Saturday we dove the good ol gloria. At 70 ft and junk everywhere one of my favorites. There’s always lobster and fish on it so food, objects of “art” also referred to as door holder openers always seem to come up. As usual the wreck provided lobsters, fish etc. Gillman has an ongoing project to lift a hatch off a plate he’s seen bottles and other objects of “art” under it. Last time we were on it Hugh Mac sheared quite a few of the rivets off and it seemed like it might come up next visit. Well the gillman went down tied the hook in and went to work. Since I had another capt. on board as soon as he came back I prepared to dive. The gill gave me a couple of extra lift bags and off i went. Now heres were the fun starts. On the way down I realized I didn’t have my reel with me. But what the heck thought I’d just hang around the boilers. Once I got down I struggled to unclip my bag from the lift bags. Of course it was a mess so I figured screw it I’m not going to worry about a bag as I’m not shooting fish anyways and if I get a lobster I’ll just hold on to it and deal with the bag at the anchor line. Well I glanced off the line and saw some nice diver had left his reel, turned out the “unknown diver” left his reel down there to mark a lobster, which of course I promptly missed. Well I now had a reel so off I went. I ran the reel to its end then since we had 30 ft of vis I dropped it and swam off. Well I went about 20 or 30ft and lo and behold there’s a big ole fluke sitting in the wreck. My fluking with a knife average this season is around 10 trys no fish. Since I knew I didn’t have a bag I figured with my average I wouldn’t get it anyway. WRONG, I promptly stabbed it. Now what? Well the only think I could do was grab both ends of the knife and start. My 2 or 300 ft swim back to where my bag was. If you haven’t tryed making a long swim like this holding on to both sides of your knife with a very angry 23″ fluke may I suggest don’t unless you want to really laugh your butt off at yourself. I struggled to get the bags untangled while I held the knife in the sand while the very unhappy fluke did his best to get off. Well I won fluke in bag’ bag connected to anchor line. Now all I’ve got to do is swim back to the end of the of my purloined reel. Well a few hundred ft swim pick up the reel and start back. Man I’m too old for this, plus do you have any idea how hard it is to hold a reg in your mouth while you’re laughing your butt off at yourself. Well the real cool thing is fresh fluke for dinner tonight. What a great day. Oh by the way the plate didn’t budge despite gillamns best work. Man what a day.
Sunday we dove the copper wreck after last week ends collection of Junk I was looking forward to more of the same. Was a little bumpy and of course the hunters killed a bunch of fish and a few lobsters and mussels but no really junk just a little bit of munson metal. Good vis 48 degree (BRRRRRRR) bottom temps but great diving. On the way back to punish me for a great Saturday we ran through heavy rain as the divers watched lighting hit the water. Still all and all another great day. capt Bill and the crew of the Tunaseazure arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Manasquan River Railroad Bridge

Saturday found Northeast Supply, Inc. out for a dive at the Manasquan River Railroad Bridge. The divers all showed ready to have some fun and get wet. We hit the water with high expectations of getting some fish for dinner but alas King Neptune would not let his subjects come out and play. After swimming all over looking for flounder and finding none I went back to the railroad bridge to break up some mussels and feed the cunner bergals and crabs. We did see some nice large horseshoe crabs, cunner, crabs and even some schooling spearing. One the way to the exit I saw sticking out between two bricks from the older bridge a tip of a bottle. I carefully pulled it out and was rewarded with a nice find. Let me see you Dutch divers find stuff like this!! The bottle says J.H Kornaherns – Jacksonville, FLA on the front. What a great find. A special thanks to John Glodowksi, Mark Ostojich, Mike Ehland, Tim Moody, Marc Zevtchin and Greg Allen for coming in out and having some fun.

J H Kornahrens Soda Bottle 1889 to 1892

Possible Picture of the Copper Wreck

Well, many people have known that we have been trying to identify a wreck we call the Copper Wreck. The Wreck is covered with copper sheathing, which is where the name came from. The Copper Wreck so far has yielded a bilge pump, brass spikes and valving but nothing conclusive as of yet. If you want a neat dive to do the Copper Wreck is it who knows you might even be the one that discovers its name!!!!

Anonymous Diver with finds from this past weekend. THIS COULD BE YOU

Bilge pump from the Copper Wreck

Our most popular class is the Wreck Diver class, and it’s not hard to see why with all the wrecks lying off the coast of New Jersey. Advanced divers who are looking for a little guidance and knowledge from highly experienced instructors are the perfect candidates.

But why the heck should you even take a Wreck Diver Class?

It’s easy enough to drop off the side of the charter boat into current-less, clear blue water, and descend to an upright, fully intact, decaying shipwreck and have the best dive ever, navigating from bow to stern and back again on a single tank of air, making your way across the deck while envisioning this massive piece of steel as it was in it’s glory days.

But what happens when the conditions aren’t so perfect? How do you navigate to the bow when the visibility is less than 5ft and you can barely see your hand in front of your face; or maybe the wreck has been wire-dragged and is strewn across the sea floor in a million pieces; the current is ripping in your face while you hold on to your mask before it gets carried away? How are you going to handle emergency situations when they arise?

Don’t get me wrong, wreck diving is the most fascinating form of diving in the world and no matter what the conditions, there is always something to be doing, such as bagging lobsters or mussels for dinner or sawing off a helm and shooting it to the surface with lift bags to take home and put on the wall of your garage. Many just love the excitement of descending into the darkness alone, awaiting the bright blinking of the strobe at the bottom of the anchor line. I mention these ‘worst of all’ conditions because you never know what could happen on a dive. These are all the things you should be considering before you even step onto the dive boat. Why not start today?

Here at Northeast Scuba Supply, Inc., our instructors teach you the proper techniques for planning, gearing up, and executing wreck dives within recreational limits (130ft) without compromising safety while still allowing you to have a great day out on the ocean, no matter what the conditions. Sometimes it’s not just about where, when, and what you dive, but how you dive it.

Upcoming Wreck Diver Class

Introduction

Wreck diving is unique discipline in that it combines a historical human element with the natural aquatic world that we explore as divers. The SDI wreck diver course is designed to introduce a new diver to this world of wreck diving. Our course emphasizes the types of wrecks and environment that are typical for Northeast wreck diving. We will cover proper equipment, planning, navigation, and emergency skills that are required to dive the sometimes challenging wrecks in our local waters safely.

Wreck Diver (External Survey) Class Requirements

Open Water Diver with a minimum age 15yrs (10-14 with parental consent for non-penetration and less than 60ft)

Equipment Requirements in Addition to Basic SCUBA Gear:

Reel
Surface Marker or Lift Bag
Cutting Device
Light
Audible Signaling Device
Redundant Air Supply (available for rent)
Optional: Strobe/Marker Light

If you do not already own these items, wait until the first classroom session before purchasing as we will cover each of these items in detail.

Textbook: TDI Advanced Wreck Diving Manual

Topics Covered

Specialized Equipment
Types of Shipwrecks
Boat Diving Procedures
Team Diving Protocols
Shipwreck Navigation
Proper Reel/Guideline Use
Limited Visibility Diving
Proper Light use
Emergency Procedures
Emergency Ascent Line Deployment
Line entanglement
Loss of visibility
Equipment Malfunction
Shipwreck Research
Artifact Recovery/Regulations

Instructor

Dan Martinez (SDI/TDI #5365 – NAUI #41430)

E-mail: danmartine@aol.com Cell: 267-240-6203

Schedule

Classroom Dates: Tuesday August 12th 7-9pm @NESS

Thursday August 14th 7-9pm @NESS

Training Dives: Saturday August 16th 8am @ Dutch Springs

Wreck Dives: Saturday August 23rd 7am Tuna Seazure

Class will be a maximum of six students and is on a first come, first serve basis. Don’t miss out!

Give us a call if you have any questions or would like to sign up. 610-631-2288.

Spearfishing Update at Northeast Scuba Supply, Inc.

Well the whole shop has been pushing hard to get new items into our spearfishing section. We have JBL and AB Biller Guns along with JBL, Trident and AB Biller Pole Spears. We also have a complete line of fillet knives, 20 different tips, paralyzers, fish keepers, free shafts, replacement shafts, bands and much, much more. We have added tons of new items and are even starting to bring in free diving items. We have also contacted Riffe about their line and should have those items in stock in about a month.

Here are just a few pics we have a pile of new stuff showing up next week also so check it out.

TRAVEL POLE SPEAR SECTION
Right now we offer a fiberglass 3 piece and JBL 2 piece. On order and do to show up next week are the JBL 3 piece travel and the one piece 6 foot versions.

MORE SPEARGUNS

Hi All, I thought I would put a picture of our reel section up on the web. We have more than this especially the ones in hot buys.