industrious95
Contributor
Diveboat: Venture 3
NOAA hit it perfect today. A gnarly start to the day with 15 kt winds and 3 foot chop. Settled down to a light breeze and about a 1 foot swell by day's end. What a great day to be on the water.
7 divers on the boat, we decided to visit some natural rock piles to look for lobsters. None of the sites have any names, they're just numbers in the Captains secret book. Those are always the best spots because they don't get visited as often, although I have a sneaking suspicion that every dive captain has the same 10 rock piles in his book.
Bottom temp was 72 degrees. I was too warm with my dive underwear at the first stop. Viz was 5-10 feet on the bottom. A few tropicals are starting to show up, and the next month or so should be really great unless some hurricanes blow through.
On our second stop, I wasn't too warm because my dry suit flooded. Probably had the neck seal rolled inside itself and when I decided to start digging in a lobster hole, I titled my head down and quickly filled up.
By the third stop, my drysuit (TLS350) was pretty dried out, and I ended up using some sweatpants and cheap cotton thermals that I had in my dive bag. Had to duct tape some plastic bags to my feet because it takes the inside of the boots a week to dry out. I was nice an warm, but not as toasty as the first dive. In 72 degree water, it was fine.
For the day, all seven of our wives got to enjoy lobster dinners, and a few had a choice of fresh fluke if they preferred. I'm really looking forward to the rest of September and October. These are the best months for NJ diving, as far as warmth and the arrival of the gulfstream currents, bringing us Caribbean fishies to look at.
NOAA hit it perfect today. A gnarly start to the day with 15 kt winds and 3 foot chop. Settled down to a light breeze and about a 1 foot swell by day's end. What a great day to be on the water.
7 divers on the boat, we decided to visit some natural rock piles to look for lobsters. None of the sites have any names, they're just numbers in the Captains secret book. Those are always the best spots because they don't get visited as often, although I have a sneaking suspicion that every dive captain has the same 10 rock piles in his book.
Bottom temp was 72 degrees. I was too warm with my dive underwear at the first stop. Viz was 5-10 feet on the bottom. A few tropicals are starting to show up, and the next month or so should be really great unless some hurricanes blow through.
On our second stop, I wasn't too warm because my dry suit flooded. Probably had the neck seal rolled inside itself and when I decided to start digging in a lobster hole, I titled my head down and quickly filled up.
By the third stop, my drysuit (TLS350) was pretty dried out, and I ended up using some sweatpants and cheap cotton thermals that I had in my dive bag. Had to duct tape some plastic bags to my feet because it takes the inside of the boots a week to dry out. I was nice an warm, but not as toasty as the first dive. In 72 degree water, it was fine.
For the day, all seven of our wives got to enjoy lobster dinners, and a few had a choice of fresh fluke if they preferred. I'm really looking forward to the rest of September and October. These are the best months for NJ diving, as far as warmth and the arrival of the gulfstream currents, bringing us Caribbean fishies to look at.
