Category: SCUBA

7/24/05 – Daniel from Scubaboardand I pulled anchor from the Marina in Holderness and headed for Bean Ledge, which sits somewhere between Sandwich and Center Harbor and is marked by nearly a half dozen buoys due to the rocks that dot the shallows in the area. We anchored on the south-western side of the ledge and swam north along the ledge, deep the shallow and observed many small bass and one large dead trout. We ascended and swam along the surface back to the boat.

• Max Depth: 62ft
• Dive Time: 20m
• Visibility: 20ft in the shallows, less at greater depths

In June 2002, the 510 ft USS Spiegel Grove was set to make diving history by becoming the largest ship ever scuttled to form an artificial reef. Highly anticipated by divers, it was hoped that the Spiegle Grove would provide an alternate site for SCUBA diving and therefore reduce traffic on the fragile coral reefs around the Florida keys. Unfortunately, the ship was a little over-anxious to get underwater and began to sink prematurely, capsizing and coming to reset with stern sitting on the ocean floor and the bow floating on the surface. It sat in that position for a month until engineers were able to lay her to rest on her side on the sandy ocean floor where she sat for the next 3 years. Further efforts were made to right the ship, but all failed.

Enter hurricane Dennis, whose winds caused 20ft waves that drove ocean currents much faster then normal, and as luck would have, imparted enough force to flip the Spiegle Grove right side up. Before and after pictures can be found at spiegelgrove.com. More information on the history of the USS Spiegel Grove can be found at The University Of Indiana’s Spiegel Grove page.

Scuba, Spiegle Grove, Hurrican Dennis, Key Largo

A little dated, but late last month, a Dutch gentlemen by the name of Patrick Musimu smashed the no-limits free driving record by taking a big breath, riding a weighted sled down to 209.6m below sea level then being pulled back to the surface by a balloon. The whole trip took just under 3 and half minutes and he did it while fighting off an intestinal infection. I think I can speak for the whole world when I say “Holy freakin’ crap, that’s deep!”

Judging from Musimu’s letter to the freediving community [found here], it’s gone to his head (not that I can blame him for that), but I think I’d still rather train with Umberto Pelizari at the Apnea Academy.

July 3rd, 2005. Started the day by snorkling close to shore, recovering numerous spent fireworks, a couple of golf balls, a clorox bottle full of sand, and a brand new rubbermaid lighter (which the neighbors quickly claimed). Next on SCUBA, I explored the (only slightly) deeper waters further from shore and saw little other then the soft mud bottom.
Other Facts:

• Surface Temperature: ~80F
• Water Temp: ~70F
• Visability: ~7ft
• Bottom Time 18 minutes
• Max Depth 12ft

July 2nd, 2005. Kicked around and blew some bubbles off a friend’s camp on Stinson lake in Rumney, NH. Started off the season with a bang by dropping a fin as a shuffled towards deeper water. After recovering and securing it to my foot, I headed for deeper waters. There wasn’t a whole lot to look at, but there were logs on the bottom, with at least 2 standing upright. I managed to recover 6 golf balls and sighted one anchor, but I wasn’t equipped to bring it back with me or mark it’s location.

While perhaps not the most interesting place in the world to dive, I can think of at least 3 more dives that I’d like to do here.

1. Recover the anchor
2. Explore the big rock by the boat launch. This could probably be done on just a snorkle and still be just as fun
3. Explore the deeper waters outside of the cove

Other Facts:

• Surface Temperature: ~80F
• Visability: ~10ft
• Bottom Time 18 minutes
• Max Depth 22ft

I brought a camera, but didn’t feel like taking any pictures.  I guess I just wasn’t in the photography mood.  That and it would’ve been weird to take a bunch of pictures of a guy at my table(thank you, Jenny, for picking out our seats).  I, being my usual self, was fairly quiet at the table.  We did come back with something to show for the trip though, I got my copy of The Last Dive signed, and Jenny won a tide clock and a dive-themed sweater in the raffle.  I’ll try to put pictures of those up in the scuba section of the gallery soon.  Bernie also gave out free (digital) copies of the fall edition of Immersed, which I’ve only had time to flip through so far, but maybe I’ll have time to sit down and read it this week.

I don’t have too much to say about the night other then that.  The chicken tenders that were served are quite possibly the best I’ve ever tasted (and so tender!).  Bernie is an excellent speaker, whom I hope to see again.  Some of the ideas that Bernie spoke about will me make reconsider my next few SCUBA equipment purchases and the direction I take with my training.  If I find employment in this area after December(anyone in New England looking for an entry level computer programmer?), I really ought to join UDNH.  I really ought to join DAN and get some dive insurance too.