Dives 2009
Dives 2008
Dives 2007
Dives 2006
Dives 2005
Dives 2004
Dives 2003:
Wreck of the Poling 12/21
Normans Woe and Old Garden Beach 11/22
Magnolia Rocks 11/08
Epcot aquarium 09/?
La Jolla, CA 08/?
Pebble Beach 08/24
Old Garden Beach 08/24
Poling and USS NH 08/23
Isles of Shoals 08/10
Poling and Nina-T wrecks 07/19
Normans Woe 07/13
Night dives at Stage Fort Park 07/02
Wreck of the Haight 06/28
Magnolia Rocks 06/21
DUI Demo Day at Stage Fort Park 05/04
Biscayne National Park, April
Folly Cove 04/19
Magnolia Rocks 03/16
Normans Woe 02/15
Cathedral Rocks 01/11
Dives 2002
Dives 2001
Dives 2000
Dives 1999
Wreck of the Poling
Divers:
Robert Granetz and myself
joined Cape Ann Divers for a day of boat diving on the first day of
winter. As I needed to sign a waiver and get air fills, I arrived at the
CAD shop at 10AM, well before the scheduled boat departure time of 11. As
usual, the CAD folks were very pleasant and efficient and by 10:30, I had
all my gear on board and was ready to go. As our destination, the Chester
A. Poling, was only 15 minutes out from the dock, we made sure to set up
quickly and get into our suits. You know that it's cold when Robert wears
a drysuit as he was on Sunday. The air temp hovered around 25 degrees the
wind was relatively calm, at least when we stepped off for our first dive.
At 11:17 we were over the stern and down to the stainless steel hang bar
that CAD puts over the starboard side of their boat. From the forward end
of the bar we made our way across the weighted granny line that connected,
ultimately, to the mooring line. Frequent Poling divers use the submerged
mooring ball at 40ft as a landmark. Although I was expecting something
larger and more dramatic, it was still pretty cool to run into the mussel
and slime covered sphere in mid-water. From the ball, we followed a chain
down to where it was anchored, high on the port side of the wreck near the
stern. With Robert leading, I followed him over the port side and down to
the bottom at 93 feet where we swam forward, dodging lobster pots that
appeared suddenly out of the kicked-up silt and 10 foot visibility. Within
a few minutes, we had reached the forward end of the remains, where the
Poling had split in half - as neat a break as I have seen on a wreck. On
the way around the forward end, we encountered a mild current running
almost directly abeam from starboard to port over the wreck. Our return to
the mooring was on the top edge of the wreck, starboard side, where Robert
ended the dive. An uneventful ascent and safety stop at the hang bar had
us on deck with a total run time of 23 minutes. Temperature at the bottom
was a not-unexpected 38 degrees.
Topside, the wind had started to kick up - running out of the west at 15 to
20 knots. The boat headed inside the breakwater to get some relief from
the seas and, after changing tanks, everyone huddled inside in the heat for
an hour-long surface interval. The initial plan to dive the Nina T was
scrapped by the boat captain who was concerned about the rising seas
pulling the mooring loose from the wreck, so we headed back to the Poling
to the forward mooring. Winds by this point had picked up to 20 to 25
knots and the seas were at about 3 feet.
This time I was leading the dive and Robert and I were the first of a
reduced contingent of divers off the boat and into the decidedly rougher
conditions. Pulling ourselves down to the wreck, we found much improved
visibility and a reduced current. What was noticeable, though, was the
surge which could be felt even at our max depth of 91 feet. Starting at
the broken end, we penetrated into the cavern like opening left by one of
the now-missing tanks that filled this part of the ship. In the large
pipes that run fore and aft along the spine of the Poling, we saw a fish
and a lobster that may have been of legal size. Next it was up the top
where we swam along among the pipes that make obvious the Poling's former
role as a tanker. Anemones were plentiful on the wreck, some open with
their beautiful lacy tendrils searching for something to eat. The rest of
the dive was uneventful save for the man-eating starfish that attacked me
and attempted to tear off my mask. Fortunately, my full-point six-inch
titanium dive knife put an end to his plans and I was able to extricate
myself with only minor wounds. On ascent, we found the surface conditions
were really making themselves felt and everything was heaving around a
lot. I attempted to deploy my jon-line while still on the mooring line
only to find it too slippery. In the end, I clipped off to the aft end of
the hang bar where I floated blissfully while Robert was wrenched up and
down by the heaving stern of the boat. First in, last out we were - in
fact, I thought I was the last diver of the season until Robert learned
that the boat was headed out again on Monday.
All in all, a good day of diving and a good way to end the year.
- John A.
Normans Woe and Old Garden Beach
Divers at Normans Woe:
Divers at Old Garden Beach:
John, Bill, and I met at Normans Woe on a beautiful Saturday morning for some
late autumn diving. The marine forecast had called for strong N/NE winds
and seas up to 7 ft, so I figured that this dive site would be the best
protected on all of Cape Ann (other than inside Gloucester harbor).
However, after lugging our gear through the small park to the rocky entry
point, we were really surprised to find crashing surf and huge sprays of
water ricocheting off the rocks. But I thought that we could time our
entries to avoid the biggest waves. Bill and John weren't quite so sure,
but got suited up anyway. The southwest-facing entry at Normans Woe has a
small gully-like area on the left (facing out to sea) which is usually a
good spot for entries and exits, but this day it looked like a death
trap...definitely to be avoided. So instead we decided to slide down the
steeper rock face to the right of the gully. I went first so that I could
demonstrate the technique: wait for the calm periods between the series of
big waves, then quickly slide down the rocks, push off into the water, and
swim out through the surf zone as fast as possible. Well, that's the idea,
anyway. It didn't quite work out that way. I ended up banging and
tumbling against the rocks a few times before finally struggling to get out
through the surf. Bill decided, after witnessing my less-than-graceful
entry, to stay on shore, which was definitely the smart thing to do. John
made his entry (much better looking than mine) and swam out to me. (By
this time, both of us were more than a little worried about getting back
onto shore.) We proceeded to descend through a zero-visibility zone of
foamy water. Even at 35-40 foot depths, the surge was sweeping us 6 feet
back and forth against the rocks. I was just praying that I wouldn't get
seasick. We saw quite a number of large crabs and still a few small
lobsters, including one stuck in a ghost trap, but not much else. The
water was still relatively warm, at 46 F, but overall it was not a very
enjoyable dive. On the exit, I decided to approach along the bottom,
trusting my navigation to avoid the gully area, while John chose to surface
first and then swim in. Fortunately my exit went smoothly, with a little
helping hand from Bill. John crawled part way up the rocks and then held
on for dear life while several big waves nearly dragged him into the
churning gully. Needless to say, we decided not to tempt fate by doing a
second dive.
As we were packing up, I got a phone call from Darren Obrigkeit and Daniela
Hoeller (just returned from their honeymoon in Tahiti). They were on their
way to Old Garden Beach in Rockport so that Daniela could finish up her
drysuit certification with her instructor. So I rendezvoused there and got
talked into doing a dive with them, even though the surf here was also bad,
with good-sized breakers coming directly into the east-facing shore. But
since this is a sandy beach, at least it wasn't dangerous. We had the same
lousy visibility and strong underwater surge as at Normans Woe, but hey, at
least I managed to get a 2nd dive in.
- Robert G.
Magnolia Rocks
Divers:
Hi folks,
On Saturday, Robert and I decided to get in a couple of dives before the
water gets really cold, so we headed up to Cape Ann. Folly Cove looked
pretty rough, as did Cathedral Rocks (there was a stiff northwest wind, so
these sites weren't the optimal choice for the day), we headed to Magnolia
Rocks, which turned out to have great conditions. We also managed to hit
it almost precisely at high tide, which made entry and exit easier. We did
two dives, the first for 39 minutes at a max depth of 35 feet, and the
second for 34 minutes at a max depth of 30 feet. For our first dive we
headed out at a heading of 180 degrees, and the second dive a little more
to the west at 225 degrees, both times managing to navigate right back to
our exit point.
Water was a brisk 46-48 degrees, but it wasn't intolerable. Robert broke
out the drysuit, and I was using my semi-dry suit (a wetsuit with internal
latex seals) which let us both be pretty comfortable. There was a slight
surface current running to the west, so we compensated a little bit and it
was fine. On our first dive, Robert bagged a pretty nice lobster, but only
after we surveyed some other ones that appeared legal but were really
pretty small. I really need to re-calibrate my eyeballs for the underwater
magnification, because I keep thinking that every lobster looks legal! On
the return leg of the second dive, Robert got the flag line wrapped around
a lobster line, but overall it was pretty uneventful, but relaxing dive.
After getting back on shore, we compared notes, and both discovered that we
had seen some completely purple crabs, but had thought it was because of
the tint imparted by the water. Nope, I think they really were
purple. Robert also spied a small fish (maybe only about 7-8 cm) lurking
under a rock, but neither of us knew what it was. It was a pretty good day
diving, except that I managed to lose my dive knife while exiting after the
first dive - I got caught by a wave and I think it got knocked loose from
its scabbard. Apart from my sacrifice to the diving gods, a nice way to
spend a Saturday!
- Chris
Living Seas Aquarium, Epcot Center, Walt Disney World
Divers:
Hi folks,
I was in Florida on business recently, and while there, I decided to follow
a tip from a friend and dive in the Aquarium at EPCOT center. Yes, you're
really allowed to dive there. All that's required is a C-Card and
$124. (The official cost is $140, but there's a discount for PADI
members. Although my only connection with PADI is that they were my
certifying agency, the telephone rep told me that was close enough, so your
mileage may vary.) The aquarium at EPCOT, for those of you who may not
have been there, is a 6 million gallon saltwater tank with observation
windows for the park visitors and windows into their "underwater"
restaurant. You need to call ahead to make reservations, as there's often
a waiting list to dive there, and with good reason.
Once you show up, you're led behind the scenes at the aquarium, where
there's a brief presentation about the exhibit and the equipment used to
run the place. (The circulation pumps pump upwards of 40,000 gpm through
the filters!) It was pretty interesting. My wife, who wasn't diving that
day, joined me for this part of the program. Then, it was time to
dive. All the equipment is provided for you, aluminum 80's with sherwood
regs and a 2.5 mm shorty wetsuit, and split fins, if I remember
correctly. In fact, all you're allowed to bring are your own mask and
snorkel to reduce foreign contamination in the tank. There was a brief
pre-dive lecture where "don't ride the turtles or tease the dolphins or
your dive is over" seemed to be primary message.
Diving conditions were just about perfect - 75 degrees, no current, 200
(yes, really) foot visibility. The tank itself is pretty big - about 200
feet in diameter and about 29 feet deep, with 4" acrylic windows. While in
the tank, I was able to swim with bat rays, mantas, reef sharks, brown
sharks, giant sea turtles (very cool), mola, dolphin, sergeant majors and
giant grouper. (The largest grouper I saw was close to 800 lbs.) What I
also hadn't expected was how fun it was interacting with the visitors on
the other side of the glass - the kids especially were thrilled to see the
divers, and all wanted to pose for pictures.
The only downside that was it could not possibly have lasted long enough -
before long we were almost out of air and it was time to surface. Total
dive time was 51 minutes, max depth of 29 feet. Afterwards, they provide a
shower and locker room, as well as snacks and a chance to view video that
they took during the dive. When we were all done, we headed out into the
park (a nice surprise, since park admission is not supposed to be included
in the fee) and my wife and I enjoyed a nice dinner at the French pavilion
at EPCOT. All in all, it was a slightly pricey experience, but well worth it.
- Chris
La Jolla, CA
Divers:
Hi folks,
A dive report from sunny San Diego, where I was for work last week. Got in
three shore dives in La Jolla (just north of San Diego) last week, but
unfortunately couldn't get in any boat diving to Wreck Alley. I did two
dives at La Jolla Shores and one at La Jolla cove.
I had the misfortune to be visiting San Diego during one of the worst
plankton blooms in a while, so after my first dive when I dropped down to
about 45' and still couldn't see a thing, the locals told me to go
deeper. I guess they were right - I had to drop down to about 75' before
things really cleared up, and I didn't hit water with 20+ feet of vis until
about 100' down. Lots of kelp around here on the shore dives, but the
visibility limits seeing too much in the kelp beds. I saw a few garibaldi,
but I have a feeling I only saw them because they're neon orange. Further
down, I saw several rockfish in the cove, as well as some large
halibut. No sign of Fluffy or Sparky, the two Great Whites spotted up at
San Onofre.
Diving at La Jolla shores requires good navigation - it's easy to miss the
walls of LJ canyon and wind up surveying vast expanses of nothing but sand,
which I did on my first dive. Next dive at the shores was a bit better - I
hit the canyon and saw several Octopi and the largest crab I've ever seen -
a sheepshead crab about 4 feet across that rose up on its hind(est) legs
when we approached and looked like it was ready for a tussle - I wasn't
going to mess with it at that size. On the surface swim back, I spotted a
sea lion sunning itself on the rocks near the La Jolla caves - that would
have been an interesting encounter underwater!
Overall, a few good days diving. One tip for shore diving here - if you
can dive big tanks, do it - much of the cool stuff is deeper down. Another
tip is that if your tanks at home have DIN valves (as mine do) and you're
planning on renting out here, you might need to plan ahead - I had to call
three dive shops before I found one that would rent DIN valved tanks.
- Chris
Pebble Beach, Rockport
Divers:
Pebble Beach is an ideal site for a night dive. You can park right in
front of the water, set up under a street light, and walk right in.
Thomas and I arrived around 8:30, just after dusk. Both of us were
setting up new gear so we didn't get started until after nine. For our
first dive we headed out at 240 degrees passed the reef. The water was
a nice 63F and calm. There were a lot of lobster, crab, flounder, and
large bivalve shells. After 59 minutes at 31 feet, we surfaced under a
clear sky. The moon still hadn't risen and back floating on the water
gave a great view of the stars.
On our second dive we headed west along the reef. By this time the
tide had gone out and our maximum depth was 15 feet. Although the reef
had more fish than the sand flats, it wasn't really more interesting.
In the middle of our dive we turned the lights off for a while. Except
for intermittent bioluminescence it was the darkest dark I've ever
experienced. After 50 minutes, we got bored and returned to land.
Somehow it was already after 1am, and by the time we broke down our
gear and loaded the car, it was after 2. Luckily we found a 24 hour
Bickford's at exit 37 on Route 93. After pancakes among the
inebriated, we made it home by 4am.
- Elron
Old Garden Beach, Rockport
Divers:
Darren and I decided spontaneously to drive up to Old Garden Beach to go for
diving. We started our dive at 6:02 pm, after I had resolved some trouble
with the flag being tangled up around my snorkel and air that would not go
out of my drysuit. When I finally managed to join a patient Darren on the
bottom, we dove to the right of the cove. The visibility was relatively
poor at 10ft. Besides a lot of lobster and crabs, we saw 3-4 huge striped
bass - up to 42" in size. During the dive, my drysuit leaked at the left
arm; luckily the water was not really cold (56 F at depth). We finished the
dive after 52 minutes.
- Danny
Poling and USS NH
Divers:
Chester Poling
This is my sixth or seventh Poling dive and I enjoy it every time. Partly
because I like to go deep, partly because the wreck has an interesting
story (as many wrecks do), and because the diveable half of the 282 ft. oil
tanker is remarkably intact. The Poling was sunk in 1977 by a vicious New
England storm. It was ripped clean into two pieces while struggling on the
surface. One piece lies below 200 ft. of water and is beyond the reach of
recreational divers. The other piece sunk below 100 ft. of water, although
the depth alternates between 90-100 ft. depending on the tide. Sadly, one
crew member died during the heroic Coast Guard rescue, but it's amazing
that more didn't perish.
The tide was high when we moored on the wreck. Seas were calm, the sun was
warming us up, and my Dramamine was working exceptionally (I get sick just
looking at boats). Robert and I were the first in, followed by a family of
four. I love descending on the Poling. There's this great big (~4
ft. diameter) flotation ball, I call it the 'Ball of Death' chained to
the wreck and suspended at 40 ft. I remember my first time on this dive,
when I wasn't aware of the ball. It seemed very ominous, covered with
muscles and swishing around in the current like an angry eyeball. Frankly,
I was worried. But since then it has become my beacon, a symbol that the
wreck is intact and waiting.
Our descent this day was also very dark, probably due to a lot of sediment
and stuff floating in the water. There were groups of comb jellies pulsing
past us, and before long we were descending past the deck and touching down
in the sand. We circled the ship's hull, stopping for a while at the
stern end where the boat had been torn apart. There was a giant Sculpin
doing a great job blending in with the rust and keeping company with the
only lobster I have ever seen on the Poling. We ascended a few feet to the
deck and glided across. On the deck's surface was the partial skeleton of
a huge tuna. The captain told us that fishing boats sometimes clean their
catch over the wreck. My own thoughts were leaning towards the tuna
battling it out with a huge shark.
As we moved towards the mooring line to begin our descent, the family was
just getting down. We left them and headed toward the surface. The change
in the background from dull charcoal gray to a light greenish-blue was a
welcome sight. After a pleasant safety stop we broke the surface, climbed
aboard the Cape Ann Divers boat and began changing tanks for the next dive.
USS New Hampshire
The next dive was supposed to be on a nineteenth century warship, which I
had never heard about but Robert had dived once before. We were told that
we had anchored smack on top of it, but discovered nothing but reef and
sand upon our descent. It suited Robert and I just fine, 'cause Robert had
his Lobster License, his Lobster Gauge, and his Lobster Bag! We hunted up
them arthropods like nobody's business. (For those officials who might be
reading this, Robert, of course, was the only one handling them. I was
merely sniffing them out.) Actually, only two lobsters were bagged in the
end, but two is better than none. It was the end of a beautiful day and
some finger-licking diving.
- Keith
Isles of Shoals
Divers:
So, way back on Aug 10 (two weeks ago) a number of us scuba clubbers decided to
take a little trip to the Isle of Shoals off of NH. This is the much
belated diver report...
Divers Present: Reyco Henning, Tesla Jeltema, Jacob Hartman, myself, and a
couple of dudes/dudette who's name's I don't recall (sorry...this is why
your supposed to write the report SOON after the dive).
To start off with heading up there on Sunday there were various reports of
nasty weather and seas but, since the boat captain never called to cancel,
we decided to risk it. Despite various setbacks with rides and such we all
made it up to the quaint town of Portsmouth around 12-1pm. This included a
heroic effort by Jacob who, after being ditched at the last minute by his
lame ass ride, made the daring (and expensive) decision to smuggle a
zip-car across the border. After splitting up into 2 boats we headed
out... towards some fairly nasty looking blackish clouds. Our wise
captain's realized that these clouds and accompaning seas would probably
make quick work of our Dramamine and as such we pulled into one of the
island harbors to wait out the quick moving storm. After an hour long nap
the clouds rolled out and we continued to our final destination.
As we arrived we could see plenty of seals lounging on the rocks
and quickly donned our gear and jumped in. The islands we were at
consisted of a main island with a protected large lagoon in the middle
(sort of) and another island perhaps 100 meters away. Our group
consisted of Reyco, Tesla, the women who's name I forget, and myself
with everyone else on the other boat doing their own thing. For the
most part the visibility was pretty good, I'd estimate around 20'.
After finding our way into the lagoon (which took a little doing given
the crashing waves) we realized just how shallow it was and we averaged
around 5-10 while we were there, frequently bobbing up to the surface.
Needless to say the seals didn't really appreciate the bumbling dorks in
the water but, after calming down in a deeper spot (18') and waiting on
the bottom we could see one or two circling from a distance. I'm not sure
how much luck the other guys had but I thought it was still pretty
amazing to see this big ole' seal torpedo out of the depths and give us a
curious look before slinking off into the haze. During the frequent bouts
on the surface we could see a small white seal (perhaps a baby) watching
us from above the water perhaps 30'-40' away but I didn't really see him
when I was under. Besides the seals there were plenty of lobsters, crabs,
various fish that I'm to lazy to look up, as well as a very pretty box
shaped jellyfish about the size of my thumb that tried to get into my
mask. The dive lasted around 30 min and we never even broke 20'.
After a short break on the boat we realized that a few more dive
boats had shown up and a pod of flailing divers had entered the water.
Now that divers appeared to outnumber seals the latter decided to bug out
and we couldn't exactly see where they went (I'm not sure if the guys on
the other boat had any better luck on the second dive). As a result we
decided to explore the canyon that lay between the two islands. Starting
out I found a mask on the sea floor inhabited by 2 crabs and a starfish
(in the eyes and nose respectively). I still have it if anyone needs a
mask (seals pretty well). Reyco made a chilling discovery (literally) when
he found the "canyon of death" which, in addition to the various dead
shark heads and tails (mostly from dogfish), was about 5-8 degrees colder
then the surronding water. Now I really hope never to meet whatever diced
up those sharks (whether it be a larger shark or just a pissed off
fisherman). After a brief struggle with a loose tank we continued to
follow the canyon (which had a sheer wall leading up to the island 20'
above us) observing the various lobsters and schools of fish. The
interesting thing I thought was that one could see the shimmer of the
colder water (mcuh like mineral oil in water) which at least gave a
second or two warning that things were gonna get chilly. This dive went a
little deeper but not by much (28'-30' max).
- Gianpaolo
Poling and Nina-T wrecks 07/19
Divers:
On Saturday morning, Carl Stjernfeldt and I went out with Cape Ann Divers
to dive on the wrecks of the Chester Poling and the Nina-T. Conditions
were excellent; sunny, 70's F, and calm ocean. These are advanced dives at
depths of about 100 ft. I have dove on these wrecks many times now (12
times on the Poling, 7 times on the Nina-T), but this is my first time on
them this year. The visibility was very good, I'd say about 25 feet, and
we saw some huge sculpin resting on the large pipes at the broken end of
the Poling. There were more large sculpin and flounder on the bottom
around the ship. (For a great description of the Poling and its tragic
sinking, go to
http://www.state.ma.us/czm/ua-cap.htm). Because of the
depth of both dives and the short surface interval, I was diving with
32-33% nitrox, and I had a pony bottle and reg for full redundancy. Carl
and I were both diving wet, unlike most of the other drysuit divers on the
charter. So we really noticed the water temperature at depth, which was
6-7 C (43-45 F). We didn't penetrate this time, but through the hatches we
watched the lights and bubbles of other divers who did.
Between dives, I am always entertained by looking over the vast array of
equipment that people have on these advanced dives. The owner of the
Aquatic Escapes dive shop in Londonderry, NH was on this trip, and he was
using a fully closed-circuit rebreather! There was also a diver who's
double tanks blew a burst disc. He's lucky it happened up on deck, and not
down at 100 ft, since there's no way to shutoff a burst disc!
After an 80 minute surface interval, Carl and I descended to the Nina-T.
Fortunately, this wooden trawler, purposely sunk 6 years ago, has not
visibly deteriorated since last year. I had a lot of fun on this dive
going through the wheel house multiple times, which is a bit of a tight
squeeze. The boat is pitched way over on its starboard side, which can be
disorienting at first, but with some experience it's always easy to get
back to the mooring line on the big winch for the ascent. There were
numerous schools of fish swimming around, and several people saw a school
of dogfish swim past the wreck...much more life than I remember on past
dives. Since this was our 2nd dive of the day, we were really chilled to
the core. Even the drysuit divers were complaining about the cold. For
me, it brought back pleasant memories of this past winter's dives.
In about 5 weeks we're going to have an MIT Scuba Club dive outing to the
Poling (and the USS New Hampshire). So if you're advanced certified and
you want to come along, please reserve your spot as soon as possible.
- Robert G
Normans Woe
Divers:
Last Sunday we had a great turnout for the MIT Scuba Club dive outing at
Normans Woe in Gloucester, with 14 divers taking advantage of the beautiful
weather. Here is a compilation of reports sent in by four of us:
The day was beautiful, and the quarter-mile hike in to the dive site with
gear gave us some extra time to appreciate what a fine day it was. On
the first dive at Norman's Woe, my entrance and exit from the rocks to
the sea was less than graceful. Much like going down a rough slip n'
slide into crashing surf, and then crawling/lumbering back up it again.
But I found a way to preserve my poise and sense of dignity on my exit
from the second dive. During a calmer spell, I was able to "walk" out of
the surf using the rock cliff on the left side of the site (facing the
ocean) as a "handrail".
We used navigation quite well on these dives. For each one, Rob set a
bearing for our group (Dive 1: Elinor, Keith, Rob and myself and Dive 2:
plus Shawn) and we followed it out and back in again pretty close to our
entrance site. These two dives were my first experience
lobster-wrestling, I even got pinched, but there are some better pinching
stories out there (Rob, Reyco, Keith?). I'll admit I wasn't brave enough
to wrestle down the "legal" sized lobsters, somebody mentioned something
about bone crushing, so I didn't contribute to the day's licensed
"catch", but in time, in time. I noticed a skate and numerous crabs on
the first dive and looked them up in the fauna ID guide I'd brought
along. The crabs were rock crabs, noted as "highly edible".
Interestingly enough, most of the rock crabs I saw were on rocks, while
most of the lobsters I saw were hiding out in the seaweed and kelp
cover. Rob very nicely caught a crab for me on the second dive, and as a
personal growth exercise, I took it home, cooked and ate it. It was
"highly edible" indeed! (Keith's recipe, boil for 10 min, worked well).
I think next time I go diving I'll grab a few more (I looked online, and
you don't need a permit to take crabs, unlike lobsters, however the
closed season for crabbing is Jan-Apr. 30.
Yes, so, beautiful day, 1/4 mile x ? gear-haul, two dives, 35 feetish
max, about 30 mins each (cell phone time). Lobsters, crabs, a skate and
good fun.
After a 1:55 hour surface interval, which put us into Group A on the diving
tables, and a couple of diving gear adjustments, we went into the water at
2:45. Darren had too much weight on the first dive (24 pounds - the weight
he would usually need for his drysuit) and adjusted the amount needed to 17
pounds after checking his dive log. Since I was underweighted on the first
dive, I added 2 more pounds to my weight belt, making it 26 pounds total for
me. We decided to go for flounder and lobster hunting, since Reyco had a
valid lobster license. While Darren and Reyco wanted to hunt, I had to
navigate.
After an easy entry we went down to a maximum of 28 feet. Visibility was
about 25 feet. During our search for lobster we saw a huge orange sea raven
and numerous lobster. Reyco managed to get two lobster that were both about
1/4 inch above the legal limit. During the search Reyco got into a little
fight with one of the lobsters, which bit him on the finger and - worst -
was not even big enough. Unfortunately we did not find any flounder.
Neither Darren nor me had any problems with weights during the dive, but
Darren's inflater valve seemed to leak, gradually filling his jacket with
air. We surfaced at 3:23; according to the dive tables this put us into
group I at the end of our second dive.
The drysuit works perfect for me, I did not get cold and could enjoy the
whole dive.
On our way back on Route 128 we stopped at the best icecream place in
Massachusetts: Exit 21 (Conant Ave/Industrial Ave) turn right and you see it
directely on your left. You have to try it, but only go for a small cone
Night dives at Stage Fort Park
Divers:
Wednesday evening was perfect weather for night diving. The four of us met
at Half Moon Beach in Stage Fort Park, Gloucester. The water was flat as a
pancake, 52 F, and low tide. The visibility was not too good, however.
The first dive began around 20:15 as the sun was setting, so there was
still enough light to familiarize ourselves with the dive site prior to our
night dive. Chris and I headed out and then turned towards the rocky area
on the right, while John and his wife Lauren explored to the left. A
lobster trap buoy and submerged line provided a convenient navigation
guide, which I made a mental note of for the night dive. We first passed
over a sandy, silty bottom, with lots of deep holes. To my utter surprise,
there were lobsters hiding in these holes, jumping out to grab unwary prey,
and ducking back in as we swam by. This is something I had never seen
before. We also saw skate (rays), flounder, crabs, schools of small fish,
etc. As we continued, we came to the edge of the rocky area, which was
completely covered in plant growth, with plenty of critters hiding in the
flora. On the way back, there was a noticeably cold pocket of water where
the rocky area gave way to the sandy bottom. I found the lobster lines and
followed it back to our entry area. Along the silty bottom I spied a
white, ugly-faced fish "standing" in one of the holes, with just its face
visible. I think it was a "grubby" or little sculpin, after looking
through my book of New England sealife. I had never seen that either.
During our short surface interval, we got out our night lights, and I set
up my camping lantern on the beach so that we had a beacon to return to in
the dark. (By the way, wetsuits are VERY effective against mosquitos!)
We started the night dive around 21:30, by which time it was quite dark.
We started at the same lobster buoy, so even though it was pitch black and
poor visibility, we knew we would not start out lost. Lobsters are
nocturnal feeders, and so there were zillions out and about on the bottom
and in amongst the dense plant growth. We found several that were legal
size, but alas, you are not allowed to take lobster at night. The sandy
bottom was covered by numerous skates of all sizes, and lobsters and crabs
were walking all over them. In general, the water was teeming with life,
and lots of the animals seemed to be bumping into each other. I also
noticed a lot of little fish called squirrel hake (with distinctive small
barbels under its chin), which I hadn't seen during the dusk dive. Somehow
in the dark we managed to keep together. We all covered our lights at one
point and observed the bioluminescent sparks generated by swirling our
hands around vigorously. After turning around, we went through the same
pocket of cold water and found those lobster lines again. As I was
sweeping my light around, I suddenly illuminated a lobster, and both of us
jumped back in surprise. I think it would have made an amusing photo. I
continued to swim into the shallows, and found a number of small shrimp in
the beach grass. We didn't surface until ~22:15, so it was pretty late by
the time I got home and rinsed off my gear. But what a great way to spend
a summer evening.
- Robert G
Boat dives to the wreck of the Haight and Halibut Point
Divers:
On 6/28 3 divers from MIT set out on a boat chartered via Cape Ann divers
to the wreck of the Haight, a WWII Liberty ship in 45' of water, and
Halibut point. Both sites were close to shore off Cape Ann. We were joined
by three other divers (the boat carries 6). The divers from MIT were John
Armstrong (drysuit), Sylvie Legall (wetsuit) and Reyco Henning (wetsuit).
Sylvie and John were dive buddies for this trip, while Reyco's buddy was
one of the other three divers, "Larry the state trooper" (don't remember
his last name).
We set of from the harbor at 1pm on a calm ocean (did not need to break
out the dramamine) and got to the Haight at about 2pm, were we immediately
did our first dive. The weather was warm (low 80's), but cloudy.
John and Sylvie dove first. Viz was poor (5-10'). There were lots of
lobsters but the wreck was hard to see in the poor viz. There was also
strong current and John had the foresight to use a reel to keep from
drifting away from the boat.
Here are the numbers for John and Sylvie's dive:
Reyco and Larry dove to 38' for 32 min. We followed the mooring line down
and saw parts of the wreck. Mostly striated sheets of metal and large
chunk of unidentifiable machinery. We decided beforehand to
look for lobster during this dive. The current was strong and we slowly
drifted away from the wreck while poking in rocky crevices. John caught
a lobster, but he had trouble guaging it underwater and when it was
reguaged topside, the captain had to throw it back. John navigated us to
about 60' from the boat before we surfaced due to low air. We saw several
small lobsters, a poutfish, and the usual assortment of crabs and small
fish hiding between rocks. Water temp was about 50oF.
The second dive ocurred at about 3:30pm at Halibut point. The captain
steered us to 20' of water about 200-300' from shore. The recommendation
was to stay in the shallow water due to strong current and heavy boat
traffic. The sun had come out and it was becoming a beautiful day.
During their second dive Sylvie and John saw many lobsters. John caught
one which was very close to the size limit, but had to let it go. He
claimed that if he waited 15min. it would have been legal. They also saw
crabs, flounders, skates, an ocean pout, and starfish.
Here are the numbers for their second dive:
Larry and Reyco dove to 28' for 28 min for their second dive. We descended
along the anchorline to about 20'. The light and viz was much better
(about 20'). There were amazing amounts of starfish on the bottom. Every
time someone would kick near the bottom, a cloud of starfish would be
stirred up. The starfish were also clinging to everything (masks, dials,
regulators, etc.). We also saw a school of about 200 small (2-3") fish,
but could not identify them. There was more sealife here than at the
previous site and we once again went lobstering. Both divers caught a few,
but had to release them due to small size. We also saw a skate, a large
15" flounder, a broomstick, and many large boulders. The water
temperature varied widely at this location. Most of the time a wetsuit was
sufficient, but some spots were very uncomfortable to those of us in
wetsuits. This is a fun and pretty site due to all the good light,
sealife, shallow depth, low currents (that day) and clear water. We had
to cut the dive short when Larry developed cramps in his legs.
The boat returned us to the harbor via the canal on a very pleasant
boatride and we got arrived at 6pm.
Sylvie also had the following piece of very important practical advice to
add:
Reyco rented tanks from Cape Ann Divers, but only managed to return them
at 6:15pm, which is 15min after Cape Ann Divers closes. Fortunately there
was someone around to take them, otherwise he would have had to drive back
there the next day + pay an extra day rental fee!
- Reyco Henning
Magnolia Rocks
Divers:
Last Saturday, nine MIT scuba club divers headed out to Magnolia Rocks for
the first club dive of the summer season. The weather forecast for last
weekend did not sound too good during the week and many were already
concerned about the conditions but when Saturday came it was sunny and just
right for diving. When we finally got to Magnolia, it was not the sky that
posed the problem instead the shore conditions became the major
concern. Wave heights were around 3-4 feet high, and crashing into the
slippery rocks, making the shore entry very tricky.
Our group only had 2 dive flags and it was decided that with visibility
typically not very good (<10ft) at this site we would dive in groups of two
or three at a time. The first group to go was Robert, Reyco, and Vijay.
Several people helped them out near the southern rocky shore but the entry
was still difficult. One had to time the slippery entry between the
crashing of the waves then kicking like crazy to get to deeper water before
the next wave came crashing through. In addition to this, there were
barely submerged rocks that lined the edge of the shore one had to climb
over to finally get free. The second group with Andreas, Iahn, and Chris
went shortly after and both groups swam due south of Magnolia for about 50
yards and circled around when air got to about 1200psi for one of the
divers in the group. Robert bagged a ~3lb monster lobster during his dive!
Average dive time was about 20mins for the first two groups and max depth
about 30feet.
Wave conditions worsened after the first two groups got back so the third
group with John, Sylvie and I decided to look for a different entry. One
other diver (non-MIT) was present that day and he gave us a tip for easier
shore entry. We took a route towards the southeast side of Magnolia rocks
that was more protected than the earlier shore entry. It was still tough to
get in and Sylvie ended up not going into the water because of the
relentless pounding of the waves. With my group cut down to two we went
due south also and found plenty of lobsters (a couple probably large enough
to be keepers), some sole fish, and a skate. Underwater conditions was not
very good, tidal actions kept rocking us front and back giving you
seasickness conditions underwater with kelp and seaweed getting in the way,
actual visibility was probably closer to 20 feet and max depth of ~30ft.
The second dives were nixed as the conditions did not justify it and we
instead drove to Norman's Woe to check out the view.
- Gerardo Jose la O'
DUI Demo Day at Stage Fort Park
Divers:
Last Sunday, Keith Thoresz and I went to the DUI dive event held in Stage
Fort Park in Gloucester. DUI (Diving Unlimited Int'l) is a well-known
manufacturer of drysuits, thermal undergarments, and other dive gear. They
hold these events at various sites around the US to let people try out DUI
products, and also to give wetsuit divers a chance to try drysuit diving.
Keith tried out one of the combo trilaminate/CF200 drysuits, with a
heavy-duty Thinsulate undergarment. I tried out a couple of different
thermal undergarments under my well-worn DUI drysuit (which no longer
leaks, thanks to a zipper replacement repair). I loved the one-piece
Polartec fleece garment. My family met us there for the barbecue lunch,
and then stayed on to enjoy the great weather while we continued diving. I
also saw MIT diver Shawn Mattison there trying out some drysuits. We even
got to talk to DUI president Dick Long!
The dive site is a pebbly beach inside the harbor, which I can't claim is
very interesting. Undoubtedly DUI chose it because it's an easy site for
them to teach drysuit newbies. But we did see numerous small lobsters, and
gauged one that was getting close to legal size. I also caught a flounder
with just my hands! We also did a super job on our underwater navigation.
The water temperature was in the low 40's F, which is like bath water
compared to this past winter.
DUI will be holding this event again next year, so maybe we should organize
a club dive to take advantage of it.
- Robert G.
Biscayne National Park
Divers:
Depth: 15-25'
Dive operator: Biscayne National Underwater Park, Inc.
Logistics
Locale
Scenery
Numerous schools of fish were on the reefs meandering about. Most notably,
we saw a group of approximately 5 barracuda, numerous french angelfish,
foureye butterflyfish, blueheads, goatfish cruising around eating off the
bottom, parrotfish, triggerfish, trunkfish, and numerous others that I
couldn't quickly identify using the internet (sources:
http://www.marinelifeimages.com/carib/fishid/fish.html,
http://www.reef.org/webres/gallery/carib/gallery1.htm).
- Darren Obrigkeit
Folly Cove
Divers:
On Saturday, Robert Granetz and I went to dive at Folly Cove, where we took
the last empty parking spot! Divers were already in the water. We had
checked out Cathedral Rocks, but this was my first dive since some January
boat diving in the Bahamas so we decided to go for an easier entry.
Saturday was nice and sunny, the air was around 50 F and the water around
40 F. I went in for one dive only as I was in a wetsuit, but Robert
decided to go for a second dive in his drysuit. The first dive was about 2
hours after low tide so we had some rock crawling to do and stayed very
shallow (~28ft).
It took a little bit of swimming before we got to the "wall", and I
definitely felt overweighted and uncomfortable. Robert took 4 lbs out of
one of the back BC pockets: I felt more comfortable carrying it as we went
down, but when we reached the bottom, it turned out I could use those
weights so Robert put them back in that pocket. The rest of the dive was
great. During that 30-minute dive, we saw some pink, yellow and even grey
anemone, lots of hermit crabs and green sea urchins, some moon snails, sand
dollars but no lobsters! Robert did some good navigation and we did not
have too much to swim back. The return swim was much more comfortable for
me as I had lost weight from the aluminum tank becoming more buoyant. (I
also thought I had accidentally ditched those extra 4 lbs, but they were
hiding in the front of my BC where they had slipped).
During the second 40-minute dive, which Robert did alone on the other side
of the cove, I fought with my wetsuit for a while then warmed up on the
beach sipping some warm tea while Robert saw some additional stuff down
there including a "spider-like" crab, but still no lobster.
I had taken the underwater housing for my digital camera, so we took some
photos in and out of the water. I believe they will be put on the site
soon, I also attached some sea urchins. It was a fun dive and I was
surprisingly warm everywhere except for my fingers and toes, which I
thought was amazing.
- Geraldine G.
Magnolia Rocks
I went diving yesterday at Magnolia Rocks. The beautiful spring weather
made for a big change in the marine life...specifically the place was
swarming with about a dozen other divers! It's the first time I've seen
another diver in the water since last December. Topside conditions in the
morning were great - sunny, calm, and temperatures in the 40's F. The only
traces of snow and ice were well hidden under the boulders. Underwater
though, it's still winter, with limited sea life and a water temperature of
35 F. Some of the large crabs have started returning, and there's a little
more plant life. Last year at this time I was recording 40 F for the
water, so it looks like we're about a month behind that. The lobsters are
still noticeably absent, although I came across a probable keeper very
close to shore in only 15 feet of water. It was wedged really tightly into
a crevice, so I gave up on it. I considered doing a second dive, this time
with my lobstering gear, but ended up shooting the breeze with the other
divers and soaking up some sun instead. Today's dive extends my string to
24 consecutive months with at least one dive (and 36 out of the last 37
months).
- Robert G.
Normans Woe
Divers:
Despite the frigid weather, I went diving today at Norman's Woe in
Gloucester. Without a doubt, these were the coldest conditions I have ever
dove in. First there was a 1/4-mile hike through the snow-covered woods to
get to the site. I should have hauled my gear with the same sled that I
used for winter camping last weekend. Then there was the 15o F
temperature,
combined with a fairly good breeze, which meant that the usual pools of
seawater on the rocks were frozen solid, and my fingers were numb by the
time I entered the water. But the sun was shining and the water was calm,
so I decided to go in. WOW, that water was cold... 33o F ! Good
visibility, but really cold. On a few occasions, a gap opened between my
hood and the top of my mask and I'd get an instant headache. Very little
sea life; no lobsters, not even any crabs (except for those micro hermit
crabs). Just some mussels, tube worms, starfish, and also quite a few baby
shrimp (about 2 cm long) zipping around. After 32 minutes underwater, my
hands were so cold I was having trouble holding on to the flag line.
Exiting was very easy, but within seconds, my gear was caked in ice.
Taking off all my equipment took a long time because every few seconds I
had to don gloves and get the feeling back in my fingers before continuing.
I was even worried that the frozen zipper on my drysuit (what a misnomer)
wouldn't open. It did. After getting all my gear packed up, I pulled out
my water bottle, only to discover that it was partially frozen too! So now
I'm beginning to suspect that I may be shifted slightly from the mean of
the normal distribution.
- Robert G.
Cathedral Rocks
Divers:
Photos (click on thumbnail to get full size image):
- Robert G.
Last updated by Robert Granetz on 21 December 2003.
Sunday, 21 December 2003
Author: John Armstrong
Saturday, 22 Nov 2003
Author: Robert Granetz
(Click on images to see full size.)
Saturday, 08 Nov 2003
Author: Chris Russo
Sept 2003
Author: Chris Russo
Late August 2003
Author: Chris Russo
Sunday night, 24 August 2003
Author: Elron Yellin
Sunday evening, 24 August 2003
Author: Daniela Hoeller
Saturday, 23 August 2003
Author: Keith Thoresz
8:30am
Depth: 96-100 ft.
Time: 24 minutes
Viz: 20 ft.
Water temperature: 57F (surface) / 46F (depth)
9:53am
Depth: 31 ft.
Time: 46 minutes
Sunday, 10 August 2003
Author: Gianpaolo Carosi
Saturday, 19 July 2003
Author: Robert Granetz
Sunday, 13 July 2003
Authors: Janelle Thompson, Thomas Nieland, Daniela Hoeller,
Nate Hathaway
Just part of the large turnout at Normans Woe (Click on image to see full
size.)
Author: JANELLE THOMPSON
I haven't been diving in quite awhile, you know, grad school, etc. So it
was great going out this weekend to refresh my memory of things like...hmm,
what's this red dial on my gauge? or Ooops! I forgot my watch and dive
log, can't use my cell phone to keep time underwater. But like riding a
bike, once you know how it's done, it comes back pretty quick.
http://www.state.ma.us/dfwele/dmf/recreationalFishing/rec_index.htm#shellfish
:)
Author: THOMAS NIELAND
For those who would like to have some excitement in your dives, do
the following: Elron was, as usual, so nice to get both my and his
rental gear, from the dive shop. When he checked it in the store,
both sets appeared to be OK,. Nevertheless, when we arrived at the
dive site, and Elron set up his gear, there was no pressure reading
from his gauge, while clearly the tank was full. Since we both used
the same types of tanks, we both had the same amount of air in the
tank (as we measured with the use of my gauge), and we knew from
previous dives that we use up air at the same rate, we decided to
dive anyway, and I would just be more carefull than usual in checking
the amount of air left in my tank. Of course, during this dive Elron
used more air than usual, and his physical gauge (ie he had
difficulties breathing) told him that he was low on air (ie was still
on 1000 or so PSI). Fortunately, we were already on our way up, close
to the shore. While we swam back, we figured out the problem with the
gauge: I was swimming behind Elron, and I suddenly had his gauge in
my hands, it had come off from the first stage...!
Author: DANIELA HOELLER
After a late start for Darren and me, we arrived at the Norman's Woe at
11:00 am. We buddied up with Reyco, who did not have a partner yet.
I discovered how unpleasant wearing a dry suit in hot weather is and was in
a hurry to cool off in 60 F sea water. We dove from the "right" cove, the
surf was 2-3 feet, the entry easy. Our dive lasted 35 minutes and we went
to a maximum depth of 24 ft. The visibility was about 15 ft and we saw an
incredible amount of lobsters - one of them just grabbed a starfish for
lunch - hurrying up to hide it from us, as well as crabs and one flounder.
For my first drysuit dive I took 24 pounds of weight with me, which was not
enough. I had bouyancy problems at 10 ft. My problems got better after we
found a rock for me to carry. We surfaced at 12:50. On the PADI diving
table this put us into group F after the first dive.
:o))
Author: NATE HATHAWAY
Nate and Alan started nice and early with 2 hrs to get to the dive site,
however after making about 3 or 4 wrong turns (almost to NH on 95) we ended up
at the site 3 or 4 hours later. Got two really great dives in still, clear
water and some schooling fish on the first one and the second time we headed
out with Shawn and caught some eats too. Excellent spot overall, a ton of sea
life and was a great day- defiantly worth the hike.
Had a great time diving with you all. Will have to head out again sometime.
Wednesday, 02 July 2003
Author: Robert Granetz (granetz@mit.edu)
Saturday, 28 June 2003
Author: Reyco Henning (rhenning@mit.edu)
In: 14:27
Max Depth: 40 ft
Total Run Time: :27
Average Depth 29 ft
Temp: 45F
Date: 2/28/03
In: 15:51
Surface Interval: :56
Max Depth: 24 ft
Total Run Time: :38
Average Depth 17 ft
Temp: 54F
"I do not know if it would be worth mentioning the following: if we go for
a boat dive on a Saturday afternoon, it is impossible to be back at United
Divers on time (6pm). Therefore since they close on Sunday, we have to
bring back our gear on Monday, which is not really convenient."
Saturday, 21 June 2003
Author: Gerardo Jose la O' (gjlao@mit.edu)
Robert's big lobster grabs for Vijay and John. (Click on image to see full
size.)
Sunday, 04 May 2003
Author: Robert Granetz (granetz@mit.edu)
Keith and Robert checking out some DUI drysuit gear.
late April 2003
Author: Darren Obrigkeit (obrigkeit@alum.mit.edu)
Visibility: 40-70+ (more than I can accurately judge)
Water Temperature: 80F
Air Temperature: low 80's
Bottom Time: 46 minutes first dive, 55 minutes second
Surf: None
Current: None
Divers on boat: approximately 8
Cost: $57 for two-tank dive w/weights
Biscayne National park is about 1 hour south of Miami and located just at
the beginning of the Florida Keys. They book dives 7 days a week, leaving
at 8:30 am on Sat. & Sun. with afternoon snorkel tours on the weekends.
Sun. dives are restricted for advanced divers and go out to walls in the
80-100' depth range.
Bottom composition is a shallow patchwork of nice coral reefs interspersed
with sandy spots. The bay is relatively sheltered by numerous little keys.
The reef is very colorful with many large purple fan corals and numerous
other coral types that I don't know (i.e., I still really need to take a
tropical fish ID course and/or buy a few books on the topic).
Saturday, 19 April 2003
Author: Geraldine Grataloup (gratalou@mit.edu)
Sunday, 16 March 2003
Author: Robert Granetz (granetz@mit.edu)
Saturday, 15 February 2003
Author: Robert Granetz (granetz@mit.edu)
Saturday, 11 January 2003
Author: Robert Granetz (granetz@mit.edu)
Watchers:
On Saturday, I went to Cathedral Rocks for some real winter diving. Keith
Thoresz and Andrew Boardman showed up to watch and keep me company on
shore. This site was surprisingly well protected from the stiff west wind.
(We also checked out Folly Cove, which looked very calm, but I had just
dove there three weeks ago.) Keith and Andrew helped me carry my gear down
the rocks, which were more threacherous than normal because of the snow and
ice. The temperature was in the mid 20's F, so I didn't waste too much
time donning my gear. It was low tide, so I had to climb down to the rock
slabs, but entry and exit were a piece of cake. I had a long leisurely
dive (42 minutes), and eventually got down to 80 feet, where the rocks
finally gave way to a sandy bottom. The visibility was
uncharacteristically poor for this time of year (10 ft), which made it
pretty dark at these depths. On the plus side though, there are no
annoying trap lines in the winter. The water temperature was 38 F, about
normal for January. In the summer, this site is known for its lush
underwater gardens, but it's pretty barren in the winter. Still, in the
deeper areas there were some huge crabs, and even a few lobster, including
one that was close to legal size. Plenty of starfish and mussels too. I
also spotted two northern red anemone hidden deep between some big
boulders. My underwater navigation was good, and I surfaced right in front
of Keith and Andrew, as well as a large group of bird-watchers who just
happened to stop by as I was exiting the water. I'm hoping that today's
experience will convince Keith and Andrew to join me for a February dive.
Keith took a whole bunch of photos, and I've put several of them on the
club's website.
accesses since 10 January 2003 with
per day.
