The Gulf Stream....

My friend and prior Captain of the Sportfishing charter boat Sea Boots that I worked on while living in the Florida Keys, had a interesting tidbit about the Gulf Stream on his weekly radio show "This Week in Fishing"... 

The above photo shows a small fishing boat that snagged a deep water Crab trap rope in it's propeller and was in danger of sinking. It may appear that the fishing boat is "backing down" and the Coast Guard inflatable is in power ahead but in fact both boats are NOT moving and it is the Gulf Stream current running past them. The small Coast Guard boat was not able to cut the trap line and our boat the Sea Boots took tow of the small fishing boat by the bow and pulled it 180degrees into the current where there was then slack in the line to be cut...

Interesting facts about the flow and strength of the Gulf Stream current:

Off the Atlantic seaboard of the United States, the Gulf Stream flows at a rate nearly 300 times faster than the typical flow of the Amazon River. The velocity of the current is fastest near the surface, with the maximum speed typically about 5.6 miles per hour (nine kilometers per hour). The average speed of the Gulf Stream, however, is four miles per hour (6.4 kilometers per hour). The current slows to a speed of about one mile per hour (1.6 kilometers per hour) as it widens to the north.
 
The Gulf Stream transports nearly four billion cubic feet of water per second, an amount greater than that carried by all of the world's rivers combined.

Dive Team Duty Crew "Saves the Day"!!...

 

Point Pleasant First Aid and Emergency Squad, an all volunteer first aid squad, has the coverage area from the Manasquan Inlet to the southern end of Mantoloking where Route 35 splits into two separate highways north and south.

This year the squad and it's Dive Team set up dive duty crews that would make sure they had a Dive Team crew available from 5 PM until 8:30PM. This would allow for quicker response times to water emergencies in their coverage area after the lifeguards went off duty.

Each year more and more people visit the beaches and stay later or just go onto the beach after hours for free. This means more people swimming in unprotected water.

Saturday evening, 8-31-13, on one of the last days of the official season as the Dive Team crew were walking on the beach near Martell's and Jenk's, a woman struck up a conversation, asking why they were there. As they spoke she looked up and saw her son get caught in a RIP CURRENT that sucked the boy underwater. The diver, Paul DeSalvo, sprung into action and swam out and had to search under the surface for the 10 year old. He managed to grab him and bring him back to shore safely.

The entire summer of training and preparing for just such an incident paid off in split second of action.

The odds of him going under while the rescue team was in sight are unbelievable but he is alive and well and, thankfully, not the subject of a search and recovery by the area emergency services.

Several important factors are brought to the squads attention with a call like this;
1st No swimming in unprotected waters unless you have others with you...

2nd  Watch out for Rip Currents. Especially without lifeguards present or after hours or off season...

3rd  If you or a family member are dragged under the water and have water in the lungs and are coughing and spitting up, it is vitally important to seek medical attention at the hospital...

Many people have died from a secondary drowning or "Dry Drowning," where they have enough water in there lungs to suffocate as they lay down or go to sleep.

Enjoy the water but be careful, we want you to come back again next season.

 

 

Dual Wrecks Video....

Dual Wrecks New Jersey Shore

Object recovery...

The Dive Team got another call from Bay Head about another object in the water.  (The last time it was an underwater mine, so now what?)  Tom C. and I headed out to answer the call, ON THE SAME BEACH AS THE MINE, with the First Aid Captain right behind.  On arrival, we spoke with the head of the beach patrol, who informed us of a pipe sticking up out of the bottom in the swimming area.  The lifeguards had tried to pull it out, but couldn’t get it to move.  But they did mark it with a float.

Tom and I suited up in dive gear and Sabrina suited up in her surface rescue gear to be our surface support.  The “dive” part was easy – short swim, flat ocean, and good vis.  Sure enough, attached to the float was a 2 inch diameter steel pipe, with about 5 feet sticking out of the bottom.  We just had to get it out.

The lifeguards had tried to pull it out with no success, so we had no idea how long the rest of it was.  They were thinking we might have to dig, but I was thinking about a WET PAINT sign that makes you want to touch something!  I just gave it a pull, and it started moving.  Being on SCUBA, we could get a good look at how it was inserted into the sand, so we just kept working it from the right angle, and 12-14 feet of pipe came free.  We swam it in and handed it over to beach patrol.

In the meantime, Sabrina did do a bit of talking with people on the beach about the First Aid Squad and Dive Team.  She assured them that, other than this random object, the swimming beaches are generally clean and safe.

A few days later the team got a call from Someone Who Wished He Hadn’t Dropped His Only Boat Keys off a Dock.  He had apparently dropped his only boat keys off a dock and asked if we could help recover them.  We got to the marina and suited up within an hour.

Someone showed us exactly where the keys were dropped, but he was concerned that they might truly be lost - it was only two keys on a large rubber band, the current may have taken them away entirely, and the bay bottom is incredibly muddy in that area.

Even with these challenges, the search area was narrowed down to one boat slip, so we decided to put one diver in at a time.  I started out with maybe 4 INCHES on visibility.  Even on this bright, sunny day, in 7 feet of water, you needed a dive light.  It took 45 minutes, but got the keys back.

Never say Never!

Wooden Boat 2013

Each year we are proud to be a part of the Wooden Boat Festival sponsored by the Toms River Seaport Society and Maritime Museum. The day includes a collection of wooden boats moored along the canal, vendors selling nautical goods, pirates and of course the Pt. Pleasant Dive Team touch tank and display.

 

The Dive Teams day starts at 5:30 am as we don our scuba equipment to collect our specimens for the touch tank. It takes about an hour to collect the proper specimens and enough water to keep our touch tank and our specimens healthy throughout the long day ahead.

Our displays at the festival included photos of various marine life found off the Jersey coast, a multimedia display showing artifact recovery, marine life and Dive Team drills, our shell display case, a sample of our bottle collection and of course “Dry Suit Guy” – a fully suited representation of what equipment we wear during our dives.

We spent quite a bit of time explaining about the different bottles and artifacts we find on our dives. It never fails to interest people when they find out the age of some of the bottles we find. Chief Nesley is quite good at dating bottles and makes it seem so simple once you know the features to identify. One of the games we played was to ask “What is the oldest thing on the table?”. Each time someone from the Dive Team would reply “Chief Nesley!”. Sorry Chief, but you have a few years to go to beat that lump of coal!!

The highlight of our display was our Touch Tank. Kids and adults alike had a great time learning about the marine life of New Jersey from members of our Dive Team. Our Touch tank included specimens such as the Sea Star (or Starfish as most would call them), Spider Crabs, Snails, Hermit Crabs, Star Coral and the Red Bearded Sponge.

The weather was a scorcher this year. Everyone was doing their best to stay in what little shade they could find. Hydration was the key word of the day. Of course a few Italian Ices didn’t hurt either. The canal’s waters were quite tempting throughout the day, but we refrained from jumping in the cool inviting waters in fear that everyone at the festival would join us!

 

12 hours after starting our day and we were finally on our way back to the RR Bridge to release our marine specimens. The Chief and Joe S. took a few minutes in the refreshing waters to cool off. A much needed treat after a long day in the heat.

 

A huge thanks goes out to all who helped make our 2013 Wooden Boat Festival Display a great success. We hope to see everyone next year!

East Coast Scuba "Bottles & Artifacts".

New bottle site up on Facebook with many of the historical bottles found along the East coast.....

Search: East Coast Scuba "Bottles & Artifacts" on Facebook to view the page.....

You never know what you’re going to find!...

 

What started out as just another day of sweeping  the beach’s clear of storm debris turned out to be so much more for the Dive Team. Tom C., Gibby, and I checked the water this morning and saw it was just right for continuing our beach sweeps of the swimming  beachs along the shore. With a flat ocean and good visibility we could get a lot done.

Launching rescue 34 at the foot of bay avenue and coming around  and out into the ocean for the run down the beach to Mount street in Bay Head. We got our tow lines set up and we got the divers in the water and headed south for Mantoloking. Keep in the depth range of eight to ten feet as this is the area that swimmers would be in at low tide.

  After five hours of towing we covered an area from Mount street to just a quarter mile short of the Mantoloking bridge. We called it a day at this point and headed back to get cleaned up. With the boat and all our gear back it the building getting cleaned up, that’s when the real fun started.

 

We got a call from the Bay Head life guards about something in the water and could we come down and check it out. With Gibby and Tom on a first aid call, Sammie and I jumped in 342 with Jerry and Jen and our gear and headed off to Bay head. As we walked down the beach Sabrina the first aid captain came over and told us the life guards would point out where it was. I walked out to the area the life guards were pointing to and started looking for the object, within seconds I found it and started looking really close to it, with one to two foot waves rolling in it was not that easy to get a close look at it.

  It was big and round and made of metal I could see that much but not much more, so I started fanning some of the sand away from it. At some point in time I stood up and let the people on the beach that I was OK. I wanted to mark the spot so I stood on it and took land ranges , It was right about this time at I figured out what I was standing on! It was a bugs bunny moment, If you remember the bugs bunny cartoons as a kid, do remember the one were bugs was in the bomb make plant with the hammer! Well that how I felt, I was standing on an underwater mine! The kind of thing that sink really big ships!  I went down again just to make certain that what I saw.  I could be wrong! I wasn’t, it was a really big mine and it was time for me to go!

Getting back to the beach everyone is looking at me for some idea as to what it is and all I could get out was “call EOD” (you know the navy guys that take care of stuff that blows up!). That got everyone moving ,  mostly off the beach. The Bay Head police took over and we headed back to the building to finish cleaning up and getting everything ready for whatever came our way.

Two hours later we got a call to go stand by in Bay Head as the EOD divers were on scene. We talked to the navy divers and showed them the land ranges for it and they came out and said the same thing I knew, It’s a mine! Plans were made to meet at 0500 the next morning to work on it.

 

 

 

 

 

At 0500 the tide was just coming off low tide and starting to come back in, so  the EOD guys packed ten pounds of C-4 around the mine and sat back and waited for the tide to come in, as they wanted as much water on top of the mine as they could get.

  At 1100 the take cover sound was made and that was the end to the mine! Talking to the EOD guys the mine could have had as much as six hundred pounds of power in it! That would have made a really big bang! But with the mine being flooded none of the mines power went off.

 

 

 

But a really big peace did land on the beach. After the water calmed down the EOD divers went back in the water to check to see at nothing was left. The all clear was sounded and life could go back normal.

  The head of the beach patrol did ask if the dive team could go in and remove anything that was left over from the mine. I told him we would be back in an hour with more divers and the dive truck to do a search of the area.

 

 

Tom C, Gibby, Sammie and I got geared up and headed back to Bay Head to do the search. The plan was I would find the spot the mine was in and mark it and gibby and tom would do half circle sweeps around the marker out to an hundred fifty feet. I found the spot it was in by using my land ranges and found some of the sand bags the navy divers used to hold the C-4 in place. Tom  and gibby did their sweeps and I looked around the sand bags and we did come up with a few parts of the mine. After being in the water over an hour we found what was to be found and finished up. It was nice to get back to the building and get cleaned up.

 

 

Like I said “you never ever know what you’re going to find!

 

 

 

 

 

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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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