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′…

Fantastic visibility on wreck of Pinthis

Tied into the Pinthis, seas were glass

I had nothing on my schedule for Sunday and no definitive dive plans. This is one of those rare times when it pays off to keep your last minute options open. I was talking to Heather about something unrelated and she mentioned she had a last minute cancellation on her Sunday trip to the Pinthis.   Of course I immediately jumped on the spot. The Pinthis is one of my favorite New England wreck dives. The Pinthis was a steel coastal oil tanker that that collided with the steamer Fairfax…

Braille dive on the City of Salisbury

I was originally scheduled to dive the Pinthis on the Gauntlet but unfortunately the winds were not cooperative at all this weekend.  It was a nice ride out but the forecast was predicting that winds were going to gust up to 25-30kts SW in the afternoon which would have made for a not-so-great boat ride back from Scituate so Heather opted to stay local and we dove the City of Salisbury which “can” at times have decent visibility.  Keyword here being….can. Dave and Tim splashed in first to set a…

Trip report: World-class wreck diving in Presque Isle, MI with Shipwreck Explorers

Molly V

I will just start by saying it’s been a really busy summer and I haven’t updated this blog as much as I had hoped but I wanted to write a trip report as I just got back from 4 days of diving in Presque Isle, Michigan.  It was some of the best and well preserved wreck diving that I’ve ever done. Seriously the diving up in Presque Isle, MI and in Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary is so worth the trip that I’m already thinking of skipping a warm water vacation…

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…

A weekend of tech diving: From Alma Holmes to the USS Bass

I had a great weekend of tech diving though I didn’t take a camera or GoPro since I just figured I would enjoy the dives without looking at life through a viewfinder.  The water temperatures are finally beginning to warm up into the 50s signaling to me that at least summer is finally here. On Saturday I went out with the Gauntlet (North Atlantic Dive Expeditions). It was literally a last minute split second decision since my car was loaded from the night before and I wanted to dive. I…

Weekend report (CAD and Gauntlet)

Last weekend I decided to forgo the camera and GoPro and just do a few days of diving.   With the wind and rain for most of the week I wasn’t really predicting good visibility. On Saturday I went out with Cape Ann Divers.  We dove the Burnham Rock and then decided to dive the Poling on the way back in.  A lot of regulars were on the boat, including a group from the Metrowest Dive Club. Great charter.  Conditions at Burnham Rock were surprisingly good. We had about 20-25ft of…

Diving the wreck of the SS Romance

On Saturday we had great weather and managed to dive the wreck of S.S. Romance.   The S.S. Romance was a passenger steamship that sank in September 9, 1936 approximately a mile north of Graves Light after she was rammed by the vessel S.S. New York in heavy fog. Miraculously all aboard were saved thanks to the quick thinking and professionalism of the captains and crew of both vessels: Captain Adelbert Wickins of the Romance, and Captain Roland Litchfield of the New York (source). Today the S.S. Romance sits in approximately 80′…

Trip Report: Wreck of the Northern Light & Duane with Horizon Divers

Stern of Northern Light

Arrived at Horizon Divers in the morning at 8am to check-in for Northern Light dive and grab my rental tanks.  I was pleasantly surprised to see my friend Doug at dive shop; He was completing his open circuit trimix class with Dan at Horizon Divers.  Since I was unfamiliar with this wreck I would be tagging along with his group while they did their class. As such it was a shorter runtime. We planned a 25 minute or so bottom time with a total runtime of around 65 minutes due some gas constraints…

Trip Report: Bottle diving, scallop diving & Chester Poling

The weather this weekend turned out better than can be expected for New England winter boat diving.   With the winds blowing for most of the week I did not have high expectations for the conditions but I was pleasantly surprised when the winds finally laid down on Friday and I was greeted with flat and calm seas Saturday morning.   Although I have been diving most weekends in January and February all of these dives have unfortunately been shore dives since pretty much every charter has been blown out this…