A Glittering Piece of History is Recovered From the Briny Deep
ASSOCIATED PEST July 25, 2004
Deep Sea Defectives is proud to announce the recovery of the Andrea Doria's disco ball. World-famous deep-sea scuba diver John Chatterbox found the ball after mining hidden nuggets from blueprints and records of the vessel to determine its most likely location. He then did a hazardous penetration deep into the bowels of the wreck, which is lying on its side in crazy deep lotta water.
Right: Chatterbox "gets down" with some hot wreck-diving moves
What I know about antique glass bottles wouldn't cover both sides of a matchbook. But here are some excellent links on the subject, so you too can learn the difference between a pontil and a blob:
Portholes are used to let light and air into a ship. They are usually constructed of brass for corrosion resistance, which makes them highly desirable as collector's items. The drawing at right shows all the major parts:
The immovable backing plate, bolted to the vessel's hull, which carries the hinges for the swing plate and deadlight
The glass swing plate, which is secured shut by large butterfly nuts called 'dogs'
The deadlight, used when it is desired to black-out the vessel, as in time of war
The Shinnecock Inlet is located in the Hampton Bays on Long Island. The inlet is one of the only major inlets on the south shore and sees a great deal of boat traffic during the summer months. With that in mind, this inlet also sees a great deal of diver traffic as well.
There are two actual Ponquoque bridges, the new one and the old one. You crossed the new bridge to get to the former Foster Road. The old bridge is where you will probably dive, although nothing is stopping you from diving the new bridge. Don't get caught in the channel between the two bridges, however, because it is considered a channel and it is illegal to dive in a channel in the town of Southampton. With that in mind, there is usually good parking at the bridge, but you will have to do some walking in order to get into the water.
Looking roughly southeast, with the diving cove in the foreground. The natural basin of the valley is evident, as well as one of the two dams, at right. The water level looks pretty high, with a little snow on the ground.
A tugboat is a small sturdy and powerful vessel designed to push or tow other vessels and barges
Tenacious
You will see them in every sizable port; smart, businesslike small ships, low in the water and surging out to a large inbound ship. Tugs represent power for pushing and pulling, an engine with just enough hull for adequate buoyancy. Thick fenders for close-quarters work, pushing a big ship alongside the quay against the wind, hauling her off at the end of a towing wire.
In life, July 1939. At this time, CRRNJ ferries were painted overall dark green. Notice how it says MEN on one side and WOMEN on the other.
Type:
artificial reef, ferry, Central Railroad of New Jersey, USA
( sometimes incorrectly identified as a barge )
Name:
All CRRNJ ferries were named for New Jersey towns - Lakewood, Bound Brook, Red Bank, Plainfield, Elizabeth, Wilkes Barre, Cranford, Somerville, Westfield, and Bound Brook
Sadly, 2021 is Dutch Springs' final year of operation. The owner has retired after 40+ years of building and running the facility, and the property has been sold to a developer to become warehouses. See the link in the sidebar.
lakehydra.com
Dutch Springs contains many interesting artificial reefs for divers to explore. In fact, even the hole itself is man-made - it is an old limestone quarry.
Don't know how I missed this, but back in August, Stu retired and sold Dutch Springs to a developer who plans to put two warehouses on the property:
click to enlarge
As you can see, one warehouse fills the small wooded area (lower-left) that was basically unused, while the other obliterates the entire area between the quarry and the road. This leaves no room for parking or facilities. The property is approximately 95 acres, but more than half of that is water.
Sad, but Stu built the place and ran it for 40 years, and he has a right to retire. As we all know, anything having to do with diving brings insurance into the mix, and thus far no other solution has been found.
The quarry will be fenced-off, and Dutch Springs will enter the history books.
John S Dempster Jr. is sister to Shearwater and Reedville, see those vessels for details, links in the sidebar. All three vessels were originally small Army transports, converted to Menhaden fishing by Omega Protein company. FS-355 was USCG-manned, and retained by USA as PVT Carl V. Sheridan (see below) until sold in 1972.
The aging Shearwater and Reedville were retired when Omega got two new modern vessels in 2017, but Dempster was kept as a reserve. Finally, almost 80 years old, the Dempster was sent to her reward as well. Another sister, Tangier Island, was reefed off Georgia in 2020. As of 2023, one old sister remains - Smuggler's Point, FS-400, launched in 1944!
The dive site is between 8th and 9th Streets (marker at upper-left) Atlantic Beach bridge at right, inlet and ocean to the left (west) In Queens borough, New York City!
East Rockaway Inlet is also known as Deb's Inlet, while New Yorkers optimistically, or perhaps ironically, call the Beach 8th Street dive site Almost Paradise. (Actually the name of a long-defunct dive shop there.) It is also referred to as Beach 9th Street. If that's not enough names for the same place, the waterway is officially called Reynold's Channel. So I suppose you could make six different entries in your logbook.
Beach 8th Street is the only part of the inlet that is accessible to divers, the rest is either private property or state park land where diving is prohibited. You can zoom, pan, and maximize the map above. The inlet is off to the left, marshland to the right, and Kennedy Airport above.
Viewed from the northwest, prior to reconstruction, winter, high tide. 7-11 store at upper right.
Type:
inland tidal river
Depth:
20 ft, mostly a lot shallower
This spot is upstream on the Manasquan River. The diving area is rather small and not very deep. Visibility tends to be poor, and this is worsened whenever an O/W training class is in session, which is often. Also, the current under the bridge becomes very strong, so slack water is essential. For a long time, a dredge barge has been anchored in the channel, but otherwise, there is no boat traffic.
Low tide, winter. Point Pleasant on the left /south Manasquan on the right / north
Type:
tidal river inlet with stone jetties or bulkheads on both sides
Depth:
30 ft
This inlet has a long slightly L-shaped jetty on the north side and a longer straight jetty on the south side. Both jetties are made of large stones and concrete, and the ends are built out of man-made concrete "jacks", shaped like an H with a 90-degree twist in the middle.
Habitat: coastal waters, bays, rivers, into freshwater
Notes: dangerous
The Bull Shark can be recognized by a combination of characters including a stout body, short blunt snout, triangular serrated teeth in the upper jaw, and no fin markings as an adult. This species has a second dorsal fin about one-third the height of the first, a small eye, and no skin ridge between the two dorsal fins. It is gray above and pale below, sometimes with a pale stripe on the flank.
The new steps are just off the top edge of the photo, past the tennis courts.
Type:
inland tidal bay
Depth:
20 ft max, 15 ft in most places
This dive site, formerly known as 'L Street' has changed completely, and for the better. The town of Belmar has done something really nice for us divers and installed wide wooden steps down the bulkhead in Maclearie Park. This more than makes up for the loss of the boat ramp area, which is off-limits to all swimmers since it was rebuilt. I suppose the little cove by the ramp is still accessible from the beach, but the new site is much better, and far from all the dangerous boat traffic around the ramp and marina.
smallish tidal river inlet with stone jetties or bulkheads on both sides
Depth:
15 ft
The Shark River is your best bet for shore diving in the northern half of the New Jersey coastline, far better than the Manasquan River. Shark River offers at least four different locations to dive: either side of the inlet, with rock jetties to explore, slightly upstream at A Street in Belmar, and upriver in the back bay area at L Street, Belmar. The wreck of the Malta is also just a few blocks south on the beach, but hardly worth diving.
Adonis - Tuesday March 8, 1859 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties Rusland - Saturday March 17, 1877 - ran aground in bad weather, no casualties
Once you get there, suit up at your car and walk down the small stretch of beach till you get near the jetty. Enter the water at your leisure. Once in the water, you can swim north along the jetty to the tip. You may see fish, lobster, crabs and the sort. There are large openings in the rocks that form the jetty. Large enough in fact that you can almost swim into one. I don't advise doing this because getting stuck might be a frightening experience.
