Category: Shore Diving

General Butler and Burlington Breakwater DPV Dive (Lake Champlain)

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The NOAA marine forecast for New England did not look great last weekend so both the Saturday and Sunday dive charters I signed up for were cancelled. Shocking I know for this time of year in New England.. 🙁 Since I begrudging spent Saturday working on house projects I needed to dive somewhere on Sunday for my own sanity. We polled the usual dive group and it was decided we would shoot up to Burlington, Vermont (Lake Champlain) and do a DPV dive up there while the water temperatures are…

Friday the 13th Dive Shenanigans: A Night DPV dive to the OJ Walker in Lake Champlain

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Unfortunately my regular dive buddy John decided to abandon me and move to bum-fuck Tennessee. As a result we haven’t gotten any dives in together this year. I don’t blame him (ok only a little bit); The weather is warmer in Tennessee and I’m sure the cost of living is much better than New England / New York. Anyway he still does National Guard in Vermont and flew back this past weekend. We had talked about getting in a dive together when he was here but unfortunately it would have…

Scootering to the OJ Walker in Lake Champlain

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Is the OJ Walker in Lake Champlain a shore dive? It is now.. 🙂 With DPVs anything can be a shore dive it’s just a matter of motivation and perspective. Ok maybe it’s a little more than that but I personally like a good challenge. For those that are unfamiliar with diving in Lake Champlain the OJ Walker is a wreck dive that is north of the Burlington Breakwater in about 60ft. It is typically a dive that you need to a boat to get out to. When I told…

Diving Peirce Island Wall

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Diving Peirce Island

The Return of Diving Peirce Island The weather and tides finally cooperated enough for me to try diving Peirce Island again but this time we wanted to enter at the original entry point.  From my research a couple weeks ago I knew it would be about a 10 minute walk in full SCUBA gear to get to the old entry point for Peirce Island.   This area is unique because there is wall that drops off to ~70ft. The entire wall / rock face is covered in frilled anemones, making it…

Peirce Island Exploration Dive

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Due to the massive construction project that has been going on at Peirce Island I have not been able to dive one of my favorite winter shore diving sites for nudibranch photography.  This has led me to research other possible entry points or dive sites in the Picataqua River.  I’ve only explored a couple areas so far and while I haven’t found anything similar to the massive hydroid field at Peirce, I have managed to find some cool bottles so that has been an added bonus. Since I knew the…

Thompson’s Point Shore Dive in Lake Champlain

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Thompson's Point Lake Champlain

We decided to do something a little different this weekend.  Myself, Matt, Lea and Tom went up to Lake Champlain for some planned exploratory shore diving.  We also figured we would hit some of the restaurants and breweries in Burlington. Thompson’s Point There is an area in Lake Champlain called Thompson’s Point which is rumored to have some very cool topography (vertical wall) underwater.  It’s an area that is also one of the deepest points of the lake. We had no real ambitious plans to go “super” deep but we carried…

5ft of visibility at Old Garden Beach

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Batman hood at Old Garden Beach

The winds and seas weren’t pretty on Friday so Matt opted to cancel the AM and PM charters.   I decided to make the best of it and get a quick dive in at Old Garden Beach where it was a sheltered. Myself, Kim M. and Kate C. and James C. met up for a dive in the afternoon.  Old Garden Beach is a good option on weekdays because you can park right on the street. Kate/James were planning on lobstering while me and Kim toted around cameras. Actually that’s…

2 Hour 15 Minute Shore Dive at Old Garden Beach

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rEvo rebreathers at Old Garden Beach

Because the marine forecast called for high winds 20-25kts SW with gusts up to 30kts Matt decided to bag the charters for Saturday. Instead I met up with Brie and Scott on their rebreathers to do a nice long shore dive at Old Garden Beach.  Me and Matt were originally supposed to drive the Daybreaker down to Scituate to dive the Pinthis but that would have not been a fun ride in a 10kt boat in those conditions. In fact it would have been long and miserable. Anyway, not wanting to…

Nudibranchs and Beer: Shore diving Folly Cove & Back Beach

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I decided to get some open circuit “practice” in on Sunday and Monday and left the rebreather at home. Me and Annie dove Folly Cove on Sunday while Lewis joined us on Monday (Patriot’s Day) at Back Beach.  As much as I hate shore diving I didn’t really want to pay for another two days of charter fees.  It was also pretty windy so I didn’t want to end up getting blown out and then go to a less than optimal dive site.  4 days of diving in row in…