Diving the Chester Polling
My DUI drysuit came in handy again today as the male members of the Frank Scalli Interns — Rick Simon, Ryan Hunter, and myself — met up at Cape Ann Divers to dive one of the most popular Gloucester wrecks, the Chester Polling. We were the only divers that day, so we had the entire 45-ft charter boat to ourselves; more importantly the weather and water were perfect, with minimal swells and no current, and once we got down to the stern we were treated to 30ft visibility, ideal conditions for this dive. On our first dive, Rick showed me around the base of the hull and into the massive hole where the bow sheared off from the stern section. After lunch, I took the videocamera down to the deck of the Polling and recorded the diverse organisms that reside there, ranging from baby seastars to anemones to schools of red snappers. A good set of easy, interesting dives; I can see why the Polling is so popular, as I certainly intend to return sometime and explore it further.
