NinaT/Poling Mini-report

[mer]

My first wreck dives today. Had a blast, decent amounts of life and both very pretty wrecks. Used Down Under out of the Cape Ann Marina (on the Gloucester causeway), captained by Fran Linnehan.

Dive Conditions report:
Dive 1: Nina T, compact wooden wreck
Max Depth: 94' (another 5' to sand)
Avg Depth: 62'
Time: 20 min bottom, 34 min runtime
Temps: 66deg surface, 52 deg depth, bit of a cline at 30'
Vis: 15-20'
Other: Somewhat of a surface current. Also, according to Soggy, the morning on this wreck has moved recently. I think it's now towards the middle and the starboard side. There are some snagged lobster pots that look like the upline, so be ware.

Dive 2: Chester Poling, stern half of a steel tanker
Max Depth: 82' (another 10-15' to sand)
Ave Depth: 55'
Time: 20 min bottom, 34 min runtime
Temps: 66deg surface, 52deg depth
Vis: 10-15'
Other: Very noticeable surface current down to 45'. Used the forward morning, at the break (port side). The main deck was at 75'.

Great day, flat seas, perfect temps. Couldn't ask for a better NE dive day.

 

[Doder]

Mer,

Sounds like you had a blast as well! As soon as I get an assistant hired I will be able to more diving. Hopefully those two wrecks will be next on my list. . .

Lola

 

[junglerott]

I am a new diver in the NE area. I have not been able to dive when currents are present (4 attempts made). I always get pulled from the boat and end up 30+ feet from it. Are there any tricks to getting down. I was thinking of dropping a line next time. Any suggestions?

 

[large_diver]

Sounds like a great day....thanks for the report. BTW -- what was the condition of the Nina T -- still intact?

 

[Northeastwrecks]

I was Mer's buddy on the dives in question.

The stern portion of the Nina T (starting a few feet aft of the winch) is gone. There is a new hole in the port side of the hull forward of the wheelhouse.

Other than that, she is still intact. The mast and rigging are still there. In retrospect, I have some concern that the dangling lobster pot we encountered may do some damage when it is hauled out. I wish that I'd thought to do something about it when I was down.

Nina T is still one of the prettier wrecks in the area. She looks like a classic shipwreck. Its a pity that she is so small.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

junglerott once bubbled...
I am a new diver in the NE area. I have not been able to dive when currents are present (4 attempts made). I always get pulled from the boat and end up 30+ feet from it. Are there any tricks to getting down. I was thinking of dropping a line next time. Any suggestions?

Why would you need to drop a line? Aren't you on the mooring or somehow anchored to the wreck?

On the surface, the boat will usually deploy a granny line that a diver in a surface current can use to pull themselves to the downline.

It was convenient that we only encountered surface and shallow currents. There was no problem once we got on the wrecks.

 

[Soggy]

A fun day, indeed.

The mooring on the Nina T has indeed been moved. The old mooring was midship, attached closer to the starboard side of the wreck. The new mooring is a few feet further back and attached closer to the port/middle of the wreck.

The Poling had a current near the surface that made the safety hang a bit of a safety hold-on. Annoying, but nothing that couldn't be dealt with.

Raxafarian and I dived together. We spent a fair amount of time at the break peering into the innerds of the wreck, then came up the starboard side and putzed around on the deck for a while. We came across a cod stuck in a lobster trap and spent about five minutes trying to free it, but had no luck.

Once again, Soggy was soggy...the connecting ring for the right-arm dryglove has a leak somewhere that I've not been able to find yet.

 

[mer]

junglerott once bubbled...
I am a new diver in the NE area. I have not been able to dive when currents are present (4 attempts made). I always get pulled from the boat and end up 30+ feet from it. Are there any tricks to getting down. I was thinking of dropping a line next time. Any suggestions?

Welcome to NELD jungle. Feel free to introduce yourself. We promise we don't bite, much.

I'm by means no expert at dealing with current, but here's what I've done/seen done in the past:
1. Try to ascend/descending using an anchor or morring line. -- Many of these wrecks are marked with a morring (specially marked lobster pot float that is morred next to wreck or in some cases (ie Poling) tied off directly too the wreck. Assuming another dive boat didn't get there first, you just pick up the morring and tie off to it, then decend down that. Many of these morrings are set-up and maintained by CAD (Cape Ann divers), I think, but I could be wrong??! You'll have to check with other as to where these morrings are and how they are marked. If you're diving a general area site (ie Halibut point, Rockport breakwater, Magnolia rocks etc), just drop your anchor and descend down the anchor line. Don't forget the compass, cause you gonna want to navigate back to it. With a good surface current like we had yesterday, we would have surfaced several hundred yards behind the boat if we were doing our hangs without the line.
2. Granny line -- have a line trailing off the stern of the boat... good place to wait while your buddy enters the water or while you're waiting for the ladder.
3. Swim line -- tie a line to the bow of the boat and let it trail in the water next to the boat. Use this line to pull yourself along so you can reach the morring/anchor line.

Then again, you could always use a charter boat... they are pretty good at setting things up to deal with current and making sure that you hit the wreck.

Hope this helps.

 

[mer]

Northeastwrecks once bubbled...
On the surface, the boat will usually deploy a granny line that a diver in a surface current can use to pull themselves to the downline.

Damn... rapid fire replying to this one. Oops. Yet another surface CF for this dive team... lol, we're damn organized underwater, but can't wait in a straight line above.

Was that pot actually attached to the surface. I could have sworn the line was cut and just the pot was tangled in the rigging.

Nina T looked great, just needs a bit of cleaning.

 

[MSilvia]

Glad to hear it went well, and that conditions were favorable. it turns out I've got a head cold too, so I would have had to call it anyhow.