Don Ballinger Memorial Reef

I suppose that this could be a dive report but it is so much more than that. In 2009, Veronica and I lost a great friend – one of those people who has been in your life for a long time and someone that puts a gigantic hole in your heart when they are gone.

Veronica and I belong to a SCUBA diving club in Metuchen, NJ called MUD (Metuchen Underwater Divers). We have been a part of the club and participated in many of their events for a lot of years. In our early days of diving when we all thought that we were invincible, we dove and partied with a some incredible people. Don Ballinger was one of those people. Over the years, we watched Don go through good times, bad times, grumpy times and everything in between. The thing about Don was that you couldn’t help but love him – that is when we didn’t want to kill him.

Don was married twice and unlike most men who have been married twice, Don had a great relationship with both of his wives. He also had an incredible daughter, Megan, who Don was extremely proud of. Don’s second wife, Susan, is a diver and she accompanied us on many of our daring dive excursions to far off places. Okay, it was North Carolina and the Florida Keys. But Susan and Don were New Jersey divers and you don’t need far off places if you dive in New Jersey. I think that you just have a few screws that are loose and you don’t know anybody that can tighten those screws.

Don was an avid skier, tennis player and SCUBA diver. Don was also a polio victim when he was young and had one leg that was underdeveloped. The great thing about Don was that you would never know  that by looking at his active life style. I can remember a trip that we took to North Carolina. We were coming in on a dive boat from 20+ miles offshore in horrific weather. The waves were coming over the wheel house on the boat and we were all hunkered down in the cabin. All of us except for Don Ballinger and his sidekick, Duane Clause. They were in their wetsuits out in the weather (see photo at left). At one point, they climbed on the cabin of the boat, hung their heads over the side of the cabin top and waved to us who were not so brave. They had diving masks on and the Atlantic waters were washing over them as they waved.

So, today, 9-11-2010, my dive buddy, Beth Dalzell, her husband, Wes, my wife, Veronica and I ventured off the New Jersey coast to the Axel Carlson Artificial Reef where Don’s wife, Susan, his daughter, Megan, and a lot of Don’s friends had an M60 Army tank dedicated to Don’s memory as an artificial reef – the Don Ballinger Memorial Reef. I think that an Army tank is appropriate for Don. He would have loved it. Don was a Scotsman. It was not unusual to see Don wearing a kilt at a dressy affair. So why does that mean that a tank is appropriate for Don. Well, I think that it is because Don was a warrior. It was evident in his battle with mesothelioma. It was something that he probably contracted when he was working a summer job in high school and it was the thing that took his life. He battled this monster right to the end.

A few weeks ago, Don’s wife Susan, his daughter Megan and his compadres from the Metuchen Underwater Dive Club made a dive on Don’s tank and affixed a memorial plaque. I had promised Susan that I would try to be there that day and take underwater photos of the tank and the plaque. Well, I didn’t make it but they went out with Captain Al from the Sea Lion  and got the plaque in place in less than desirable diving conditions.

It’s kind of weird and appropriate that we got out to visit Don’s reef on 9-11. It’s a day that most Americans will never forget and I think that it is a good day to rejoice that we are Americans and to remember those who have gone before us. Don didn’t die on 9-11 but he left us way before his time as did all those who gave up their lives on that infamous day.

I really try to do a good job with my underwater photography and I have to admit that sometimes, the conditions are not  as good as I would like them to be. Last Monday (Labor Day), we went out to dive and my first thought was to go to Don’s reef. Unfortunately, Hurricane Earl had just passed the New Jersey coast and we all thought that underwater visibility would be pretty bad. We decided to go to a spot on the Sea Girt Artificial Reef. Visibility is usually better there than on the Axel Carlson Reef where Don’s reef is. We were right – the visibility on the Cranford was terrible. Beth and I cut our dive short and headed for the surface where the water was extremely clear. I hung out there for a half hour and shot photos of jellyfish. It wasn’t a wasted opportunity for me but it was not a great dive for Beth.

Today, we headed out of the inlet and talked about our final destination. I really wanted to visit Don’s reef before the season ended. Beth talked about going farther offshore to the Sea Girt Reef where visibility had been better last week. Beth’s husband, Wes, had a commitment in the afternoon so we decided to stay close to home and visit Don’s reef. We got to the GPS numbers and threw in a marker buoy. Next came the formidable task of hooking into the tank. It is not a big target when it is 70’ below the surface. I steered the boat over the spot and yelled to drop the hook. That is Veronica’s task. There is no one better at it. To all of our surprises, we were hooked in on the first try. We couldn’t believe it.

Beth and I suited up. This is nearing the end of our dive season when the water is at its warmest. I decided to pull out the 1/4” thick wetsuit for the dive. I normally dive in a drysuit but I love to be in a wetsuit when I can. We headed down the anchor line and found that Veronica had hooked into a reef ball. I can’t tell you how difficult it is to hook into a reef ball.

This was a lucky snag. The visibility on the bottom was bad. It was like night time. It was so dark. Beth hooked up her line reel to the anchor chain and we went out looking for the tank. Beth reeled out about 100’ of line and we didn’t find anything but another reef ball. We started to move in an arc on the reel line and found a tank. Lo and behold, it was Don’s tank with the memorial plaque on it. I started to take pictures but it was extremely hard in the low light and bad visibility. I cranked up the camera ISO to 640, set the lens opening at f8, choose a shutter speed of 1/4 second and set both of my Ikelite DS-125’s to 1/8 power. I did the best that I could in the conditions that we had.

I looked at my dive computer and saw that I had three minutes of bottom time left. I showed the number to Beth and we headed back to the anchor line following her dive reel. What made me laugh was the fact that the tank was probably about ten feet from the anchor line. When we headed out using Beth’s reel, we went in the wrong direction and found the tank when we were following the line in an arc. We were back to the anchor line so fast that I was surprised. I thought “I could have stayed another minute or so to take photos.” Beth and Ronnie wouldn’t have liked that.

I don’t know if I will have the opportunity to visit Don’s reef again this season but I am so glad that I had the chance to visit it today. We all miss Don and we try to be there for Susan to help her get though this terrible time in her life. When Don passed, I made a collage of photos that I had of him. I didn’t have as many as I thought that I did. We never think that we should capture images of our friends and love one because one day they might not be there for us.

I took some of the photos from the dive and a one of Don and put them together into a collage. I will try and improve on this when I can get back to Don’s Reef in better visibility but I felt that Susan and Megan would love it. If you want to see more of the photos of Don’s Reef, you can go to my new Image Gallery which is not yet available through my web site menu but will soon be. Click here to go there.

One thing is for sure. Don will always be alive in our hearts. Remember that when someone that you love so much reaches the end of their journey. As long as you  keep them alive in your heart, they WILL NEVER DIE!

© 2010, Herb Segars. All rights reserved.