BayHead Recovery Day ~2013~

On Saturday, June 15, 2013, the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid Squad was invited to participate in “Revitalize BayHead”.  This half-day event was run to promote businesses and tourism back into the town, especially in light of Hurricane Sandy recovery efforts.

The Squad set up display tables featuring the numerous services we offer to the community (first aid response, classes, etc.).  A Hands Only CPR station was also set up with a dummy for people to practice on, with “Stayin Alive” playing in the background.  We also used the opportunity to promote the “Monster Dash”, our October 5K Run fundraiser.

Along with the shore theme, the Dive Team brought along Rescue 34, our 16 foot Zodiac.  The Dive Team display included our local shell collection, various marine artifacts we have discovered in the areas local waters, and of course “Dry Suit Guy” – a fully suited representation of what equipment we wear during our dives.

One of the highlights of the display was our Marine Touch Tank. Kids and adults alike had a great time learning about the marine life of New Jersey from members of our Dive Team. It requires a 6:00 am dive,  about an hour to collect the proper specimens and approximately 50 gallons of water to keep our touch tank and our specimens healthy throughout the long day ahead. The touch tank included specimens such as the Sea Star, Sea Urchins, Spider Crabs, Snails, Hermit Crabs, Star Coral and the Red Bearded Sponge.

It was a beautiful, sunny day, so the entire event was well-attended, and we had a small crowd visiting us throughout the day.

Congratulations to everyone who participated in this wonderful community celebration.

We look forward to continuing our service to the BayHead community and we wish everyone great success in their recovery efforts. If you would like more information on the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid Squad or our Dive Team please checkout http://www.pointbeachems.org/ or http://ptrescuedive.blogspot.com/ .

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World Oceans Day ~Jenkinson's~ 2013

 

On Saturday, June 8, 2013, the Point Pleasant Beach First Aid Dive Team participated in the World Oceans Day celebration at Jenkinson’s Aquarium.  This annual marine conservation themed event provided us the opportunity to share with Aquarium visitors some of our adventures scuba diving locally..

 

The highlight of our day was conducting scuba diving demonstrations in the harbor seal tank itself.  Two divers a time entered the enclosure and finished their gear preparation with assistance from a tender.  As visitors watched from the top of the tank, another team member outside the tank explained why a Jersey diver must wear a bit more equipment and protection than someone in the tropics.  (Even with the tank 15 degrees warmer than the ocean, our divers were in full wetsuits, complete with boots, gloves, and hoods.)  We also introduced the buddy system and some of the hand signals that divers must use to communicate underwater.

The divers descended to the bottom of the tank, where most of the aquarium visitors could easily watch them demonstrate the basic dive skills used to safely explore the ocean.  Divers easily showed off clearing a mask of water, drifting in the middle of the water (neutral buoyancy), and even moving heavy objects (a tube FULL of lead sinkers) with a lift bag.

The audience even got involved from outside the tank when the divers offered a challenge from the inside.  We held a race back and forth across the tank, with the diver swimming and several children running.  Even with fins, we discovered that human divers aren’t fast compared to ocean animals or running children!  The divers were determined to make a comeback though.  In the high jump challenge, our diver convincingly jumped, albeit slowly, all the way to the top of the tank!  The properties of water that make water difficult to move through also all a diver to perform some incredible feats.

During all of this, the three harbor seals that reside in the tank watched us patiently.  And one of them is especially fond of Tom.

 



 

 

Several organizations involved in marine conservation were also present at the event with table displays, and we all had visitors throughout the day.  Many were surprised to discover that our collection of seashells and other artifacts were all found while diving right here in New Jersey .  Underwater video footage taken from Manasquan Inlet, right here in Point Pleasant Beach, was also playing, offering a taste of local diving conditions.  And as usual, SCUBA Man was available for a photo opportunity for any curious visitors!

Just to keep us on our toes, two of our divers were called out to assist with two sunken boat salvages/refloats, AND two of our divers who are also EMTs were answering first aid calls in town!  Could a busy day get any busier?

In the end, World Oceans Day was a success, and we thank Jenkinson’s Aquarium for again inviting us to share our love of local diving.

 

 

 

 

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Ongoing beach inspections...

On the morning of Sunday May 26, 2013, the Point Pleasant First Aid and Rescue Squad diver’s Michael Bond, Bob Schmidinger, Milton Rodriguez, Joseph Sinkus, David Gibson, and Chief Diver Chet Nesley met at the squad building with no real plans to dive. However, knowing that a west wind had been blowing hard for the prior day and a half, everyone was curious to see what the water conditions were like. Was the waters visibility atrocious? Perhaps the biggest question in mind was whether the ocean was flat and clear to continue our beach surveys as requested by Point Pleasant Beach, Bayhead and Mantoloking? At 0800 we made our traditional ride down to the foot of Broadway to gage the beach conditions and then to the Manasquan Inlet to check on the water clarity. The water was “lake surface” like and was definitely conducive to shore entry by divers because of the lack of waves. Better yet, it was determined that Rescue 34, our zodiac and jet ski would be great assets in the underwater survey by pulling the divers along behind.

We went back to the building and got our gear and vessels ready for our mission. Our plan was to launch the vessels at the end of Bay Ave, Point Pleasant Beach and have the vessels go through the Point Pleasant canal and Manasquan inlet to meet us just off the beach at Trenton Ave, in Point Pleasant Beach. Dive Unit 347 carried our equipment and divers to the beach, while our first responder vehicle towed and launched our rescue boat and when finished was utilized on the beach to move gear and divers.  To make our plan work we had to make a few phone calls. After all, this was very spur of the moment decision but we could not pass up very good diving conditions. We contacted the squad captain, Sabrina Fioretti who had access to the squad’s first responder vehicle 346, which has four wheel drive and EMT Jerry Meaney who also has a beach capable truck.

As planned Rescue 34 and the jet ski, towed two divers behind underwater. Both divers held onto a line one hundred feet behind the vessels. Every time a diver found a large piece of debris that posed a danger to swimmers, they came up and signaled to the beach surface support on shore. They in turn marked the area in which the debris was found by positioning the vehicle on the beach directly in perpendicular with the divers. By doing this the divers had a point of reference if the object was dropped before recovered. Surveying was done in water depths of as little as three feet and as deep at twelve feet. In the 2.1 mile of Point Pleasant Beach and Bayhead beaches surveyed we found scraps of metal, a sign post, a bed frame and small chunks of masonry blocks which is not a lot for the area we covered. The area was surprisingly clear of debris. 

The safety of our beaches is an ongoing concern and we will be continuing when the conditions both sea state and the visibility underwater allow and manpower is available. As of today, we can say there is no large debris from Manasquan Inlet to Mount Street in Bayhead. Everything is being done to make the beaches as safe as possible by the Townships, Dive Team, the Point Pleasant First Aid and Emergency Squad, the lifeguards, and all the beach owners. No one can guarantee that anything is totally safe. Everyone is doing the best they can.

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Route 35 Bridge Search Project...

The Rescue Dive Team responded to a request from the Point Pleasant Beach Police department to survey the underwater area around the Route 35 bridge over the Manasquan river. This area is often used by swimmers and it is common for people to jump from the bridge abutment into the water…

 

 

The Police department requested a search for potential underwater hazards resulting from hurricane Sandy debris and the removal of any objects that could pose a problem to the swimmers…

 

 

 

Due to the venturi effect around the Route 35 bridge the Dive Team used numerous search lines to complete the search in the selected area. By using a “running jack” pattern the area from the West end of the bridge abutment to under the bridge was searched for debris. Special emphasis was placed on debris that could drift out by current from under the bridge into the open area and the navigable waterways. The Eastside of the bridge was also searched out to twenty feet…

 

The Dive Team did remove a concrete base object with a four foot pipe embedded in it which obviously could have been a hazard if struck by a person jumping from the bridge…  

 

The whole area under the Route 35 bridge was found to be clear of storm debris and in fact the Dive Team has explored and practiced this area in the past and the waterway is cleaner now than before the storm...

 

 

 

 

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6 Months ago.... "Sandy"

Beach Sweep #2 ~Jersey Shore~

The dive team answered a request for our service to do a underwater search of the swimming area off of point pleasant beach. The search was for large debris from super storm sandy and if found to remove it, making the area safe for swimming.

  This is the second time we have done this search in two weeks. The first time was two weeks ago and we searched an area that ran from the inlet to Trenton Ave. (just under an mile) The search was conducted  at high tide  so the area searched will be the swimming area even at low tide. Working in a water depth of between ten and fifteen feet we started the search swimming south.

 Today we started our search at Trenton Ave and worked our way north to the inlet. This made it an easier swim for the divers as they were moving with the current. We had better visibility this time with five feet or more at times.

Teams of two divers were used for the search, It was up to each team as to how far they would go. With a water temperature of 51 degrees and low visibility most teams lasted 40 minutes. Four teams were used the cover the whole area.

Nothing of any size was found, Divers Sue and Ali did find a stereo tuner and the divers on the beach did recovered some bricks and cinder blocks and a concrete fence post. The search area was found to be mostly flat clean sand bottom. There was some small (less than six inches long ) pockets of wood debris that was moving along with the current, but nothing that would appear to pose a risk to swimmers.

This will be an ongoing project as we cannot guarantee as to future conditions.  But we will do our best to make the area safe for everyone.

     As the chief diver for the dive team I would like to thank all the divers and first aiders who gave up fourteen hours over two days to help make this season safer for everyone involved…

Historical Bottle Diggers of Virginia... ~2013~

 

The Dive Team attended and had a display table at the recent bottle show of the Historical Bottle Diggers of Virginia in Harrisonburg, Virginia...

This was a unique opportunity for the team members to show off what they have found over the years as well as showing what the Dive Team has and continues to do for the community.... 

Our display table had a collection including artifacts from numerous shipwrecks along the New Jersey shore, river and tidal zones, and of course bottles found while diving. Special emphasis showed how antique bottles are found by way of "Underwater Bottle Digging" and the condition they are found in. Several visitors to the table stated that they found this tactic very interesting and one person contrasted it to his tactic of "Digging bottles with his debit card" on e-bay...

We were provided with two tables and at first there was a question if we could fill both tables but once the items started to hit the tables it was obvious we did well with our selections of items...

One third of the display was devoted to the marine environment where many of these items were found along with where the Dive Team trains, practices, and performs the procedures as duty requires. Special display was devoted to a pile of fishing sinkers in sand and a description of how the Dive Team has retrieved over 5,600+lbs of sinkers that were sold during the Winter Fisherman's flea markets to support Dive Team functions....

It was a impressive show and one with over 75 tables of bottles and collectibles. It was a great opportunity to speak with other collectors\dealers and to compare prices and regional history of bottles. Several visitors to our display tables described artifacts that they have found over the years including civil war artifacts and the rich history here in the Shenandoah Valley...

 

 

Overall a great day...

Many bottles to look at and discuss...

Numerous people and collectors to meet and talk with...

Pulled pork bbq sandwiches...

And first place award for display and most educational...

Thanks to Chief Diver Chet Nesley who made the 5+ hour ride to the valley and thanks to the Historical Bottle Diggers of Virginia for their hospitality and interest in our "hobby".... 

 

Post Sandy Beach Clean-up...

 

On Sunday the dive team answered a request for our services. A call was made for the team to search the beachs  for storm debris before the start of the swimming season. We were asked to search the shallow waters along the shore for large debris and to remove it.

A plan was made and the call went out for divers, it was a good turnout. We had ten divers and six first aiders show up ready to go to work. We had three trucks on the beach to carry all the dive gear and diver up and down the beach. This made it a lot easier on the divers and saved us a ton of walking.

 The weather was on our side, with sunny skies and waves no bigger than three feet and warm temperatures, not to hot and not to cold!

 

 

 

We put our rescue boat ( rescue 34 ) in the water to ward off wayward boaters and to give surface support to the divers if needed. Tom C. was our coxswain for the day and did a great job. Once rescue 34 got on location we started our search at the foot of broadway.

 

 The plan was for the two divers to go out to between eight and fourteen feet and search swimming south. The search was done on the high tide so even at low tide the area search would be the area used by swimmers. The first team was Joe S. and Tom T. With the water temperatures at 44 and a pretty good surge running also a current running to the north at just under a knot each team was going to be in the water only a little over a half hour.

Tom and Joe got the ball rolling covering over two city blocks, at the end of the dive tom T. got in the boat with tom C. to be on hand if tom C. needed the help. They did run into some small debris pockets, but nothing that would be a risk to swimmers. It was also moving with the current.

 

As teams were getting in and out of the water and gearing up it was the training that both the first aiders and divers had that made it look easy. Everyone helping each other, as divers came out of the water they were helped up the beach to the back of jerry truck and sat down and their gear was removed and the next team was briefed by the first team and geared up and helped into the water.

 

The second team was Sue L. and Ali B. and they showed up the guys today. They covered right up to jenks main building. The first pair of divers were hard to spot from the beach so Sue and Ali were send in with a surface float which made it easier for the shore people to see them. When they came out they reported no debris at all.

 

Joe S. and Bob S. were the next team in and they covered the area from jenk’s main building to pass martell’s. They also find no debris at all.

The last team in was a solo dive done by Chet N. and he covered the last of the search area up to the foot of Trenton ave. He also report no debris.

 

Many people came up to us to find out what we were doing and every one took the time to tell them what and why we were doing the search. It was a long day for everyone. To be in a dry suit for 7 hours is not a good thing. The smell of all the food cooking on the boardwalk had our mouths watering, but food had to wait . We had gear and trucks to clean!

7-11 Support....

 

The Dive Team presented a plaque to Jay Patel who is the owner of the 7-11 store on Broadway in Point Pleasant Beach...

 

Over the years Jay has been a great support to the team by providing aid to the team in many different forms while they return from incident calls and training sessions....

Swept Away......

The stories have been told and retold of the enormous damage Hurricane Sandy caused along the east coast. Today we were reminded of the impact that powerful storm had on the area and how it personally affected one family.

The water wasn’t looking that great for a dive, so the team decided to use the day for boating and search pattern training. It was a good day to hone our skills and teach the newer members some of our procedures. We headed out in Rescue 34 and headed towards the Rt35 Mantaloking Bridge. All along the shore were reminders of Hurricane Sandy. Docks twisted or stripped of planking. Houses that are broken in half or sunken into the ground. Walls crumbled into piles of debris. A house stands in the middle of the waters. Ripped from its foundation and dropped into the bay. The water lapping at the second story windows.

After surveying the area we found a stretch of land to practice our search skills. We split into two teams. Chet, Joe and Sue in Team 1 and Gibby, Sammi and “The Other” Joe in Team 2. The debris field offered a great way to examine how items are affected by strong weather. Here were the remains of a house that was demolished by the estimated 22 knot current created by Hurricane Sandy near the foot of the Mantaloking Bridge. The entire roof was torn from the rest of the structure and floated across the bay.

 

 

As we approached the structure we found a group of people searching through the debris. One of the women, Nancy G., explained that it was her Grandmothers house and that they were collecting things to help recreate what was lost during the storm. She and her son Sam were brought here by Julian. Julian had heard about their loss and called to offer her boat to take them out to the remains of the house. Nancy agreed and invited Charlie, a family friend to accompany them.

We were all moved by their story and offered our help. We sorted through several lifetimes of memories. Furniture, books, clothing, photos, all jumbled together in the attic space. Nancy went back to the dock with the first boat of salvaged items. The boat returned with Nancy’s sister Rebecka on board. She told little stories of each item she tried to save. A favorite T-shirt from when she was a little girl, a chest of blankets, small rolls of fabric that had been used for decorating the downstairs. Each one a small reminder of her family’s life spent in this 85 year old house.

 

We helped supervise a tow of their salvaged items back to their dock and then it was time to call it a day. We were a little tired and a little cold, but we were all happy to be at the right place at the right time to offer a little help.