Leon Walter ~ New Jersey Scuba Diving

Leon Walter

Type:: shipwreck, trawler
Specs:: ( 76 ft ) 3 crew
Sunk:: Monday March 23, 1964
collision - no casualties
Depth:: 80 ft

The Leon Walter was sliced in half by the north-bound oil tanker Hess Bunker while returning to Point Pleasant with a load of clams. The collision occurred shortly after 5 PM in good visibility; the stern section sank immediately. The bow, buoyed by empty fuel tanks, floated and was towed in. The three crew were all rescued unhurt by another fishing vessel. The Walter was 10 years old and valued at $50,000. The Hess Bunker was apparently unharmed and was scrapped in 1972.

T2 tanker — T2-SE-A1 tanker - 523 ft, 16,000 tons max
The *Hess Bunker* was an extended T2 - 605 ft, 23284 DWT tons

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Tides

Shore diving is very much dependant on the tide. Tidal inlets and rivers will flow with the tide, such that a river may even flow upstream for a time when the tide is incoming. Normal river currents are far too strong to swim against, and will simply sweep away a loaded diver. Many inlets have time restrictions for divers, so you will have to take the local laws and the tide tables into account to work out a good dive time.

However, there are two times when the currents drop to near zero. Those are dead high tide, and dead low tide. Of the two, dead high tide is usually better, simply because there is more water, and it is cleaner ocean water rather than silty river water. You will get about a half-hour window on either side of dead high tide during which you can either drift in the weak current or swim against it. After that, you'd better get out.

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