3-5ft seas? Sporty? In NJ we run "Discover Scuba Diving" programs in 3-5ft seas! (Uphill, both ways, in the driving snow...)
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NJ Wreck Diving
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3-5ft seas? Sporty? In NJ we run "Discover Scuba Diving" programs in 3-5ft seas! (Uphill, both ways, in the driving snow...)
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wspalding
Contributor
Haha, awesome. 2-4 is comfortable, 4-6 there better be something special about the dive, 6-8 I am playing golf instead. 3-5 seems pretty choppy for a new diver not used to ocean dives. Really, it depends on the boat and he difficulty level of getting back on board. 5 foot seas can be a challenge.
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BugHunterNY
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I did pretty much NJ wreck diving when I was a teenager.. A long time ago.. Nobody had reels, smb's were not invented, but we ALWAYS had a big light for that kind of diving..
+1 for training
industrious95
Contributor
It was 5 ft all week, with 20 kt East winds and 8 sec periods between swells. That means it's probably going to be dark, murky and low viz down at 80 feet.
We were supposed to go tomorrow (9/12) but called it off. Nobody wanted to waste our time feeling our way across a dark bottom. It should settle down by Sunday, as long as the wind slows down and the swells die off, which is in the forecast. Still, I wouldn't expect stellar visibility, and I definitely wouldn't go without a wreck reel and light.
When using your wreck reel tie off as close as possible to the anchor line. When you get back to your tie in point, you want to be at the anchor, not looking for it.
In really rough seas where the anchor is likely to come loose (especially on wooden wrecks), I've seen divers tie onto the anchor itself. We frequently do that on "rock piles" which don't have good tie in points. Generally frowned upon, but if the viz is bad and the anchor's a rockin, it does you no good to be tied on NEAR the anchor, have it pull loose, and then you get back to it and it's not there. The worst that can happen is the anchor pulls loose and all the divers tied into it get pulled, sometimes with lines tangling. Certainly not optimum, but beats a free ascent in bouncing seas followed by a 300 yard surface swim.
If lines get tangled up, treat the other diver's lines the way you'd want to be treated. Usually, it's caused by crossing over someone's line and they come over yours, only they're 100 ft away and don't realize it. If there's ten divers on a single wreck, there's no way you can avoid lines crossing. Just be smart, alert, respectful. I've been tangled so bad at the anchor that I cut my line (NEVER cut someone else's) and got my stainless steel clip back when the anchor was brought to the surface. You don't need your reel for the ascent if you're already on the ascent line.
My reel tangles occasionally. If it's the end of the dive, I just wrap the line around it, throw it in my game bag and deal with it on the surface. Mid dive, I can disassemble and untangle at depth, but that eats dive time.
My main flashlight is duct-taped to the top of my wreck reel. That way, when I swim, the line spools out while my flashlight scans the reef or wreck for holes where I can find lobsters. But my other hand is free. Also, I can wind in the line and still have the flashlight working for me.
Some folks mentioned practicing deploying your safety sausage. You must discuss that with the captain first . On many boats, when the crew sees a safety sausage, they're going in to see what the problem is.
Are you saying that neither you nor your buddy has any offshore experience diving NJ?
My tip is for both of you to go out with a "Discover NJ Wreck Diving" charter or some type of trip where you're each buddied with someone who knows what they're doing. Sounds like the two of you are doing a "blind leading the blind" trip. Having crewed on a NJ boat for years... I'd be very nervous seeing the two of you get on board. Seriously.
Also, you don't mention which wreck you're diving. There's a huge difference between doing your first NJ wreck dives on, say The Venturo Tug which is small, fully intact, was cleaned out, and carefully placed upright in 70FSW in 1996... versus say, the Tolten, which was put on the bottom by the German Artificial Reef Program on March 13, 1942 and wire-dragged by the US navy the next day. 74 years later, in 95FSW, the Tolten bears a minor resemblance to a ship only at the stern and the bow but is largely a maritime junkyard in between.
My logged dives #14 and #15 comprised a "Boat Diver" course that was tailored to diving off NJ. Beyond really showing me the ropes (sorry, LINES) of the many vagaries of diving on NJ boats... I did each of those two dives with an instructor who was a highly-experienced NJ wreck diver. (Ironically, my logged dives #16 and #17 were the very next day, buddied up with tajkd who chimed in above.) Many NJ dive shops offer this course or simply have "Intro to NJ Wreck Diving" charters that would be perfect.
PS - not sure what boat you're going out on, but even on the best... unless you're on one of the aforementioned "Intro" type trips you will get very little information during the dive briefing. NJ dive boats are a ride out to the wreck. They'll tell you where they're tied in, procedures for entering and exiting the water, and where the life vests are located. They will not plan your dive, tell you where to tie in, etc. I'll bet you two nitrox fills that they will spend more time telling you how to flush the head than any other single topic.
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industrious95
Contributor
If you're going on the Gypsy Blood (great boat by the way), he will definitely mention the how to flush the head. But if you contact him in advance, he will get you a divemaster to guide you and your buddy on your dive. I was out with the GB about a month ago and there was a pair of divers making dives # 99 & 100, but their first NJ dives. They had a divemaster to show them the ropes and they had a blast.
I'd bet most captains or diveshops will try to accommodate that request, some a little more enthusiastically than others, but GB specifically offers that on their website and he's got a corral of DM's looking to dive.
DSAO
BugHunterNY
Contributor
I'll second that. Jim and his crew on Gypsy provide an excellent experience.
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Craig66
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I have to agree with RJP. With a total of 20 logged dives I would be very concerned about heading out to a NJ wreck with sporty seas, heavy currents and poor viz with a dive buddy who has not much more experience with local conditions.
Unless you can join a program amounting to a "Rent an experienced NJ wreck diver for a day" I would think of changing my plans. With 20 logged dives you seem to have really taken to Scuba but there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to do these dives when your skill set has been increased as has your experience. A bad experience, besides being dangerous, could also turn you off wreck diving, something you might enjoy a lot more when more prepared.
Unless you can join a program amounting to a "Rent an experienced NJ wreck diver for a day" I would think of changing my plans. With 20 logged dives you seem to have really taken to Scuba but there will be plenty of opportunities in the future to do these dives when your skill set has been increased as has your experience. A bad experience, besides being dangerous, could also turn you off wreck diving, something you might enjoy a lot more when more prepared.
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