Rhode Island 2005 - Trip Report

Rhode Island 2005

By Heather Knowles

Looking at where things stood on June 9, 2004 it was all but impossible to imagine that in just 379 days, Gauntlet would be in the water and poised to make her first major road trip as a dive boat. Most of the boat yard bets had us pegged that it would take 3 years to get the boat to a point where it could be launched, never mind the finish-work. That timeframe is about right for most boat construction endeavors, but we did it in 6 months. It was a long road to get there with a lot of sacrifices, so it was with a sense of accomplishment that Gauntlet departed on June 23, striking out for the 100 mile run from Salem, through the Cape Cod Canal and down to Point Judith in anticipation of a 3-day tour visiting the wrecks of the USS Bass, U-853 and Blackpoint.

Gauntlet arrives in Marblehead on June 9, 2004 (left) and Gauntlet docked in Salem in June of 2005 (right).

We made a quick stop in Marblehead to top off the fuel tanks and headed out just after 9 am on Thursday. The weather was glorious – seas were flat with a mild breeze, the sky barely had a cloud in it and the bright sun warmed the air to a perfect temperature. In anticipation of the trip we plotted out the entire route on paper charts, calculated distances, times, etc. We were hitting the waypoints on the route almost exactly as planned and in 3 hours we reached the Cape Cod Canal entrance. We had timed our arrival so that we’d be getting to the entrance shortly after the tide change and thus could take advantage of a favorable tide. The Cape Cod Canal has currents running from 4-5 knots twice per day westerly and twice per day easterly. If at all possible, you want to get there when the tide is going with you. The westerly tide change was at 11:24 am so when we arrived at 12:30 pm, we were just about an hour shy of the maximum current velocity, which occurs ~2 hrs after the change. We made it through the canal in about 45 minutes and when we passed Mass Maritime on the southern end of the canal, we turned up the music on the Caterpillar, gaining about 2 knots from the tail current at cruise.

The Sagamore Bridge spanning the Cape Cod Canal (left) and the training ship at Mass Maritime (right).

The ride through Buzzard’s Bay was smooth and fast – both Dave and I were surprised to see it like a millpond. Both of us were used to seeing a 2-foot chop running through the Bay, so this was a nice treat. We turned for the final 20 mile leg and arrived in Point Judith just a little before 4 pm. It was a nice ride – smooth and relaxing, which we both needed since we’ve been burning the candle at both ends and in the middle getting ready for the trip. I had mixed 9 sets of doubles and 8 stage bottles with various blends of trimix, nitrox and O2 – in 2 nights. If I needed a reminder why we bought rebreathers that was a good one. Between teaching classes, getting the boat ready, pulling together gear and still showing up at our regular jobs appearing functional, we were stretched pretty thin. So the run down to Point Judith was relaxing and restful, just what we needed.

We got our gear squared away for the next day once we topped up the fuel tanks and got settled into our slip. We didn’t have a vehicle with us so we had all the gear on the boat, with the plan being to offload what we didn’t need for that day’s charter into Lee’s truck. If all went as planned, my father was planning to join us for the last day of the trip and then he would drive a van full of gear home so we could run the boat back with the least amount of gear as possible. We walked to the nearest restaurant, about ½ mile from the marina and enjoyed a quiet dinner, pleased with the performance of the boat and looking forward to the days to come.

I guess we had hoped, or expected, that we were going to have it easy. I had envisioned flat seas, good visibility and no current on all the dives. Instead, Friday morning broke with a solid 2-4’ sea building to a 3-5’ sea. We left the dock at 6:30 am bound for the USS Bass; an American sub sunk about 8 miles off Block Island in 160 feet of water. The 340-foot long Bass SS-164 (formerly known as the SF-5 and V-2) was converted into a cargo submarine following a fire on board and then subsequently scuttled in a US Navy sonar target experiment on March 12, 1945. This was an extremely large submarine and when it sank it broke into 2 pieces just forward of the conning tower. The 80-foot long bow section is separated from the rest of the sub by about 50 feet to the south and is off at a slight angle. On a day with good visibility, you can swim to the bow section, as most often boats tie into the main wreckage.

Who needs electronics? Lee leads the way out of Point Judith (left) and Atlantis anchored up on the Bass (right).

As we approached the wreck site we noticed another boat was already there. It was Atlantis, Gary Chellis’ boat out of New London CT. They were headed for the Coimbra, but the sea conditions forced a change in plans. They were already tied in when we arrived, so we dropped Lee and Peter in off their bow so they could go down Atlantis’ line while we fed them our own line. In rough surface conditions with a small target on the bottom, it’s always easier to work with what’s there. Once the line was fed down to them, they got as far away as possible from the other boat and tied in the line. It wasn’t going to be far enough, however, with the way the wind and tide were running. There was a decent current running and it was holding both boats essentially beam-to the sea and pushing Atlantis down on us. We paid out a lot of scope and put extra line on so that the boats could remain apart. This worked out fine, but it was a pain for us because it was a long haul to the wreck with so much line in the water. But, this is how it goes when 2 boats are trying to share a wreck in bouncy seas. The boats were just close enough for Lee to harass Jeff “ADD” Anderson, who was on the other boat.

Once Lee returned from his dive Dave, Dan and I suited up for our first dive of the day. This was Dan’s and my first trip to the Bass, and it had been a number of years since Dave had been there, so we were all looking forward to the dive. Visibility reports varied – one person said it was great, someone else said it sucked – so you just have to jump in and decide for yourself. We hit the water and pulled ourselves down to the wreck. There was some current running, but it wasn’t unmanageable. Once below 20 feet, the conditions improved considerably, as you couldn’t feel the seas rolling through anymore. Visibility opened up below 100 feet or so and the fuzzy wreck gradually came into view. It was dim, but there was plenty of light and the visibility was about 30-35 feet. I noticed immediately what a beautiful wreck it is – covered in anemones with lots of structure that clearly delineates it as a submarine. We toured around the main wreckage for the first dive, getting oriented. We were tied in about 30 feet aft of the conning tower so we were in a pretty good position to see most of the wreck in 2 dives.

When our bottom time was up, we ascended and decompressed uneventfully. Things were pretty choppy on the surface, but getting up the ladder was no problem at all. Back on the boat we all relaxed for the 3-hour surface interval and had some lunch. We passed the time with some rather colorful conversation, none of which is probably appropriate to recapitulate here. During our surface interval, Atlantis finished up their dives and made a repair to the mooring, which needed some line added to make it long enough (still seems short). They left it with a sodasorb canister buoy so now it at least reaches the surface. Once they had departed, we pulled in the scope and tightened up the line so it was more of a straight drop. We didn’t want to take too much scope out of the line, since the conditions were worsening and we didn’t want to break the line.

We suited up for our next dive and hit the water – the tide had changed so the current was running in the opposite direction now and the visibility had diminished a little bit. When I arrived on the wreck, I noticed we had broken the breakaway line and were hanging on the chain, so it was probably good we didn’t pull in any more scope than we already had. Of course, we had mustard onboard today, so nothing could really go wrong.

We swam out to the break and dropped down to the sand. Visibility was good enough that from the sand we could see the bow section so we swam over to that and took a quick look. There’s a huge net caught on the break end that stretches up high in the water column. It’s an impressive sight – the bow section alone is worth a whole dive. Penetration into the bow section is a bit easier than the rest of the wreck, since the break occurred at the bulkhead, thus leaving the bow relatively open. We hadn’t planned any penetration, so we just peered in. We swam all the way to the stern from there and took a quick look at the propellers before calling it a dive and heading up. While Dan and I were finishing up our decompression, a pod of dolphins came cruising by. Apparently there were about 20 of them that broached near the boat – we saw about 6 or so come right up under us while we were at our 20-foot stop. It was really cool and a great way to cap off 2 awesome dives. Once we were back on board, Lee headed in to pull the hook. We had him disconnect our line and come up the mooring left by Atlantis. All went according to plan so once the line was in; we plucked Lee out of the churning seas and headed home.

Brian Holmes entertains the group on the ride back.

It was a wet ride back as we had the sea coming from our portside beam, but we made good time getting in despite the conditions and all had a good time. We arrived back at about 5:30 pm, cleaned up the boat, played some musical tanks reloading the boat with all our gear and everyone was on their way. If there’s one thing about trips away from home – it’s really nice to have land-based logistical support (i.e. a truck or van and someone to drive it). Loading and unloading the boat each day was a lot of work, plus it was not exactly a thrill to walk a mile round trip to eat dinner after 11 hours at sea. But we made the best of it and it was not the worst thing we’ve ever had to do.

Back from a great day on the Bass.

The following morning we were headed for the German u-boat, U-853, and the forecast was not looking much better. It may have even been worse, but who was keeping track at that point? It was going to be rough that much was certain. We had to listen to the VHF for about 40 minutes to get to the forecast for our area, which started to feel like some kind of Guantanamo interrogation technique, so I finally called my parents and had them look it up online. It wasn’t particularly good – SW winds 15-20 kts with gusts to 25 kts and seas 3-6’. It didn’t look like we were going to catch a break.

The U-853 is one of the more historic and undoubtedly popular wrecks off Block Island. The U-853 was a Type IX-C/40 long range German u boat, a modified version of the Type IX-C. U boats of this type had longer range and were faster than the Type IX-C. They had a max depth rating of 755 feet, carried 22 torpedoes and a crew of about 48-56 men. The U-853 is most notably known for sinking the freighter, Blackpoint, on May 5, 1945, after a cease-fire had been issued, but had clearly not reached all u boats. She was also suspected of sinking the Eagle boat, USS Eagle PE-56 off Maine. In sinking the Blackpoint, the U-853 revealed her position in shallow water, with nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. The US Navy and US Coast Guard dispatched the Frigate Moberly, the Destroyer Ericsson, and the Destroyer Escorts Atherton and Amick to pounce on the trapped u boat. A merciless 12-hour volley of hedgehogs and depth charging ensured the u boats fate – sunk with all hands lost.

The sub was salvaged extensively, which had unfortunately resulted in the disturbance of human remains at one time. The attack periscope and propellers have long since been removed, along with many artifacts, gauges, hatch covers, etc. The propellers can be found in Newport, Rhode Island at the Inn at Castle Hill. A salvager named Oswald Bonifay sold the props to settle a debt. They made their way to the hotel and have remained there at on display since the 1960s.

Sure enough the morning broke with a stiff wind, but we were determined to press on to the wreck. The boat was certainly able to take the seas and with 2 confirmed moorings on the wreck, we were confident that we could make it and be relatively comfortable. The U-853 is about 10 miles from Point Judith and slightly in the lee of Block Island, so we’d be getting some improvement on the wreck through the ride out and back would be a bit bumpy. After all, we had to go since one of our passengers was coming to be known as a “u-boat Jonah” – jinxed with 6 failed attempts at diving the wreck. We had to purge him of this bad ju ju and a good bleeding would have been too messy, so off to the wreck we went.

When we got on site the Ocean State Scuba charter boat was already tied in on one of the moorings. We picked up the other one and promptly began to drift down on them. We took in as much scope as we dared and the boats seemed to be staying just far enough apart – though rather close for everyone’s comfort. The wind and tide again were holding us in an awkward position and our boat being bigger was bearing down on their boat. Dave and I decided that one of us should be onboard at all times in this situation – while we have the utmost confidence in Captain Lee and his abilities to solve problems, we didn’t want him to be put in a position where things could get messy.

The Ocean State Scuba dive boat - safely tied off to our stern.

Dave and Kathy headed in first while Lee and I remained on board. No sooner did they jump in than the boats finally got too close and we got tangled up in their mooring. With divers hanging on our drop lines decompressing, plus a few of the Ocean State Scuba (OSS) divers hanging on their mooring line, the boats became more sails and we drifted right over their mooring with 3 divers between the bucking boats. I didn’t like this at all, especially since nearly all our divers were in the water, they had divers in the water (plus one finishing up a good puke on the boat) and now their line was tangled under our shaft and rudder – and the seas were running about 3-5’. The boats were very close and were destined to come into contact with each other. Quickly, Lee and I pulled in one of the drop lines to minimize entanglements; we got the OSS divers out from between the boats with a trail line. If we waited any longer the boats were going to come into contact with divers between them.

I asked the OSS boat to move off the mooring and tie off to our stern since as more divers started coming up, this situation was only going to get worse. Capt. Dave Swain agreed it was the best approach and released from the mooring, which set us free from the entanglement. We picked up the other mooring since it was essentially next to us now and tied if off, leaving it slack. This way we were totally covered – if we broke the mooring with the load of 2 boats on it, we’d fall back on the other and if any of the OSS divers came up their original mooring unaware they had moved to our stern, they’d at least come up a line leading to a boat. With a few lines passing around soon enough the entire situation was straightened out and both boats were comfortably and safely apart. Thanks to Dave S for working with us to share the wreck. The sea conditions created a difficult situation with the moorings, but we worked through it.

By the time Dave and others were back on board all the excitement was over. Lee and I suited up and headed in for a dive. There was a decent current running with about 10-12 feet of visibility on the bottom. Not the greatest conditions, but it could have been worse. We hauled ourselves to the bow and then drifted back in the current for a nice ride. We dropped into the wreck in a few areas poking through the inside and headed up after 25 minutes. Lee knows the wreck very well since he’s frequently out with Atlantis, so Lee guided us around and we had a good dive despite the limited visibility.

As Lee and I reached the surface, seasickness was setting in among many. A few divers did a second dive, but most opted for one. The conditions were worsening, so we decided to bag the afternoon charter to the Blackpoint, calling from the boat to give as much advance notice as possible. The Blackpoint was in an even more exposed location and was probably not going to be a nice ride, so we took what we could get and were satisfied with a good trip to the u-boat. It was another wet, rough ride in but we rode through it and got everyone back safely and with good dives. And we broke the curse for Aaron.

We had some extra time to kill since we weren’t running in the afternoon, so we topped up the fuel tanks, cleaned up the boat a bit and chilled out. I wasn’t planning to take a nap, but I sat down on the bench for a few minutes in the cabin and pretty much passed out. When I woke up, we got cleaned up and ready for dinner. Some friends were just returning from a trip to the Suffolk on the local boat Canned Air. They had gotten out on the Suffolk, but it was so rough they decided to head in a bit and hit the Bass. I wouldn’t have wanted to be out on the Suffolk that day. It’s a long ride and a severe beating in those conditions…

The wind was still blowing, though it was supposed to diminish a bit for Sunday. But without a wind direction change, it wasn’t really going to change the sea state. My father was supposed to come down and dive with us on Sunday on the u boat, but he doesn’t do well in rough seas, so I was concerned about him getting seasick. He wanted to come though, so I told him to buy some Bonine and start taking it the night before.

The next morning he arrived, we load the boat with another group of eager divers and struck out for the U-853. It was already cranking at 6:30 am. We ran out in a solid 3-5’ in chop, with a swell starting to run with it. We got on the wreck and picked up the other mooring, that way we’d be the downwind boat if another boat arrived on site – and hopefully avoid coming into close quarters with another vessel while moored. Our sister boat, the Canned Air, was supposed to be heading out to the wreck later that day. We figured that we’d probably not see any small boats today, since the seas were actually rougher than the day before. The Canned Air is also a 36-foot Northern Bay design boat. They were constructed by different builders and the cabin design is a bit different, but both Gauntlet and Canned Air are very similar in basic design otherwise being hatched from the same hull mold.

Anyway, once the boat was settled in, Lee, Fred and I headed in for our dive. My father first dived the U-853 in 1974 with iced down double 53s, and then again with me for the first time about 7 years ago. This was our first trip back together and his first actual dive from the Gauntlet. Lee and I were keeping a close eye on him since with all the modernizing of his gear (no more Jacques Cousteau regulators, thank you); he no longer had a J-valve for that “last extra breath”.

The visibility was quite a bit better than the day before – improved to about 25 feet. There was a decent current running and the seas definitely made you want to get below 20 feet quick, but overall I’d say the conditions on the wreck were really good. We were tied into the aft mooring, so we spent some time playing around in the aft blast hole, swam out to the stern and then up to the forward blast hole in front of the conning tower. Fred noticed right away that the detonator from a torpedo had been removed. After about 25 minutes Fred and I headed up, leaving Lee a few extra minutes on the bottom. I had prepared a jammed HP 100 with nitrox for my father, but the depth of the u boat is really at the limits of the utility of a single tank. We headed up, and when we hit my 20 foot stop (I was diving helitrox so I had a bit of deco), I sent him up to 15 and then to the surface. No use getting slammed around if you don’t need to. I finished up my deco and headed up shortly after.

By now the Canned Air was on the wreck also and while the boats were a bit close, they were playing nice. Sister boats know how to get along. A small seal had happened upon us and was darting between the boats, playing with divers. Dave shot some video of the baby seal, which was probably lost and soon to be shark bait.

The Canned Air... sister boats know how to play nice (left). A baby seal was looking for a ride (right).

Once everyone was back aboard, we pulled in the lines and headed back to Point Judith. We offloaded the boat of all gear and sent Fred home with everything we could fit into Dave’s van so we could run the boat home light. We depart just before 1 pm on Sunday, homebound. No sooner did we exit Point Judith Harbor of Refuge did we start to take an awful beating. Our course to the first waypoint pretty much put the solid 4-6’ sea right on our beam. It was pretty much a waterfall of water coming over the top of the boat. It was only 2.5 miles, but it was tough The boat was taking it fine, but we were getting tossed around. When we turned to our next heading the sea was more or less behind us, so life was a lot better. It was still hairy getting caught in troughs, so this 20-mile leg required that you be on the wheel surfing the boat the entire time. When we reached Buzzard’s Bay entrance, Dave took a turn at the helm and I crashed out again.

Getting into the Cape Cod Canal was a bit sketchy, as they say. The south side of the canal can be real snotty and the wind direction was just perfect for it. We had a strong head tide to contend with and as you get closer to the entrance, the water becomes shallow, the channel becomes very narrow and waves break. Coming through the channel we were surfing with 6 foot breaking waves, boats coming from pretty much every direction – sailboats cutting across the channel being your biggest problem usually. Of course, as if you don’t have enough going on trying to hold course, ride the waves, avoid losing control of the rudder surfing down into a trough, not hit anything – a wind surfer comes screaming across 30 feet off your bow popping off waves. It’s a stressful ride when there are that many things going on. It is nice to have 2 brains and 4 eyes working when it’s like that because it can get real busy and it doesn’t take much for things to turn into a cluster.

Once we entered the canal things mellowed a lot and despite the head tide, we were doing well. We hugged the edge of the canal where the water flow is the slowest and picked up 2 knots despite the strong head current. We were blowing by large sportfish boats trying to plow down the center of the canal. We exited the canal in about 45 minutes and were most pleased to see the seas were flat calm and the winds were light. We fired up the route home in the GPS and it was all smooth sailing from there. We arrived back at the dock at 8 pm, just about a 7-hour ride. All in all it was a fantastic trip – great diving despite challenging sea conditions. The boat exceeded our expectations with fuel consumption and overall performance. Thanks to all who joined us for Gauntlet’s first big adventure – many more to come. A big thanks also to Lee Livingston for helping out all weekend.

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