Where did the flag go?.......

Sunday the team did not get to do the ice diver training we were hoping for. The ice was not in great shape and it was to soft for what we needed. But that did not stop us from diving, with new member rich we need to get him up to speed and we do that by diving. He does come in with a lot of skills so this will not take long.

The day was bright and sunny and the ocean was flat with a little bit of wind, so the plan was to do an out and around and come up on the beach. We hit the water and found we had good visibility and the tide was just moving out. All was going well until about half way through the dive and the wind started picking up out of the south west pushing the water up the beach and around the front of the inlet. Everyone made the beach but Big Joe and I as we were bring up the rear with the second dive flag. We surfaced and came up the jacks.

Sue was our surface support on this dive and was right there and everyone made it out and up on to the jetty. It was at this point we found out we had lost a dive flag and float, Sue said she saw it an half hour ago and it was heading north with the wind. The flag was seen way up the beach (may be a half mile north of the jetty). We sent 349 back to the building and 347 took off after the flag, we hate to lose gear! We went to the north end of Manasquan and could see the flag was still going north, Greg and Chet took off up the beach and OJ, Big Foot and Nina headed for Spring Lake. We got the flag just as we made it to Spring Lake. The flag drifted over two miles, but we got it back!

It was a good dive. Greg found out you can’t hold the flag line in your hands, Bob and Rich found out not to get to close to the rocks coming around the end of the jetty when you have a south west wind blowing. Joe and Chet found out bring full sinker tubes up the jacks sucks. Ali found out how cold bags suits are and Sue found out her new mittens are really warm.

CPR Certification....

Every year the team has to recertify in cpr and many other skills. This months training drill was our Cpr recert. This year Linda C. dive team member was our training instructor and she did an outstanding job.

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2015 ~New Years Day Dive~

Happy New Year to everyone!! If you didn’t make the first dive of the year you missed one of the best first dive ever! Was the weather great, not really it could have been warmer not as cold as pass first dive or as warm as first dives in the past, but the sun was out and that help with the visibility.

This year the high tide was very late in the afternoon and we didn’t want to make it a night dive, so we planned a low tide dive. We were looking at the rail road bridge and the inlet but we have done this is the past. We did checked the ocean and it was flat so we planned an in and around. This is where we go in off the beach and let the tide bring us into the inlet and to the exit point.

   So off to the beach Max, mike B. OJ, Big foot Joe, Sue L and guest Eric geared up and headed for the water. We had surface support with Sara, Bob S, Flo, Tom C. and a new member Rick and his wife Jess. It was a nice easy walk into the water as there were no waves to speak of. We put on our masks and fins on and just rolled over and headed for the inlet.

  The water saw so clean on the beach, it had to be twenty feet or better of visibility. This dropped down to ten feet at the point of the jetty but was still good. At the point of the jetty were the Atlantic Traveler fishing boat sank a few years back the visibility went right back to twenty feet. The sand has moved out and pieces of the wreck can be seen jam in and around the rocks. (These have not been seen for a few years because of being covered over by the sand.)

   Everyone drifted down the inlet picking up sinkers and whatever they could find. It was a good day getting sinkers, with the bottom laid bare and very little sand to hide them they were there for the picking. Even Max came away with a very nice dive weight he found on the bottom. All toll the dives came away with 173 pounds of sinkers.

   With the water temperature of 43 you didn’t want to sit around digging or looking to long in the rocks. It was best to keep moving to fight off the cold. Everyone made the exit point and with the help of the surface support people we packed up and then it was back to the building for a great lunch of Flo’s homemade clam chowder and grilled cheese.

  Nina V. our team photograph had a field day with her camera, taking over 350 pictures. It’s not an easy job going through them as all of them are so good. She really does have a good eye! We’ll be posting them.

  So it was a great start to the New Year, great people and a great dive and a good time!

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Sinker Haul & Training....

Sundays drill and training mission was going after the sinker mount. We did the same as last year using a 500 pound lift bag and the winch on the front of the dive truck. We tried to pull the whole thing up but it was to much.

Big Joe and mike and greg work the main mount and Joe OJ and linda worked a new mount just 30 feet away. Joe and Linda filled a large sinker tube. After three hours in the water we called it a day and came away with 194.2 pounds of sinkers.

Miss Point Pleasant.....

Tow boat US started working on getting the Miss Point Pleasant to be broken up and pulled from the water. Today they drain the all the fuel from the tanks. They will be waiting a few days for the tides to come around and give they more time and day light! Maybe on the week end or maybe Monday..

Ship Bell...

A few years ago I had the job of recovering the bodies of two fishermen from a fishing boat that sank. I had to dive on it two other times after that to plug fuel lines and stop oil from leaking out.

On one of those dives I recovered the ships bell and It has been long enough to bring it out to show it. Big Joe built a stand for it and I finish it today.

This will be going with the team when we do our public display for everyone to see!

Sunday the team took down to the New Jersey Maritime museum the ship hull planks that Capt Jerry found on the beach of bay head. The dive team did some work on them and they were just too big for us to show or store. So the museum was the place to put them, this way everyone could see and touch the planks and dream of what it was like in those long gone years of the sailing ships.

   The New Jersey Maritime Museum is located in Beach Haven N.J., you can go on line to www.NJMaritimeMuseum.org to check it out and get museum hours and directions. This is a free museum there is no cost to get in, but contributions are welcome. No matter what you are, beachcomber or diver or someone who want to know more about N.J. maritime history this is a must for you to see!

  We would have loved to keep them and do something with them, but what? The museum is the place for them.

~2014~ Underwater Pumpkin Carving Contest

"Cold water Challenge".....

Yeah, Dumping a bucket of cold water on these guys heads is really not that big of a deal....

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"Challenge" accepted.....

Challenge accepted…

But due to the low amount of natural insulation material covering the “Chrome Dome” (see above photo) I have elected to write a check instead of having somebody dumping some cold water on my head….

The check is written and ready to be mailed but instead to the ALS foundation, which I am sure is a fine effort to find a cure or treatment for ALS, I have decided to make the check out to the Point Pleasant Rescue Dive Team instead for I know of the team’s history of saving lives and public service…

At this time the pending amount of the check is $100 but I will increase the check an additional $50 for a total of $150 to the Dive Team if the following challenge is accepted and the correct answer is provided within the 24 hour time frame….

Challenge to the recent Dive Team Rescue Diver graduates

For an additional $50 donation to the Dive Team: Name the medical condition of when somebody is submerged in cold water and their heart rate is decreased considerably. This condition or “reaction” to the cold water has resulted in small children being revived after 20 to 30 minutes after drowning in cold water with little or no negative effects. Name this condition\reaction and describe what part of the body is involved causing this reaction to the cold water… (No calling Chief diver and buying him a 7-eleven 24oz. to get the answer)

Wooden Treasure....

The sea holds many mysteries. Sometimes it decides to share one.

On a beautiful summer day Jerry was walking along the beach with his granddaughter when he happened upon 2 large wooden planks. Taking a closer look he could see these were no ordinary pieces of wood. These were from the hull of a wooden sailing ship.

Each of the planks is three inches thick. One is seven feet long and weighs 200 lbs and the other is over 10 feet long weighing in at almost 250 lbs.. Each plank still holds the original treenails used to build the ship.

 A treenail or trunnel, is a wooden peg or pin used to fasten pieces of wood together, especially in wooden shipbuilding. It is an ancient technology. This method of firmly securing such a fastener in shipbuilding was to cut a parallel peg of a softer wood, and then expand its outer end with a wedge of much harder wood driven into it called a foxtail wedge. Increased water content causes wood to expand, so the treenails gripped the planks tighter as they absorbed water.

Along with several brass spikes, the planks have copper sheets attached by nails. These copper sheets protected against ship worms and prevented growth along the ships wooden hull. This process dates back to the 4^th century BC where lead was used in place of copper. Pure copper was used into the 20^th century. However it was mostly replaced starting in the 1830’s with the introduction of a cheaper and lighter alloy called Muntz Metal.

These planks most likely sailed the oceans during the 1800’s as part of the hull of a merchant ship. Although we cannot ascertain the exact ship they came from, knowing the possible history made these an exciting find.

It was decided that they should be saved. So Jerry and Chet carried the 200 lb planks back to Jerry’s truck so they could be brought back to the squad building. 

At this point preservation techniques must be implemented. Any porous object exposed to the ocean collects salt and once the item starts to dry out, the salt crystals expand causing cracking and destruction of the material. This salt must be removed by soaking the object in a fresh water bath. Joe and Chet devised a plan to build a soaking tub built from materials lying around the squad building. Using some ½ plywood and a roll of plastic sheeting they created a 4’ x 11’ desalination bath. The bath is filled with fresh water and will have water changes regularly.

The planks will remain a mystery as to which ship they came from. But they will provide a small peek into the past of a great shipbuilding industry.

Wooden Boat Festival ~2014~

Saturday was the wooden boat festival in Toms River and as in the past the dive team was requested to come and set up our display and our touch tank. This is always a good time, we get to talk and show hundreds of kids and their parents just what is out there under the water.

   The day starts out at 0530 in the morning!  We have to do a dive to get the things we have in the touch tank. Sometimes we catch the tide and have an easy time getting everything, but this time it was low tide brown water and the tide still running out with a three to four knot current running. With OJ, big Joe, Ali and I in the water and Sue on the beach getting water and taking the specimens and keeping the ones that were the right size. We need to get fifty gallons of water to take with us so we can change the water a few times a throughout the day.

  Then we have to get back to the building clean up and load the dive truck with all the stuff we’ll need.  Like tables, chairs all the displays and the water and the specimens. Then get to Toms River Huddy Park and get all set up all by 0900.

  We almost made it! We got the tents up and the touch tank filled and most of the displays set up, but people started coming in before 0900 and it didn’t stop all day. We never got a break. There were people at the displays or the touch tank all day!

   The festival was supposed to be over at 5:00 P.M. but we still had people at the touch tank at 5:30. We have never turned kids away so we stayed until the last ones said thank you and walked away. It was a fast break down and load out! We did stop for coffee on the way home and that coffee never tasted so good!

   It is hard work and a long day, but it’s something we love to do!

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