What a great weekend of diving! We truly hit some good weather and had two fantastic dives that included a first-trip to the F/V North Star, in Stellwagen Bank National Marine Sanctuary on Saturday, followed by the best dive I've ever done on the Snetind (Schooner Barge) on Sunday!

Saturday we loaded up bright and early for our trip to the F/V North Star, a 55- foot wooden fishing vessel that sank on August 29, 2003 while dredging for clams. The wreck rests in 100 feet of water on Stellwagen Bank in more or less three pieces - main hull debris, a clam dredge and the prop shaft and propeller. The main hull debris is separated from the prop by about 100 feet, so it is necessary to run a line on this wreck given the strong current and distance that must be covered beyond the limits of visibility.

We arrived on site in about 1 hour 45 min, dropped the shot line and got ready. There was a ground swell running and a bit of chop on top of that, but the sea conditions were good for the most part, with light wind.  We were a bit early on the tide since we wanted to allow ourselves extra time to prep on site since it was our first trip -- and it was running hard. Dave and Pat B splashed in while it was still running, but they got down OK and before long, we had the signal to send in the troops. The tide was slacking off, although overall, we had fairly moderate to strong current running most of the time -- not a good slack window generally.

When Dave came up, he said the visibility was great at about 25 feet and that it was a cool dive. Scott, Tim and I promptly suited up and hit the water. I had to be retrieved and re-dropped since my glove leaked from a bad seal, but I got that squared away and hit the water again, this time good to go. We dropped down and started taking pictures. Pat B left his reel there for us to use (and pull) so we followed the reel out to a pipe, then followed the pipe to a clam dredge, then followed a derelict trawl line to the main hull wreckage -- the only thing we didn't do was leave bread crumbs! Anyway, it is a cool wreck and likely a site for our next mooring (we got a grant for another one!). It was annoying having to swim so much with the current--but my scooter will solve that problem on the next trip.

Overall it was a fantastic dive and we are glad to have another good site in the sanctuary! We cruised home, unloaded and called it a day around 2 pm.

On Sunday, the weather was even better and we were planning a trip to the Snetind - also known as the Schooner Barge. This is a seldom dived wreck, but it is a hidden gem of Mass Bay wreck diving. The deck of the Snetind can be reached in 170 fsw, with the bottom at 190 fsw. The wreck is almost 235 feet in length, so it's one of the bigger intact wrecks. It also has an interesting history -- the former home of Mrs Sherwin, a squatter who lived aboard the schooner running an arts and crafts store until the vessel was wrecked on Spectacle Island. Eventually the Snetind burned, and ultimately was towed off the beach and scuttled off Boston. Today, the wreck is largely intact except for a partially collapsed stern section.

We had perfect conditions with flat seas and calm wind--the mooring was still there upon our arrival too. Dave and Elvis splashed in once we were set up, and the others followed. They came back ecstatic with visibility reports of 40+ feet on the wreck with ambient light. I was practically tripping over myself to suit up and grab the camera. Scott, Jeff and I hit the water promptly and dropped down. It was awesome--and awesome was used liberally that day.

We dropped inside the wreck and swam the entire length, popping out a hole in the bow. Swimming out of the wreck, I could see the sand bottom clearly--it was cool. We came back up on top of the wreck, swimming the length again. Next dive, I am bringing my scooter and hopefully, that good visibility holds! We completed an uneventful deco and surfaced to join a very happy group of divers, all of whom had a great dive. It was pretty darn perfect.

From left to right: On the F/V North Star, Scott Tomlinson next to the propeller; Scott and Tim Maxwell swimming along the wreck; areas of hull and decking and the remains of the pilot house structure.

From left to right: On the Snetind (Schooner Barge), Jeff Downing exits through an opening in the bow; Scott Tomlinson explores the interior of the wreck, Jeff swimming along the starboard rail; looking out across the deck, looking down at Jeff inside the wreck.

Despite a rather crappy week of weather, things cleared up for the weekend with light wind and periods of clouds and sun. On Saturday, we were scheduled for the Snetind, a large schooner barge in 190' off Boston.  This is one of my favorite wrecks, although we rarely visit it.

We enjoyed a smooth ride out to the wreck--the conditions were a lot nicer than I was expecting with flat calm seas and no rain. When we arrived, we dropped the shot line since the wreck did not have a mooring. Scott and I suited up to tie in. We got prepped and dropped in. The surface visibility was incredible--60-70' of clear, blue water. I was hoping for it to last all the way down, but unfortunately, around 110 feet, it dropped to about 10 feet with heavy particulate - like a snowstorm.

The drop was good, so we checked around to make sure we had a good, solid beam, chained in and shot the bag. We spent the remainder of our dive trying to determine where we were on the wreck. In low vis, this large wreck is confusing, as you may think you're on a rail, but instead on a beam, the center line or framing for a hold. It turns out, we were near the stern in about the middle of wreck. Sounded good to me. Anyway, we enjoyed a nice deco in great visibility. Although I had my camera, I didn't take any pictures on the bottom due to the poor vis. I tried to grab some of divers descending while we were on deco. All in all it was a great dive and I'm looking forward to more dives on this wreck over the next few weeks.

On Sunday, the good weather held out for a trip to the City of Salisbury. It was clear and sunny, though a bit breezier and later, it would cloud over and get a bit more windy for awhile. We had another nice ride out and this time Dave and Eric splashed in to tie in a line that we'd remove. I knew it was a good sign when they were gone for almost an hour, and sure enough when they returned, they had a decent conditions report with 12-15' of visibility. Not as good as a few weeks ago, but I would take it--and the camera.

Scott, Tim and I splashed in and dropped down. Scott tied off his reel and this time we went out on the opposite side of the wreck from our last dive. It is a jumble of hull plates, but there is a lot to explore. It's a decent dive when the visibility is good. We had a bit of surge and some annoying current, but overall, no complaints. We pulled the line and rigged it for retrieval at 45 minutes bottom time and headed up. It had become windier and rougher during our dive, so things were a bit bouncy on the surface. We cruised in drinking coffee and arrived back at the marina to unload with a nice flat ramp due to high tide. Not a bad way to end a good weekend!

From left to right: Al splashes in on the Snetind; Tim diving his PRISM CCR on the City of Salisbury (COS); hull plates on the COS; Scott reeling us back; bollards on the COS and finally, Gauntlet picking us up!

More wind arriving on Friday resulted in a blow out for Saturday. Although the weather was beautiful, it was seasonably cooler and the blustery west wind made it a land-based day. On Sunday, we caught a lull in the wind, as it dropped out for a few hours on Sunday morning--long enough for us to get out onto the NYC14-2 on another beautiful, cool spring day.

We loaded up and headed out--we didn't expect to find a mooring, so Dave and Pat B suited up as we steamed out to the wreck. When we arrived, they splashed in after we dropped the shot line, and soon enough we were tied in with the pool open for diving. Everyone suited up. It seemed we had a gremlin on the boat or something, as there were a number of strange issues such as: rebreather battery cap flood due to lack of battery cap being placed on rig, disconnected suit inflator causing return to surface, flooded dry glove, lack of donned weight belt -- realized halfway through a dive, nearly forgotten fins upon initiation of giant stride. Thankfully, none of these issues were mine, but it was a rather amusing morning. Fortunately, no one was worse off for it and we simply had some material to make the return ride entertaining.

Anyway, Tim and I were diving together, getting close to completion of his CCR class that we've been conducting over the winter.  I had the camera and had gotten decent visibility reports of 15-20 feet, so I decided to take it. The water was bright and clear, but down on the wreck is was a murky 15-20 and with bright green water. This is the kiss of death for pictures, at least if I am taking them. Anyway, we swam around the wreck, exploring both inside and out. Overall, it was a nice dive although my pictures were pretty mediocre. 

As we were surfacing, the wind was coming up strong and it got quite windy and choppy. Our timing was good, and we got back to the marina, offloaded and called it a weekend. Starting next weekend, we're back in our summer slip!

No diving due to weather.

All week I have been struggling to get over my cold and although improved, I still didn't feel well enough to dive on Saturday. It was a tough one to sit out--our plans were to dive the Baleen and the weather was beautiful. Light wind, warm, sunny--all we needed was break with the visibility with some better conditions than we've had the past few weeks. We loaded up and got underway right on time. The conditions were great and we enjoyed a relaxing ride out to the wreck.

Since I was not diving, Dave got to borrow my dive buddy, Scott to put the line in on the Baleen. We got the shot line dropped, and they splashed in. Unfortunately the lift bag did not come up - again - and we have once again lost toys in the deep end of the pool. This time, however, we did not have the inflation tank clipped off to the weight and lift bag, so we did not lose that again. Although we got our other bottle back from the Coyote, it was so severely pitted from being underwater for a month that we scrapped it. Anyway, I saw a large boil of bubbles on the surface and assumed the bag simply did not make it, so we picked up the line--which was in--and got tied off. 

Everyone enjoyed their dives and reported much improved visibility--very good in the water column, with about 15 feet on the wreck. Not bad! No one found the lift bag and weight, so we have a mission for next weekend. And, yes, this will be the last mission for this lift bag since it seems to have some defect that keeps causing it to deflate on the way up.

Sunday looked to be an even better day, and since Scott was about to put out a "dive buddy wanted" ad, I figured I better buck up and get back in the game. I was feeling better and a lot less congested so I thought I'd put my gear together and see if I felt well enough to dive that morning. Indeed, I felt better and could equalize, so I decided to go for it. We cruised out to investigate some new numbers for a potential shallow water wreck near the Reliance. Unfortunately, all Dave and Pat B found was a very strange array of wire cables cris-crossing each other on the bottom, and no wreck. So, with that we cruised over to the City of Salisbury--our original planned destination for the day. Dave splashed back in with Tim and got us tied in. When they returned, Dave reported excellent visibility--about 30 feet! Pretty unheard of for this wreck.

I was pleased about the visibility and highly annoyed I left my camera at home all at the same time. Scott and I suited up and splashed in last. We were pulling the hook since we didn't plan to leave a mooring. I took it slow descending--making sure I could clear OK, and I could. When we arrived on the bottom I was amazed at the visibility. It was like I'd never seen this wreck before. I tied off my reel and we headed out. We ran out almost all of the reel covering a large area of debris and hull plates. The wreck is a twisted jumble of hull plates, but the edge is fairly well defined and is easy to follow. Perhaps a scooter wreck on a good visibility day. We saw a number of large winches and bollards among the hull plates and beams.

We wrapped up, pulled the line and rigged it for retrieval just shy of 45 minutes bottom time. We headed up, got picked up and called it a day. It started out a little uncertain for me, but finished great! Now we just need this visibility to stick around!

This weekend had mostly nice weather predicted -- with better weather on Saturday than on Sunday. Unfortunately, I came down with a cold in the middle of the week and that finished off my diving plans for the weekend. I really hate being on the sidelines sick, but given that the visibility was still expected to be pretty low, it wasn't going to be a tragedy to miss out on the dives.

I stuck topside with coffee and on Saturday we headed out to do a deeper dive--we were hoping to get out to one of the Boston wrecks like the Coyote, Hudson or Baleen. We had moorings on all of them as of about 2 months ago, including a new one on the Coyote. Unfortunately when we arrived on the Coyote, there was no mooring. Neither the Hudson nor the Baleen had moorings either. Ugh. The wind was just blustery enough out of the west that it was a little choppy out there. Since we did not have a mooring made up, we retreated to the Holmes where we had a mooring and the seas were a bit better.

Dave and Scott splashed in and the rest followed. The visibility reports were about the same--5-7 feet on the wreck, although the water column is showing signs of improvement. Marissa saved a sea raven from derelict fishing gear. Otherwise, it was more or less just a regular day of diving, and we returned to the marina to unload and call it a day.

Sunday was cold, raw and overcast with wind out of the N-NW. We decided the Poling would be a better option than the NYC 14-2, which would be a guaranteed Braille dive. The wind was also picking up and it would generally be better all around to just hit a wreck with a mooring. We cruised up to the Poling and grabbed a mooring. Dave splashed in while I got the rest of the divers suited up. Although the surface water definitely looked better than most recent trips, everyone returned with more or less the same vis reports--about 10 feet and dark.

Once we collected everyone up, we cruised in, off loaded and headed out to our Easter activities. Overall, not a bad weekend -- although I hope to kick this cold soon!

We had a surprising break in the weather for late March that actually allowed us a trip to Stellwagen to dive the F/V Patriot--our planned destination for Saturday. Only a few of us had been to the wreck before, and it wasn't for lack of trying, as we had been blown out many times in the past. Everyone was surprised to be getting out so early in the season, and we had hopes the visibility would be better 18 miles offshore since it has been very poor inshore for the past few weeks.

We loaded up and departed at 7:30 am with a planned arrival just before 9 am on the wreck site. It was overcast, and a little breezy with NNE wind and some wind chop, which had me a little concerned we might not get out there after all, but it dropped out as we got further offshore and the seas gradually flattened. When we arrived, we dropped the shot line and the first group of divers headed in at 9:30, right around when we'd expect our dive window of slower current to open up. Scott and I were heading in last to move the line away from the wreck and rig it for retrieval. When Eric returned, we got a rather grim visibility report. Eric was giving it a somewhat positive spin, with a report of "dark 10 feet" - but did not recommend I bring the camera.

Scott and I suited up and hit the water shortly after the last group went in. When I splashed on the live drop, I could barely see the line as I swam over to it--hmm. Scott and I squared away on the surface and began our descent. We passed Mike and Greg on deco, barely able to see them as visibility in the water column was terrible, and continued down to the wreck. It was indeed dark and the visibility was certainly no more than 10 feet and definitely less in some places. We got the line set up with the lift bag to prep everything at the start of the dive given the poor conditions--we didn't want to be dealing with that plus current later in the dive. We did a few laps around the wreck. There has certainly been further degradation of the hull from mobile fishing gear impact. The wreck is also beginning to show signs it's been on the bottom for a few years. Last year, we were able to clearly make out the name of the wreck on the port side hull. Now, coral/barnacle growth has nearly obscured it completely.

It was very dark, gloomy on the wreck and the visibility was so poor that swimming around some areas of the wreck that are simply spider webs of nets, rigging and derelict fishing gear was not very appealing. We decided to cut our 40 minute bottom time short and headed up just under 30 minutes before we started accruing decompression. We did a short safety stop and surfaced. We got picked up by the boat, pulled the shot line and headed home. It turned out to be a very nice day with the sun coming out later.

I decided to put my gear away for the weekend after diving on Saturday--the visibility inshore would be just as bad or worse and neither Scott nor I were too excited about another dive on the Holmes in 5-7 feet of black visibility. The visibility was indeed pretty poor on the Holmes per the visibility reports ("diving in iced coffee"). We did have a beautiful day out there though -- calm seas, sunny with light wind. If only the visibility would come around! These are typical March/April conditions--just need a little patience because when the visibility comes back, it gets really good again while the water is still cold.

Finally, a break in the weather that allowed us to dive for two days in a row! While the weather looked to be a nice, a combination of churned up seas and rain through most of last week certainly did not set us up for fantastic visibility. In fact, there was very little chance it would be good given that we've had a few weeks of bad sea conditions. Nevertheless, we were diving--though I left the camera and scooter at home, a decision that was later validated as a good one by the murky, putrid green water at the marina.

On Saturday, we had overcast skies and generally OK weather. The wind was light and seas were fairly calm except for a swell. We loaded up and headed out to the Alma Holmes in 160 fsw where we were hoping we still had a mooring. Luckily, it did and upon our arrival we tied off and got the pool open. Scott and I suited up. Just as we were getting ready to head in, other divers were up with reports of bad visibility and nearly no visibility in the water column. Cool. We continued to suit up and hit the water. It would be a dive, and given how long it's been since I've had one, I was game for anything.

We splashed and started down--yes, it was bad. There was maybe 3 feet of visibility in the water column with murky, heavy particulate and nearly no light. By 50 feet, it was completely dark. Once we reached the wreck, it was essentially a full-on night dive and the visibility was about 10 feet or so. We swam to one end of the wreck and then the other. At first, I wasn't sure if we were inside the hull out outside the hull as we swam down the rail, but after some orientation and eyes adjusting to the darkness, things sorted out. It was a very dark ascent and we couldn't see our gauges without illumination until we were shallow enough for ambient light. I was a bit cold on this dive although the water temp is more or less the same as it has been for the past few months--41 F.

Overall, it was a good dive and everyone was pleased despite the lackluster visibility.

On Sunday, the weather was amazing--forecast to be sunny and 70F--yes, this is summer weather and it was so strange to see people eating outside on the patio at Victoria Station later in the afternoon. Nevertheless, it was a nice day and we'll take it. It was windy though and we opted for the Poling given the combination of low visibility, lack of a mooring most likely on the NYC 14-2 and the wind. As it turns out visibility was about the same on the Poling.

We did have a slight adventure on the way back to the marina when we picked up a distress call for a capsized boat with 3 people in the water in Salem Harbor near Dions yacht yard--which is just a short distance from Pickering Wharf Marina. Someone called it in to the USCG and we responded to assist as the closest vessel. Obviously, 41F water temperatures are a pretty serious thing and so we responded quickly, ready to pull people from the water. We had to enter some very shallow water to reach them, about 6 feet deep given the tide, which made me a bit nervous given we draw nearly 4 feet. When we reached them, we saw that it was not a capsized sailboat, but rather 3 boaters in a small catamaran style sailboat with the mast down and a white sail laying in the water. They were aboard the boat, which was upright and they were OK. We communicated their status to the USCG, as they were paddling for the beach and wanted to proceed there. They didn't have any communication devices with them--no VHF or mobile phones, so we needed to relay information. Nevertheless, we got some info from them, relayed it to the USCG and departed the scene as the Salem Harbormaster was arriving.

The first nice day of the year and right on cue people are out on the water unprepared. Fortunately, it was more or less a false alarm, but it easily could have been a different situation. This time of year given the few boats that are out on the water to potentially assist, and limited harbormaster availability, response times are much slower and help may not come in time. The water is still very cold. It is still March!!

No diving due to Boston Sea Rovers Clinic

No diving due to weather.

No diving due to weather.

Although it looked to be a fantastic weekend of mild weather, the wind conditions for Saturday weren't quite aligning. Saturday, at least the first part of the day, looked to be windy with 20-25 knots of wind out of the west--a killer for us, especially trying to do anything deep, as we had planned. Anyway, we tried to hedge it and wait, but Saturday morning at 5 am, it was blowing 20-25 out of the west, so we reluctantly canceled. The conditions improved over the day and Sunday was looking fantastic. Perhaps a bit windy in the morning, but with moderate and diminishing NW wind, we knew we'd get out.

Since it looked like the wind forecast for Sunday might make the Poling the best choice, and we knew the conditions would otherwise be ideal with visibility, we decided to attempt something we've been talking about for years--a scooter traverse from the Nina T to the Poling. The distance is about 0.288 nm - or 1728 feet. Dropping in on the Nina T, taking a bearing and running over 1/4 mile to the Poling and being precise enough to reach it would certainly be a challenge. We knew winter time would be ideal because we would have the best chance for good visibility, and since we would be towing a surface marker float, we needed to target a time there was the least amount of fishing gear in the water. Sunday seemed like the perfect day for Scott and I to attempt the traverse.

We plotted the course in navigation software and looked at what the tide and current would be doing at the time of our dive. We calculated our heading and then looked at the direction and velocity of the predicted current to see how it might influence our heading if it was present. We calculated how long it would take us based on our assumed rate of travel, figuring at top speed on our scooters, we would make about 180 feet per minute, maybe a bit slower. From all this, we came up with a heading and an adjustment should we need to use it.

On Sunday we gathered at the boat and re-verified all our calculations once we ran over the actual position of the Nina T, marking the target precisely from visualizing on the fish finder, and then running the heading to the Poling on the boat. We then considered the orientation of the Poling and how we would expect to approach it--which would be approaching from the port side, at the break end. This allowed us to have an understanding of which direction we should error in if we were to adjust our heading or potentially be off course. We discussed the bottom topography and what we could expect to see and how the band of boulders off the break might aid our navigation once we got close.

We then finalized the dive plan: we would drop a shot line in at the Nina T. Scott and I would descend down this line and shoot the line back to the surface so it could be easily recovered. From there, we'd take a pass around the Nina T to check it out, then take our bearing and go. From there, we expected to scooter at pitch 9 (full speed) for 11-12 minutes until reaching the Poling. If we reached the Poling, we would send up cups to signal to the boat we had succeeded. The boat would tie off on the stern mooring, which we would ascend. No cups and 30 minutes elapsed time meant we were unsuccessful and we'd be ascending under our float. We wanted to keep the dive to no-decompression since if we were drifting to minimize the amount of time we were floating around in an area with sometimes lots of boat traffic.

After everyone else dived on the Poling, we were set to make our attempt. The visibility reports were great--40-50 feet of bright vis--just what we needed to help us spot the Poling, which is ~150 feet long.

We suited up and hit the water. Scott had secured a compass to his scooter, which made reading it while underway much easier. I had a compass  as well and was carrying the tow float, which is a Riffe torpedo float made especially for towing on scooters. It's a bit more streamlined and rigged to be towed. We got to the bottom and were right on the Nina T. We sent up the line and checked out the wreck. The Nina T is not much more than a jumbled pile now, but I saw a few interesting things and I would be up for returning for a full dive. It was very pretty with schools of fish gathered on it. We took a bearing, started the timer and took off. Initially, our positioning wasn't right and we were struggling to stay in sight and on course together. We paused, and repositioned so that Scott was on lead with pointing the course, and I was off his left side where I could see him, he could see me, and the tow line was running off my left side. Before, he was to my right and behind and I just couldn't see him looking over my right arm, which was extended on the scooter trigger.

The bottom was mostly featureless mud once we left the Nina T. We encountered some debris and what appeared to be the remnants of a platform that was off the breakwater years ago. From there, some ghost traps, bottles and random junk. After about 9 minutes the bottom started changing and became more gravel like with boulders until we entered a more consistent boulder field. We passed through the boulder field and were back to sand--at this point in our run time and knowing that we had hit a band of boulders expected near the break end of the wreck, we thought we may be overshooting. As we were about to stop and go back, we suddenly hit the Gannett and knew exactly where we were. We had basically gone a bit too far to the right, which is consistent with where the current would be pushing us, but we caught the Gannett and shot directly over to the Poling, reaching it in about 13 minutes. We sent up the cups to declare victory and signal the boat, tied off the float and then continued our dive. We were smiling and laughing so much, that my mask was flooding--especially when we realized we had just dived 3 wrecks in one 1 dive!

We scootered around the Poling and did a lap inside making for a 45 minute bottom time. I wasn't cold at all until the end of the dive. Water temperatures are still around 41F, which is pretty nice for this time of year. Overall, it was an epic dive and a dive well done by all. Scott did a great job keeping us on course, and the surface support with the op was perfect!

From left to right: The Nina T and Poling on a navigational chart. Our plan was to scooter along the seafloor from the Nina T to the Poling. Our float arriving on the Poling--you can see one of the moorings in the background.

No diving due to weather.

Finally, a break in the weather with two days of relatively fair conditions--despite some wind out of the NW. As usual, the weather forecast suggested uncertainty in our plans, but we were hoping to hit the Alma Holmes on Saturday and the Romance on Sunday. It turned out that were able to do just that, although the sea and wind conditions were not always ideal.

On Saturday, we were facing ~20 knot winds out of the NW that had a choppy 3-4 foot sea running. Fortunately our mooring was still there, so upon arrival, we tied off and got settled in quickly. Dave and Elvis hit the water first, followed by Scott and me. The visibility reports upon their return were the ones we love to hear--awesome visibility, better than 40 feet with lots of ambient light. I was thrilled; however, torn between bringing the scooter and the camera, the scooter or the camera. I ultimately decided on only the camera since managing both is a challenge on a good day, and with such rough surface conditions, it would not be a pleasant 20 foot stop with both of these items to manage. Anyway, we suited up and splashed. Once below 30-40 feet, it was great--not much current, lots of ambient light and indeed, great vis.

We swam the entire length of the wreck and a bit off the bow. The visibility was great, but I was having a tough time getting the right settings on my camera--it's been awhile since I've shot in such good, bright conditions, so my photos were coming out darker than I wanted. It seems like more stuff is shifted off to the starboard side in the bow area. Anyway, it was a fantastic dive, despite a bouncy 20 foot stop that had us spinning round and round on the line as the boat swung in the sea conditions. Water temperatures were holding steady at 41F. Not bad for February!

I was so optimistic about Sunday's NW 5-10 knot forecast that I was sure the conditions on the Romance would be excellent as well. I had planned on both the scooter and the camera since with good surface conditions, this would not be an issue for me. As we headed out towards the Romance, we did notice the seas weren't totally ideal--there was a pretty good swell running and clearly big surge breaking on Graves Light. Without a wind direction change, the lightened wind just turned the choppy sea into a swell.

Since there's no mooring on the Romance, we tied in and pulled our line. Dave and Tim went in first to tie in and when they came back, I got a totally mixed visibility report. First I heard a crappy 10 feet, then a murky 20 feet, then a so-so 10-20 feet. Of course no one would comment on whether it was good visibility for photos or scootering--so Scott and I decided to leave both behind. We suited up and hit the water. Upon arriving on the wreck, I would say the visibility was indeed about 20 feet and cloudy--not bad for the Romance though. Not great for photos, but we could have scootered it. Anyway, we went to the bow, swam around the boilers, out to the stern where we found a reel that someone lost a few weeks ago. Finally, we pulled the line, swam it off the wreck and headed up around 45 min bottom time.

We did our short deco and climbed aboard--a great weekend of diving for sure, although I was disappointed I didn't get to play with all my dive toys this weekend! There's always next weekend though...

From left to right: The tip of an anchor fluke sticking out from the sand off the starboard bow of the Holmes; a winch off the starboard side; looking down the port side hull; a sheave resting on a beam at the stern of the wreck; Scott Tomlinson on deco; On the surface, ready to get back on the boat!

No diving due to weather.

A very short window of opportunity allowed us to sneak out for a quick trip to the Holmes before the weather completely went--trips like these make the statement "timing is everything" very, very true!

Saturday arrived with light, but steady snow and light, but building wind out of the NE. We decided to give it a shot, primarily because we had the light wind. Unfortunately, the driving conditions were slow going, so we lost a few to difficulties with road travel, but the group that arrived was ready for anything. We loaded up and got underway. We did continuously assess the weather and conditions, and given the timing of the anticipated heavier NE wind 15-25 knots, we decided to keep the trip as short as possible. So, I reluctantly left my dive gear behind so we could focus on getting tied in, getting the divers in (and out) and heading home asap.

We had limited visibility due to the snow conditions, so we made our way slowly through the channel and to open sea. Upon arrival, Dave and Elvis suited up to tie in, while Pat B helped me run the deck ops. We had a good drop and were tied in quickly--so we secured the boat and lines, and fired in the divers. We had some gear freeze ups, but a little warm coffee and salt water surface soak to thaw got everyone in.

Not surprisingly, the diving conditions were excellent and everyone reported excellent visibility of 30-40 feet and good underwater conditions despite the topside weather. Once everyone was aboard, we wrapped it up fast, as the wind and seas were building--and beat it for home. We stole this one.

A stormy Saturday and a snow-covered back deck as we cruise out to the Holmes.

No diving due to weather.

A great weather pattern set us up for an awesome two-day weekend of diving--getting 2012 started right. On Saturday, we awoke to 5-10 knots of SW wind, calm seas and mild air temperatures. It definitely felt more spring-like than winter-like, but I wasn't complaining. We decided to make a try for the Coyote since the conditions were so good, with the hope the mooring we installed in December would still be there, and we might find our lost gear (weight, lift bag and inflation tank) that didn't make it to the surface last time.

We loaded up with everyone and got underway. Upon our arrival, we were thrilled to find the mooring was present. We quickly tied off, and Dave and Pat B splashed in for their dive. Dave returned with a great conditions report; however, despite running a broad sand sweep, he did not locate the missing gear. The visibility was about 25' with ambient light, and not much current. Roman, Elvis and I suited up. We dropped in and started our descent. Al and Jeff were on deco at 20 feet; the waved me over and showed me a slate--they found the gear. It was about 10-12 feet from the mooring inside the hull! The visibility was so poor on the day we looked, we never saw it and assumed it was off the wreck given our orientation with the line that day.

We dropped down to the wreck and I located the gear. We sent it up for the boat to recover, and then continued our dive. I was very happy--this was about $350+ worth of stuff. Yes, we occasionally break or lose stuff--it goes with the territory, but it was nice to get things back this time. We started swimming forward, as we were tied in on the port side near the stern. I always enjoy checking out the cool, unique water tube boilers on this wreck that look like pyramids. This was Elvis's first dive on the wreck too, so covering some ground and seeing this large wreck was worth the effort. We had a good dive, uneventful deco and all the gear was aboard the boat upon our return. 10's across the board--doesn't get much better.

On Sunday, the wind was forecast to come up and bring breezier conditions and colder air temps. As a result of the westerly wind in the morning, we opted for the Romance. Conditions were pretty decent, in fact better than expected, on the way out. There was no mooring when we arrived, but we were doubtful it would be there, so this was no surprise. Dave and Pat B splashed in to try and recover the mooring, and if not just tie us in with a line we'd remove. They weren't able to recover the mooring, but Dave did win the day's creativity award for a make-shift weight since we needed to leave the drop weight on the wreck, but he needed something to use to shoot the lift bag. Anyway, while we were waiting for the signal on the line, we noticed a large spotted seal bobbing around the mooring buoys--hanging on the surface and diving down. Turns out, Dave and a few others got to see the seal underwater. Pretty cool.

The visibility report was 10-12 feet--OK for the Romance, but not the 30+ we were hoping for. When it was my turn to dive, I splashed with Tim and Jeff D. We dropped down, I tied off my reel and we took a trip out to the bow. Then we came back and went out to the stern. It was good dive despite the so-so visibility. At the end of our dive we pulled the line. This wreck is a tough one for having to pull a line because stuff snags so easily on the hull plates and other twisted debris. I've had to bounce back down before to free up a snagged line... So, I'm always really careful and swim it way off the wreck into the sand. We did just that, ascended and called it a day.

All in all it was a fantastic weekend of diving! Let's hope this keeps up.