Chester A. Poling

The Chester Poling is probably the most popular wreck dive in Cape Ann. In 1977 this coastal tanker was literally ripped in half in 30 foot seas during a fierce January storm. Today recreational divers can only access the stern half of the wreck located just outside of Gloucester harbor. The bow portion was carried several miles out to sea where it now rests upside down, in 190 feet of water only to be seen by technical divers.
 

 Our first Poling dives this year were on July, 23. We set out with Cape Ann Divers on their small boat with Captain Jim.  Getting into our drysuits proved difficult as temperatures approached 100 degrees, everyone was chewing on ice cubes to stay cool. Jim moored on the break of the wreck. As we traveled down the mooring line, water temps quickly dropped to about 45 degrees. It felt like going from summer to winter in the span of 100' and about 90 seconds.

  After our decent we took a quick swim over the the break. As you round the side of the wreck you are treated to a spectacular, cavernous opening exposing the guts of the ship. The break is about 20' tall and 40' wide and filled with twisted, jagged metal, old rope, and encrusted with invertebrate life. The space is far too big to be captured in a single picture. The wreck also rests in muck so visibility can become very poor especially if divers start to kick up the silt. I only ventured a few feet into the break to get pictures. Any serious wreck penetration should be reserved for properly equipped technical divers.

The shot above was the first thing I saw the very first time I dove this site. Having never been that deep before and looking down into the wreck, I aptly dubbed this the "Ladder to Hell." I'm now pleased to return with better camera equipment that can capture a decent image of it. It looks like it goes down forever, our best lights can't seem to hit the bottom of this ladder. The structure is now overcome with frilled anemone and tubularian hydroid.                                   
                                                                  

Rob, another photographer swimming by in his red, vulcanized rubber drysiut, looking like a martian of some kind.




Chuck is getting filthy in the muck below looking for the resident wolf fish that lives under the break (we didn't find him). Chuck was also kind enough to take my picture, but as my girlfriend bluntly put it, I "looked like a fat-faced pinhead." (I really did) So we'll try again next time, maybe a little shallower...


We were able to muster a combined 50 minutes of down time from the dives. I'm currently looking at some video I shot there, but have yet to cut anything together. I'll share some video cuts in the upcoming weeks.