Cape May Dive Sites (9/9)

Cape May Chart

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Shipwreck Varanger
Type:
shipwreck, tanker, Norway
Name:
A peninsula in north-east Norway ( a cold place )
also, an old Scandinavian term for "Viking"
Built:
1925, Netherlands
Specs:
( 470 x 60 ft ) 9305 gross tons, 40 crew
Sunk:
Sunday January 25, 1942
torpedoed by U-130 - no casualties
Depth:
140 ft

Type:
shipwreck, barge
Specs:
436 tons
Sunk:
Wednesday May 25, 1932
Depth:
45 ft

wooden


Wildwood Artificial Reef

4.5 Nautical Miles off Wildwood
Depth: 40-65 ft [download]


Type:
shipwreck, barge
Built:
1918
Specs:
1041 tons
Sunk:
Monday September 3, 1934
foundered - no casualties
Depth:
42 ft

The Diggs was engaged in a salvage operation at the time of her loss and actually settled on top of another shipwreck, of unknown origin. The green blinker buoy for which it is known was removed after the wooden wreck was demolished in the 1970s. Also known as the "Green Blinker Wreck".


YP-389
Sister YP-389, built in the same yard at the same time to the same specs
Type:
shipwreck, patrol boat, U.S. Navy, converted trawler
Built:
1941, Bethlehem Quincy, Quincy MA, USA, as Salem
Specs:
( 102 x 22 ft ) 301 tons, 21 crew
Sunk:
Wednesday May 20, 1942
collision with collier Jason - 6 casualties
Depth:
40 ft


Having acquired all your nice expensive equipment, you may want to insure it against damage and flooding. Alright, perhaps not a cheap film camera, but a high-end housed 35mm, digital, or video camera certainly deserves the protection. On the other hand, with proper care and maintenance, and attention to detail when sealing it up, a modern camera housing is extremely unlikely to leak.

Here's something I learned the hard way:

Batteries + saltwater = one really nasty corrosive mess. Regular old alkalines are not nearly as destructive when you get them wet. What does this mean? Use NiMH batteries in the camera inside the housing, but use alkalines inside your strobes, so that if the battery compartment does flood, you can just rinse it out with fresh water and maybe lemon juice. The result of a wet NiMH battery will eat away the metal contacts of the battery compartment so fast that by the time you can do anything about it, it's too late. Alkaline batteries have plenty of oomph to drive a strobe, although not a camera. If your camera housing floods, the battery type won't really matter, since the saltwater will destroy the camera all by itself.

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