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From Mark "FreeFlow" Muenzen . . .
Dipped into Willow Wednesday morning before opening the shop with Cindy, Neil Swalim, and James Zimmerman. After some initial realizations that we would have to enter the water through about 14 feet of surface-sludge, James and I geared up and took the leap, followed shortly after by Neil. Making sure we were all properly weighted from the dock, Cindy geared up, and being the nice fellow that I am, I gave a couple of fin kicks to make sure that the sludge on the surface was reduced to about 8 feet so that Aqua Girl could make a perfect giant stride into the water. We began our descent and boy, let me tell you, the viz, the viz...it was...well, typically Willow. Viz was seriously between 6 inches and 4 feet depending on location. The four of us slid down the rope to the first platform to do a quick buoyancy check. At this point, the viz being its best at 4', James and I took the south line towards the bus and left Cindy and Neil to play at their own pace. James and I took the line and made a loop from the bus to the south boat, to the fire truck, up to the Quest and then began to backtrack to the dock. Just as we passed the fire truck while returning I checked James with the OK sign and he pulled his reg out of his mouth and low and behold, his proton ice was giving a small free-flowing. I seriously don't know why regs don't like me, seems like I have some sort of bad reg karma. We paused for a moment to see if the problem could be fixed and the flow stopped. (so much crap in the water a small turtle could have gotten caught in the purge valve and we wouldn't have seen it). We continued on and were joined by a nice perch who swam with us till we reached the south boat where he continued W,NW and we turned N on the line. A quick swim through the bus and we were back at the platform. 37' for 40 min. Nice dive overall.
From Jess Zellers . . .
I'll keep this short to leave room for all the diving I know everyone did with the holiday weekend. But there was a Thursday, there was diving, and now there's gonna be a dive report..... the week can start anew!!! All the Irregularers either had plans to dive somewhere else or an excuse. So I showed up expecting only Paul Berhert to come. But when I arrived I found an assortment of fine Smokey's divemasters - Ralph Spayd, Bill Hockley, and Bob Hanna. They assembled their gear and entered the water with experienced proficiency. For what I assume is good measure, they were discussing their dive plan in the water such that a casual observer might think they had forgotten to do so before getting in. This week my reel got mad at me for not getting it wet or using it much. And as an act of retaliation clipped itself on my plate and refused to move until wet. So Paul and I ran along the south wall for a good dive....although 400ft don't go far in a quarry. At first the viz looked like the reel may have been a navigational necessity, but getting away from the dock and hitting some depth solved that.
We're diving Myerstown every Thursday... the quarry that recently removed the concrete dock as an underwater attraction. It's back above water! Come try to keep your head below water!
From Ralph Spayd . . .
Well, I was off all week soooo Thursday night was good for me. As has been the "custom" this year Bob "the map" Hanna, Bill "Cruse Ship" Hockley and I met at WS at 4PM for an early dive. Jess was there patiently waiting for Paul to arrive. Seemed to be some confusion as to what actually constitutes being on time!!!
The map, CS and I suited up and CS decided to dive wet. Unlike the last 2 weeks the water was actually below the dock and we put in. After we hit the water, we thought it a good idea to discuss who would lead and where we would go. We finally reached a conclusion and individually thought someone else would lead. We were able to collectively find the RR tracks. The map wanted to wait for the trolley to pick us up, but no one had the correct change so we decided to swim to the Quest. CS and I did a swim through, which is actually quite neat for local diving. The vis was 15' and falling and after about 20min CS realized the value of his dry suit!!!!! We did a leisurely 60 min dive and adjourned to the shore. The only real excitement was when the map directed us to go north or.......was that the other north...whatever!!!! What we really discovered that night was that 3 people can really lead the same dive simultaneously.
Sunday July 6th - Well it was obvious that "the map", CS and I did not get our fill last Thursday night so we agreed to meet at Dutch on Sunday. We were joined by the map's son Drew and his friend Natasha. CS's wife Peg also joined our group. For some strange reason, none of my family wanted to join me, something about some location had to freeze over first!!! The map, Drew and Natasha did 2 wall dives. This was a reorientation dive for Drew and Natasha. They both had a great time and looked like fish in the water (or is that zebra mussels as DS) Bill and I did the infamous helicopter saw some other sights including a free diver as 27 feet and just had a good time. The vis was 50+ feet and the temp at 65' was 48deg. CS continues to dive wettttttt. The best part of the dive experience was that the map arrived early and nabbed a picnic table under the trees. It was truly a thing of beauty. We all agreed to split up the food duty and had burgers, dogs and a serving of Chilean Sea Bass for Natasha. I'm definitely inviting "N" along again!!! Peg was gracious enough to do the cooking and she can burn a mean dog. Peg also discovered that the grill had a high/low setting.....
The day was excellent, the diving was great and the food was a treat. The map and CS will most likely hit WS on Thursday and the weekend is still open. As always were looking for new dive buds to join group. all you need is a C card and the ability to eat.
From Tom Pritchard . . .
The Thursday Night Irregulars Seeker "Road" Trip.
Gerhard Maree, Dave Hoshauer, and I set sail on the Seeker for a dive on the Algol. With sunny skies and 1-2 feet seas there didn't seem to be any way we'd end up on the Mohawk. But looks can be deceiving. Apparently, the current was ripping at the Algol, so we dove the Mohawk. With 4 ft rollers coming through pretty often, walking on the boat was harder than the diving. In case there is anyone who hasn't seen the Mohawk, it sunk in 1935 following a collision with another ship. Because the Mohawk lies in only 80 ft of water, it was a shipping hazard so the Navy blew it up a few times and then dragged it a bit until the ship was little more than a bunch of ribs inside of a low, broken hull. To keep from getting lost in the marine menagerie, we used a wreck reel for navigation. The site is just jumping with marine life. The house specialty seemed to be starfish, large rusted gears, and rear axle/pumpkin assemblies for early '30s cars. Gerhard crawled underneath a busted hull plate to retrieve and then release a lobster that might be achieve legal standing in a year or so. Because Terry Martzell, another Thursday Night Irregular, doesn't read the dive reports, I am not legally required to tell you that he crewed the trip. With the bottom at 80 ft, it is ideal for Nitrox. Gerhard breathing EAN28 had little more than a safety stop to complete while I snoozed off 12-15 minutes of deco on the rockin' and rollin' anchor line. And a good time was had by all.
Thursday at Wabank - I figured that last week's news about knaked women at Wabank would attract some fresh male faces. Rick, the Incredible Huck, obliged. Scott, the Rock, Schwartzenager Steinbaecher dove in rental duds while his seals are in the shop. Cindy Willman-Kinsey, Ken "Wet" Wong and I only had time for a quickie because we were rushing off to the Red Lion fireworks display as invited guests of Jim "Uptown" Brown. (I probably should have said "quickie dive" in the last sentence so that divers don't start showing up without their gear). My dive widow Chris, Franny Rebert and Franny Jr., Donna and I joined Jim Brown at the fireworks. Fireworks are pretty cool anyway - but when you're sitting 100 feet away from the launch pad, it is awesome! With no food and no knaked women at Wabank this week - and with my reconnaissance mission complete - I'll head back to Willow next week, comfortable (and grateful) knowing that most, if not all of the divers there, are knaked under their clothes.
From Kelly Stewart . . .
Sunday, June 29th - New Jersey State Aquarium "Ocean Tank" - I had my first "dive" day as a volunteer diver at the Camden Aquarium. For those of you who are not familiar w/ the Aquarium or have never been there, they have one main tank called the Ocean Tank. The ocean tank is filled with 760,000 gallons of salt water which ranges from 65-70 degrees year round. The animals in the tank include 50 species of fish, 2 species of sharks (Sand Tigers and Brown Sharks), sea turtles, and sting rays. We suited up and went on our first dive around 10:30am. Since it was my first day, my first dive was an orientation dive. As we were told in the briefing, the rules are different in the tank than they are in the ocean. The animals always have the right of way. There are so many animals in the tank I needed to pay attention to where I was going so I didn't run into anything! We swam around playing w/ all the kids at the windows and we searched for shark's teeth in the gravel. I found 4! Not bad for a beginner! The next dive I did was around noon. My other team members who have been diving at the aquarium for 10 years got ready for the 1st dive show of the day. I stayed hidden and watched from the side of the window. My third dive came as quite as a surprise because they put me in the show! I did props for the shark show. It was very exciting and weird seeing all the people sitting out in the stands watching the show. Now I know how fish in a fish tank feel w/ all the people looking in! Well all in all it was a fun filled day and I'm happy to say that I've reached a goal that I had set for myself when I was 15 years old working at the aquarium as an education volunteer. The age requirement to dive in the tank was 18 so I made it my goal to get certified and dive in the tank. This was an experience I will never forget and I definitely recommend that if anyone ever gets this opportunity in the future to take it! You won't regret it!
If you have any questions or are taking a trip to the aquarium any time soon let me know and I'll try to get you a tour to the top of the tank!
From Kent Hirsch . . .
Attention Divers....the pool is open, Jersey Wreck Diving is awesome!!!
Mike Nast and yours truly, the Doctor, made a run to Tuckerton, New Jersey and the Tuna Seazure for a dive to the Varanger last weekend. The Varanger, also known as the 28 mile wreck is a freighter sunk by a U-boat in 1942. The Tuna Seazure is a fast six-pack (22 knot cruising speed) which got us to the dive site in 90 minutes. Conditions were excellent- 67 on the surface, one foot waves and 30-40 foot viz at depth. This is a huge wreck with lots of relief, lots of places to penetrate and things to see from 110 to the sand at 145. It is also a shark fishing destination, so we were met at the dive site by 5 boats chumming for sharks. A few of the divers tempted fate by spearing fish and ding their deco with a bag of "shark bait" hanging from their D-rings. Lobsters were scarce and well back in their holes, so this became a scallop dive. Scallops are plentiful this year and easy picking. We brought up a couple dozen for the folks back home. This is a great dive site for advanced divers. The Tuna Seazure will be back several more times this year.
On Saturday, I went solo to Northeast Scuba Supply's other boat, the Spring Tide, out of Brielle, NJ. Its moored several slips down from the Seeker. We motored out to the Lillian, another freighter victim of Hitler's U-boat fleet. It lies 26 miles out in 160 feet of water. Although we had 3-5 foot seas with wind chop. the pleasant 80 degree temps were a nice change from the 90+ humidity on shore. We only had 4 divers and a captain, so we were responsible for setting and pulling the anchor. The wreck is scattered with few large pieces, unlike the Varanger. This wreck had fewer fish, but lobsters, scallops and flounder were plentiful. The bugs were everywhere! I pulled out six on my first 30 minutes dive. Four were females with eggs, so only two took a ride to the surface. I also grabbed 18 saucer sized scallops. I wasn't prepared for flounder, but doormat sized fish were everywhere. I almost coaxed one to swim into my goody bag. At 153 ft, 30 minutes on the bottom is followed by 50+ minutes of deco. After a two hour surface interval, we again headed for the bottom. I headed in a different direction, looking for more of Neptune's bounty. I pulled out three more lobsters, all egg bearing females, and another two dozen scallops. Due to nitrogen loading, limited bottom time to 23 minutes and still had a lengthy deco. One of the other divers pulled the hook and we both finished our hangs as the boat drifted. The surface chop made for a rough ride and we had to watch our buoyancy, since we were on a slack line. Back on the boat, we stowed our gear and settled in for the 2 hour ride back to shore. We were host to some annoying hitchhikers. Biting flies were blown 26 miles out to sea and made the Spring Tide passengers their victims. It was difficult getting any shut eye with these blood suckers on board. We were soon back in Brielle and the lobsters and scallops made for a great addition to the weekend barbecue.
One quick note, I was fortunate to spend an afternoon with senior Dive Instructor, Ray Becker, and outstanding Dive Master, Fran Rebert, demonstrating scuba at Camp Susquehanna. This is an annual get together for kids who have survived extensive burns. We were hosts to 18 kids and 5 adults in the Brooks pool at Millersville U. Everyone had a great time and our three hours together went by quickly.
And From Mark Myers . . .
This weekend also brought the grillers out to Bainbridge. John Gross was the host on Saturday and Dennie Leese on Sunday. Sunday was “Family Day” – or perhaps I should say “Father/Daughter” day as Shawn Canady came out with Kate, Vernon with Aly, and my own daughter Savannah showed up to snorkel and annoy those other divers who came for a quiet afternoon away from their yelling kids. Speaking of kids – Fran Rebert and daughter Kate were out as were the “diving Buckwalters” of Lititz. My son Jack was out as well, but still refuses to put his face in the water, so he did more paddling around on the surface than snorkeling. Most people did one deep, and one shallow. Visibility at 90 ft is a murkey 15 ft or so according to reports. People reported mid water about 10 ft or slightly less, as the warm weather delayed algae bloom has finally hit. “The Road” is actually back at about 10 -12 ft deep with all the rain from this spring, so the snorkelers were a little disappointed since it was difficult to see the bottom. As usual, there was tons of food, and Paul Good graciously brought his portable tent along to keep it out of the sun. “Dr. Deco” Hirsch was so busy trying to loan out his new Apex TX 200 regulator that he left both his doubles and his drysuit on the table. Wonder who has been mixing HIS gas….
I did all my diving this weekend in a 3mm – so no cold water excuses!
Get Out And Dive - LIVE THE ADVENTURE!!!
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