Cold dive today off Marblehead, recovered some artifacts

M

matt_unique

New member
Not a C-Dory related adventure, but the adventure of a C-Dory owner.

Some buddies and I decided to try a new (to us) dive site off Marblehead near Fort Sewall (important fort during the war of 1812). I dive year round in New England and have done so for 10 years. This was the coldest dive I have ever experienced. We had three computers between us and the warmest water temperature reading was 33 degrees F. The coldest water I had experienced previously (several years ago) was 36 degrees F.

The ice cream headache for the first few minutes is normal in the winter up here, but the burning of the cheeks for a timed 5 minutes was really brutal. Only the area around the mouth is openly exposed to the water. We were all suffering the cheek burning (water this cold actually feels like it's burning the face) but otherwise enjoying the good visibility and interesting topography.

We made our way to the south over an area famous during a major storm in 1920. A hotel or restaurant was built near the bluff and this storm caused it to collapse into the sea. One of my buddies said dishes can be found here from that time period (1920 or earlier). I managed to in fact find several dish fragments and one creamer cup almost completely intact. After 90 years of storms there are apparently few intact dishes to be found so I was quite pleased.

At home I soaked them in a vinegar and water solution for a few hours then scrubbed them as best I could without causing damage. It took some time considering the growth but they came out quite nice. I'm still researching them but from what I have learned they are circa 1920 or earlier. The markings on the bottom read "Grindley Hotelware; Made in England". I found several Grindley pieces on Ebay and other antique sites and the are not likely worth much of anything but it was a fun find.

Here are a few pictures of the dishes.

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php
 
If water temps remain this cold I would definitely get the full face mask Rick. I mentioned in 10 years of winter diving I have never recorded colder than 36 degree water temp. Yesterday was really unreal.

The dive yesterday was shallow, just over 20'. This site can really only be accessed during the winter because the area is very busy with boat traffic and lobster pots in the summer. I definitely plan to return to see if I can find more treasure (he he).

Again - it has little value but I find it interesting to have found a little piece of history underwater.

Further to the north, directly off Fort Sewall, divers have supposedly found cannon balls shot at the British when the USS Constitution sought refuge in Marblehead harbor during a battle in the War of 1812. A few years ago a diver found a small English cannon from the mid 1700's.
 
Cool find. Thanks for sharing and you are a brave man; 33F! :shock: It makes the dive more interesting & of course memorable IMO. I've got some in-tact beer & sake bottles I recovered from the wreck of the Akibisan Maru; sunk June 6, 1944 in Kwajalein Lagoon by American naval bombers. I left the growth on them for aesthetics. :wink: Not worth anything I think, but to me their cool.
 
localboy":2ecofts1 said:
Cool find. Thanks for sharing and you are a brave man; 33F! :shock: It makes the dive more interesting & of course memorable IMO. I've got some in-tact beer & sake bottles I recovered from the wreck of the Akibisan Maru; sunk June 6, 1944 in Kwajalein Lagoon by American naval bombers. I left the growth on them for aesthetics. :wink: Not worth anything I think, but to me their cool.
Click to expand...

Wow! WWII wrecks are my favorite. We have several U-boats up this way including the U853. The U853 and the USS Bass are my two favorite dive sites.
 
matt_unique":3e876r8c said:
localboy":3e876r8c said:
Cool find. Thanks for sharing and you are a brave man; 33F! :shock: It makes the dive more interesting & of course memorable IMO. I've got some in-tact beer & sake bottles I recovered from the wreck of the Akibisan Maru; sunk June 6, 1944 in Kwajalein Lagoon by American naval bombers. I left the growth on them for aesthetics. :wink: Not worth anything I think, but to me their cool.
Click to expand...

Wow! WWII wrecks are my favorite. We have several U-boats up this way including the U853. The U853 and the USS Bass are my two favorite dive sites.
Click to expand...

Yep, Kwajalein has numerous WWII wrecks in the lagoon including the Prinz Eugen, a German heavy cruiser that was used in the target fleet for the nuclear bomb tests @ Bikini Atoll. Unfortunately, I didn't do much diving in the lagoon; most of the diving was outside the reef where better visiblity was the norm and life was diverse. I did do one long all day trip to the northern most islands in the atoll, and the diving/life/reefs were SPECTACULAR!

The dive on the Akibisan Maru gave me the worst case of nitrogen narcosis I've ever encountered. My reactions/actions were slow and I had to conciously think about what I was doing. Even then I seemed confused and slow to react; not a good feeling. The bow cargo hold where the bottles were located was >140 ft. The deepest dive I've ever done and I was younger and in better shape.

Looks like I messed up on the date sunk: :oops:
http://www.pacificwrecks.com/ships/maru/akibaasan.html
 
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