Wiscasset, Maine bottles underwater

[southern Maine diver]

Hey... this is fun!!!

I found the group photo of some of the bottles that I found in Wiscasset, Maine last year. Rick and I searched a relatively small area around an old dock and had great luck. The bottom was covered with a light silt and shallow mud and rubble. There was a great mixture of newer bottles intermingled with some older ones, so you really had to take your time, go slow and look at each and every bottle that you came across.

Here, you can see the John Ryan's, the Swaim's Panacea, the umbrella ink, a beautiful wide flared lip snuff jar/bottle, a hair restorer... etc! We were so excited with the finds in this area... we enlarged the search area and really didn't find anything extraordinary, so we put off diving at this location until the current could uncover some more goodies.

Can't wait to get back here!!

[8D]Wayne

 

[Gunsmoke47]

Way to go Wayne![] Very nice flask in the other thread too! I am an advanced open water diver, but in the Panhandle of Texas, there is no chance of nice scores like you have found. Sold my gear years ago. Back when I was diving, the only thing I knew about bottles was that you drank beer out of um! [] Congrats!!

 

[capsoda]

I agree Very nice!

 

[Tony14]

Nice!! I think i shoud get a diving licence and start searching the lakes around here. i dont think i have a chance out here in wisconsin to get my hands on stuff like that though.[&:]

 

[southern Maine diver]

Gunsmoke, Capsoda and Tony14...

Thanks for the compliments and kudos[&:]
I am so excited about the things we find underwater... all of you guys have the same opportunity you know... where there is water... there are bottles somewhere! They used the lakes, rivers, ponds, streams, bays, oceans, docks, wharves... waterfront for dumps. An old friend of mine (Jim Rogers from Manchester, NH 83 years old) said he would like to learn how to dive!!! He said I was in the last virgin area of bottle hunting... underwater!!!

A lot of dumps are either dug out, protected or you can't get permission anymore to dig them... It's sad in a way. It makes me think that someday my boys will not be able to dive and hunt for old bottles... kinda scares me in a way[&o]

Anyway, thanks again for the compliments,

Wayne[]

 

[aussiebottlo]

Great bottles Wayne, are you diving in clear water?

I love the challenge of diving but have to put in a lot of research before I dive in the local rivers here. Plus not being able to see a thing in the muddy water.

Keep blowing those bubbles.

 

[southern Maine diver]

Aussiebotlo...

It all depends on the area I dive, the time of year... Sometimes the water visibility is 15 to 20 feet[8D]... and then sometimes I'm in 6" to 12" of visibility[:'(] it all depends on your "comfort level"

We gone into some places where the mud is so thick, once you stir things up we get clouded out and visibility is absolutely ZERO[] So we look for the bottles by feel "the brail method" and once we find something, we rise above the mud cloud to check it out and then sink back down to the bottom!

If I am diving rivers or current, then we swim into the current and let the mud, debris and clouds pass by[] sucks to be the last man down river in this scenario[>:]

I routinely use what I call "the line method" where I throw in a 35lb pyramid anchor (weight) and run a 100' search line off it in one particular direction. I "Plant" or stake the end of the line and then run up and down the line once and collect what I see and deposit the items back at the anchor[:-]... I then move the line in an arc similar to a windshield wiper blade, about 10-15 feet depending on the visibility, and repeat the search pattern until I am low on air or I find a hot spot...

There are a number of underwater search patterns you can use. I was a police officer for nearly 17 years and I was on the underwater search & recovery team, so I had a lot of experience and training.

I dive very often out of my dive boat, so the "line" along the bottom always keeps me "in touch" with my boat! I always know where it is, I always come up on the anchor line and I'm almost always within a 150' of the boat where I have my diver down flags flying. Plus the name of my boat is "DIVER DOWN" in huge 10" letters along both sides of the boat!!! Can't mistake me for anything else, cept maybe a seal, walrus or small whale[]

But each area has its' own quirks and challenges... so I dive them all[&:]

Would love to get "Down Under" some day... send us some photos!

Wayne

 

[aussiebottlo]

Wayne wish I had the variation but all ours is zero vis so know the braille method well, a lot of bottles are in the mud here also so use a small probe you can here the sound really well.

I mainly use a hookah as most diving is no more than 30 feet in narrow rivers. I find most of my sites by researching old river charts from 1800s and old parish maps which show the locations of the homesteads.

Nearly all the surface heaps are dug out here so its the only way I will get many bottles.

Would be great to see you down this way one day still plenty of bottles to get.

John

 

[southern Maine diver]

Hi John...

Yea that mud diving is tough diving[>:] We use a probe in some spots, but the probe is no longer than your arm. The mud here is so soft and mucky (like the stuff in a baby diaper[:'(]) that we put on kevlar gloves and keep jamming our hands into it until we touch something. I use a full face mask, EXO-26 which keeps all the debris out of your face and it doesn't clog that often from the mud and debris. Would love to get down there on holiday some time, I'll be sure to look you up.[] Stay safe...

Wayne