Trip Report: Wreck of the Baleen with Daybreaker

Wreck of Baleen

I crewed on both the morning and afternoon charters this Saturday for Matt.  On the morning charter we went to Halfway Rock and Southeast Breakers with a group from East Coast Divers. On the afternoon charter we made it out to the wreck of the Baleen. In the morning we had a bit of an incoming swell but otherwise topside conditions were great. Divers reported approximately 10-20ft of visibility. They said it varied depending on depth.  We spotted harbor seals on the surface and a whale off in the distance.…

Trip Report: F/V Patriot Wreck with Cape Ann Charters (Daybreaker)

F/V Patriot

Quick Trip Report We managed to sneak out and get two great dives in this morning on the F/V Patriot in Stellwagen Bank.   East Coast Divers had booked a full charter and we had great group of divers on-board the Daybreaker. Managing to get out to Stellwagen Bank in the fall is always a risk especially in October but nevertheless we had good conditions on the way out.  Flat calm seas and very little swell. Unfortunately things picked up a bit (as the marine forecast predicted) in the afternoon as…

Goosefish on the wreck of Patriot in Stellwagen Bank

Wreck of F/V Patriot

The trend of good weather continued on Sunday for our charter out to the wreck of the Patriot.  East Coast Divers chartered the boat to dive the wreck of the F/V Patriot in Stellwagen Bank. The Patriot was a 62ft steel-hulled western rig dragger that sank on January 3 2009 with the loss of her two crew members. Today she sits in approximately 100ft of water in Stellwagen Bank off the coast of Massachusetts.  A Coast Guard investigation found the cause of sinking to be the result of a rapid…

Wreck of the Northern Voyager

Mooring on Northern Voyager

The weather looked much better on Saturday but the winds were “predicted” to be a little dicey on Saturday morning so instead of motoring out to the wreck of the Coyote we opted to dive the wreck of Northern Voyager which sits behind Thatcher Island and is a much closer run. Thankfully the weather and the marine forecast were completely wrong. There was not a ripple in Lake Atlantic this morning.   It was an absolutely fantastic morning. The Northern Voyager was 144ft factory fishing ship that sunk in 180′…

Morning and afternoon charters aboard Daybreaker

Daybreaker

I was scheduled to crew for both the morning and afternoon charters this Saturday aboard the Daybreaker with Matt.    The morning charter was scheduled to go to the Big Fantastic Wall (BFW) and Diver’s Choice and the afternoon charter was scheduled to go to Halfway Rock and then back to Big Fantastic Wall (BFW) again. On the morning charter we had a full boat combined with an advanced nitrox/deco procedures class being taught in sidemount. Knowing full well the amount of gear and tanks that typically ends up on…

New York Central 14-II & Chester Poling with Daybreaker

Matt on Chester Poling

I had two nice dives today on the Daybreaker.  We dove the Pug and the Chester Poling since Matt was doing a helitrox class with Sang and Eric on their rebreathers.  I think John may have been tagging along for Advanced Nitrox/Deco Procedures training as well. We had surprisingly decent visibility on the New York Central 14-II which tends to have crappier visibility in the summer.   The good thing about the New York Central 14-II aka Pug wreck is that the hull is largely intact so it’s an extremely…

Great day of lobstering and playing with seals at Dry Salvages!

Me and Annie decided to jump on a charter with some friends on the Daybreaker (Cape Ann Charters).  The conditions and visibility were great.  Visibility was approximately 20-25ft+ with water temperatures in mid-50s at depth. We managed to hit our limit on lobsters (15..) very easily.   We also had a bunch of seal encounters. That is another reason I really like diving at Dry Salvages. The seals are always a lot more curious and friendly compared to Graves Light.

Brenton Reef Lightship (LV39) or bust with Daybreaker..

I had a great dive today on the Brenton Reef Lightship (LV39). Matt and Marissa nailed the shotline drop and we were right on it. Since Matt was having some slight technical difficulties I decided to join Josh and Nate on their dive.  Diving with them is always great because that means you’re almost guarantied entertainment and some good pictures especially with Nate 🙂  It’s like having your own personal photographer. Visibility was at least 25ft in some spots judging from horizontal distance from strobes. Brenton Reef Lightship (LV39) Max…

Of wrecks, ledges and botched mooring jobs: City of Salisbury, Jeffrey’s Ledge and the Nina T clusterfuck

I started the weekend a little early by taking a half day on Friday to crew.  We were scheduled to dive Graves Light and the City of Salisbury wreck with a good group of divers from Maine that chartered the boat.    The weather was perfect and I believe this was the first charter that I’ve worked this season that we had a majority of people in wetsuits.  **Brr** Since I’m a “warm water wimp” I stuck to my drysuit. Capt. Chris was running the boat with me as crew…