Block Island Labor Day Expedition

Part I: The ferry ride

On thursday, the trip began for many of us. In order to be ready for a morning departure to the Suffolk, it was necessary to rendez-vous with the Wahoo in Block Island the evening before. Many others who were planning on bringing cars to the island did the same. Dave and I spent the morning loading up gear and food for the trip. We were set to meet AJ and Jack in Point Judith where we would transport their equipment over to the island. Also joining us on the ferry would be Lee and Marge Livingston, Jim Brannigan as well as Howie Motenko and Bob Foster. Last and certainly not least would be the world famous Chip Kelly, of Andrea Doria fame....

Anyway, things were relatively uneventful traveling down to the ferry. We quickly met up with everyone in PJ except AJ and Chip, who were in competition apparently for most dramtic entrance. Everyone was hanging out in the ferry line waiting for the go-ahead to load when in wheels AJ in his big old car. He waves a "hello" to everyone and proceeds to crash straight into Dave's truck! Fortunately for Dave, he hit the hub cap of his monster truck so it was no big deal, fortunately for AJ, the damage did not hurt the appearance of the car. Everyone was busting from this one, you couldn't plan this if you tried. Now only Chip was left to make his entrance. Time ticked by and still no Chip. It was 2:45 and the ferry was leaving at 3:00. Dave, Jack and I were sitting in the truck, being the last to load because of the size thinking there is no way Chip is going to make this ferry. No sooner had we spoke than in comes Chip, flying into the parking lot at about 40 mph straight to the ferry loading ramp. The ferry personnel tell him he needs a ticket and you can't just drive on. Chip bolts from his car and in a dead sprint heads for the ticket booth. He leaves his car in the middle of road running. We are watching all this in amazement. The ferry people loaded the car and and when Chip returned, he ran in a few confused circles looking for his car before realizing it was on the boat. A good entrance but AJ's was better.

The ferry ride itself was low-key. Not too long, a smooth ride. The food is disgusting, unless you like hot dogs and stale bagels. Other than that, we were ready for Block.

Bob Foster, Heather and Jack Ahern chatting on the ferry

The group arrived in Block Island around 5 pm although the Wahoo was not slated to arrive until around 8 pm. We were amused by the endless follies of Chip Kelly who proceeded to lock his keys in his car moments after arriving in Block. Interestingly, a man with a big van emerged with one of those car-jacking things you shove down the window to unlock the door. I have never seen anyone lock their keys in a car and then have someone appear so miraculously with a device to open it.

Hanging out in Block Island Next we headed into Ballards where a picture of the Wahoo hangs to have something to eat. Everyone enjoyed a few beers and some good food, except Chip who was devastated to learn that the clam chowder was indeed not homemade.

The group continued to mill about until the Wahoo arrived around 8 pm. We quickly loaded on all our gear on the boat from the bait dock, which was riddled with wharf rats and stinking fish. After loading all the gear on we hit the rack, getting ready for a big day on the Suffolk.

Jim, Bob, AJ, Heather, Jack and Howie hanging out in Block

Part III: The Suffolk

The morning broke with a stiff wind. Not moments after rounding the breakwater did we begin taking spray over the bow. We headed out in a choppy sea, and the 32 mile run out to the Suffolk suddenly started to feel very long. The seas ran 2-4 the whole way out but taking it right on the nose made it an uncomfortable ride.

When we arrived onsite we noticed immediately the gorgeous aqua blue water and knew it it would be a great dive. The Suffolk was a 300 ft-ish coal carrier that foundered in a offshore storm. She is sitting upside down, partially intact in 180 feet of water. It is covered with a fair amount of monofilament. We were diving the stern section, which is the only really intact part of the ship. There are lots of hull plates to see and the propellor is there too. The vis was outstanding, over fifty feet of aqua viz on the surface. A slightly dimmer but solid 30 ft made the bottom visibility excellent. Some current was apparent but nothing unmanageable.

What was nearly unmanageable was the nightmare live boat set up that was deployed instead of a tie-in. Enough of this cement bucket with pot wap bullshit with a floatie on top. It is impossible for 6-10 divers decompressing on a line not to pull it under, especially if the seas are running, which they were. The 50 yard swim to the floatie from the boat, which was sand anchored, was a real trip, especially without a granny line you can pull on with the current running in the opposite direction. Enough said about that.

In what seemed to be and endless competition to "top that", Dave managed to drop his belt buckle down the toilet, making it un-usable until Janet could deal with the problem. With Dave coming in from above and Janet from below they managed to work the the buckle out of the shitter. After a good wash Dave put it back on, I myself could never wear something that fell in the toilet like that, especially that toilet.

Everyone enjoyed their dives and a few lucky ones got two in before we had to return to Block Island. Everyone enjoyed the excellent lemonade courtesy of Dave and Capt. Janet, that was good stuff! Here are some pictures of divers participating in the Suffolk trip:

Bob Foster giant strides off the boat and Wahoo crew member Maggie Owens assists Stella Covre

Bob Foster doesn't need dive gear

Bob Foster climbs back on the Wahoo after dipping, while Jim Brannigan grabs afew tanks

Dave gets ready to splash while Gary and Hank help get rid of Heather for a little while

Chipster Kelly

Chip Kelly

Part IV: The U-853

Today we headed out in even rougher seas to the U-853 German submarine. This is a well known and popular wreck and if the diving isn't good, then the Newport Dive Center boat is guaranteed to provide some entertainment. We showed up nice and early to find a choice tie in spot (we tied in today :-) thank you!). Once we were settled in and getting ready to dive we noticed another boat pulling up to ruin our vis. We continued to get ready and were interrupted only by the Newport boat "Second Wind" as their passengers puked their guts out while they continously ran over their own mooring trying to pick it up. Granted it was rough (3-5 at 8 am) and I'd never laugh at anyone who is seasick, at least not in front of them, but these guys were too much. They even had their snorkels on while throwing up, thank goodness for snorkels. The eventually caught their mooring and settled in-- only they were coming dangerously close to hitting the Wahoo they way the wind was blowing. They wanted Janet to move, you can imagine what her response was to that.

Anyway, back to the diving....We hit the water fast to maximize our SI, especially in the deteriorating conditions. Out thunder was again stolen by Newport as one of their divers made a rapid ascent to the surface off the wreck. He floundered around on the surface until Captain Janet alerted the captain of the Newport boat that one of their guys was "looking dead". He was ok though, he had a snorkel with him. We swam the wreck, vis was only about 15 feet, and the current was ripping. We made two dives on the wreck, penetrated through the aft blast hole and found some bones laying about very near an entrance. It is amazing what continues to surface with the swirling silt. The deco on the second dive was harsh, seas were running a good 4-6 at that point and we took a beating at 10 feet. Even with a jon line it was like a bull ride trying to decompress.

Interestingly, my wrist seal gave out on my suit during dive 1, but I had already lent my other suit to Gary Gilligan, who blew out the zipper on his suit on the Suffolk. He was in the water during my SI. When he came out, I grabbed my suit back and jumped in for another dive. Talk about hot-racking a suit! It wasn't out of the water 15 minutes before I was wearing it and gone! The suit actually fit Gary really well....

Gary returns from his dive on the u boat

Gary wearing Heather's suit and climbing back aboard where Heather was eagerly waiting to swap suits.

All in all it was a great day of diving. Everyone was pumped. Here are some more pictures of people who made dives to the U-853:

Gary and Maggie assist Marge and Lee Livingston

Marge heads to the u boat

Marge is off to the U-853

Lee is off to the u boat

Lee jumps in

We returned to Block Island in the early afternoon and met up with Captain Steve and Fred, my father. Everyone threw back a few in Ballards before dinner at the Harborside. The food was good but it was freezing, fall was arriving with a stiff breeze.....After the light weights checked out, a few of us hung out in Ballards for a final drink or two before heading back to the boat.

The next morning the day came with a 35 knot wind and 3 footers at the breakwater. We were not going anywhere but home. We had some breakfast and hung out for most of the day in the stand-by ferry line.

AJ and Dave hang out waiting for our number

AJ and Dave chill on the truck waiting for the ferry

Chip and Howie play frisbee in the standby line

Chip and Howie play frisbee in the stand-by ferry line

Thanks again to everyone who made this a great trip!!

Send your report to divenade@aol.com