Mayor J Harold Grady ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Mayor J Harold Grady

Type:: artificial reef, fireboat
Built:: 1960, Jakobson Shipyard, Oyster Bay, NY
Specs:: ( 86 x 20 ft ) 93 tons
Sunk:: Saturday June 22, 2024 - Delaware #11 Artificial Reef
GPS:: 38°40.457' -74°42.961'

The Mayor J. Harold Grady - named for Baltimore’s sitting mayor when commissioned in 1960 - was one of three Baltimore fireboats built that year by Jakobson Shipyard in Oyster Bay, L.I. and was among the most modern and well-equipped fireboats of her time, with a pumping capacity of 6,000 gallons of water per minute and top speed of 15 mph. She would later distinguish herself during Baltimore’s inner harbor fire of 1968, when flames at a lumberyard at Pier 5 spread to other businesses and even threatened the U.S.S Constellation. Grady stayed in service until 2007. DNREC bought her using federal Sport Fish Restoration funds, and she was hauled out to the reef site and sunk by Norfolk VA-based marine contractor Coleen Marine.

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Delaware #11 Artificial Reef

15.5 Nautical Miles from Indian River Inlet, 1.52 sq miles
Depth: 70-90 ft

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Gear Moving & Storage

The standard means of moving and storing dive gear is the dive bag. All of the major manufacturers make dive gear bags. These are often quite fancy, with embroidered logos, pockets inside and out, "ergonomic" handles, and even wheels. Most of these bags are very nice but really too small to hold a cold-water dive kit, and very heavy to carry around when full. These bags are also expensive, a bother to clean, and a lot less waterproof than they claim. Here's is a convenient alternative that is much cheaper:

Go to ~~K-Mart~~ Home Depot and spend $5 on a Rubbermaid tote box, about the size of a milk crate. This will not be big enough to hold all items - you'll have to pack your fins and BC separately - but it will hold everything else, is small enough to fit almost anywhere, and also avoids making a single excessively heavy load. The tote also will not lose small items like a milk crate will. I eventually drilled drain holes in the bottom. I now use my fancy dive bag only to carry my drysuit and its accessories. This type of tote box is the preferred container on every area dive boat I have been on.

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