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Time for some work on the boat! Today we’re doing some work on the deck of Rick’s boat; the tiles on it needed to be pulled up and replaced with a new surface that’s easy to clean and safe to work on. The original tiles were laid down with roofing tar, so this took some time, but we were able to peel them all out by mid-day, and it was super satisfying to see them all come up.

The next part of the day was drysuit time. Rick showed me the best way to take care of and don my new Fourth Element drysuit, since I’ve never used a neoprene drysuit. Once I was in my undergarments and suit, I was shocked at how comfortable it all was! Then it was time to get into the water. In order to get comfortable in the new suit, as well as reaffirm some foundational skills, Rick had me practice my frog kick, back kick, and helicopter turns in order to build comfort and stability stemming from slow and controlled movements. Thank you again to Fourth Element for providing such a comfortable and warm Hydra drysuit, along with super cozy and flexible xerotherm undergarments!

Once Rick and I had finished this practice, he got a call from a client about an emergency job, so Rick, Dave, Austin, and I all loaded up and headed to the job site. When we arrived at the job, I was shocked by how large the ship we were working on was! The ship had apparently gotten line caught in it’s propulsion system while traveling, and needed it removed urgently. For a job like this, it was necessary that the diver was utilizing surface supplied air with a method of communication. Dave got suited up and ready to go in while the site was prepared with a ladder for his exit. Rick and Austin both showed me the proper way to tend Dave’s helmet and umbilical. This is crucial because Dave needs enough slack on his umbilical move around the site, but enough tension so that the line doesn’t get tangled on himself or any site hazards. Dave entered the water and was able to find the ships propellers, and remove the obstructions. What we thought was a line was apparently a ton of netting! The work Rick and his team did was able to keep a ship functioning and a benefit an entire company!

Time for day two of work with Shoreline Diving. After getting prepped for another days worth of work, Rick, Dave, Austin and I headed out for a ride around the harbor to plan where the new moorings would be anchored in. Rick was able to plan the new moorings to be neatly in line with the existing ones, and was able to get them in sufficiently deep water. Once it was time to drill in the moorings, both Rick and Austin got into the water to work. Rick was on SCUBA, while Austin was utilizing surface supplied air while wearing a commercial diving helmet. This system means that Austin wears the helmet while diving, and his primary air supply is left in large bank bottles on the boat connected by an umbilical hose. I have never seen this done in person, and it was super interesting to learn how everything was connected together. Plus it was impressive how clear the communication was between the diver wearing the hat and their surface support! Rick and Austin worked on two more moorings, finishing the work from yesterday, and then it was time to head back to shore. We all enjoyed pizza together, and then it was time to clean the boat. Getting rid of all the silt and algae from the past days work took some time, but having a clean boat was crucial to having an efficient and safe work environment.

Once the boat was scrubbed down, Rick and I took some time to go over some important skills and knowledge when wreck diving in New England. These skills included an introduction to running a reel/line, as well as reviewing things such as dive planning and gas considerations. Rick explained that using a wreck reel was super important in our local waters, due to changes in both visibility and current, so that we can always find our way back to the boat. Using the reel for the first time showed that I had a ton to learn, since you always need to keep tension on the line to prevent it from getting tangled in itself or the wreck. Thank you to Rick for giving me a Manta Reel, and some other equipment which I have a feeling I will use a ton in the coming weeks!

 

With these lessons from Rick, I headed off for the day, but before going home, I got to go pick up a new dry suit provided to me by Fourth Element! Thank you so much to Fourth Element for their Hydra dry suit, as well as a set of Xerotherm Undergarments. I look forward to using them on an upcoming dive!

Today was another super insightful day, and I look forward to learning even more.

Hi everyone! My name is Brady Watson, and I’m so thankful and excited to be the 2023 Summer Intern for the Boston Sea Rovers! For my first assignment of the summer I get to work with Rick Simon and his crew from Shoreline Diving. We started the day meeting at Rick’s boat in Connecticut bright and early to get a start on the day. Starting with loading up the boat with help from Ricks employees Dave and Austin, the boat was packed with a ton of different tools and hardware which we would need for the day. Then we headed out for a day of work. On the docket today was a mix of work on different boat moorings in the area. Shoreline has numerous jobs dealing with inspecting existing moorings, or even placing new ones. When we arrived at the first mooring of the day, the entire shoreline crew worked to attach the boat so we wouldn’t float away, and then replace the steel chain that had been worn down over years in the water. I never imagined steel chain could wear down so thin, but it’s crazy to see how thin it got! Rick explained that the constant tugging combined with the friction from sand caused the chain to wear down within only a few years.

After working on 2 different mooring inspections, we had a great lunch cooked by Rick on the grill, plus some amazing blueberry cheesecake provided by a super sweet customer! After lunch we moved closer to home to install a few new moorings. Rick let me hop in with him to see how these were installed. The entire process has a ton of steps, but Rick, Dave, and Austin work great together to ensure every step is done efficiently and safely. Including preparing the heavy equipment such as an auger (a hydraulic drill) which was lowered into the water with a lift bag attached so that it was easily handleable beneath the surface. After dropping some of the pieces into the water, Rick and I swam down so I could watch as he drilled a long helical anchor into the substrate, then capped it off with a termination piece, and finally bolted in the moorings chain and buoy. Once the new moorings were in place, we headed back to shore for the day. It’s clear that the work Rick and Shoreline do is super important, and I have a ton to learn. I can’t wait for the rest of the week! 🙂

It is Saturday morning, and I am starting my journey to Point Pleasant New Jersey where I will be boarding the D.V. Tenacious. Jenn Selleti, and Joe Mazraani have invited me on their boat (D.V. Tenacious) for two days so that I can learn more about deep diving and artifact recovery. We will be heading to two wrecks, the Texel and then the Carolina.

I helped load gear onto the boat and met everyone who would be diving. That was Rick Simon, Joe Maz, Joe (not the same one), Chris, another Chris but we called him Tattoo Steve. And then Jenn and I would be topside while they dove down past 200 feet. I brought my dive gear with me just in case I got to dive down to the safety stop, just for the experience. 

We all got dinner near the marina, and Joe treated me which was very nice. We will be driving through the night at a slow and steady pace to get to the first wreck by sunrise. That is 85 miles offshore, crazy! Each of us would take shifts being awake. This entailed sitting in the captain’s seat and making sure no boats were directly in our way, and that our autopilot heading stayed correct. I was lucky and got the 5-6am shift so I got to sleep through the night. Mine was also the last shift, so everyone was starting to wake up to get into dive gear, and Joe Maz was up to position us right over the wreck.

In order to secure the boat, someone has to start their dive by securing the anchor. This is very important to make sure the boat doesn’t drag the anchor. So, Tattoo Steve and Chris got in first, as they will secure the anchor and also tend to have the longest bottom times. Then Rick and Joe suited up and got in about 30 minutes later. Their dives will be about 2 hours depending on how long they stay at the bottom. More button time means more decompression.

It was super interesting to see them get geared up, as they have so much extra protection and tanks that were backup in case their rebreather had any issues. Once the first group came up from their dive, Joe Maz went down. Since the group was only doing one dive on this wreck (the Texel), Joe Maz was in charge of making sure the anchor was free. The dive went smoothly and they told me about everything that was down there. The last time Rick had dove this wreck, one of his close friends died and he had to recover the body so it was hard for him to do this wreck. Rick and Joe Maz said some words in memory and floated a bouquet of roses for him over the wreck. 

We then drove to the next wreck which was only a few miles away. This wreck is actually owned by Joe Maz, so people have to get permission from him before they dive it. They will be doing one dive here this afternoon and one tomorrow morning.

They geared up the same way, and Tattoo Steve secured the anchor again. It was such a beautiful day. They gave me permission to hold on to the rope that they use for decompression and go down to about 30 feet. I was excited because I could see a ton of jellyfish in the water. The current was super strong, so I made sure I was holding onto the rope tightly. I stayed for about 15 minutes, then surfaced, because I didn’t want to get in the way of the first group’s decompression. With the current and the jellyfish, it felt like I was in a snowstorm. The water was wicked warm too, an unreal experience. When everyone else surfaced, they all had brought up different artifacts. Joe Maz had recovered intact china and gifted me a potato bowl. So cool!

Tattoo Steve really wanted to go on a third dive at like 6pm to retrieve a deadlight he had found. So he did, and was able to break it free, and shoot it to the surface with a lift bag. He was very excited about this artifact. 

We had burgers that Jenn made and lobster that they had snagged on their dive for dinner. It was a great way to end the day. Similar to the night before, someone always has to be awake to make sure no boats are coming near us. Since we are anchored, we can’t move so we would have to radio the other boat to go around us. My watch was from 4-5am, and I saw no boats.

The next morning, the water was much rougher and a storm was coming. They guys got in to dive as early as possible (6am) so that we could head back to land as soon as possible. The waves picked up when 4 divers were still down, and it caused us to drag the anchor almost a mile. They all know what to do in that situation and everything worked out okay.

We had to shut the cabin up, it was a wet ride back because of the waves and storm. I helped clean and move gear and then Rick and I headed out. I had such a great time and learned a lot about salvage and deep dives. Thank you so much to the D. V. Tenacious crew I will remember this forever!

No diving today since I fly tomorrow. Instead we will be exploring the South West side of the Island. Before we went there, we traveled to the mouth of a river where there was rumored to be a Beluga Whale carcass. We could smell it as soon as we pulled up, and just had to find it.  We did find it, it was pretty old and shriveled up, but you could see its teeth and jawbone which was really cool.

We then drove to the South West point, which had the old lighthouse still standing. We walked around the whole point and found a TON of crinoid stem fossils. They were everywhere! It was a beautiful coastline and I collected some shells on the way. There is a cemetery too, which Julie and I approached, and did a loop around the lighthouse structure. Michel flew his drone and got some wicked cool video from above the lighthouse looking down. 

On the way out the roads were really tight and bumpy so we had to be careful. Back on the main road, we got a flat tire. Michel tried to patch it and refill it with… a scuba tank! However, the patch wouldn’t hold so we changed the tire and headed home.

We saw a ton of foxes on the way home and I got a decent photo of one! All the other photos I had taken of foxes where too far away, but this was close enough to see his face. When we got back we collected all my gear that had been drying and I packed it up. I had a great time staying with Michel and Julie on Anticosti, and I hope to return to this island one day. We celebrated the week with some pizza, and talked about everything we did. Thank you so much for hosting me, it was a unique and amazing experience that I will never forget!

The weather is pretty bad today, with strong winds in the afternoon. We decided we would still dive, but just off the pier instead of going out on the boat. Michel said he would help me practice my turns using just my fins, along with the modified frog kick, and attempting to move backwards.

We suited up and walked down the trailer ramp and got our fins on. The wind was picking up making the waves choppy. We found a spot with 5 ft visibility which was good for this area. There were a ton of lobsters on the bottom, I had never seen that many in one spot. We started with turns, using just one fin to rotate. Michel helped position my ankle and told me to lock it in that position and this helped me learn the skill so much quicker. I got the modified frog kick, but the helicopter turn and backing up was much harder. Super glad we got in the water and did these skills as they also helped make sure I was flat in the water and had good trim. 

For the rest of the afternoon, I reviewed photos with Michel and discussed what was good, and what could be changed. Then, Julie and Michel talked with me about my presentation and how to best present the internship. I thought of a lot of ideas and ways I could structure it, and I plan to start working on it at home when I have my laptop.

Diving day today! We are heading way East, farther than Michel and Julie have ever explored by boat. The sea was wicked calm today, so it was an easy ride there. We will be diving a wreck! I will be the first woman and youngest person to ever dive it! It is very unexplored so this is an amazing opportunity. Michel and I suited up and got ready for the dive. The boat that was wrecked was being pulled by a tugboat and the rope snapped and it sank on the reef. The exact same thing happened to another vessel, but most of that one is above water and left exposed.

We swam to the first exposed piece as Michel wanted to get a split shot. The visibility was pretty bad though, so I didn’t have much luck taking photos. We descended and explored a bit and made our way to the boilers. Half of the boilers were also sticking out of the water so I tried a split shot but didn’t have much success. Our dive was almost an hour long (but in shallow water) so we swam back to the boat. Julie also wanted to dive the wreck so I stayed in the water and explored with her. Past the wreck there were SO many sea urchins. They all had rocks or other shells covering them. It reminded me of what an octopus does to camouflage themself.

It was a long journey back by boat, but the weather was great and the water was still flat. We spotted a type of penguin, whale, and plenty of seals on the ride back. 

We cleaned everything when we got back and inspected the props to make sure nothing was wrong. One of the pieces of the boat (like the sealed patch part) was coming off, so Michel and I worked to dry it so we could glue it back tomorrow. We had Pâté for dinner, and I tried duck and deer for the first time. 

Instead of going out on the water, we will be exploring a bunch of places on land. We left around 9am and drove about 2 hours to our first stop. This was the Baie-De-La-Tour. Michel and Julie have a picture of this on their ecotour website, and I was wicked excited to see it in person. It is a massive cliff face with tons of fossils that have been exposed over the years. I thought the one two days ago was big, but this one towers over it. While walking the beach, I took a bunch of photos and even found three deer legs! 

We then drove to the Vauréal Waterfall and had lunch. I turned down my shutter speed while taking pictures of the waterfall to try to get the water more soft looking. We also went to Observation Canyon and took some more photos. It was so sunny and beautiful and I wish I lived here. 

Next was Patate Cave! I was super excited for this. We hiked down to the cave and the entrance was so big and dramatic. We got out our flashlights and cameras and went in. The cave goes about 2,000 feet deep, and gets harder to get through the farther in you get. We saw so many fossils on rocks on the ground and walls. As we got deeper in the cave, there was also running water on the ground. We were duck walking through it and made it almost all the way to the last chamber before we had to turn around. It was an unreal experience, and I am so grateful that Michel and Julie took me here. 

On the drive back into town we stopped at this beautiful lighthouse overlooking the cliffs. I also wish I lived here. We also stopped at a plane that had crashed on the island a while back. I got inside and Michel took some photos and so did I. It was so cool!

We got back late, cleaned the truck, and had dinner. It was an epic day of adventures and I am excited to see what tomorrow brings.

Another day on  the water today! This time it is just Julie, Michel, and I. We got the boat prepped and collected the gear that was drying overnight. Today we are exploring the South East side diving since the water is pretty flat and it wouldn’t be a great day to explore land. On the way out, Michel showed me how to drive the boat in small waves.

We got to our first site and suited up. We will be doing dive sites they have never done today. We dropped down deeper than the day before, and saw more jellyfish, crabs, and a ton of starfish. After 30 minutes, we surfaced so we wouldn’t get too cold. The sun would not come out during our surface interval though, so it was a little chilly on the boat too. 

Our second dive felt much colder to me. I am not sure if this is because I was going into it chilly, or if it also felt colder for Julie. According to Julies die computer, it was 39 degrees. BRRRR! It was worth it though because we saw more jellyfish, and this time they had little shrimp and small critters on them. Upon surfacing on this dive, it started to rain. Since it was raining, and I also had to pee, we skipped the third dive and headed back to the dock. The rain was whipping our faces so Julie and I put our masks back on so we could see better. It was a fun ride back, we were all laughing.

After cleaning and unloading gear we got back to their house. We had a great dinner, and I talked with Michel about shutter speed, aperture, and ISO. He helped me understand what to change when I wanted to darken the background of a photo or change other aspects. I knew the basics, but this was really helpful.

Good morning! We were up and ready to go put the boat in the water at 7am. We pumped up the sides with air, as it is a Zodiac, so it was extra firm. Julie and Michel showed me how to put the boat in the water, and said I would be driving the trailer next time. Once the boat was tied up, Michel had to change some tires on his truck so he dropped Julie and I at the house. I prepped my camera and made sure I had all my undergarments for under my drysuit. There are two other people joining us on the boat, but they will not be divi ng.

We picked them up from the only hotel in town and made our way to the boat. Julie and I got in our drysuits at the top of the dock and then helped load any other gear. They gave us a safety briefing in French and English and then we were on our way. It started out very flat, but then the waves picked up as we went towards the first dive site. Michel helped us get out gear on, and we got in the water. We descended, and our first dive was at about 30 feet for 35 minutes. It was 41 degrees down there and WOW it was cold! We looked for different benthic critters for a while, and then came across a bunch of different jellyfish. Even a Lions Mane, it was huge! (I have been informed it actually wasn’t that big, but it was huge to me). Unlike other dives I have done, we drifted and swam where we wanted to, and then popped our SMB so that Michel knew where to pick us up. When we surfaced, the seas had gotten even rougher. We took out our weights and took off our BCDs and then climbed up the boat ladder with only our drysuits on. 

On the way to the next dive site, we saw a ton of seals. They were all sitting on this shallow rock area and got in the water at the same time. At this second site we entered the water the same way, and explored with our cameras. There were SO MANY lobsters here. And some of them were very, very big. At home, I work at a place where I am around lobsters, but only to a maximum of 5lbs. These were easily close to 9lbs, so wild. It was cool to see how the species of Anticosti changed based on the dive site. We got back to the dock and pulled the boat from the water. We then cleaned it and all the gear before heading back to the house.

The same people who went on the boat today wanted to go on a sunset tour of the Calou wreck, So, we headed out at 7pm and saw an amazing sunset at the wreck. Michel and I climbed on top of the wreck this time and got to see even more of the ship. It was a great way to end the day. After we got back, Michel and Julie showed me their book and how they use different photos to tell a story. They want me to get inspired and try to start thinking about photos in that way. I went to bed brainstorming ideas.