caruso
Banned
I just finished reading David Rosenthal's excellent book "Scuba Diving the Wrecks and Shores of Long Island, NY" and he explains the way he prefers to dive the bridge, which provides for bottom times of well over an hour. As most local divers know, the bridge is very tide dependent and it's advisable to enter the water just before high slack, enjoy a dive of just under 30 minutes and get the heck out of there before the current picks up or you'll end up in the middle of the Atlantic ocean. David suggests otherwise, as I summarize below.
I'm wondering if a) anyone has dived the bridge in this way b) has any other suggestions about diving the bridge besides "get in and get out within 30 minutes" and c) if the conditions have changed in the 10+ years since David wrote about it.
Here's what he says to do:
Be in the water 10 minutes before high slack, at the end of the bulkhead on the east side of the old bridge.
Head out under the old bridge, go to the end. Check for the Ken & Jean Marie memorial plaque on the center piling in the last row. If you continue about 20' past the end of the old bridge you are near the boat channel- do not surface. Make a left & go west, and arrive at the supports for the new bridge which have a lot of fish life around them. Wooden pilings under the new bridge mark the boat channel.
After 30-45 minutes the tide will start to change, check by dropping a mussel shell or sand and seeing what the current does to it. Head east when the tide starts to change.
If you get back to the end of the old bridge (as compared to somewhere closer to shore under the old bridge) you can continue east past the end of the old bride, about 30' north of it, and you will see a rise followed by a steep drop off of about 30'. This is the Porgy Patch. The rise gives shelter from the outgoing tide, and you can hang here for a while.
Getting back in: Do not go back under the old bridge if the current is moving, you will exhaust yourself. The bridge is built on a pile of rocks and rubble and its shallower which makes the current much stronger. Return to the east side of the embankment which supports the bridge so you're partially sheltered from the outgoing current. Stay east of the embankment base.
Get negative, hug the bottom as you swim. This will push you in a southernly direction. Be prepared for a flurry of seaweed and other stuff that may reduce visibility or get stuck on your mask. As you proceed you will encounter a curving ridge heading roughly east/west and it will get shallower if you go up the ridge. Go up the ridge a couple of feet, now relax and let the current take you east. It will sweep you along the ridge, depositing you further east and the current will then let you go. Proceed south. You are in the small bay, about 75 yards east of the old bridge, in shallow water that rapidly gets more shallow as you continue to head south. You will land on the beach right next to the base of the old bridge. There are not usually boats in this area but use caution.
Do not surface to look for each other unless you're under the old bridge.
I'm wondering if a) anyone has dived the bridge in this way b) has any other suggestions about diving the bridge besides "get in and get out within 30 minutes" and c) if the conditions have changed in the 10+ years since David wrote about it.
Here's what he says to do:
Be in the water 10 minutes before high slack, at the end of the bulkhead on the east side of the old bridge.
Head out under the old bridge, go to the end. Check for the Ken & Jean Marie memorial plaque on the center piling in the last row. If you continue about 20' past the end of the old bridge you are near the boat channel- do not surface. Make a left & go west, and arrive at the supports for the new bridge which have a lot of fish life around them. Wooden pilings under the new bridge mark the boat channel.
After 30-45 minutes the tide will start to change, check by dropping a mussel shell or sand and seeing what the current does to it. Head east when the tide starts to change.
If you get back to the end of the old bridge (as compared to somewhere closer to shore under the old bridge) you can continue east past the end of the old bride, about 30' north of it, and you will see a rise followed by a steep drop off of about 30'. This is the Porgy Patch. The rise gives shelter from the outgoing tide, and you can hang here for a while.
Getting back in: Do not go back under the old bridge if the current is moving, you will exhaust yourself. The bridge is built on a pile of rocks and rubble and its shallower which makes the current much stronger. Return to the east side of the embankment which supports the bridge so you're partially sheltered from the outgoing current. Stay east of the embankment base.
Get negative, hug the bottom as you swim. This will push you in a southernly direction. Be prepared for a flurry of seaweed and other stuff that may reduce visibility or get stuck on your mask. As you proceed you will encounter a curving ridge heading roughly east/west and it will get shallower if you go up the ridge. Go up the ridge a couple of feet, now relax and let the current take you east. It will sweep you along the ridge, depositing you further east and the current will then let you go. Proceed south. You are in the small bay, about 75 yards east of the old bridge, in shallow water that rapidly gets more shallow as you continue to head south. You will land on the beach right next to the base of the old bridge. There are not usually boats in this area but use caution.
Do not surface to look for each other unless you're under the old bridge.
