Last weekend, Gary and I dove the Onondaga. For those who've never heard of it, the Onondaga is a shipwreck that lies in about 50 ft of water just off Watch Hill, Rhode Island.
She's 275 ft long, and sunk in 1918. Her entire crew escaped the wreck. Her cargo was varied. Lying at the bottom, divers see Model A tires, perfume bottles, plates, shoes, thread spools, and assorted other items.
It's a fun dive, though care must be taken to hit the water only at slack tide, as the current in this area is very strong. Diving at any time other than slack tide is dangerous.
We dove it last year, and visibility was poor, less than 10 ft. This year, conditions couldn't have been better. Visibility was about 30 ft. We dug around in the sand and found lots of interesting stuff, including a wooden thread spool that was fully intact, even after 90 years at the bottom.
Our ascent to the surface took an interesting turn when we were greeted by several Lion's Mane Jellyfish. It's never fun to be around these things. We had to hang on the line for a minute to allow them to pass before we finished our ascent. After moving past them, I managed to catch a shot of one from above. The picture isn't great, and doesn't do justice to the size of these things.
So, there you have it. The Onondaga in a nutshell. Summer is moving along so fast, and diving time is getting scarce. We're hoping to dive another wreck or 2 before the season ends. If we're lucky, another trip to the U-853 might be in the cards. Now that I think about it, my next post will probably be about our dive to the U-853 last year.
We dove it last year, and visibility was poor, less than 10 ft. This year, conditions couldn't have been better. Visibility was about 30 ft. We dug around in the sand and found lots of interesting stuff, including a wooden thread spool that was fully intact, even after 90 years at the bottom.
Our ascent to the surface took an interesting turn when we were greeted by several Lion's Mane Jellyfish. It's never fun to be around these things. We had to hang on the line for a minute to allow them to pass before we finished our ascent. After moving past them, I managed to catch a shot of one from above. The picture isn't great, and doesn't do justice to the size of these things.
So, there you have it. The Onondaga in a nutshell. Summer is moving along so fast, and diving time is getting scarce. We're hoping to dive another wreck or 2 before the season ends. If we're lucky, another trip to the U-853 might be in the cards. Now that I think about it, my next post will probably be about our dive to the U-853 last year.
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