18K POCKET WATCHES

I dove with the Bottom Time yesterday. We left Barnegat Inlet with 8 persons on board - 6 customers, and the Captain and Co-Captain.
Our destination was the San Saba (aka "Magnolia"), a freighter sunken in 1918 by a German mine.

(This freighter was built 1879, powered by coal-fired steam. She was sunk on October 1918, while heading south from New York to Florida. The San Saba was carrying general cargo for the US Railroad administration when it struck a mine off the New Jersey coast. The mine was set by the German U-boat U-117.)

It didn't take long to see that this was going to be a great day for diving. Only a few thin wispy clouds in the sky, and the water was laying down nicely. When we arrived at the site, Gary hooked us in. The sea had taken on that glass-like appearance. A small fishing boat was anchored next to us, and they seemed to be having a bit of luck, so we were hopeful of good fishing below. After jumping in, it was immediately apparent that the vis was going to be great on this dive. 20ft down the line and I could see the strobe flashing on the bottom! I could still see the bottom of the boat at 50-60 ft. Bottom vis was 40-50 feet.

Once we touched down and got situated, my buddy and I headed out. The San Saba is really broken apart, so there's lots of nooks for fish to hang out in. We headed back towards to boilers, and almost immediately I was able to put my gun to use, shooting a 21 inch tog.

Second dive we dug the rubble pile, finding a bunch of screws, a shotgun shell (the metal cap was all that was left) and part of a small crate. Just before we headed up, I shot a 22 inch Sea Bass, and grabbed a small lobster.

Since the vis was so good, lights were only needed for peeking in holes. The water was warm - high 50's - and we got to a max depth of 80 fsw on both dives.

Back on the surface, we swapped fish stories with the other divers and watched as the "big ones" started coming up. Gary brought up a 8 1/2 lb Tog, and Dennis soon arrived with a 9 1/2 pounder! Dennis also recovered an interesting, octagonal green glass bottle that looked like an olive jar.

Back at the dock we enjoyed a few beers while we cleaned the fish, Feeding the skins to the seagulls. Another great day of diving the Jersey coast!

Poor old Thistlegorm (Blue Thistle in Gaelic). A cargo ship, launched in 1940, she was carrying munitions from Glasgow and on her way to the British 8th Army in Egypt. The Med was too dangerous so she sailed round Cape of Good Hope and was anchored waiting clearance to proceed to the Suez Canal when she was spotted by German bombers and was an easy target. 9 men died in the attack. Amongst her cargo were 2 steam locomotives, railway wagons, spare parts for aeroplanes and vehicles, rubber boots, tyres, lorries, motorbikes, rifles, all sorts or ammunition/shells and much more. She now lies between 15m and 30m and is an extremely popular dive spot.