10August2008
Well, I did my first boat dive yesterday with the Dive Voyager out of Shark River, NJ. It was my third dive for my AOW card. The wreck chosen by the Captain (who is also one of my instructors), was the Travis Tug on the Sea Girt reef, which sits upright in about 75’ of water. I chose to skip the morning dive due to seas a little rougher than I wanted to play in for my first boat dive, but the ocean calmed down nicely around 11am and I hit the water.
The trip down the anchor line was quite uneventful and within a few minutes I was able to see the strobe left my the instructor at the bottom of the line. The viz was about 10 - 15 feet, a little better below the thermocline. Shortly thereafter the shadow of the tug began to take shape. My first clear image of the wreck was of the bit just aft of the deck house, which is where the large tow lines would have been secured when the tug was in operation. The pilot house has been knocked off & lies upside down in the sand to port & the rest of the deck house structure is in bad shape. The rudder is missing but the prop is still there & it’s big, the nut securing it has got to be 12" across. There is a rather nice bathtub sitting in the sand to the starboard side half buried.
There wasn’t much in the way of huntable fish on the wreck. Most were too small or not anything anyone would want to eat. There was a lobster hiding in a tire on the sand to port, but he was well hidden & defending his hideout...
Not much else to see, but an awesome first experience of Jersey Shore wreck diving. Being relatively close to shore there was little current to speak of & it was a leisurely swim from the anchor line back to the ladder.
I have two more dives to go before my AOW card is complete & I can’t wait to get back out there!
This is my first attempt at blogging so have mercy & any suggestions or tips are welcome!
Dive Safe & Have Fun!
Chris