Diving on-board the SEA LION

. . . This Past Week
Nemo

 Thursday the 16th - Capt. Dan Boylan and I moved the boat to Kammerman’s Marina in Atlantic City and other than a quick stop to do a final adjustment to the newly packed stuffing box it was a pleasant and uneventful trip

Friday the 17th – Astra – OPEN We had had been talking about both the Almirante and Mason’s Paddle Wheeler as destinations but since we were going to the “Flour” (Almirante) on Saturday and since the paddle wheeler didn’t elicit a rousing response I decided to head to the Astra, a site where we had recovered some electrical insulators a few years ago. The Astra was built in Denmark in 1945 and is very similar in design to the Tolten but a bit larger at 333 X 51 ft. and 2709 gross tons. She was sunk in a collision with the Steel Inventor March 30th 1951 while carrying automobiles and general cargo. I put the hook in the stern section where the insulators had been found and mentioned that the stern house could also produce galley items. Now the stern didn’t produce any galley items it did produce electrical parts, lots and lots of insulators, and other electrical components.

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The Peirce insulators are a standard dead-end spool.  These were commonly used to tie off power drops on houses or other buildings.  They were extensively used from the 1930's through the 1950's

You just have to love it when you hit crates and crates of cargo, every wooden box you break open is like Christmas morning. Before we left I made sure I had the spot marked and a good set of numbers for the forward section of the wreck since after the storm it had been difficult for the divers to find it by just swimming from the stern.

Saturday the 18th – Almirante 65’- Atlantic Divers The Almirante was built in Ireland in 1909, 378 feet long with a 50 foot beam. She was owned by the United Fruit Company and carried both cargo and passengers. Sunk in a collision with the tanker Hisko September 6th 1918. After Friday I didn’t think it could get much better Saturday but the weather continued to be perfect and more cool and interesting stuff came over the rail.

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Along with the large antique anchor and the quadruple size cold water faucet a very rare piece of ships china was found with the United Fruit Company’s logo. Although the wreck is dove fairly regularly and has produced numerous artifacts over the years very little ships china has ever been found. When asked where he found it the diver stated “on the wreck”, yeah gotta go back there too.

All in all a great couple of days down in AC, the only down side was that the weather turned ugly and we only got two days in but then again it’s a perfect excuse to head back down there sooner than later

This Week

We’ll be back up in Brielle for Memorial Day weekend

Saturday the 25th – OPEN – Maurice Tracy 65’ The Tracy is an interesting little wreck with the majority of the structure behind the two massive boilers but there are small patches that will lead you to the bow if you’re looking for lobsters. As of right now I’m a little light and we could use a few more divers to round this trip out.

Sunday the 26th – Mohawk 80’ - Lakeland Divers Lakeland has me chartered to the Mohawk on Sunday. The Mohawk still produces numerous artifacts both from the ship itself and from it’s cargo.  Lakeland still has room, they can be reached at 973-887-0194

Monday the 27th – OPEN – Captains Choice less than 100’  This will be a nice laid back end for the Memorial Day weekend. Probably go out and look at some of the less visited wrecks.

Next Week

Atlantic City Special

  A special and early return to Kammerman’s Marina in Atlantic City. After our highly successful but weather shortened trip we will be returning to Atlantic City to continue diving with Gene Peterson’s “Wrecksters”.

Wednesday the 29th through Sunday June 2nd

The Sea Lion is coming back to Atlantic City.  Starting with TWO BIG DAYS!!!!:

Wednesday May 29, 7 a.m. and May 30 7 a.m.

Almirante 65 feet-   Porthole – China!!!!  Bonanza!!

We plan on digging and mining the china hole for two days!

Friday May 31, 7 a.m.  San Jose 120 feet - Sister ship of the Almirante.  Lots of great hardware and assorted cargo remains! Also known as the lobster hole.

Saturday June 1, 7 a.m. Lake Frampton 85 feet, -   the yet to be positively identified cargo ship. An old Great Lakes steamer.  

Sunday June 2, 7 a.m.  - Gene’s Birthday Dive! 65 feet…Help make Gene’s birthday a memorable one. Nothing says happy birthday like cake served on ships china.

In that Gene has all five charters sign-up will be through Atlantic Divers

CALL (609) 641-7722 TODAY. 

Directions To Kammerman's

 As usual, “A good time will be had by few.”

Sign up for all so you don’t miss the adventure!  Limited Spots!

Captain Al 
SEA LION  

NOTE: One thing to keep in mind is that OPEN destinations are really just suggestions on my part, unless the trip is scheduled as a “Special” but If you have somewhere you want to get to let me know and if we have the divers and the weather that’s where we’ll head.

For any of the OPEN boats or if you'd like to get out on any day not listed I can be reached at either 973-887-DEEP (3337) or my cell 201-401-4608 Keep in mind that although The 2013 schedule will soon be on-line there are very often additions to the published schedule.    

We are always looking to put together weekday trips. If you're intersted in diving during the week, let me know which day/days work for you and we will try to put a boat together.

We have established a divers e-mail list and if you'd like to be included send the message “ please add me to the SEA LION diver list ” to sealion@atlantic-wreckdivers.com . If you are also available for weekday dives please include the words “ weekdays also ”. If you are only available for weekday dives please include "weekdays only ".

You'll receive information about up-coming dives and trip reports.