NH Fort Stark waters

[oldflounder]

I am interested in the waters off Fort Stark, near the shore and out in the middle of the channel. Also on the other side in the shallows. Is there anything of historical interest under there or anyplace especially interesting around the ledges. I plan to join the Friends of Fort Stark and I want to learn what I can about the underwater features/attractions of the fort so that I can offer that knowledge to the group. I haven't dove it yet but I plan to in a couple weeks. I would appreciate any local knowledge of where to concentrate my first couple visits.

 

[Cecil]

Interesting looking and certainly looks like it would be worth a dive. There looks like a nice entry on the left (from Google Earth). I'd like to hear how it goes.

 

[oldflounder]

I'm hoping to get out there next weekend. A few others have expressed an interest. High tide is around noon on both days. There are several areas that could be explored, so the more the merrier. I am interested in finding old artifacts to donate to the people that are trying to restore the fort.

 

[eab]

I've been there a few times. Always dove the left side due to sun bathers occupying the beach side.

I don't know what it will be like now, but in the summer, I giggle every time I submerge -- it's the pinkest dive site I've ever seen!

Normally I do these dives as fish count dives. There's tons of little stuff to see in the eel grass, and cool things hang out in the "critter condos" that make up the ledge. Sadly, I've never found anything of value, historical or otherwise. Let me know how you do.

Eileen

 

[oldflounder]

Well, it's been over a year since I started this thread. I have spent a lot of time diving this area. I find it to be a great place for the beginner to intermediate diver. It is a relatively shallow dive [40' max at high]. It is a great place to practice skills and just to get comfortable as a beginner. The viz is very poor most of the year because it is at the mouth of the river. I enjoy being an underwater beachcomer here as you can only see 6 - 10' most of the year. You have to be willing to explore the marine life that is close at hand. The jetty is a fun place to dive and is good for practicing dealing with currents at mid-tide. Potential for drift diving. There are anemones and other critters right off the end of the jetty in 25' of water. It is very tidal here and you must work around the tides. Some local instructors bring their students here, but this site is pretty much unknown by the divers in the surrounding states. This is a great site as an alternative to the Nubble when it is too rough. There is a lot of fun to be had here but you must deal with tides, current and surge on the shallow ledges. It would not be worth a solitary visit - you really need to study the area and find the fun places and the places to avoid. I highly recommend it to the locals as an alternative to Nubble.

 

[scubajay1153]

....was shallow and lousy viz! A friend and I tried it one day in the late summer a year or two back and between the floating seaweed and avoiding rocks in the shallows we had a horrible time. Thinking I miscalculated the tides! Will have to take your advice and hit the other side at high tide one day this summer.

 

[oldflounder]

Yes - I know what you are talking about. If you go in there at low tide [which is one of the few places I know that offers an easy access without a real long walk out - also Nubble] you better know where you are going or you will get hung up in the shallows and seaweed - like a beached dolphin - or in my case a beached whale. There are certain channels in the ledges you must follow to get back to the entry points when dealing with conditions around low tide. I think the viz is always terrible here because it is at the mouth of the river. I play underwater beachcomber at the fort so I don't mind the poor viz as much as elsewhere. Maybe I'll meet up with you there some time and can give you some pointers about where to go.

 

[scubajay1153]

Absolutely! I have heard that Heart's Cove beside the USCG pier is now off limits to divers as UNH ties up its research ships there and all the parking has been taken over by them? So Ft. Stark becomes one of the last places I can recall to dive in New Castle besides the Commons? Bummer! I have a god 30-40 dives around the pier with some great memories of dives there with my wife when she was first certified.....

 

[oldflounder]

Fort Stark has a lot of little fun spots to explore right off shore if you don't mind staying under 40'. If you want deeper you have to surface swim out a little further into the channel. I especially like the jetty area at high tide - it's a good 1000' easy hike out to the back of the fort where the jetty is so either wear a light tank or plan on toting your gear out there and suiting up. Just bring someone to guard whatever you leave behind on shore. It's a good dive between the end of the jetty and left to/of the red can - lots of terrain changes and critters. You can giant stride off the end of the jetty if you so choose. There is no bad current on the ocean side of the jetty, but there is a strong flow on the Little Harbor side because of the restriction the jetty makes in the channel, esp. at mid-outgoing. This is a heavily used boating channel in the summer so don't go out very far into the boating lane.

In the summer the river channel is covered with lobster traps. You will notice that alongside the Fort they seem to all be at a certain distance off shore in more or less a line about 200' off shore [low tide]. This is where the deeper water [40'] starts and the underwater rock/ledge meets the gravelly bottom. You will definately feel a little current out here running with the tidal flow. It's not hard to fight with but don't let it take you by surprise. You will also find that there are strong surges on top of the ledges under you because they are so shallow at times. It's kind of fun to do little mini drift dives over them but be aware so that they don't scare you if you get caught up in one. It's a good place to practice dealing with these situations if you were to be a person new to the ocean.

The gate is officially closed until Memorial Day but on a really nice weekend you will probably find that the police have opened it for the day.

The nearest dive shops are Portsmouth Scuba and Atlantic Aquasports. They are about 2 miles apart and are open Sat. and Sun. They are within a 10 min dive from the Fort.

 

[oldflounder]

Absolutely! I have heard that Heart's Cove beside the USCG pier is now off limits to divers as UNH ties up its research ships there and all the parking has been taken over by them? So Ft. Stark becomes one of the last places I can recall to dive in New Castle besides the Commons? Bummer! I have a god 30-40 dives around the pier with some great memories of dives there with my wife when she was first certified.....

I am not sure of this. I drove in there today and there were no signs to say that diving was not allowed. Where did you hear this??? The UNH parking is only on the right side and the visitor parking is on the left side except 9pm - 6 am when it is resident parking only.