2008 Underwater Pumpkin Carving contest...

.

The 2008 Underwater Pumpkin Carving contest was held once again at the Railroad bridge in Point Pleasant and was attended by several Dive teams and regulars...

Specimens lined up after the dive and ready to be judged...

First Place winner...

United States Coast Guard... These guys are good!...

Obstruction Search and Removal...

.

The Dive Team took the opportunity of a reported obstruction in a marked channel at a local marina and use it as a training scenario in search and recovery...

Team members responded with Rescue 34 inflatiable and equipment to search the area outside of Jersey Shore Marina off of Route 70 in Brick, N.J.

Several search techniques and patterns were used and after 45 nminutes the obstruction was located and removed. Several boats from the Jersey Shore Marina had reported hitting an object while operating in the channel just outside the marina. Damage to props and hulls were reported by several boat owners at the marina...

Located within the marked channel was a large metal Crab trap that has been hit numerous times. The trap was found partially submerged and it was evident that the object had been hit many times....

The Long Lost Tank...

.

While operating 20 miles offshore the fishing vessel “Muros” pulled up this scuba tank in one of its nets and brought it back to their dock. Members of the Muros turned the tank over to team member Tom Hurst who is owner\operator of Towboat U.S. and has been involved in prior operations of the team.

Tom retrieved the tank and contacted Team Captain Chet Nesley who went to work identifying the tank and locate the original owner. Nesley posted messages on numerous ‘Scuba” related message boards as well as searching VIP records.

Nesley was contacted by Rick Maxwell who recalled that one of his instructors had lost a tank overboard during rough seas while on a dive at the Stolt Dagali wreck site. The dive was conducted from the dive boat Venture 3... Nesley then emailed a photo of the lost tank to Maxwell who passed it on to Ronnie who was the instructor and possible owner of the lost tank. Ronnie immediately emailed back that the lost tank was in fact the tank that she lost during the Stolt Dagali dive…

Remember this guy?...

Surface Rescue Training ~Westfield Police Department~

.

Classroom instruction and skill practice with members of the Westfield Police Department...

Sherando Lake VA. Incident...

.

This week at a local lake in the Sherando Virginia State Park there was a 20 year old male who drowned while swimming in the lake. It appears the victim was away from the shore a good distance and people heard a scream but lost sight of the victim right away.

It was reported here in the local newspaper and several people submitted comments and some were about how the Park staff should have used the swimmers in the water to search for the victim and that ALL of the park staff should have been trained in water rescue... I submitted my comments to explain the options available to the staff...

I have seen these drownings 2 to 3 times over the past 7 years and unfortunately the nearest Dive\water rescue team is 30-40 minutes away...

Shore Diver Class Charity Event...

.

To first aid and student divers,

On Saturday, June 14, 2008, students taking the Shore Diver Class run as a charity event for the Pt Pleasant First Aid Squad Dive Team dove the Manasquan Inlet. The dive was a high tide early evening dive. Just before high slack there was a thunder and lightening storm which delayed the entry a bit. Undaunted, the divers and dive leaders got into the water just around high tide. Conditions were very good. Visibility was around 8 feet, water temp was 56 and boats and fishermen were low to moderate likely due to the storm. Student divers Luis, Alison, Kim, Alan, and Dave teamed up with dive leaders Eric, Tom C, Tom G, Chet and Flo so each student had a personal guide on their adventure dive. Divers spent around 45 minutes underwater and got to see numerous fish and marine life creatures. They plan to dive next Sunday to continue their training.

Besides a comprehensive pre dive training lecture delivered by Flo, Chet, and Tom, everyone was treated to a barbecue hosted by Flo and Norva, with food donated by 1877SCUBAUSA. After the dive everyone returned to the squad for gear cleaning followed by cake for dessert.

Tom Gormley, Pt Pleasant Dive Team http://www.pointbeachems.org/

Throw it Back, Throw it Back!!!

Support of the Pt. Pleasant First Aid Squad Dive Team

.

Phil Ventura,
1-877- Scuba USA
June 15, 2008

On behalf of the entire Pt Pleasant First Aid Squad Dive Team I want to thank you for your donation of $100 towards the Charity Shore Dive Class by the Pt Pleasant First Aid Squad Dive Team. The team serves a 24/7 year round multipurpose function for the Ocean County area. They do immediate rescues for any water related situation, recovery of missing victims and articles, search and recovery of crime evidence, community service to promote ocean and water environmental awareness, and promote and supervise safe diving in the Ocean County area. It is a volunteer organization manned by members of the First Aid Squad who are also trained rescue divers. Team members train and dive on a continuing basis, and are mainly avid civilian divers adapted to contribute to a civic need.

Your representatives Abe and Milton enjoyed the class and observed the preparation for the first dive made by the shore class students. They were invited back to dive at the next dive which will be next Sunday.

Thanks again for your contribution.

Tom Gormley, Dive Team Member
Chet Nesley, Dive Team Chief
Flo Melo, Dive Team Member

Manasquan Inlet June 2008...

.

The Dive Team conducted a routine practice\training dive this weekend at the Manasquan Inlet and the above item was discovered and retrieved by Team Member Tom Sweezy.

It was found at the mouth of the Inlet near the South end jetty and was probably uncovered by the recent dredging of the inlet. Item was found on top of mussel beds and prior day had a strong outgoing tidal flow so object has moved along the inlet since dredging.

Object stands about 3-1\4" and is 2-1\4" diameter at top and bottom...

It is made up by three seperate compartments that are water tight and secured by fine threads and all brass construction. Initial thought was that this was used to store some type of powder, snuff, tobacco, or the likes. I have passed the photos onto several members of the local Bottle collecting club here and they are looking into the identification of it...

Three individual compartments of different sizes. Top compartment 1-1\4", middle 7\8", and smallest compartment at 1\2"...

Located on the bottom of the object is the name "J.W. Forestal" with the date 1876 and "April"... It was noted that it is common practice in military service to have the persons name on all personal items. By including the month "April" to the inscription this may be a service award item and shows the date of end of service. This same practice aided in the identification of the German Submarine U-869 a few years back when a personal item knife was found with a crewmembers name engraved...

Tom Sweezy

Jenkinson's Aquaruim Seal Tank Dive...

The Point Pleasant Beach Dive Rescue Team was invited back to Jenkinson's Aquarium to dive with the resident Seals in their tank and provide information and entertainment for the aquariums patrons.

Upon arrival to the Aquarium the Dive team responded to a first aid call involving a motor vehicle and person riding a bike...

As in the past the Dive team provided information and samples of items found in the ocean and inlets just miles away from the aquarium...

Feeding time for the Seals...

Drive briefing before going into the seal tank...

Dive team members Doug and Eric gear up before entering the Seal Tank...

Dive team member Doug prefers the "Face-first" approach when entering a unknown environment...

Once in the tank and ready for the program Team members Eric and Doug are approached by one of the resident Seals...

Information on Jenkinson's Aquarium can be found here along with a link to their Penquin Webcam here...

Jenkenson's Aquarium Seal Tank Dive...

.

On Saturday, April 19, 2008, the dive team went to Jenkenson's Aquarium in Pt Pleasant to do a table display and dive as part of the Earth Day Celebration. Earth Day is on Tuesday this year, but Saturday brings out the best crowds. The purpose of today's program was to explain to aquarium visitors about local underwater environment and diving. Chet, Flo, Sue, Doug, and Tom G were there to do the program and to dive in the seal tank. Jenkenson's asked the team to put on the program for the past several years, and the seal dive has been added for everyone's pleasure including the seals and the team. Visitors apparently loved the show, the divers loved doing it, and the seals have been adapting and apparently enjoy the divers coming into their pool. The aquarium staff was at first a bit worried that the divers would interfere with the seals adapting to humans. It appears that the seals have adapted well.

The dive part of the program is for two divers to enter the pool by way of a controlled seated entry so the seals are protected. The divers then put on a choreographed show of skills for the aquarium visitors. One member of the team is outside the tank and with hand signals directs one of the divers to perform simple skills like mask clear and such. The other diver video records the scene of the diver, the audience, and the seals. An unexpected part of the show occurred when the camera stopped recording and Chet had to instruct Tom how to turn it back on from outside the tank. The viewing audience got to see first hand how diver communication can be a problem since voice cues don't go through the glass and into the tank. It was an unplanned but funny part of the show. Everyone enjoyed it.

The seals have been carefully approaching the divers and kissing their heads. Chet was accused of flirting with a seal. When seals contact the diver's neoprene hood, it is a very light touch. The dive buddy watching gets a better view of the seal activity. Divers wear wet suits, hoods, gloves. and booties in the 60 degree water. The dives have lasted about 20 minutes. Sue and Chet dove in the morning and Tom and Flo dove in the afternoon.

The table display included a diver replica including all of the dive gear. Found bottles and shells were displayed as well as photos of the First Aid Squad and dive team. Team members took the time to explain as much as visitors wanted to learn about local diving and the purpose of the squad and team. Lots of children as well as adults enjoyed the show and display. The team accomplished the educational part of it's list of goals with today's Earth Day Program at Jenkenson's Aquarium. Ocean Conservation Day is in June and the team plans to return for another program on June 7.

Report from Tom Gormley

Pt. Pleasant Dive Team Member...