Kayaking at the Blue Hole

[DeepXplor]

Hi Al, The water offshore is better than you think. Ed Campball and I use to be dive buddies and we did a lot of Jersey diving. Jersey is known for it's 5000 ship wrecks, some of them only a piece or two, but we are shipwreck divers and occasionally we will take a lobster or two. Since they stopped ocean dumping the visability offshore is generally 40 feet. When they were doing the dumping it was around 15 feet. My wife and I go to the Cayman Is once in a while, to dive with the fish, but we like shipwrecks, real ones, not artificial reefs. Ed and I both have many artifacts from our diving experiences, not worth any money, but memorabilia to us.

Tony

 

[manumuskin]

I have the book "Shipwrecks of the Mid Atalantic" and it shows several wrecks slong the nj coast.I know here in delaware bay we have a place called Money Island west of Fortescue named for pieces of eight that are occasionally found on the beach there.Rumors of a sunken spanish galleon offshore is supposed to be the source.Of course the waters of delaware bay have horrible visibility and the ship is probably buried in mud way. offshore since the shore was much further out then.I'm also a big Civil war fan and like the stories of the wrecks they've found to do with that.I am amazed at how long it takes them to restore ships like the Hunley.It takes as long almost to restore the ship as it was under water.
Have you ever attempted cave diving?I use to be a caver but never attempted cave diving.Most of them don't live that long.I believe on a per person basis it is the most deadly sport of all.Florida springs are not so bad because they have good visibility but sump diving is a killer.It's ashame because there is so much nice passage I'll never see because theonly way to get to it is diving sumps.I could handle spring diving but don't know how I'd react in a tight spot in a visibility blackout.Then again there are no sharks in sumps
Al

 

[DeepXplor]

I agree on the visibility in Del Bay, not too many dive the bay because of that. I tried to dive the Atlantus off of Cape May point but the current was too great and that was the end of my Del Bay experience. I always liked to fish the Bay down at Brandywine Light. I don't know of any Spanish Galleons in NJ waters or Civil War type ships. Ed Campbell and I dove the oldest shipwreck in NJ in the Mullica, just up from Chestnut Neck, It is a British Warship called the "City of Venus" sank in 1778, not much left of it as it was torched to the water line by the colonist and it has been under water so long that time and currents have taken it's tool. There are a few timbers left. Never done cave diving although some wreck diver take the course to improve their wreck diving skills.

 

[manumuskin]

The Hunley was sunk off of Hatteras.Didn't mean to give the impression it was near NJ.How was visibility in the Mullica? I doubt good.

 

[DeepXplor]

Visibility in the Mullica is rated in inches, not feet. We call it braille diving. The Hunley, which Clive Cussler takes credit for finding, is being restored. What takes time is to have all the salt removed from the metal. It usually takes years soaked in fresh water, changed frequently and a electrolisis devise to attract the salt out of the metal.

 

[ecampbell]

The Hunley was sunk off Charleston, SC., I think it was the Monitor off of Hatteras.
The Mullica is what we call a brail dive, you have to feel your way. At 8 feet it was dark and even with a high powered light at best you could see 6 inches.
Although not a cave dive we did do wreck penetration. This was possible only on deeper dives where the wreck was somewhat intact. The shallow ones were blown up as hazards to navigation. It is really weird going through a sideways door and seeing tables bolted to what now is a wall.

 

[piker56]

Thanks. A little while after I posted that I checked out the "Paddling in the Pines" web site
http://www.njpinelandsanddownjersey...ser_op=view_page&PAGE_id=12&MMN_position=37:3

They indicate a paddle from New Brooklyn Lake down to Piney Hallow Road past the Blue Hole. Unfortunately, they don't mention any canoe/kayak rental places that do this, so it's difficult to get info on whether it's passable by kayak.

I canoed the section from Winslow road to Piney hollow Road about 5 or 6 years ago (I think). We needed a chain saw to get past some blowdowns, and there were a lot of portages. It was a beautiful scenic paddle, but it was a lot of work. I hike that area, but most likely won't try to paddle it again. Age is catching up with me, I guess. I'll stick to the Batsto.

 

[pinelandpaddler]

The Hunley was sunk off Charleston, SC., I think it was the Monitor off of Hatteras.
The Mullica is what we call a brail dive, you have to feel your way. At 8 feet it was dark and even with a high powered light at best you could see 6 inches.
Although not a cave dive we did do wreck penetration. This was possible only on deeper dives where the wreck was somewhat intact. The shallow ones were blown up as hazards to navigation. It is really weird going through a sideways door and seeing tables bolted to what now is a wall.

Ed, check this out: