August 1st - Saturday Night 9:12pm High Tide - Maclearie Park - Night Dive

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Anyone interested in a night dive at Maclearie Park - Belmar NJ on Saturday 8/1?

Looking to meet up in the parking lot closest to the stairs and get in the water by 8pm (HT is at 9:12pm) - that will give us a long slow dive. Lately seahorses have been on the menu - but you never know what you will find - crabs, small fluke (summer flounder) lately, eels and other critters brought up by Gulf Stream. Dont forget Flags and dive lights but when we buddy up only one dive flag will be needed. For those that have not been here before it is a rather shallow dive site but the sea life makes up for the shallow water and long dive times.

Would like to meet around 7:30pm for anyone interested - take our time getting geared up but would like to hit the water early so we can get a good dive in.
Depending on schedules we can alter the above but thought I would throw this out first.

 

[lowviz]

I'm in. This is the tide I've been waiting for, over a six foot difference. A lot of water will be there for us.

I'm trying to get a video lighting rig together before then. I'll be soloing, much fussing to do. Hoping to get a half-decent vid out of all this.

 

[cruzie27]

How deep & how long of a dive?

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

Maximum - is about 18 feet - seahorses are mostly between 6 feet and 12 feet. Generally around 90 min dives or longer... At 10 to 15 feet I don't go over 2 hours because I start getting tired and start to feel the cold - I dive wet.

 

[wrybosome]

I'm definitely interested if you don't mind showing a shore diving novice around. I've been meaning to meet people who know the shores and inlets.

I've been dealing with an ear issue since 7/12, it's *possible* it'll heal by next Saturday. (please...)

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

It is a friendly group...

But once you come over to the dark side you may not want to go back... lol

 

[KDAD]

My light will be in this week. I'm in.

Yes, last dive was 90 minutes in 70 deg water and I started to feel the cold the last 10 minutes or so.

I may have an additional diver join us. .

 

[lowviz]

We do have our fun. I’ll try to help corrupt a few new recruits.

An open letter to potential local night divers:
This coming high tide should be perfect for a night dive with respect to both timing (early in the evening and on a weekend) and the amount of water that we get. Visibility will be what it will be, but it can be very good at times. This week has been calm, good weather. This coming Monday and Thursday may get rain, but the weekend looks good. BRD called the informal meet-up for the highest of the high tides in this cycle and it looks like the weather will hold, -for those that care about the weather.

I see this coming weekend at Maclearie Park as the perfect location and opportunity for new night divers to experience (and start to sort out) all the issues that come along with local night diving. This isn’t your yada yada “get a night dive card” in a quarry: You all know that drill, be under by dusk and everybody has to be out by X:00 PM. Not really knocking it, it was fun the first time. BTDT.

This is different than an evening quarry dive. You will see ocean critters and you won’t have to fight current. Forget Shark River Inlet or the RR Bridge, there will be tons of water ripping through either of those if you miss slack tide. Not for first timers unless paired with a local instructor. Those are two nice sites, but each has its own issues.

I would love to see an instructor or two minting a new local diver or two at Maclearie Park this weekend, perfect opportunity. Like BRD said, it gets addicting. It is always there, it is always open, and there is much to see at this time of year.

Buddy pairs: You don’t need an instructor for this dive. You don’t even have to go anywhere to see things. On this tide you could spend a whole dive against the bulkhead near the steps just looking at sea life while you get used to buddy diving in low visibility while dragging a flag. Great for dialing in buoyancy too, this is shallow so buoyancy changes are magnified, keep breathing, gas lasts forever here. Learn to hover with an anti-silting kick.

Logistics and random tips:
Bring a dive flag and two lights in addition to your usual gear. The biggest entanglement hazard is the line on your own dive flag, best if you don’t let it go slack. There are a few lock boxes by the entry, bring a padlock and key if you want to use one. Few of us do, most of us work out of our vehicles as parking is close.

Some sort of portable surface light is useful so you can see what you are doing while gearing up. Bring a big jug of warm water if you are diving wet. Have your bud pour it down your back before you get out of your wetsuit so you don’t have to spend the drive home covered in saltwater. Bring drinking water. If you are diving dry, wear undergarments under your clothes as there is no place to change.

Once in the water, turn around and look at the blinking yellow light. That light is the easiest way to get back home. Just surface and look for it. Everything looks the same as seen from the middle of the basin. Surface slowly and look for the beacon anytime you don’t know where you are. Great place for a compass, add some English for the very light current. And remember that the current changes direction. There is an all-night gas station nearby that has decent sandwiches for the ride back.

Have fun.

 

[wrybosome]

Sounds fantastic, I'm going to try and make it out for this on Saturday. It's all dependent on whether this ear heals up in time. I'll reassess later in the week and let you know.

I've been meaning for a while to get some intro on this kind of diving so even if it doesn't work out next week I'd like to try again later in the season. I'm comfortable with night dives, have done them in open salt water a number of times before. What I haven't done is mid-Atlantic shore diving. It's always been tempting me but I've been concerned about tides, currents, boats, etc. You don't know what you don't know, so it would be great to hook up with some experienced people.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

The "real" shore diving happens before Memorial Day or after Labor Day - because of the dang parking and traffic encountered... Much easier to dive off season than to walk 15 blocks in full gear - in the hot sun and then find out you forgot your fins...

Same for the inlets - less fishermen on the off season and later in the evening...