NEWSLETTER July 10,
2003, Issue 30
Members are encouraged to
submit articles, dive plans and dive reports.
Visit club web site at https://www.angelfire.com/nj4/divers/
DA Dive Log
DA Dive Plan
Treasure Ship Story
Lada’s Announcement
June DA Meeting Minutes,
Unapproved
Divers
Anonymous Days at Dutch Springs
3rd
Annual Event, Saturday and Sunday
July
19, 8AM thru July 20, 5PM
Diving,
Camping, Treasure Hunts, Prizes, Pizza, Food, Fun, Discount Coupons, Meeting
Members, and Some More Diving!!
Sign up by contacting Tom to register for you and your guests by
July 17 and get a food assignment.
Rain Date: July 19 and 20,
2003 (We have a pavilion reserved.)
Directions: Route 78 westbound to
exit 3 to Route 22 westbound into Pennsylvania.
Pass Route 31 and exit Route 22 (turn right at end
of ramp) onto Route 191 northbound. Go approximately 1.5 miles and turn left at
traffic signal onto Hanoverville Road. Look for Dutch Springs on left after
railroad tracks.
__________________________________________
Next Meeting
Notice
July 28 meeting,
Topic of discussion: Favorite
Dives
__________________________________________________________________
Peggy’s News
From
Daniel Levin by way of The Scuba Sports Club
http://BeneathTheSea.org/TSSC/
A great article about diving around here.
- - - -
L.I. SOUND SCUBA DIVERS BRAVE THE MUCK
By KEN VALENTI
THE JOURNAL NEWS http://www.thejournalnews.com
(Original publication: July 9, 2003)
Scuba diver Lada Simek remembers diving three times into Long Island
Sound, looking for one of the many boats that have sunk in the waters
of the estuary.
Three times, he found the boat and held onto its side.
But he doesn't know what it looks like.
"Each time I held onto it and I have not seen it," said Simek, who
has
been diving in the Sound more than 20 years. "I was unable to see
it."
Simek's experience helps to explain why the Sound does not play the
role of scuba-diving mecca. The murky estuary is no Caribbean Sea
North.
But perhaps the surprising thing is that the Sound does have its
divers who slip into the inky waters, braving the cold and the
extremely limited visibility that unnerves some people, to spearfish,
take a look at the many wrecks and - until a couple of years ago - to
pluck a lobster or two from the bottom.
For diver Robert Weintraub, it's well worth the effort.
"It just becomes magical, it just becomes therapeutic," said
Weintraub, who is general manager of Scuba New York in Yonkers.
"That's a mind-set. I could go into Long Island Sound and I could
find peace."
But most of his customers look to the Caribbean.
"The Sound becomes a tough sell," he said. "We'll take my
boat, the
guys in the store. We'll go diving, but I can't sell it to customers
anymore."
It's the algae in the Sound - the result of way too much nitrogen from
sewage treatment plants and other sources - that robs the water of its
clarity. Divers estimate the best visibility in the western end of
the Sound to be 5 to 15 feet or so. And disturbances can make it
worse.
"The mud in the Sound is like black mayonnaise," Simek said.
"As soon
as you touch it, black clouds come up and visibility is absolutely
zero."
Scuba diving in the Sound rose in popularity in the 1980s but waned in
the 1990s, partly because divers could more easily jet to Florida or
the Caribbean, said Weintraub. Others saw the same trend, although
some diving instructors said they have actually seen an increase in
recent years as more women and children enter the sport.
Diving has become easier for women and children in the past five or
six years as companies have begun designing equipment specifically to
fit them, said Malene Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Professional
Association of Diving Instructors, one of several organizations whose
teaching programs are used to certify divers.
The divers are of two minds. There are those who don't dive in the
Sound because they would rather wait until they can get to the
Caribbean or some other place cleaner. Then there are those who also
dive in the Caribbean, but will go in the Sound between vacations
because it is so close.
Of those who do take the local plunge, many swim around the
shipwrecks, spearfish, look for lobsters and watch the marine life.
John Ryan, who is working to earn a master diver certificate with
Capt. Saam's SCUBA School in Stamford, Conn., said the Sound was
great for training, with the low visibility ensuring that divers won't
neglect their instruments. A friend of his once became disoriented in
clear blue Caribbean water because he had forgotten how to read his
gauges.
"Here, you've got to live by navigational skills," the 35-year-old
fitness director said on a recent outing to Greens Ledge Light off
Norwalk, Conn., with instructor Saam Greenman, another captain and two
others diving to attain higher certifications. "It keeps you sharp.
It's great practice. And it's fun."
Steve Coe, the other captain on the boat, said he dives often in the
Sound when he can't make it to Islamorada in the Florida Keys.
"It's because it's here and I have a boat," Coe said. "If
I had a
Gulfstream G400 that I could fly down to Islamorada whenever I wanted,
I would dive down there."
On the outing, they headed for the wrecks of the barge Cape Race that
went down south of Norwalk in 1984, taking down a tugboat, Celtic,
that was fastened to it. On the way, however, bad weather caused them
to try diving by the lighthouse, but lightning eventually discouraged
them from that dive as well.
Greenman, 46, dives in the Sound frequently.
"Spending a lot of time under water keeps me young," he said, adding
that the Sound was a great place to dive at night because of all the
creatures that come out. Many of them are bioluminescent - "little
creatures that glow in the dark when you touch them," he said.
"We
have small jellyfish that are harmless, but when you touch them, they
light up electric blue about one-candle power."
Jason Klein, the 28-year-old curator at the Edith G. Read Sanctuary in
Rye, is one of those divers who do not bother with the Sound.
He remembers well the poor visibility. As a teenager, he dived off
Stamford to earn his certification, following his instructor down a
line they had dropped in the water. Thirty feet down, he saw nothing
- until his instructor's face, lit by a flashlight, appeared abruptly,
one foot from Klein's face.
"It was amazing I didn't let go of the rope or spit my regulator out
of my mouth," Klein said.
The lobster die-off that struck in 1999 is another reason some people
give for the decline in interest. Some divers plucked the walking
delicacies off the rocks to bring home for dinner. One was Brad
Gaiser, 41, co-owner of Aqua Visions in Mamaroneck. He would collect
the lobsters, storing the tails and claws in a freezer for a large
cookout he would have late each summer.
"This big lobster die-off put a damper on finding any keepers," said
Gaiser, a Scarsdale firefighter. Noel Voroba, owner of Orbit Marine
dive shop in Bridgeport, Conn., takes divers to shipwrecks that date
back to the 1850s. He said only he knows the locations of some of
them. Once there, they scavenge.
"We've brought up some beautiful china bottles and jugs - stuff that
would have been lost forever," he said.
Some of it may not be buried treasure to the average person. But to
divers, it makes the plunge in worthwhile.
"Divers are a unique breed," Weintraub said. "We find
something that
some people would call garbage and say, 'Hey, look at the treasure we
found.' "
------------------------
Peggy Bowen, Director pegdiver@monmouth.com
New Jersey Council of Diving Clubs
www.scubaNJ.org
----------------------
Peggy
Bowen, Director, NJ Council of Diving Clubs
E-mail: mailto:pegdiver@monmouth.com
______________________________________________________________________
DA
Dive Log
Shore Dive Log
Shore Dive Log
June 1st / Sunday:
Tom was training new students at
June 5th / Thur:
Tom and Rich did a shore dive near
June 22nd / Sunday:
Tom, Norva and Rich brought Tom’s new inflatable boat
with 20hp engine to
June 28th / Sat:
Tom was training new students at
July 6th /
Sun:
Tom, Norva, Al,
Frank, Angela and Rich met at
Boat Dive Log
June 25th / Wed:
Paul Ward, Gary
Prystauk, Gary Mullen and Rich Mullen dove aboard the Venture III with Captions Paul
and Ruth Hepler. It was a beautiful hot
sunny day, no wind, ocean was flat and only slight surface current and we did 4
different dives all within the 70~80 foot range. For the 1st dive we dove the Inner Hankins, which
is a low-lying large wooden wreck. The Vis
was at least 40 feet with lots of fish all over and easy to navigate following
the contours of the wooden wreck. For
the 2nd dive we dove the Outer Hankins Wreck, which was another low
lying wooden wreck, but smaller than the first wreck. The Vis and fish was just as great as the 1st
dive. For the 3rd dive we
went in closer to shore and drove ex-Navy YON-84 steel barge, which was loaded with tires and
sunk as part of the Artificial Reef Program.
This barge is upside down and can
gain some entry on one of its sides.
The Vis was lonely a few feet on this dive poor, and did not see much
sea life. For the 4th dive
we dove the Brunette Wreck. The Vis was
up to 10 feet and saw some seal life.
Both
June 29th/
Sunday, by Angela O’Reilly
Well I had a lovely dive on Sunday afternoon.
Naturally, seas began to get rough, so we had to be towed to the grapple line. Again,
I was freezing in the dry suit. Ernie and I went down to about 90 ft on
the Pinta wreck. Its great Jersey wreck, lots of structure and hiding places
for bugs and fish. It looked like an aquarium. I waited with the bag while
Ernie tried to bag a Big Bug. But he just went deeper into the hole. By that
time the water got really mucked up. I signaled Ernie I had to turn around with
1,000 psi so we both left, by time I got to the line I had less than 500. I was
breathing really heavy from the cold. I also collected a few mussels for dinner
on the way back. I got my pony ready, as I knew my tank would not last the
hang. I did my 2 min stop at 45, and then another at 15, by that time I
had switched to my pony and the current was wicked. When I reached topside, I
noticed the bow of the boat in front of me and strange people on deck. Myself, Ernie
and another guy went up the wrong line. I had no lift in my BC, as my tank
was empty!!! I forgot to inflate manually, in 112 dives I have never had to do
it. Well, I got onboard the Blue Fantom, and they met with the outlaw to
dump me in the water again. This time I left all my weight, reel, light, knife
and bad on the Blue Fantom and I swam to the towline and boarded the Outlaw.
Well, I thought I was going to give Bob another stoke, he was so nervous.
I was absolutely frozen. and water temp was only about 56. I am warmer in a wet
suit.!! After everyone calmed down, the Capt. and crew were in a
better mood and started a campaign to make Angela dolls, to stick voodoo pins
in!!!... OMG. This was really dicey. I was a little nervous below, as I was so
cold from the wet suit near my body.
Wes, one of the crew showed me the underwear I
should get as he used the military underwear for liner. I trust his judgment,
as he is really one of the "old salt" divers, no frills diver, no
ego, no dangerous stuff and no fancy gear men, he mostly makes everything
himself. Plus as a bonus, he gave me the two lobsters he caught!!!!.. Of course
everyone by this time was making sport of my boo boo and really wouldn’t let me
off the hot seat. I kept reminding them of my triumph with the blue fish
kill. You are only as good as your last kill, so no one wanted to hear it.
lol. All that is now left is cooking the lobsters, and picking up my gear
at pier 61 at Clarks landing in point pleasant. The mussels were
delicious, and I'm sure the bugs will be too... Another exciting day in New
Jersey Diving... Who needs the Caribbean!!!
June 29th/
Sunday, by LaDouceur-Cara
Cara wrote a great story about her boat
dive off one of the southern NJ dive boats, but I must apologize that I cannot
find her story. The details may go undisclosed until next month if I can find
it on my other computer. Cara is a new DA member who often dives the southern
boats. If you are in the area, and are looking for a dive buddy, drop her a
line to join her on a dive.
July 6th/ Sunday
Ben, Jamie, and Ian dove the Algol off
the dive boat Seeker. The trip was originally due to visit the Tolten, but the
charterer decided to change the destination for unexplainable reasons. Ben said
that the day at sea was a hot one, and the water provided nice relief. They
enjoyed the boat and conversing with the captain, Dan Crowell. They did not
like the last minute change of destinations by the charterer, not the captain,
however.
(Any
sales of gear are subject to terms agreed upon by sellers and buyers.)
E-mail:
Al Nesterok 2 aluminum 80 cylinders
E-mail: Rick Farmer stainless steel
backplate and OMS back inflation BCD, Sunto Cobra dive computer
E-mail: Tom Gormley 50 cuft low pressure
steel tank, Nitrox ready, new condition
Search for British Warship to Resume
By THOMAS WAGNER
.c The Associated Press
LONDON (AP) - In the next few months, explorers hope
to lower a tethered robot to the ocean floor near Spain to explore a
17th-century shipwreck believed to contain history's richest sunken treasure.
The HMS Sussex was leading a British fleet into the
Mediterranean Sea for a war against France and its leader, Louis XIV, the Sun
King, when it sank in a severe storm in 1694 with 500 men and 80 guns aboard.
Historians believe the 157-foot warship was carrying
nine tons of gold coins aimed at buying the loyalty of the Duke of Savoy, a
potential ally in southeastern France.
If the wreckage that was found half a mile
underwater off Gibraltar is the Sussex, the robot could place a very valuable
booty into baskets for lifting to the surface.
King William III had authorized ``a million of
money'' in coins which now could be worth anywhere from $500 million to $4
billion, officials said.
Such a find could also pioneer a new way of
recovering sunken warships and their archaeological treasures around the world
by creating alliances between governments and private companies.
Under international law, such vessels remain the
property of the government that controlled them while in operation, no matter
where they are found or by whom.
But governments often lack the money or experience
to conduct such searches themselves, leaving treasures vulnerable to scavengers
who could pillage in secrecy and sell on the black market.
The search for the Sussex is the first time a
government has made a deal with a private company for the archaeological
excavation of a sovereign warship.
The public-private Sussex recovery deal - reached
earlier this year by the British government and a U.S.-based company, Odyssey
Marine Exploration - has been criticized by some experts in Britain as setting
a bad precedent for the search for archaeological treasures.
Spain also has said that Odyssey and the British
government should seek its permission to continue the search, if the wreckage -
whose exact location has not been disclosed - is in its territorial waters,
defined as within 12 miles of its shores.
``If it is in Spanish waters, they will have to
reach an agreement with the Spanish authorities to set the terms in accordance
with international law and Spanish rule on the recovery of old ships,'' a
Spanish Foreign Ministry official told The Associated Press.
Greg Stemm, Odyssey's director of operations in
Tampa, Fla., and Lt. Cmdr. Richard Whalley of Britain's Ministry of Defense,
who is overseeing the search operation for the British government, said they
had not received such a warning from Spain's government.
``We believe the wreck is in international waters,''
said Whalley.
Stemm said that Spanish permission would be sought
for any work in Spanish waters.
Stemm acknowledged that the partially buried
wreckage that Odyssey crews found off Gibraltar after searching the region in
four expeditions since 1998 may not be HMS Sussex, though he says the evidence
gathered so far - including part of a cannon - suggests that it is.
George Lambrick, director of the Council for British
Archaeology, has said archaeological issues will not remain a top priority
under the public-private deal, derided as a for-profit salvage operation.
Stemm, whose company has long experience in
deep-water recoveries, disagrees.
``This operation is being done under the most
stringent archaeological requirements set by the British government after
months of review,'' Stemm said in London, where he met Wednesday with Ministry
of Defense officials.
If gold coins are recovered, Odyssey will get 80
percent of the proceeds up to $45 million, 50 percent from$45 million to $500
million, and 40 percent above $500 million. The British government gets the
rest.
However, the government could keep the entire
collection of artifacts intact by paying Odyssey a percentage of its appraised
value.
``It's already been expensive for Odyssey in terms
of the preliminary searches and research,'' said Whalley. Stemm estimated the
search alone would cost his company more than $4 million.
Stemm said the next phase of the operation should
begin later this summer, but he declined to be more specific.
On the Net:
Odyssey Marine Exploration, www.shipwreck.net
British Archaeological Trust,
http://www.rescue-archaeology.freeserve.co.uk/news/hms-sussex.html
Council for British Archaeology,
http://www.britarch.ac.uk/conserve/sussex.html
Lada’s
Announcement
Anyone is invited.
SUMMER SOCIAL EVENTS
Sunday
July 13th: Picnic at Storm King Art center
This is a
huge, I repeat, HUGE sculpture garden 35 minutes from the Z Bridge We can have
a picnic AND have something to see and do. Trams are free, admission is $9 and
there is a small indoor museum as well. Current exhibit is Calder's monumental sculpture.
Time: Leave Tappan Zee ar 11:00 am.
Directions:
Thruway to exit 16 (Harriman)
Right, (North) on RT 32 for 10 miles
Go
under a green bridge, turn left, follow signs
Saturday
August 23: Canoeing the Delaware River
We have
done this before and it is the biggest blast for the buck we will do ten miles
or less, picnic, snorkel, scuba dive AND FIND STUFF! (The last time we
found lost property worth hundreds $!) Cost varies depending on the numbers,
but $40 a person is a good estimate. I have reserved six boats for 12 people
and one is already filled. You will need to leave the Z Bridge at 7:00AM to get
to and beyond Port Jervis by nine. Exact details to be decided. Call me, Lada
for information. (718) 884-4611
__________________________________________________________
Divers Anonymous
Scuba Dive Club
Mario’s Restaurant
/ 710 Van Houten Avenue, Clifton, NJ / (973) 777-1559
June 30, 2003 -
Monthly Meeting Minutes
Rich Mullen, Tom Gormley, and Ben Gualano gave
presentations on the topic of boat diving safety issues. Each presenter covered
a separate topic and displayed various dive accessories that can contribute to
diver safety. The attending members made lively discussions and comments, and
everyone enjoyed the presentations.
Next
club meeting is Monday, July 28th.
Minutes submitted by Secretary, Richard Mullen
Please
contact any of the club’s officers if you would like to contribute to the “Favorite
Dives” program at our next meeting.
_____________________________________________________________
2003 Calendar
2003 Divers Anonymous
Calendar 2003
Updated 07-10-03
|
Jan
2003 ·
01/03: DA Planning meeting 6 p.m. at 6 Bros
Diner Rt. 46 ·
01/11: DA Holiday
Party 7:30 p.m.
San Carlos Rest
620 Stuyvesant Ave, Lyndhurst ·
01/27: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. “
Marine History Presentation” by Lada |
Feb
2003 ·
02/02: Bottle Show, South River ·
02/15: 4th Annual DA Ski
Day ·
02/23: Toms River Flea
Market ·
02/24: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m.
Presentation: “How We Shore Dive” by Tom Gormley and Rich Mullen |
Mar
2003
|
|
Apr
2003 ·
04/06: Manasquan RR Bridge Dive, 12
noon ·
04/07: Pool Dive for gear check and
warm-up 9:15 p.m. Clifton YMYWHA ·
Sunday shore dives ·
04/28: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. Annual Dues and Officer Elections |
May
2003
|
June
2003
|
|
Jul
2003 ·
Local Shore Dives TBA ·
07/13 Ben Boat Dive on Spring Tide ·
7/19 & 20 DA Weekend at Dutch Springs ·
07/28: DA Club Meeting, Topic, “Favorite
Dives” |
Aug
2003
|
Sep
2003 ·
Local Shore Dives TBA ·
09/14 Ben Boat Dive on Spring Tide ·
09/28 Ben Boat Dive on Spring Tide ·
09/29: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. |
|
Oct
2003
|
Nov
2003 ·
Local Shore Dives TBA ·
Annual gear maintenance
workshop TBA ·
11/24: DA Club Meeting 7:30 p.m. |
Dec
2003 ·
12/15: DA Club Meeting
7:30 p.m. 4th Annual Artifact &
Photo Contest ·
12/28: Winter Shore Dive |
Pink highlighted events are subsidized by DA dues
Divers Anonymous first scuba quiz.
1)
Name 6 middle ear equalizing techniques.
2)
Name the national park that was recently studied by marine biologists
within a year after the federal government declared its waters closed to
fishing.
3)
This man teamed with J Cousteau to invent the first scuba regulator.
4)
Name this local pioneer who tested one of the first submarines.
5)
What year did Europeans first visit New Jersey?
6)
What was the name of their ship?
7)
Who was the original captain of the dive boat Seeker?
8)
When did Divers Anonymous hold its first official meeting?
9)
These organisms are primarily responsible for the deterioration of the
Titanic.
10)
A perfectly round balloon has a volume of air equal to 1 cubic feet on
the surface. A diver takes it underwater in the Atlantic to a depth of 33 feet.
At that depth what is the new diameter of the balloon measured in feet?
11)
How many times has this scuba quiz appeared in the newsletter?
Rules
are: First member to email, telephone, mail, or communicate the correct answers
to all of the above questions to Tom Gormley will be awarded a new scuba mask
and snorkel. If no one provides all correct answers, the person with the most
correct answers and at least 8 correct, by the July 20, 2003 will be declared
the winner, and the judges will decide their prize. Judges are Tom and Rich.
Their decision is final.