Gypsy Blood Dive Report August 25th and 26th

[Gypsy Blood Diver]

Saturday August 25th,

We took a group out from Blue Water Divers and Elite Divers to the Maurice Tracey. We were at the site just before 8:00am, Since the Tracey is a low lying wreck so it took Captain Ryan and Rich a little while to find just the right spot. We had quite a few students on board and we wanted a good spot to tie in. Mike splashed and after the first diver came back on board we found out that Captain Ryan had the drop just 20 feet from the exact spot we wanted. Sometimes it is worth waiting the extra 15 minutes.

On the bottom the visibility was at the 20 plus range and the ambient light was bright and the only we needed our lights for was to look in the holes for bugs, which were everywhere.

After our surface interval we enjoyed our lunch a talked about our second dive. It is nice to see that NOAA is back to its normal forecasting. We were to have had 3 to 5 foot seas and we had somewhere around 2 footers with only a slight wind.

During the 2nd dive I took a little time out to try and show my student how to catch a lobster. After showing him some of the hole they like and how to tell some of the signs, I spotted a monster under a plate with only a line of sand between him and me. I had the student come over and take a look before I pulled the sand back and shoved my hand in and pulled him out. This guy had to be at least 4 Lbs. Oh, did I say this Guy, I meant this Girl. After turning the little lady to show my student that you should check for eggs first, she had a little surprise for me, a tail full of eggs. So I made sure she made here way back into her hole and left her be. Oh well, that is the way it goes sometimes. Time to head back to the tie in and up to the boat.

All in all, a great day to be diving in the Northeast.

Sunday August 26th,

The Diversion Group charter the Gypsy Blood to go to one of our very favorite dive sites, the Great Isaac. NOAA was calling for 10 to 15 kt winds with 20 kt gust this might be a long day. As we exited the inlet, we were greeted with almost flat seas. We left the dock a few minutes before 7:00am and we were at the site right around 8:30am. I motored up waiting to see the Isaac come up on the bottom finder and there she was right were we left her. Shawn went in to do the tie in and to see if he can fill out the rest of his collection. 8:45am and the pool is open. 9:00am and the deck was empty. With Captain Rich with us today, I eagerly waited for the divers to cycle back on the boat for a diver report. They told me that is was pea soup down to 20, but then it opened up to around 30 feet. After almost everyone was back on board, I started to get ready to go visit my favorite wreck. After passing the helm to Captain Rich, I splashed and was created with pea soup. After passing the last few people on the Carolina rig, I glided down the anchor line out of the pea soup and they she was, The Great Isaac laying on her port side.

Shawn had the tie in right in our favorite place. I decided to drop into the hole right the on the top of the wreck. This hole takes you straight down to the Port side of the wreck below the sand. After only a few minutes checking some hole I had been in before, I spotted what looked like the top of a bottle. I started to move things away and instead of a broken bottle which I normally find, there laid a perfect intact liquor bottle. You know these navy guys.

With my find in the bag I headed out of the wreck. I headed down the top side to the sand and headed toward the stern and found Baby Doll nosing her way back into a hole and she pointed me into this hole, so I headed in. I did not see much, but grinning at me back out of my reach was what looked like a nice 4 pounder. This wreck holds a lot of big bugs. The only problem is, they have the best hiding places and they know it.

It was time for me to head back.

As I was getting back on the boat, people were getting ready to get back in the water for their second dive.

All in all, we had couple of lobsters come on board along with our artifacts a nice day on the Isaac.

Thanks to Helen and her group for making this a great day. They are batting a 1000 so far this year with three perfect days on the Gypsy Blood.

Saturday September 1st the Gypsy Blood Crew is taking a day for them selves and we are going to go out do some prospecting.

Sunday September 2nd we have Hunterdon Scuba with a trip to the Venturo Tug. This a great dive site if you have always wanted to try Northeast diving. Please contact them at (908) 806-0555.

Captain Jim