Season Opener

Sunday, April, 25.  Venturo Tug.

A hearty group from Treasure Cove Divers (http://treasurecovedivers.com/) helped the John Jack kick off the 2010 dive season with a resounding splash.  With light rain, a cool breeze, 3 ft seas, and periodic 8 ft rollers, it is fair to say that Mother Nature provided only grudging cooperation – but we thrived.  RJ’s seasoned divers weathered the weather and enjoyed long bottom times on the  G.A. Venturo (65-80 fsw), which was sunk in 1996 as part of the NJ Artificial Reef Program (http://njscuba.net/reefs/site_nj02sg_venturo.html).  The Venturo is a 99 ft long, intact tug boat, which has the added bonus of having five armored personnel carriers (APC) just off its stern.  With viz in the 10-15 ft range, it is best to run a reel from the tug to the APCs.  Yesterday’s trip also was the debut of the John Jack’s new center-line stainless steel bench, which 12 divers used to store and don their tanks.  With space for crates below, this bench frees up so much space along the gunwales that entry and egress to the ocean is a breeze.  It was a great shake-down trip for the John Jack,  a great trip for our customers, and a fitting start to the 2010 season on “The Big Red Boat.”   Most of our trips this season are to wrecks that lie within reach of recreational divers.   Hope you can join us!

 See the photos and read older dive reports in our Trip Reports Section