NEUE regularly plans fun dives for a variety of levels, ranging from new diver to Tech and Cave... and everything in between. Destinations range from local to day-trip to weekend to exotic!
Check this space often for newly added events!
New members are always welcome, introduce yourself in the forum to our friendly group.
Below, check out our most recent trip reports. (We try our best to get the reports up quickly, but there's a lot of video/photos to edit and more trips to plan. Current backlog includes: Independence Day Ontario Trip, Dutch Springs Halcyon Demo Days, Diva Dive Day, Labor Day Ontario Trip, September Jodrey trip and maybe some Stonington stuff)
Over the Labor Day weekend, 8 NEUE divers headed north to do a little diving and experience well preserved wooden shipwrecks as well as current-bathed, metal shipwrecks in Lake Ontario and the St Lawrence River. This is a little video from the technical divers that did two dives on the wreck of the Roy A Jodrey. We ran another trip with some technical dives on the Jodrey again in September. The video from those is being added to this article as well, so stay tuned!
The Jodrey was a Great Lakes Freighter,640' in length and 72' wide. The keel was laid on February 11 1965 and she was launched on September 9 of the same year. Like other freighters at that time, the Jodrey is divided into three major sections. The bow where the navigation, steering and propulstion were control from the forward pilothouse. The sterm housed the four diesel engines, generators, pumps, machine shop etc. and took it's commands from the bow. The mid-body of the ship comprised the cargo hold and the un-loading tunnels, conveyors and elevators.
On November 20th 1974 the Jodrey was headed for the Great Lakes Steel plant in Deetriot MI with a cargo of iron ore pellets. As the ship approached Pullman Shoal on the St Lawrence River, the ship ground herself, 800 yards off the coast guard station on Wellesley Island. The Captain had tried to beach his vessel and with the assistance of the Coast Guard, all 29 members of the crew were safe.
Over the next few hours, the ship began to settle deeper in the water indicating that the pumps could not keep up with the inflow. In a little under five hours after striking the shoal, the Jodrey slipped from the shore and sank into the river.
The wall that she sits below today below drops off almost vertically from 5 feet to over 230. Decending onto the wreck, the first thing that comes to into view is the ships mast (135'), bow railing, and wheel house (150'). As you descend, you reach the main deck between 180 feet and 200 feet. The bow of the Jodrey sits on a 40 to 45 degree list on its starboard side.
On June 28-29, 7 NEUE divers headed north to do a little camping and experience well preserved wooden shipwrecks as well as current-bathed, metal shipwrecks. Weather was great, lake calm and vis good.
Thanks to Jackie and Mark for contributing pictures.
The Baleen was towing a barge in 1975 when a fire broke out on board . She was built in 1923 in Wisconsin, and was a steel-hulled ship 102 ft. in length with a 23 ft. beam. There were no fatalities associated with the sinking.
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Today the Baleen rests sitting upright, listing slightly starboard in 170 FSW, with the top of the deckhouse at approximately 150 FSW. We had great conditions on the wreck, and it is a quintessential New England shipwreck, covered in brightly colored anemones.
A number of NEUE divers making the trip out to the Chester Poling in recent weeks have spotted the resident Atlantic Wolffish in the sand under the break of the wreck.
For those of you lucky enough to have enjoyed the superb conditions, I got some footage of this fish on our dive this past Sunday.
The Woflfish has a large head with a blunt snout and a set of canine teeth. Their body tapers behind the head, with a long dorsal fin. They are a grey to slate blue color and grow up to 5' in length !
For those not familiar with the Wolffish, they are often found in cracks and crevices so next time you're out diving be sure to poke your light in some of those dark holes, you'll never know what you might find !
As many already know, a group of NEUE divers recently spent an enjoyable and exciting diving the wreck of the U-853. We had great weather and, a great group out diving with Wayne Gordon on the Canned Air. There were up to three teams in the water conducting video doucmentation, survey and debris field search.
You can read more reports of the diving and check out some pictures in the forums, NEUE U-853 Project thread
On Saturday, June 14, 2008, Chris S, Fran F and Mer made a trip to the stern of the Chester Poling off Gloucester Harbor on the Cape Ann Diver II and found good vis and neat widelife.
Global Underwater Explorers (GUE) was created to increase the quality and diversity of aquatic education. GUE was founded by conservationists, explorers and educators with a desire to see the mystery of the underwater world explored, studied, protected and shared. The "Doing It Right" (DIR) system evolved out of the exacting demands of the world's most extreme exploration diving, yet the approach is rapidly gaining favor among all levels of divers.
We waited for the holiday rush to subside to invade North Florida for some cave diving. In addition to Dima, Ron S and Mer, who were in for some pleasure diving, Chris M and Ed P were taking Cave 1 and a gaggle of Brits and Kentuckians were in town as well! Dives were a mix of Cave 1 and 2, including Peacock 1, Mill Pond: Jackson Blue and Hole in the Wall, Devil's at Ginnie Spring and Madison Blue.
NEUE regularly plans fun dives for a variety of levels, ranging from new diver to Tech and Cave... and everything in between. Destinations range from local to day-trip to weekend to exotic! 