I was waiting by my truck at 04:00 hours when Dave pulled up in front of my house. Knowing Dave for almost 30 years now I could tell as he got out of his car that he was tired. He had spent the day before driving home from Cape Ann. We quickly loaded his gear into the back of my truck and started up I-95. On the way we talked about what had transpired at work over the last week while he was on vacation. Not only have we been friends for nearly 30 years we have also worked together as paramedics for the federal government over most of the last 5 years.
All the way up the Ol'Salty II we tried to find an open Starbucks on the Turnpike, you think they would have an open place to get a cup of coffee all we found was open burger kings. Nonetheless, we ended up getting our coffee at the 7-11 right in front of the marina where the OlSalty II docks.
We pulled right up and unloaded our gear, the crew of the OlSalty II was eager to help us get our gear on board. Once on board and our gear was stored away we settled in and watched everyone else come on board. I have never seen the boat this full before.
As we got under way Alex called every one to the front and gave a briefing about the Stolt, which is the wreck we were going out to dive. After the briefing Dave from the crew came around with muffins for every one. They also had pastries for breakfast. The breakfast food was fresh and tasty.
The seas where flat, the skies where clear and the temperature was comfortable on the hour and a half trip to the dive site. On the way out we talked to the folks from A1 Scuba, they where very nice and had a lot of divers on board. We got about a half hour out and when Alex came to the front of the boat and asked Dave and I to suit up that he wanted us to go in after he set the hook so that we could do a dive with him.
Dave and I started to gear up, we where in our gear and ready to go as Capt. Nick turned off the engines. Capt Jim and Dave the mate helped Dave and I get our gear on and dumped a bucket of sea water on our heads to cool us down until Alex popped the ball and opened the pool.
During the wait to go in I had a few minutes to reflect. There I sat with my best friend both of us wearing Dive Rite 905 dry suits, double Faber 108s and stage bottles getting ready to do a deep dive also knowing we had deco plan. A short time ago I became a PADI Open Water diver and Dave had been a diver for some time. We had talked about doing deep dives and wanting to become technical divers but really didnt know how to go about doing it. We would talk hours about visiting these historic wrecks right in our on back yard and how cool it would be to literally touch history that had ended so tragically, like a ship wreck.
We decided to take Rescue Diver together and started looking for the best price. Dudas's Diving Duds was the best price around, so we called them and set the class up. That is when we met Alex. We told Alex of our wishes to become Jersey wreck divers. Alex took one look at our gear and cringed. At the time we were single tank divers wearing Zeagle Rangers. Alex took the time to tell us what we needed to buy and how to set it up. Before we knew it we where Hogarthian divers wearing doubles. Dave and I spent the next year taking classes from Alex learning the art of technical diving.
Now all of the training, planning and dreams where about to come to fruition. The Stolt was beneath us, the man that taught us and became our friend was setting the hook, the crew was watching for the ball to pop and two life long friends where about to take another step towards a dream they both shared.
It felt like it took forever but really only took 4 minutes to set the hook; Capt Jim announced that the pool was open to hit the water. I did a giant stride off the back of the boat and Dave came in behind me. We descended down the line to find Alex. Dave was in front of me and I watched him go down the line. I had to stop at 40 fsw to work out a equalization problem. I got my ears to clear I continued down the line. When I reached the tie in point at about 80 fsw I found Dave and Alex waiting for me, we descended down the port side to the sand bottom at 128 fsw. We swam along the bottom of the wreck looking for mussels. We spent 16 minutes below 120 fsw, and then we worked our way back up to the top of the wreck and started to swim aft. The Vis was about 30 feet and the wreck a spectacular site. It was about 25 minutes into the dive when Dave signaled the turn around; so we started back to the line. At this point we had accrued a 4 minute deco obligation. We did a 1 minute stop at 70 fsw and then moved up to 40 feet were we had to slow down our assent because of other divers on the line. At 20 fsw we switched from our back gas to 100% Oxygen, when we surfaced we had to wait on the granny line to get back on board. I continued to breathe pure Oxygen while I waited to get back on board the boat. Our dive was a total of 39 minutes and it concluded my first deco dive.
When we came on board the crew encouraged us to drink fresh water. The crew had brought aboard 3 cases of Poland Springs bottled water for the divers to drink; they also brought soda on board. During our surface interval we talked about muscles we had scoped out and planed how we would harvest them on our next dive. Dave went below and got some rest, I rested in the galley.
Since we were one of the first ones to come up we finished our surface interval first and where ready to go back in after an hour and a half. This time Dave was in the water first and I fallowed. Dave had to wait a few minutes for me at the tie in point, when I met him there we headed right for the deepest spot that we had found mussels about 120 fsw. We quickly harvested a small bunch then we went to this spot where there was a large amount of mussels and we began to work as a team to dismantle this huge column of mussels. These mussels where tangled in monophilament. When you work with some one in the back of an ambulance long enough you develop an unspoken language. You just know when you partner needs something or what he is thinking. Mere looks become statements. This is the feeling I got when Dave and I went to work on these mussels we knew what had to be done and we knew we had a time limit at this depth. We filled my goody bag with about twenty pounds of mussels. Since this was the whole point of this dive we turned the dive as soon as we finished the task. This dive was only 29 minutes long with a 3 minute safety stop. I did not obtain a deco obligation during this dive. When I got back on the boat I took all my gear off and relaxed for a few minutes until Dave had all his gear off. We put our gear away so that there would be more space for the other divers.
As the last diver cleared the water the Dave the mate went in to pull the hook and the crew did a roll call. As we started back to shore the crew cut up and served fresh watermelon and oranges. Alex had made his baked ziti. The last time I ate Alexs baked ziti we where at Dutch Springs and I thought that was good. This time Chef Alex out did him self with big hunks of sausage and real cheesy. It was out standing.
This day meant a lot to me for many reasons. I spent a day with good friends and met some new people that I hope to dive with again. As with every dive learned many new things. And found some more things to refine in my skills. Next week we dive at Dutch Springs, That is always a great time and it gives me the chance to work on those skills I want to sharpen. Then the first week of August we are back in the ocean but in North Carolina for three days of what I am sure will be fantastic diving.
All the way up the Ol'Salty II we tried to find an open Starbucks on the Turnpike, you think they would have an open place to get a cup of coffee all we found was open burger kings. Nonetheless, we ended up getting our coffee at the 7-11 right in front of the marina where the OlSalty II docks.
We pulled right up and unloaded our gear, the crew of the OlSalty II was eager to help us get our gear on board. Once on board and our gear was stored away we settled in and watched everyone else come on board. I have never seen the boat this full before.
As we got under way Alex called every one to the front and gave a briefing about the Stolt, which is the wreck we were going out to dive. After the briefing Dave from the crew came around with muffins for every one. They also had pastries for breakfast. The breakfast food was fresh and tasty.
The seas where flat, the skies where clear and the temperature was comfortable on the hour and a half trip to the dive site. On the way out we talked to the folks from A1 Scuba, they where very nice and had a lot of divers on board. We got about a half hour out and when Alex came to the front of the boat and asked Dave and I to suit up that he wanted us to go in after he set the hook so that we could do a dive with him.
Dave and I started to gear up, we where in our gear and ready to go as Capt. Nick turned off the engines. Capt Jim and Dave the mate helped Dave and I get our gear on and dumped a bucket of sea water on our heads to cool us down until Alex popped the ball and opened the pool.
During the wait to go in I had a few minutes to reflect. There I sat with my best friend both of us wearing Dive Rite 905 dry suits, double Faber 108s and stage bottles getting ready to do a deep dive also knowing we had deco plan. A short time ago I became a PADI Open Water diver and Dave had been a diver for some time. We had talked about doing deep dives and wanting to become technical divers but really didnt know how to go about doing it. We would talk hours about visiting these historic wrecks right in our on back yard and how cool it would be to literally touch history that had ended so tragically, like a ship wreck.
We decided to take Rescue Diver together and started looking for the best price. Dudas's Diving Duds was the best price around, so we called them and set the class up. That is when we met Alex. We told Alex of our wishes to become Jersey wreck divers. Alex took one look at our gear and cringed. At the time we were single tank divers wearing Zeagle Rangers. Alex took the time to tell us what we needed to buy and how to set it up. Before we knew it we where Hogarthian divers wearing doubles. Dave and I spent the next year taking classes from Alex learning the art of technical diving.
Now all of the training, planning and dreams where about to come to fruition. The Stolt was beneath us, the man that taught us and became our friend was setting the hook, the crew was watching for the ball to pop and two life long friends where about to take another step towards a dream they both shared.
It felt like it took forever but really only took 4 minutes to set the hook; Capt Jim announced that the pool was open to hit the water. I did a giant stride off the back of the boat and Dave came in behind me. We descended down the line to find Alex. Dave was in front of me and I watched him go down the line. I had to stop at 40 fsw to work out a equalization problem. I got my ears to clear I continued down the line. When I reached the tie in point at about 80 fsw I found Dave and Alex waiting for me, we descended down the port side to the sand bottom at 128 fsw. We swam along the bottom of the wreck looking for mussels. We spent 16 minutes below 120 fsw, and then we worked our way back up to the top of the wreck and started to swim aft. The Vis was about 30 feet and the wreck a spectacular site. It was about 25 minutes into the dive when Dave signaled the turn around; so we started back to the line. At this point we had accrued a 4 minute deco obligation. We did a 1 minute stop at 70 fsw and then moved up to 40 feet were we had to slow down our assent because of other divers on the line. At 20 fsw we switched from our back gas to 100% Oxygen, when we surfaced we had to wait on the granny line to get back on board. I continued to breathe pure Oxygen while I waited to get back on board the boat. Our dive was a total of 39 minutes and it concluded my first deco dive.
When we came on board the crew encouraged us to drink fresh water. The crew had brought aboard 3 cases of Poland Springs bottled water for the divers to drink; they also brought soda on board. During our surface interval we talked about muscles we had scoped out and planed how we would harvest them on our next dive. Dave went below and got some rest, I rested in the galley.
Since we were one of the first ones to come up we finished our surface interval first and where ready to go back in after an hour and a half. This time Dave was in the water first and I fallowed. Dave had to wait a few minutes for me at the tie in point, when I met him there we headed right for the deepest spot that we had found mussels about 120 fsw. We quickly harvested a small bunch then we went to this spot where there was a large amount of mussels and we began to work as a team to dismantle this huge column of mussels. These mussels where tangled in monophilament. When you work with some one in the back of an ambulance long enough you develop an unspoken language. You just know when you partner needs something or what he is thinking. Mere looks become statements. This is the feeling I got when Dave and I went to work on these mussels we knew what had to be done and we knew we had a time limit at this depth. We filled my goody bag with about twenty pounds of mussels. Since this was the whole point of this dive we turned the dive as soon as we finished the task. This dive was only 29 minutes long with a 3 minute safety stop. I did not obtain a deco obligation during this dive. When I got back on the boat I took all my gear off and relaxed for a few minutes until Dave had all his gear off. We put our gear away so that there would be more space for the other divers.
As the last diver cleared the water the Dave the mate went in to pull the hook and the crew did a roll call. As we started back to shore the crew cut up and served fresh watermelon and oranges. Alex had made his baked ziti. The last time I ate Alexs baked ziti we where at Dutch Springs and I thought that was good. This time Chef Alex out did him self with big hunks of sausage and real cheesy. It was out standing.
This day meant a lot to me for many reasons. I spent a day with good friends and met some new people that I hope to dive with again. As with every dive learned many new things. And found some more things to refine in my skills. Next week we dive at Dutch Springs, That is always a great time and it gives me the chance to work on those skills I want to sharpen. Then the first week of August we are back in the ocean but in North Carolina for three days of what I am sure will be fantastic diving.
