A Weekend in NJ

Normally one would not associate spending a weekend in Secaucus, NJ as something to be excited about, but this was a definite exception.  On Friday, March 28th (Yes, sorry this post is about 2 weeks late) I drove out to the Meadowlands Exposition center to meet up with my scholarship coordinator Robin Parish and the 2007 North American Rolex scholar, Brenna Mahoney at the 2008 Beneath The Sea dive show.

It was an amazing and insane introduction to the world of diving.  Basically our days were split between working the show floor (huge), meeting hundreds of incredibly famous, interesting and awesome people, black tie dinners and awards banquets, various hotel bars, and trying to grab enough sleep to be able to go out and do it all again the next day.  Some of the highlights of the weekend were meeting a personal hero of Brenna's and mine, Dr. Sylvia Earle:

You might not realize it yet, but she's your hero too!  She gave an incredible speech at the awards dinner held partially in her honor on Saturday night.  We also had the pleasure of meeting Dr. Kathy Sullivan:

Besides being the first woman to walk in space, Dr. Sullivan served as chief scientist at NOAA and is now a member of the Women Divers Hall of Fame.

I wish I could put up pictures and write at length about all the awesome people I met that weekend.  Getting a feel for and seeing what kind of people that are involved in the scholarship and that I'll hopefully be working with was really encouraging.  Although I felt like I kind of knew them already, meeting Brenna and Robin for the first time in person was also great.  They've already been such a great help, and it's really comforting to know that they'll be around to help out during the next year.  I don't think I could've asked for a better scholarship "mom" and "big sister".  The weekend was a blast, and it got me really excited for the upcoming weekend in NYC.  I can't wait to meet my fellow scholars, and all the other members of OWUSS that will be there!

RMS Rhone

The Rhone is probably the most well known wreck dive in the Caribbean, and with good reason.  The wreck is massive, and the only thing I regret about this dive is not being able to go back and do it two or three more times.

An all iron, 310 foot steamer, the Rhone was one of the most modern ships of her day.   She was one of the first steamers to use a propeller instead of paddle-wheels, and had a full complement of masts and sails.  Built by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, her job was to transport mail, passengers and cargo between England, the West Indies and South America.  Her usual stop in the Virgin Islands was in St. Thomas, but an outbreak of yellow fever there meant that the Rhone was diverted to Great Harbor, Peter Island.

On October 29, 1867 the Rhone was anchored at the mouth of Great Harbor with a paddle steamer, the Conway.  By mid-day the weather began to worsen.  Both captains decided to make a run for the more sheltered anchorage of Road Harbor, Tortola.  The Rhone's anchor snagged on the bottom, and in his haste to escape, Captain Wooley was forced to cut free and abandon 300 feet of massive chain and his huge 3,000 lb. main anchor (which is still a popular dive site in its own right today).

The Rhone headed out of Great Harbor and was making for Road Harbor through the Salt Island Passage when the second half of the hurricane hit.  Even at full steam the Rhone was driven up onto the rocks on the western tip of Salt Island.  The sharp rocks sheared through the iron hull and water began to flood the hull.  When the relatively cool water hit the massive steam boilers, there was an explosion that blew the ship completely in two.  Almost all of the crew and passengers were killed.  Today the bow section lies in 80 feet of water, while the stern section remains in almost the same place it struck Black Rock Point in 1867.  A massive wreckage field lies between the two halves, containing the remains of several boilers, some smaller hull sections and some spectacular arches.

The visibility was not as perfect as our dive on the Chikuzen, but was still excellent.  Doug, Sterling, Aimee, Pascal, Delis and I started at the bow and made our way through the wreckage field, ending our dive near the stern section, and the Rhone's massive propeller.  We were lucky in that there were no other divers on the wreck the entire time we were there.  The wreckage is fantastic, and the hull sections are still in remarkable condition.  The sea life is also extraordinary.  Check out the pictures I managed to snag of a cute and playful porcupine fish hiding under a hull plate.

Wreck of the Chikuzen

The Chikuzen is a derelict refrigeration vessel that was abandoned by a Japanese fishing fleet in St. Marten.  The hulk drifted into the BVI where it was towed out to a spot between Tortola and Anegada and finally sunk.  The 246 foot ship now rests on her port side on a bed of white sand in 80 feet of water.  Her starboard rail comes within 45 of the surface.  The wreck is marked on charts, but we found that the reported position of the wreck is over a nautical mile off.  Luckily we managed to get our hands on the GPS coordinates of the wreck.  I'll definitely be holding onto these numbers.

This dive was far and away the best of any of my admittedly few dives.  We were incredibly lucky with ocean conditions.  The wreck is miles from the nearest land, and completely unprotected.  The slightest swell destroys the visibility and kicks up currents that make diving the wreck dangerous to suicidal.  We had vis that easily exceeded 100 feet.  To get a feel of how crystal clear the water was, the pictures I've posted here were taken using only ambient light at 80 feet.  The wreck was incredible, and we encountered curious barracuda, massive groupers, cobia, and more.  An incredible dive.

All Good Things Must End

Even with a chemical oceanography exam two hours away, I can't seem to accept the fact that I'm sitting under fluorescent lights in my office in Stony Brook.   Maybe I'm just in a post-vacation state of withdrawal, but I'd have to say that the past week may very well have been the best in my life.  I can now agree with Alan, based on first-hand experience, that wake-boarding is one of the finest sports ever created.  We also managed to get in some incredible diving.  We dove on the Chikuzen, RMS Rhone, Marie L. & Pat at night, The Chimney, Santa Monica Rock, The Indians, and Shark Point.

While the scenery, diving and sailing was incredible, the greatest part of the week by far was spending time with my family (Brisbins and Browns), and making new friends.  The crews of the Nahema IV and Go Free were some of the friendliest, most talented and coolest people I've ever met.  Leaving Pascal, Delis, Aneshka, Patrice and Anna Maria behind was very hard.  Hopefully we'll stay in touch, and I'll be able to share my travels with them.  Who knows, maybe I'll need their help one day getting a job on a charter catamaran!

Most of my photos are underwater, but I'll be putting more and more up as I get them uploaded and organized.  Doug took a lot of really great HD video as well, so hopefully I'll be able to share some of that with you as well.  For now, you'll have to whet your appetite with some photos of our trip down to BVI.