Dive Report – Ol’ Salty II – Arundo - August 3, 2008

njwrekdvr · Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Randolph, NJ

Another great weekend on the Atlantic!

This Sunday the Ol’ Salty left the Belmar Marina with blue skies and warm, but not too warm, air temperatures. As we broke the inlet we were greeted with about a two to three foot chop and about 15kt. winds out of the N to NW.

Our destination for the day was the Arundo and joining us for the day were about 17 guests and crew. Again we had a nice group from Sea Dwellers and most were familiar faces but some were newcomers out to dive with us for the first time. Ken “one leg” (yes he has only one leg and dives better than most with two) and Ken “two legs” were back out to shake things up again, as usual Rich H. was out logging some serious run times and John K. was back to do a bit of bottle hunting (nice dry suit my man). Ari and Eugene were also out to enjoy what promises to be one of the better dives off our shores. Sorry too many others to even remember!

By the time we arrived at the site the seas has picked up a bit (probably because we were far enough out to lose the protection of Sandy Hook) and things were looking more like two to four rather than two to three. Dave and I dropped both hooks in the water in no time Captain Nick had us sitting right above the wreck. Dan quickly splashed and had us tied to midships but then surfaced quickly to help get everybody in the water.

Once all our guests were in getting their dive on it was time for the crew to think about gearing up. Dan brought his Soviet made Protei-5 DPV for its first ocean run so we decided he should get in first. It only took a couple of minutes to get the DPV in the water and moments later Dan was gone off to explore. About that time some of our guests began to surface to Jim, Dave, and I stuck it out to get everyone back on board before we went in. Shortly thereafter Dan returned quite happy from a successful ocean test. Great work with the scooter Dan!

Jim, Dave, and I finally jumped in and between the three of us managed to recover 8 bottles, Dan’s DPV (don’t ask), and a nice keeper female lobster. A number of other guests put a few more bugs on the boat (Rich H. had three) and the Captain even managed to get a couple Ling. (The long version of this is below)

Capt. Jim had hot sausage and pepper sandwiches for the ride home and all enjoyed a great day on a truly spectacular wreck. No problems with the bridges this week and were back to the dock by 3:30!

Join us August 17 for a 2 tank dive, 7AM departure to the Beth De Bob which rests in about 120’ of water.

Unfortunately, my camera died on me this week so no pics yet however, Dan shot some video and I hope to get it up on the web in the near future.

Dive Safe All,
Greg
http://www.olsaltytwo.com/index.html

The long version.
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Jim, Dave, and I finally suited up and splashed for what was to be one of my best dives of the season. As we hit the tie-in the vis was in the twenty to thirty foot range which is quite special for a wreck in the Mud Hole with temps around 48df. Jim quickly ran a line so Dave and I could concentrate on exploring, (Thanks Jim!) we didn’t have anything specific in mind however, I was looking to come up with some dinner and hopefully a couple of bottles. Upon dropping deeper into the wreck I immediately noticed a large number of broken bottles. Unfortunately, like everyone else, I wanted whole bottles so we kept looking. It wasn’t but ten minutes later that I stumbled across a slot/hole which had a bunch of nice intact bottles in the bottom although a bit deep. The reason they were there was because the hole was just a bit too tight to get in and out of comfortably. Huummmm what to do, what to do, I quickly signaled Dave and Jim who shot right over to see what I was bouncing up and down over. I let them know I was going to try to get down in and if I got stuck they were to make sure and get me out. For the record there aren’t many people out there I would trust in a situation like this but Jim and Dave are right on the top of my list. So in I go, the first bit was tight and I wiggled in a few feet then stopped and worked my way back out just to make sure I wasn’t trying the impossible. Jim gave me the ok sign and I squirmed down onto this slot, finally after a bit of working I managed to get myself within reach of the first bottles. Slowly I started pulling them out of the muck (without stirring up too much) and passing them up to Jim. A couple times the vis just got too low and I had to wait and fan to clear things up. Fortunately Jim and Dave were shining their lights down into the hole spotting what I couldn’t see. Finally, after pulling out about 8 bottles it was time to work my way out of this hole. A couple minutes later pop and I was out. Thanks again Jim and Dave I would not have even attempted that without you both!

Heading back to the line we decided to move toward the edge of the wreck, what I believe was the starboard side. Just was we were dropping off to the sand Dave discovered Dan’s DPV sitting on the bottom (apparently the gear line pulled loose when there was no weight on it) so Dave and I quickly pulled it back up onto the wreck and Jim shot a bag and brought it to the surface along with our haul of bottles. In the meanwhile, Dave and I toured the wreck a bit more. At one point I picked up about a 5 x 5 plate, which Dave was kind enough to hold up for me so I could wrestle a nice female keeper bug out of her hole and with 35 minutes of Deco it was time to head for the surface.

Once back on board the other divers were suiting up for their second dive. After everyone was in Capt. Jim got some nice hot sausage and pepper sandwiches going and upon boarding the boat all were greeted with a nice lunch as Dave and I pulled the hooks and headed for home. So at the end of the day we took home a bunch of nice bottles, some nice bugs (Rich managed to get three himself) and the captain came up with some Ling (which made for a great dinner last night).

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mb104 · Posted: Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:22 am Post subject:

Greg,

As usual, an excellent report. This being my worst season for actually gettting out on the ocean, I'm spending most of my dive related time reading reports or updating the website. Nice job.

Mike
_________________
www.mikesdivelog.com

njwrekdvr · Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Posts: 12 Location: Randolph, NJ

Hey Mike,

Sorry to hear you've been stuck on terra firma Very Happy

Let me know if/when you get a chance to get out again. It would be great to get together and I can always catch ya up on all the old Kingston gossip.

L8tr Bud,
Greg