reef, and other than the lack of divers it was a great day. NOAA had small craft up and yes it was breezy but at three miles off with the wind out of the North West the waves were 2 to 3 and the boat lay nicely into the wind. The sun was warm and if you stayed behind the cabin you didn’t even know it was blowing, all in all a very nice late season day. Top layer still hasn't cleared up but the bottom had 20 foot of vis. and 60+ degrees on the bottom. This really is one of the best times of the year to dive.
Saturday the 8th – Tridents- Started out with high expectations for the day as the ocean was flat with barely a breeze on a warm sunny day. I headed south to the Emerald wreck with its white sand bottom it almost always has good vis. and since I was headed there on Sunday I wanted to check the conditions. Interestingly, bottom vis. was terrible and nothing came up, OK so this wasn’t going to be an easy day. Oh and there was a fairly good current running south making the buoy drops more difficult. I ran off-shore to the Lana Carol hoping to find better visibility and since it’s more or less intact it would get the divers up off of the bottom. Still had the current but now we had 10 foot or so of bottom vis. and a number of decent lobsters came up, since the Lana Carol was fairly reasonable I moved over to the Ida K. and they pulled up more good lobsters. Actually both wrecks had a large number of lobsters but many of them had eggs. We continued to move making a total of seven drops and by the end of the day we had a dozen or so lobsters and two taug on board, not bad for only five divers.
Sunday the 9th – Lakeland Divers – Pinta – Well the Emerald was out and we really needed to find something decent for Lakeland’s divers, after polling the divers as to their preferences I decided on a long shot knowing full well that this could turn and bite me in the ass. I got over the Pinta and the surface looked like crap, GREAT no matter how pretty a day it was that wasn’t going to make up for terrible bottom conditions. I sent Tom in to tie in and he had asked me if he could make a dive or did he have to come right back up, not thinking I told him to make his dive so I had no bottom report. I was just a little apprehensive when the first diver came back on-board but his comment “this is the best dive I ever had on this wreck” pretty much made my day. Seems that under the ugly layer the vis. opened up to at least 40 feet, as a matter of fact the wreck was visible from 40 feet. It doesn’t get any better than a warm sunny day, flat ocean, 64 degrees top to bottom, 40 feet of vis. and a good group of divers on-board.
This Week
Saturday the 15th - Tridents- Lobsters & Fish 100> - The Tridents will again be back with their unique brand of diving. Actually they have quite a number of Saturday dives through October. As usual we will be tied in for only one and be doing “buoy dives” for the rest of the day. This allows me to visit numerous small lobster snags in a single day. This is the next to last trip this year for the Tridents and Bret reports they have a full boat but do have space left on the 29th. Bret can be reached at 973-876-5896
Sunday the 16th – Atlantic Divers – Stolt 130’ - Visibility is usually good, sometimes good enough to see the top of the wreck from the surface and the sight of this huge wreck when it first looms into view as you descend the anchor line is extraordinary. There is something awesome about this shipwreck that is somehow lacking in the nearby planned artificial reefs. Gene at Atlantic Divers can be reached at 609-641-7722 for space aboard this trip. Seems folks have been hesitant to sign up till the last minute for dives recently because of the weather but considering the great conditions we had this past weekend if you’d like to get out Sunday you need to give them a call ASAP to avoid being disappointed.
Next Week
Wednesday the 19th – OPEN – Destination based on diver’s interest and the whims of the captain. Departure 0800 (8:00am) If you’re interested in getting out during the week give me a call at either 973-887-DEEP (3337) or my cell 201-401-4608.
Saturday the 22nd – SCUBA Network – Contact Rick at SCUBA Network 973-256-0555 for details
Sunday the 23rd – Lakeland Divers – SS Delaware 80’ - There is actually quite a bit of this old wooden steamer left. A linear array of rather large pieces is clearly recognizable as the remains of a ship, beginning with the bow and, back through the boilers, engine, drive shaft, and propeller, with hull ribs, copper sheathing, and other wooden remains throughout. This has always been one of my favorite wrecks. Lakeland can be reached at 973-887-0194
Although these are some of the last “charters” of the year the season on-board the Sea Lion runs year round. We will be running OPEN boats through the fall and winter, there’s a lot of great diving late in the year. For any of the OPEN boats or if you’d like to get out on any day not listed I can be reached at either 973-887-DEEP (3337) or my cell 201-401-4608
Special late season trip
I am in the process of putting together an Atlantic City trip in November and as with our trip this past spring I'll be running out of Kammerman's marina in AC. The current dates I’m looking at are November 2nd through the 6th OR the 16th through the 20th. The dates will be determined by both diver interest and which week has the better weather. Some of the wrecks I plan to visit are (and in no particular order) described below. There are others that we might get to but these are the four that are my primary targets. There is also a very good chance that I will bring my dredge out to several of them.
The Astra - the Astra sits in 85 ft of water on a sandy bottom. Her stern is intact and lists to port. The rest of the ship sits upright, her midsection collapsed. She can be easily penetrated, and is a great photography, artifact and food wreck. The stern has the greatest relief, coming 25 ft or so off the sand. We visited her back in May and although not a “sister” ship to the Tolten she could be described as a “cousin” as both ships were built in Denmark to a similar deck plan. Artifacts can be found simply by hand fanning.
The Almirante - The Almirante was a United Fruit Company steamship bound from New York City to Colon, Panama with a full cargo hold. On Friday September 6, 1918 at 2:00 a.m. The 15,000-ton Navy tanker USS Hisko rammed the Almirante in heavy seas and fog. She sits in 70’ of water on a clean sand bottom. This was the wreck we recovered the auxiliary helm from this past spring and the literally thousands of ceramic tiles from the previous year. A lot more waits to be found on her.
San Jose’ – Built in 1904 in Ireland this massive 330’ ship sank in a collision with the Santa Elisa January 17th 1942 and was reported to have been torpedoed after the collision by the U-123. She now lies in 100’ of water. Her wreckage is spread over a wide area, with the main portion of the hull on its port side, pretty much intact. She can be penetrated and divers can enter long corridors with adjoining rooms. Reports of an auxiliary helm that has yet to be recovered persist.
Mason’ Paddle Wheeler – Much like the RC Mohawk this wreck suffered from a “lack of environmental awareness” Originally known as the $25. dollar wreck it was in an area of dirty water. The source of this dirty water has long since been capped and the wreck has cleaned up nicely. Atlantic Divers rechristen the wreck Mason's Paddle Wheeler after a barrel of china marked “Mason’s” was found. Dave Keller recovered a large brass steam vent with a thermometer enclosed. Several bottles, and more pieces of china have been uncovered since that time and numerous copper pipe lay ambiguously in the debris. Today she sits in 85’ of clear water with a healthy abundance of marine life. This is the wreck that we recovered several hundred pounds of brass off of in the spring.
Gene Peterson’s site njwreckdivers.com/p/shipwrecks.html also has some good information on all of the Atlantic City wrecks
If you’re interested in this trip contact me ASAP at 973-887-DEEP or my cell 201-401-4608
Captain Al
SEA LION
For any of the OPEN boats or if you’d like to get out on any day not listed I can be reached at either 973-887-DEEP (3337) or my cell 201-401-4608
We are always looking to put together weekday trips. If you’re interested in diving during the week, let me know which day/days work for you and we will try to put a boat together.
We have established a diver’s e-mail list and if you’d like to be included send the message “please add me to the SEA LION diver list” to sealion@atlantic-wreckdivers.com
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