On one of the last warm days of the season, I went for a quick walk at Great Brook Farm in Carlisle. It was mid November with unseasonably warm and sunny weather. While having a rest under some hulking pine trees, I heard some rustling in the leaves by my feet. A tiny garter snake poked his head out and gave me a look wondering what I was doing there. Almost certain he would be long-gone by the time I got out the camera, I decided to at least try to get a picture. To my surprise, not only did the little guy not slither away, he came closer, about 2 feet away from where I was sitting. I carefully slid towards him snapping a photo here and there. After sniffing my camera, he decided I was no longer a person of interest and went on his way. Hopefully he is curled up and warm underground somewhere, I wish I was...

Saturday Night Ledge: Last take

         On November 5th I sadly completed my last open water dive for the season as the air and water temps are creeping past my comfort level. Chuck and I rode with Cape Ann Divers to SNL once more in a final attempt to shoot 2 more critical shots for the short film I'm cutting. Upon descending 110' down the mooring line, we actually found conditions to be reasonably forgiving for shooting. I immediately proceeded through the trench with Chuck following close behind. I really wanted a shot of Chuck's light piercing through the opening at the base of the trench. In order to do this, I have to swim through first, gain ground on Chuck, spill out the front of the trench, line up my shot before chuck comes through, all while waiting for him in 135' of water. This is a difficult shot as I realistically only have a minute to pull it off and that's if we time everything perfectly. I failed to get the shot the past four dives at SNL, and miraculously, we pulled it off during our last trip for the season.

       After SNL we triumphantly rode to the Poling wreck in 6 foot rolling swells. I fought with all my might to keep down Capt. Steve's lunch as my belly became increasingly less tolerant of the seas. On the Poling a seal was playing by the mooring line. We were in hopes to see him on the wreck, but he wasn't interested in us and went his own way. This was a phenomenal day and a great end to the season.

    Stay tuned as I will keep posting images and video clips throughout the winter from the 2011 dive season.  

A video screen-grab of the most difficult shot of the season.

Folly Cove, the little stuff...

        Chuck and I took my macro setup to Folly cove on Sunday. We were originally scheduled to dive U-853 again, but 30 mph and 10' seas cancelled our trip. I can't say I wasn't relieved, I really didn't want to be on Canned Air "the rocket sled" in those conditions. It may be fun feeding the gulls your breakfast, but vomiting over the side of a boat gets old after 6 or 7 times. Hopefully the weather will pan out next Sunday.
        In light of everything being blown out, we opted for a Cape Ann shore dive. Wind was blowing out everywhere facing south so Folly was as calm as can be. We saw our friends on the Cape Ann Divers boat finding some shelter behind the Lobster Pool restaurant and decided to harass them from shore. Their divers were exploring the granite seawall east of the restaurant.
       We saw the usual assortment of critters, and admittedly, it was nice to have a stress-free dive compared to Nazi submarine wreckage and claustrophobic Saturday Night Ledge. We were in snapping pictures and exploring for over an hour. Miraculously, Chuck's makeshift drysuit-zipper-clamp worked and he stayed reasonably dry. In other words, just the normal amount of water we get in our suits. We'll see how it holds up at 5 atmospheres. Below are some higher-res images from Folly, enjoy!

The fine folks at Cape Ann Divers

Close-up of some gnarly urchin skin

Diplosoma listerianum, invasive, but pretty.

Spider crab getting romantic with Chuck.

Blood star, and a freak of nature. I actually didn't notice until I looked at my pictures when I got home.

Club tunicate engulfed by colonial tunicate.

Rock crab with beady yellow eyes.

sea star close-up

Saturday Night Ledge and Burnham Rock 2

        In a continued effort to shoot as much SNL video as possible before the end of the season, we booked another Cape Ann Divers charter to take us out. We were blessed with another flat day, unusual for mid October. With only 3 of us on the boat, we got to spread out and relax before the dives. Conditions underwater were not as nice as the surface. It was another foreboding, murky day at the base of the mooring line. While Chuck was grappling with an unruly, tangled wreck reel and a slowly leaking drysuit, I swam around the general area taking pictures. Alas, we never even made it to the trench. Although generally not difficult to find, our own minor problems and nitrogen induced confusion hampered our less than perfect navigational skills. This proved to be a mixed blessing as I was able to take my time and get some nice pictures to incorporate into the video.        
         At Burnham, the current was up and sweeping through the trench. It was strange because we really didn't feel the current until we hit the bottom. I swam through the trench a little bit and took some more pictures. While we were down there, Chuck seemed reluctant to move away from the mooring line. I realized when we were back on the boat that he had suffered a catastrophic drysuit zipper fail. When Chuck got out of his suit we were all shamefully amused when he emptied about 2 gallons of 55 degree water out of his legs. Funny when it's not you... So Chuck didn't have the best day in the world, and we didn't really get much video done. However, as always, it was a good day because there were no major issues and everyone returned to the boat safely.   

Sleeping anemones

Spiny sun star

Stalked tunicate

Cunner by the mooring line

Spiny sun star

The camera strobe illuminates the hidden color that is everywhere down there. I will paste this image to the forehead of the next person that tells me "there's nothing to see while diving in New England" 

Stage Fort Park

         After my Easy Diver trip last weekend I decided to hop in for a quick swim at Stage Fort Park. There was the typical 3-foot-vis to contend with, but I managed to find some critters nonetheless. Despite the beautiful day on land, I was the only diver in the water.

I hovered carefully above this submerged clam to snap its picture. Typically, as soon as you get close to clams they will dart down further into the sand and will not reappear until you are gone.  

Orange tunicate

Spider crab (toad crab?) with some serious living camouflage.

Close up of the same character, it's an alien if I've ever seem one.

A bright-eyed hermit crab

Easy Diver 2

            I was back on the Boat last weekend with Calhoun and crew. We were out shooting at the USF New Hampshire then the ledge behind Norman's Woe. Oddly enough, after all these years, this was the first time I dove the New Hampshire. Interesting but sparse wreckage. Peter was kind enough to give me the tip of a copper spike he found over by the island. Didn't look like much, but it was manufatured in Paul Revere's Copper Mill. The captain was shooting me, shooting pictures, I guess he liked how my Aquatica rig looked underwater. The water was still a forgiving 59 degrees and the air temp was in the lower 80s, on October 9th no less! It was a perfect day, one that will seem like a distant memory three weeks from now.  

Moon Snail dwarfing a hermit crab.

Captain on the left shooting another diver

Cunner by the wreckage

Wreck of USF New Hampshire

Not a boat in the water

Fall has officially begun in Cape Ann. In 6 years, I don't think I've seen Folly Cove as blown out as it was on Sunday. After visiting Folly, we drove around the corner to Halibut Point. Great day for watching the ocean, gray sky and black water. 

Eastern shoreline of Folly Cove

Folly Point

Halibut Point