Shipwrecks and the remains of the wharf at Herman City

[pinelandpaddler]

On Sunday, I ventured out with my friend Yvonne (infinite sameness) to Hermann City.

Moose, the beast of the Batsto, walking in one of the draft tunnels from the old glass factory:

One of several structural remains along the landing area:

More remains:

And some more:

The Mullica River has a long story to tell and many secrets to share. I could look upon her forever and never lose interest.

All in all, it was a nice outing on a beautiful December day.

The sun retires over the River:

 

[ecampbell]

A very interesting history on that river. Years back I dove on the Zebra wreck at Chestnut Neck. Plenty of timbers and melted glass and beads. From what I recall the patriots burned many vessels at that location to keep them from falling into British hands. It was what we call a brail dive because the ceader water is so murky we could only see about 6 inches, even with very powerful lights.

Ed

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Ed, that is awesome. Doing stuff like that is a dream of mine. How long ago did you do the Zebra dive?

There is a wreck on Bass River (at least I think it is on that river) known as the "bead wreck". Do you know the story behind all these beads?

 

[Teegate]

I edited the photo since they were not showing up in either browser I have. Something was not quite right. They should show up fine now.


Very nice Gabe.

Guy

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Thanks Guy. I wonder what went wrong...

 

[bobpbx]

Nice photos Gabe.

I love that dog Moose. He is a mighty swimmer. He swims right up the river as Gabe paddles. Even against the tide, right Gabe? He was in the water in the cold?

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Yeah, Moose has been known to swim multiple miles against the current. He doesn't do much swimming in the cold weather, though. He and I are roaming the Pines by foot until Spring.

 

[woodjin]

Great photos Gabe!! The mullica is amazing for both it's beauty and history...and it's secrets.

Jeff

 

[Ben Ruset]

A long, long time ago I met a "piney" at the Green Bank Inn by the name of Captain Norm. He said that there were wrecks of British Ships in the Mullica and that they had gold coins and whatnot aboard. This was after he had done several shots of applejack, so who knows. He did say that he wanted to get a metal detector and go searching for those coins someday.

I wonder if he ever got his chance?

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Ben, Captain Norm passed away last week, I am sad to say. He will be missed around these parts. He had his share of stories to tell and always made for entertainign company. God rest his soul.

 

[ecampbell]

Ed, that is awesome. Doing stuff like that is a dream of mine. How long ago did you do the Zebra dive?

There is a wreck on Bass River (at least I think it is on that river) known as the "bead wreck". Do you know the story behind all these beads?

I found my old log from that dive! It was also called the bead wreck. Here is part of it:

Aug 10 1988, 17 feet max depth, water temp 82 degrees


"This is a revolutionary war wreck at Chestnut Neck just inland of the Parkway bridge. Speculation is that it's the Venus of London. It was a war prize, seized by the Americans from the British, scuttled by the Americans when the Brits came up the Mullica. The Brits burned it on Oct 6, 1778. The wreck was in the mud, but the channel changed and washed it out. It was at a depth of 10 feet, but fell into the channel to 30 feet. Vis was 1 foot -. The keel is visible with the joints and tree nail holes....."

I dove it with a New Jersey archeologist, and don't know if the facts are entirely true. It had a grid laid out on it. I'm sure much of it is still there. As for the beads, probably for trading with the natives. The larger melted pieces of glass were turquoise in color.

I have over 400 logged dives off the coast of NJ, all wreck. It was before the internet so I did my research by going to Princeton University and using their microfilm archives. It was really a trip to read first hand what happened and then enter a time capsule. Sometimes we spoke their names over the wreck on the anniversary of their sinking.

Well this is getting long winded, but it was my passion.

Ed

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Ed, thanks for sharing that. Do you not dive anymore?

Was it the Venus or the Zebra that you dove?

 

[bobpbx]

That is very cool Ed. How come you never mentioned it before?

From a review of Jersey Genesis:

"For some of the material in this part of 'Genesis', Beck digs information out of the late Gus Schneider, who made it a favorite hobby to collect the legends of British ships and Patriot resistance. Beck meets his match with Gus, for as the locals tell Beck about Gus;..."he don't write like you do....he just digs things up out of the river to prove its all true".

 

[Ben Ruset]

Ben, Captain Norm passed away last week, I am sad to say. He will be missed around these parts. He had his share of stories to tell and always made for entertainign company. God rest his soul.

That's a damn shame. He had plenty of stories and was genuinely upset that I didn't have any to share as well. I was always hoping to run into him again one of these days.

 

[Sue Gremlin]

Ed, that is really cool, I didn't know there were other divers here. I am very envious of your dive adventures in NJ. I've made many attempts to see some of the wrecks here but have never succeeded, I am sorry to say, because of my little seasick problem.

 

[ecampbell]

Ed, thanks for sharing that. Do you not dive anymore?

Was it the Venus or the Zebra that you dove?

I was told it was probably the Venus. The name Zebra stuck in my head because that ship was supposed to be there and we were discussing it.

No, I don't dive anymore. To dive NJ is very intensive and now quite expensive. We used to go out a couple of times a week, either chartering a boat or use a friends. It takes at least one dive just to get oriented. There was little time in my life for anything else.

We had plans to dive the pond at Batsto, but that never came to pass.
The Battle of Chestnut Neck

http://www.usgennet.org/usa/nj/county/atlantic/Pinelands/ChestnutNeck.htm

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Sue,

At least you tried to find the wrecks. A noble pursuit! Where did you look for them?

 

[pinelandpaddler]

Ed, did you have your own diving gear, or did you rent it? Can you tell em a bit about what makes NJ diving intense?

 

[LARGO]

I have swam & snork'd in the Keys. Marathon on the gulf side. I have never dived anywhere. Down there the visibility is astounding. Even if you are Jet Ski-ing and park/float, you can see alot. The very light almost pale green of the waters down there differs quite a bit from up here.
This is just a guess, but I assume Jersey's waters inland and Shores/Bays alike are a bit murkey and limiting. At least from my best swimming experiences.
Is that the case on the whole Ed? By the way, your little hobby must be a memory that rocks!

G.

 

[woodjin]

I never knew this about you either Ed. Very very interesting. I am surprised you haven't made this common knowledge to us. If I had done these things I'd be bragging about it till someone told me to shut up

Jeff