Ballard’s Jetty 8/25/2006
Friday 1830 hrs
S Lighty
M McGonnigle
D Chatowsky
J Lighty
The club showed their pride and attempted to attract more members by gallivanting through town in full wetsuits. The Big Chatowsky carried his Riffe speargun, and although there were a few chuckles, most of the masses were suitably impressed by our walk down Dodge Street and through the ferry lots.
Our destination? The Ballard’s jetty. We walked about halfway out the jetty and braved a slippery entry on the rocks on the south side. As soon as we submerged our heads, large schools of baitfish awaited us. One was a small type of barracuda, others were silversides. I saw one striped bass (Morone saxatilis), but he didn’t stick around long, possibly spooked by the sight of Big C’s speargun.
At one point along the jetty a large concentration of tautog (Tautoga onitis) ducked in and out of the boulders. One fish had a very unusual colring for blackfish- he was a lightish purple- regal in appearance.
Sea Squad headed toward the end of the jetty and encountered uncountable numbers of cunners (Tautogolabrus adsperus) Some were quite large, probably close to 10 inches. Noble Proctor writes in A Field Guide to North American Wildlife that the cunner is "a good pan fish." Some of these that we encountered definitlely looked big enough to put in a pan. Jen and MA saw what were probably pilot fish (Naucrates doctor). They followed them around and seemed friendly.
We saw a few lobster, and Big C pointed out small flounder camouflaged in the sand, only about 2 inches long. He would touch them gently and they would scuttle away and find a new hiding spot in the sand.
There were many beautiful varieties of sea weed in the water, most notably sea lettuce. Jen assured us that it was alright to eat. I took a bite, but it was rather sandy, and I din’t have the nerve to swallow it.
We swam all the way into the sandy part of the inside of the jetty. We saluted many onlookers with the Sea Squad trident, including Time Bomb who was chomping on some disco biscuits while hanging out with some of the other barnacles who frequent the town dock shack.
Great dive! Go Sea Squad.
Clay Head 8/22/2006
Tuesday approx 1500 hrs
S Lighty
Time Bomb
The Bomb and I braved the waters off Clay Head while Big Jim and Rowdy kept a wary eye from the boat. The day was absolutely beautiful. There was a stiff wind from the west, but we were in the lee at Clay Head. We anchored about 1/4 mile from the beach and the water was clear w/visibility straight to the bottom in about 10-12 feet of water. Bomb and I dove sans wetsuits, and I without fins. I secured the anchor under a rock that seemed to be slipping on the sandy bottom. The flora was beautiful: lots of seaweed. As I swam closer to the shore, the visibility deteriorated significantly. This seems to be the case a lot when diving from the shore at CH. Lots of loose seaweed in the water. I swam back towards the boat to get better vision, while Bomb kicked around. Just past the boat I spotted a large ray, probably six feet across, with a tail that was at least 6 ft. long, but probably closer to 8. He was just lounging on the bottom, and I called Bomb over who was swimming about 30 yards away. We both got a good look at the big boy. I started to dive on the animal to get a closer look. At that point, the ray started swimming toward shore, seemingly annoyed, and quick to get away. I followed him, but was unable to keep up.
Just after the encounter, Jim and Rowdy yelled that there were fish jumping of the bow of the boat. I swam in that direction, and was soon in the midst of feeding bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). It was definitely the closest I’d gotten to blues. One seemed especially aggressive and made a close pass to me. I pulled my toes in, thinking that he might be going for me. I yelled to Jim and Rowdy about the aggressive nature of the fish. Jim asked if I was wearing any jewelry, and indeed I was: my wedding ring, a silver bracelet and necklace. At that point I thought it prudent to get out of the water.
The rest of the day was a joy. We motored back to New Harbour, enjoying the “ginger ales” that Rowdy so thoughtfully packed in the cooler. We tooled around the harbour admiring the yachts and smaller craft. We finally stepped ashore at Champlin’s and had a few mudslides at Trader’s. We then took another cruise around the harbour. A man was working on the stern of a rather impressive sailboat. Big Jim heralded him with, “Pardon me, do you have any Grey Poupon.” We all had a good laugh.
We finally moored the boat back at the BI Club. I absconded a kayak to get Rowdy back from the mooring dry. We then stood on the dock and watched the fiery ball descend over Bean Pt. Time Bomb regaled us with a few stories from the good old days. But the days we were having were just as good as anyone ever had.
As we were readying ourselves for the ride down the Neck, a snowy white egret floated toward us. I’d never seen one so graceful, barely moving his wings as he rode the west wind toward the dock. We craned our necks as he flew overhead. He then drifted over the far end of the dock, settling down ever so softly. His feet touched down for an instant, and the he was aloft again in the fading light of the harbour.
The Aggressor 8/19/2006
Saturday aprrox 15-1600 hrs
S Lighty
J Lighty
D Chatowsky
Marc (Captain of the Vagabond)
Chooch- safety diver on shore
The group set out by vehicle to the second parking lot at Black Rock. The weather was clear w/little wind. We hiked down to the beach and around the point, first sighting The Aggressor from the east. Its crew abandoned ship last winter. They were helicoptered off the distressed ship, and the large steel vessel eventually crashed into the shore, just west of Black Rock. Good views of the wreck were visible from Lewis Farm.
We dove from the beach. Dave swam w/ a wet suit and carried his Riffe spear gun. The rest of us just swam in bathing suits. The stern of the boat faced the beach and was probably in about 10 feet of water. The bottom was sandy, and to our surprise there wasn’t much ocean fauna around the vessel. Some small schools of baitfish swam here and there, but there were no sightings of large blackfish (Tautoga onitis) or striped bass (Morone saxatilis).
The bow of the ship had been salvaged a few days beforehand. There was wreckage that looked to be very dangerous if one were to become entangled. But we all felt secure with Chooch’s watchful eyes heeding our safety from the shore.
Marc did spot a giant ray near one of the moorings used by the salvage boats.
All in all this was an impressive and challenging dive for sea squads’ first outing.
posted by Block Island Snorkeling Club at 4:40 PM 0 comments
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