Delaware Water Gap Train Wreck November 2005

Black Friday Stephan and I made it out to the train wreck in the Gap, showing more enthusiasm than brains. Pop quiz: Will a river be warmer, or colder, than Dutch or the ocean? By how much? For those of you saying colder, give yourselves a cookie, and for those of you guessing by 20 freaking degrees, well, you are a lot smarter than I am.

Still, it wasn't bad. Stephan found directions on line that were generally excellent, though I do have a grievance with a rte 611 North that actually runs south (when you head west on 80, turn left, and have the morning sun on your left, but are on 611N, you know something just ain't right.) Making our way down to the water, we were pleased to very clearly see falling leaves sinking down 6'-8'. The wind was blowing and the air 20 something, so we didn't waste any time getting into our suits. Stephan warmed up with some don-and-doff the drysuit calisthenics (first an errant sock, then a misplaced suspender) while I stumbled around half-blind without my glasses (gotta remember those contacts). I made sure to give a little extra time to prebreathing the scrubber on my rebreather, as this was the coldest air/water it has been exposed to, and in we went.

The train wreck is a piece of cake to find, scarcely a few kicks off from the shore. There are several cars on their sides, and a truck axle a little upstream. The viz was not as good as we had hoped, but was still a respectable 10' or so. The silt is very thick here, so buoyancy control is key. I poked around a bit for bottles, and found several, but they were all very modern. I did bring up a big-ass suspension spring to put in the garden, as I have a penchant for cool industrial shapes, and it should look nice with some viney flowers growing through it.

Both Stephan and I agreed that the best part was probably the moir effect looking up at the sun. I'm not sure if it is rust in the water or what, but it had a really pretty golden glow.