Scuba Seafood Party

NOAA was pretty much on target with today's forecast, 10-15 kt winds and 3-4 ft seas. We decided to stay closer to shore so we'd reach a site quicker and get into the water quicker in case conditions worsened.

First stop was the Northeast Sailor, an old unknown wooden wreck in 75 ft of water. 

Everyone wanted to stay for a second dive on the Sailor because the viz was so good and there was so much life on the wreck. I put viz at 15 ft, but it was very light, not dark from particulate like we've been seeing the past few weeks. I got a bottom temp of 59. Also, a bit of bottom current. The NE Sailor has a sandy bottom, so you could really get down on your belly and shove your arm into those holes trying to grab the lobsters without stirring up a lot of muck.

Tons of sea bass, a few nice fluke (although no door mats) and more than a few lobsters. There's still quite a few bugs in that chain pile. 

3rd stop was a low lying rock pile that we tied in to a couple of miles off-shore. Lots of fish and lobsters were taken, including a 3-1/2 pounder that yours truly brought home. Nothing makes your wife support your diving addiction more than fresh lobster and a bottle of Pouilly Fuisse.

Dive Trip Report - May 21, 2014 Belmar NJ

Just thought I'd share the local conditions, since this has been a colder than normal winter and the ocean hasn't warmed up as much as you'd normally expect.

NOAA had predicted 15 - 20 kt winds and 2-3 foot seas. The air was calm and the ocean was like glass. Maybe a 1 foot swell rolling through every 20 seconds. The winds never picked up, which NOAA has also forecasted for the afternoon.

A group of us chartered the Venture 3 in Belmar, NJ. We did 3 dives and 3 different sites. 
Depending who you talked to, bottom temp at 80 ft was either 42 or 44. During safety hang at 15 feet, water temp was 54 degrees. Because of the cold, most of us kept our bottom times between 20 - 30 minutes.

Visibility was about 7 feet on all dives. Our first stop was the remnants of an old wooden wreck in 70 feet, not one of the well known wrecks. Bottom was very dark and there was a bit of current.

Second stop was a man-made reef. Same conditions.

Our third stop was a natural rock pile, and it was much brighter, although the same 7 or 8 feet of vis.

Being my first dive of the year, I didn't bring my pole spear, figuring I just wanted to relax and get acclimated (I haven't been in the ocean since November). There was a ton of sea bass all over the wrecks, and some nice sized ones as well. It would have been easy to fill up a game bag with them. Fortunately, there were also a ton of lobsters, which we did fill our game bags with.

If anyone out there is in the area and is familiar with the Venture 3, we may have a few spots open for next Friday, May 30th.

Lightning over Long Branch

Here's a video I shot in Long Branch a few years ago.  It was shot using a point-n-shoot digital camera, a Canon SD1100.

The half minute clip shows the lightening strike 4 times.  First, as the camera recorded it (which would be 30 frames per second).  Then, I slowed it down to half speed.  Then I slowed it down to 1/4 speed.  Finally, I froze the image on the frame where the lightning hits the ground.

For any New Jersey divers out there, the video is looking over Saint Alfonso's retreat in Long Branch, which is where the "Dual Wrecks" are in 30 feet of water, about 150 feet from the beach.  I don't know if the iron in the wrecks has anything to do with the lightning strike, perhaps someone more knowledgeable about the wrecks or lightning will post an opinion:

As always, thanks for sharing, and DSAO!