4 replies to this topic

[VADiver]

Last weekend my buddies and I took a trip to Ocean City, MD to dive with Ted Green on the OC Diver. It was a great trip.

Although the OC Diver isn’t a large boat, there is more than enough room to comfortably sit 6 divers plus their gear—two set of doubles, 3x Gavin scooters, and assorted deco bottles. Plus, there are bunks forward for a quick nap while you get to and from the dive site. Ted is a knowledgeable captain and personable—he takes time to answer questions and share diving stories.

Our first dive (Friday) was to the Northern Pacific-a 509’ long ocean liner which caught fire and sank in 1922. She lies at 140’ in cold water.

We planned for two, two man teams with a max bottom time of 30 minutes with limited penetration. We used 21/35 for back gas, 50% for deco and a 6cft bottle of air for our dry suit inflation. My buddy and I were matched with double ST 130s and AL 40 deco bottles; the other team was equipped with the same set up but they had their Gavins (mine remained on deck).

We splashed as a group and hit the downline and got to the wreck where we broke up into our teams to explore the wreck. The viz was about 25’ but we were on a wreck so it was fine. We followed the hull to a break and went inside the wreck—I was in front. After a while my buddy signaled me to exit and when I turned around I saw why-our bubbles were causing silt and particulate to fall off the wreck and decrease visibility. We exited and continued our dive to explore this once proud ship.

At the halfway point we turned and headed back to the anchor line where we met up with the other team. At 30 minutes we thumbed the dive and began our ascent. During our ascent we ran into a layer of crud starting at about 40’ to the surface. It was horrible—even with our 18W HID’s we needed to remain within touch contact the entire time. That layer of crud stood with us the entire weekend. But overall it was a great dive.

After a 2+ hour surface interval we hit the water again to explore the Northern Pacific one more time (similar profile).

Profile
10 5 minutes
20 10 minutes
30 3 minutes
40 1 minute
50 1 minute
60 5 minutes
70 5 minutes (switch to 50%)
80 30 seconds move
90 30 seconds move
100 30 seconds move
110 pause
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140 begin ascent

[WreckWench]

Great report! I felt like I was there!

So how cold was cold???

[Dive_Girl]

Thanks for sharing, and yeah how COLD was it?

[solodiver in nj]

Vinny,
It's a nice wreck, right! We used to hit it out of Cape May, NJ, although have not been on it for awhile. Next time you are up this way give me a shout. Think about the S-5 sometime (same area basically), not visited too often, lots of marine life. How long did it take to reach the Northern Pacific from Maryland?

[VADiver]

Vinny,
It's a nice wreck, right! We used to hit it out of Cape May, NJ, although have not been on it for awhile. Next time you are up this way give me a shout. Think about the S-5 sometime (same area basically), not visited too often, lots of marine life. How long did it take to reach the Northern Pacific from Maryland?

A long time...but after setting up my gear I went below for some shuteye! We mentioned the S-5, but we decided to hit the "terror wreck" instead, but we got blown out. I definately want to hit the NJ wrecks...how much longer are you guys diving?