The John Jack's South Jersey Dives

RJ and his band of merry divers from Treasure Cove were loaded and ready to sail early Friday evening for an overnight run to dive three wrecks off the South Jersey / Delaware coast. 
We departed Manasquan at midnight and sailed south to the final resting place of the submarine S-5.  The S-5 sunk in 1920 during a training run with no loss of life due to the ingenuity of its captain.  (http://njscuba.net/sites/site_submarines_1.html) 
While the divers slept below, the John Jack made easy work of the 86 miles of calm seas to the wreck site.  Saturday morning began with bright, sunny skies and the smell of coffee and waffles. 
As the crew readied the boat, the divers geared up.  As soon as the captain yelled, “Hey, get off my boat!,” teams of divers splashed one after another. 
Visibility and lighting were good on the S-5 (165 fsw), and WOW! were those large tautog! 
After all of the divers reboarded, we moved the boat 13 miles to the wreck of the Northern Pacific for the second dive of the day.

The Northern Pacific burned while under tow, capsized, and now lies “turtled” at 140 fsw. 
We tied in abaft of the break, so RJ ran a line forward to the break and tied it off.
As we prepared to spend the night on the wreck, the seas calmed, and we dined on ziti and stuffed shells, complements of Chef Theresa. 

The divers were up early Sunday morning and eager for another shot at the Northern Pacific.  Igor retraced RJ’s route from the tie in to the break where he shot a bag – and we now have numbers for the break for next year.  We “pulled the hook” and set sail for the wreck of the Varanger, 25 miles away.  
As usual, the Varanger was generous with scallops and lobsters. 
Two short hours later, we had divers in the water again.  The divers chowed down on lunch while the John Jack began the run home under a cloudy sky and a light rain.  A small warbler drag raced the boat until it was too pooped to fly, so it lit on the rear deck and rode the boat home to Manasquan.  While the John Jack made quick work of the almost 70 mile trip home from the Varanger, the divers slept, watched movies, and snacked. We were back at the dock before 8 PM and while the customers packed their gear, the crew readied the boat for its next adventure. 

The John Jack will be visiting the Mohawk and Resor the weekend of September 18/19. 
Join us on one of the best dive boats in the New Jersey / New York area
...Captain Rich