Spent thanksgiving w/ a group of folks from Scubaboad and ZenDiving on a live-aboard charter to the Dry Tortugas. The operation is first rate, and my no-carb diet lasted all of a day as they keep you well fed. The weather was less than optimal with high winds and the winter water temps coming in arond 75 degrees. The sun poked out a few times, but it was mostly overcast and very chilly. The cold air just sucks your strength. I'll definately go back, but aiming for sometime in August, when the sun is still shining and lobster season in full swing. I managed to bag 8 bugs on three dives, not awesome, but not shabby as I had the largest take of bugs for the trip.
Pics posted here
Somehow I managed to be right on time, but the last to arrive, and therefore, received the absolute worst bunk on the entire boat. The upper bunk at the tip of the v-berth. I had all of 18" to squirm in and out of the bunk. The seas didn't bother me much, and I bought my bose noise cacelling headphones, so I slept relitevely peacefull.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Cave Weekend 11/11
Its been a bit of a diving drought...., last weekend was blown out by strong East winds gushing at 20-25 knots that kept the boats out of the water until Tuesday afternoon. The gang (Lesley, Raphael, Erin and Chris), met up for another leisurely weekend of cave diving.
I picked up my new (to me) suit after having the rings and a few inches of fabric cut off and replaced w/ wrist seals. The arm length fit was spectcular, first dry dive I've had in a long while.
Chris had finished eidting the video of the dive shot during our previous trip. Its looks awesome on a laptop (It was shot in HD), I took it down a notch before posting to Google..., It's a little green and hazy at the beginning due to backscatter and the basin. Once we get into the tunnel and Chris has a chance to adjust the lights, its crystal clear. Enjoy....
I picked up my new (to me) suit after having the rings and a few inches of fabric cut off and replaced w/ wrist seals. The arm length fit was spectcular, first dry dive I've had in a long while.
Chris had finished eidting the video of the dive shot during our previous trip. Its looks awesome on a laptop (It was shot in HD), I took it down a notch before posting to Google..., It's a little green and hazy at the beginning due to backscatter and the basin. Once we get into the tunnel and Chris has a chance to adjust the lights, its crystal clear. Enjoy....
Monday, October 23, 2006
Three for One.....
No audio visuals for this update....
Wednesday I headed down to South Beach for some night diving w/ RJ Diving
Dives were on the Proteus and The Patricia.
Saturday the gang got together for a tech dive on The Clinton. Brian and Matt splashed first, followed by Scott and Eric (who ended up doing a sand dive), and Vince and I were team #3. There was a nice current (Brian estimates 1 knot - did you know a knot is 1.6'/sec? I did knot.. ;)
Captain Oliver on the Avid Diver dropped a hook and float ball on the wreck and had us dive bomb the wreck. I'm not terriably negative in my AL80's so swimming down 160' of water takes a little time. We hit the far side of the wreck, if we were a minute later, I imagine we would have beenout of sight of the wreck (60 seconds * 1.6 = 100' away!) Viz wasn't spectacular.... The wreck is nice, with lots of interesting machinery on the deck, some massive cranes, and monofiliment strewned about. A few passageways scattered about the ship made for some limited penetration opportunities. This was my first dive carrying two stages, so I didn't want to push my luck getting into any tight spaces... One goliath grouper inhabited the wreck and quickly hid out of view when approached. Vince and I planned on 30 minutes on the wreck and a runtime of ~67 minutes using 50% and O2 for deco.
We left the wreck on time and I shot the bag to let Captain Oliver track us from the surface as we drifted. I felt the bag hit the surface and we settled in for a nice slow ascent to our first deco stop. Then wham! Next thing I realize we've been pulled up 20-30' in the span of a few seconds as my computer is flashing a big hand indicating "slow yer ass down", thinking my bouyancy is out I start dumping air to re-stabalize. We're off the wreck and in a sea of blue - nothing but our guages to tell us if we're going up or down. I feel my reel taught and loosen up the screw and the reel continues spinning letting off line - I'm wondering WTF....! Realizing we're going to be out of line soon - I reach for my knife and cut the line.
I look over to Vince and give him the signal to blow his bag.... He shoots it to the surface and we settle in for deco on contingency tables as if we were on the wreck for 40 minutes. My VR3's deco schedule came within a minute of his schedule, and we surfaced after a total runtime of 90 minutes in the water.
We get on the boat and find Eric and Scott out of their drysuits and Brian tells us how he and Matt were deco'ing out and they run across a line at a low angle cutting through the water wodnering if there is a diver attached to the other end... Captain Oliver had picked up my bag which was floating at the surface with ~300' of line spooled out.
Sunday I spent the day on the Lady Go Diver with the typical Pompano rereational fare. The morning treated us to a leisurely dive on the Sea Emporer followed by a kick butt tag team lobster hunt w/ Heather, another regular on the boat; together we managed to snare 8 bugs.
In the afternoon we hit the Rodeo 25 and another reef. For all our good fortune in the morning - we came up blank in the afternoon. Oh well, we each left with enough for two meals each.
Wednesday I headed down to South Beach for some night diving w/ RJ Diving
Dives were on the Proteus and The Patricia.
Saturday the gang got together for a tech dive on The Clinton. Brian and Matt splashed first, followed by Scott and Eric (who ended up doing a sand dive), and Vince and I were team #3. There was a nice current (Brian estimates 1 knot - did you know a knot is 1.6'/sec? I did knot.. ;)
Captain Oliver on the Avid Diver dropped a hook and float ball on the wreck and had us dive bomb the wreck. I'm not terriably negative in my AL80's so swimming down 160' of water takes a little time. We hit the far side of the wreck, if we were a minute later, I imagine we would have beenout of sight of the wreck (60 seconds * 1.6 = 100' away!) Viz wasn't spectacular.... The wreck is nice, with lots of interesting machinery on the deck, some massive cranes, and monofiliment strewned about. A few passageways scattered about the ship made for some limited penetration opportunities. This was my first dive carrying two stages, so I didn't want to push my luck getting into any tight spaces... One goliath grouper inhabited the wreck and quickly hid out of view when approached. Vince and I planned on 30 minutes on the wreck and a runtime of ~67 minutes using 50% and O2 for deco.
We left the wreck on time and I shot the bag to let Captain Oliver track us from the surface as we drifted. I felt the bag hit the surface and we settled in for a nice slow ascent to our first deco stop. Then wham! Next thing I realize we've been pulled up 20-30' in the span of a few seconds as my computer is flashing a big hand indicating "slow yer ass down", thinking my bouyancy is out I start dumping air to re-stabalize. We're off the wreck and in a sea of blue - nothing but our guages to tell us if we're going up or down. I feel my reel taught and loosen up the screw and the reel continues spinning letting off line - I'm wondering WTF....! Realizing we're going to be out of line soon - I reach for my knife and cut the line.
I look over to Vince and give him the signal to blow his bag.... He shoots it to the surface and we settle in for deco on contingency tables as if we were on the wreck for 40 minutes. My VR3's deco schedule came within a minute of his schedule, and we surfaced after a total runtime of 90 minutes in the water.
We get on the boat and find Eric and Scott out of their drysuits and Brian tells us how he and Matt were deco'ing out and they run across a line at a low angle cutting through the water wodnering if there is a diver attached to the other end... Captain Oliver had picked up my bag which was floating at the surface with ~300' of line spooled out.
Sunday I spent the day on the Lady Go Diver with the typical Pompano rereational fare. The morning treated us to a leisurely dive on the Sea Emporer followed by a kick butt tag team lobster hunt w/ Heather, another regular on the boat; together we managed to snare 8 bugs.
In the afternoon we hit the Rodeo 25 and another reef. For all our good fortune in the morning - we came up blank in the afternoon. Oh well, we each left with enough for two meals each.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Cave Weekend
So, after the North Carolina trip, I drove 5 hours west to Winston-Salem as I began to re-realize the "seasons" we just don't experience down in South Florida. Fortunately I have a virtual office job, so I camped out at a client office with some friends for the week, burned up a few Marriott points, and enjoyed some southern hospitality. This sidestep also helped break up the tedious 13 hour drive back home, as I was meeting up w/ Lesley, Chris and Erin for some cave diving on the return trip.
We rented one of the mobile homes Cave Excursions has available, well hidden off the beaten path just north of Lauraville. Compared to previous trips - this was care-free no stress diving. I mean - we were downright lazy, we managed to squeeze in two dives a day...
Saturday we dove at Madison Blue. Since the summer is officially over, there were no swimmers, occasionally another dive team would show up, or a family doing some sight-seeing - nothing compared to labor day...!
Erin is cavern certified, so Lesley and Chris alternated buddying up for cavern dives
Lesley and I teamed up first and followed the main line out past the half-hitch restriction (864'), I don't recall exaclty how far we got, but I want to say 12-1300' and 40 minutes, definately before the Mount Offshoot @ 1347'. On the return trip through the cavern zone Lesley decided to slow down and take a scenic tour and check things out. Unfortuately for me, I had a few cups of coffe w/ breakfast and a liter of soda on the drive out, so nature had been calling since shortly after we turned - I've been lazy and don't have a p-valve in my drysuit, nor do I go the diaper route. I gave her the signal for 'I gotta pee!' and we high-tailed it out. With these larger tanks, we've been seeing 70-80' dive times easily - this was a scene repeated often during the weekend.
For the next dive, Chris and I headed down the main line and turned just past the half-hitch restriction, probably ~900'. I had two sets of doubles for the trip, however Chris was using the same set he did the cavern dive w/, so thats why it was somewhat shorter...
Lesley and I made the drive back to CE for fills while Erin and Chris went on an expedition to locate a birthday cake for Lesley. We had intentions to do a night dive, Cow or Telford, but after a big dinner at Two Sisters BBQ and cake, we settled in for watching "The Cave" on my laptop - I made it about 20 minutes then crashed.
We woke around 8am, and SLOWLY got moving. I think we made it to Peacock around 10am for our first dives. The brown muck from our previous trip was gone as Chris and I explored the mainline in an attempt to get to Olsen sink, we were a few hundred feet short as we called thirds.
Headed back to CE for fills, and this time we talked Chris into shooting HD video..., the plan was to head down the pothole line, make a jump off to the Nicholson tunnel, then jump onto the line heading to Cisteen sink. Chris had the camera, so I got to model and do all the work - nice huh? We managed to get back in there, and despite having plenty of gas - we got to that point in the back of your head where you start saying "man - we are WAY back in here"... I don't believe we got to the wishbone, so we were a few hundred feet from Cisteen before we turned.
Hopefully the video comes out nice... I'll post a link here when available...
We rented one of the mobile homes Cave Excursions has available, well hidden off the beaten path just north of Lauraville. Compared to previous trips - this was care-free no stress diving. I mean - we were downright lazy, we managed to squeeze in two dives a day...
Saturday we dove at Madison Blue. Since the summer is officially over, there were no swimmers, occasionally another dive team would show up, or a family doing some sight-seeing - nothing compared to labor day...!
Erin is cavern certified, so Lesley and Chris alternated buddying up for cavern dives
Lesley and I teamed up first and followed the main line out past the half-hitch restriction (864'), I don't recall exaclty how far we got, but I want to say 12-1300' and 40 minutes, definately before the Mount Offshoot @ 1347'. On the return trip through the cavern zone Lesley decided to slow down and take a scenic tour and check things out. Unfortuately for me, I had a few cups of coffe w/ breakfast and a liter of soda on the drive out, so nature had been calling since shortly after we turned - I've been lazy and don't have a p-valve in my drysuit, nor do I go the diaper route. I gave her the signal for 'I gotta pee!' and we high-tailed it out. With these larger tanks, we've been seeing 70-80' dive times easily - this was a scene repeated often during the weekend.
For the next dive, Chris and I headed down the main line and turned just past the half-hitch restriction, probably ~900'. I had two sets of doubles for the trip, however Chris was using the same set he did the cavern dive w/, so thats why it was somewhat shorter...
Lesley and I made the drive back to CE for fills while Erin and Chris went on an expedition to locate a birthday cake for Lesley. We had intentions to do a night dive, Cow or Telford, but after a big dinner at Two Sisters BBQ and cake, we settled in for watching "The Cave" on my laptop - I made it about 20 minutes then crashed.
We woke around 8am, and SLOWLY got moving. I think we made it to Peacock around 10am for our first dives. The brown muck from our previous trip was gone as Chris and I explored the mainline in an attempt to get to Olsen sink, we were a few hundred feet short as we called thirds.
Headed back to CE for fills, and this time we talked Chris into shooting HD video..., the plan was to head down the pothole line, make a jump off to the Nicholson tunnel, then jump onto the line heading to Cisteen sink. Chris had the camera, so I got to model and do all the work - nice huh? We managed to get back in there, and despite having plenty of gas - we got to that point in the back of your head where you start saying "man - we are WAY back in here"... I don't believe we got to the wishbone, so we were a few hundred feet from Cisteen before we turned.
Hopefully the video comes out nice... I'll post a link here when available...
North Carolina - October 2006
Made the long drive from South Florida to North Carolina. I started the drive on the 5th. The plan was for three days of diving from October 6,7,8. Each day we faced the uncertainty of a rough ride, but it was relatively painless once we arrived on site.
Friday - Dive 1 - the Schurz
We tied up to the site, and the current was challenging. The sun was out and conditions above water were perfect. Below, the currents were pretty strong, the crew estimated 2 knots. The safety rigging under the boat was due for a good workout. The wreck is more debris field than shipwreck, the reel is a must-use for this dive.
Friday - Dive 2 - The U-352
Check out this page for its history... I'll let the video speak for the dives...
Saturday - Dive 1 - The Indra
Weather conditions called for 3-5' seas, and the crowd was expecting the worst from the weather. Unfortunately enough, the calls for "sunny and warm" fell on deaf ears for the first half of the day as overcast clouds and a cool breeze fell upon the area... The Indra is an artificial reef that has been down for a number of years, as represented by the amount of coral growth. The main deck is non-remarkable, as the gems of this wreck lie in the decks below. Large cut-outs have been prepared for divers to easily penetrate swim-throughs through most of the wreck.
Saturday - Dive 2 - The W.E. Hutton (possibly the Ario?) The weather gods must have heard the calling as the sun decided to peak out and make its presence known. The wind was still blowing, but the 3-5' seas never materialized in-shore as anticipated as we experienced calm 1-2' conditions for the day...
We loaded up the boat Sunday morning and made our way to the fill station at Olympus to pick up tanks. The captain then made the call that it was going to be too rough to run that day. When we got to the dock, the rain was coming down - hard, and the tide was still coming in. The gangplank was easily nearing a 50 degree angle... It was a challenge unloading people and gear, I decided to leave my doubles on the boat until after it settled down some and we headed back to the Fisherman's Inn for a few hours sleep and a VERY lazy day.
This was my first group trip with the folks from SingleDivers.com, a wayward home for single and married but buddyless divers. The boat was the "Good Ship Mutiny (aka the Diver Down II).
Friday - Dive 1 - the Schurz
We tied up to the site, and the current was challenging. The sun was out and conditions above water were perfect. Below, the currents were pretty strong, the crew estimated 2 knots. The safety rigging under the boat was due for a good workout. The wreck is more debris field than shipwreck, the reel is a must-use for this dive.
Friday - Dive 2 - The U-352
Check out this page for its history... I'll let the video speak for the dives...
Saturday - Dive 1 - The Indra
Weather conditions called for 3-5' seas, and the crowd was expecting the worst from the weather. Unfortunately enough, the calls for "sunny and warm" fell on deaf ears for the first half of the day as overcast clouds and a cool breeze fell upon the area... The Indra is an artificial reef that has been down for a number of years, as represented by the amount of coral growth. The main deck is non-remarkable, as the gems of this wreck lie in the decks below. Large cut-outs have been prepared for divers to easily penetrate swim-throughs through most of the wreck.
Saturday - Dive 2 - The W.E. Hutton (possibly the Ario?) The weather gods must have heard the calling as the sun decided to peak out and make its presence known. The wind was still blowing, but the 3-5' seas never materialized in-shore as anticipated as we experienced calm 1-2' conditions for the day...
We loaded up the boat Sunday morning and made our way to the fill station at Olympus to pick up tanks. The captain then made the call that it was going to be too rough to run that day. When we got to the dock, the rain was coming down - hard, and the tide was still coming in. The gangplank was easily nearing a 50 degree angle... It was a challenge unloading people and gear, I decided to leave my doubles on the boat until after it settled down some and we headed back to the Fisherman's Inn for a few hours sleep and a VERY lazy day.
This was my first group trip with the folks from SingleDivers.com, a wayward home for single and married but buddyless divers. The boat was the "Good Ship Mutiny (aka the Diver Down II).
Monday, September 11, 2006
Key Largo 9/9 & 9/10
Drove down to Key Largo friday night and setup the tent at John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park for a weekend of diving w/ the friendly folks at Conch Republic Divers.
The mosquitos ate me alive and it was hot & humid - I'm going to have to rethink some amenities since all the campsites have power... Last time I camped here - Marco brought a window mounted A/C unit - sure it looked funny - but it kept the tent ice cold!
Saturday Morning:
US Coast Guard Cutter Bibb
US Coast Guard Cutter Duane
While hanging out on deco, a massive jellyfish came by...
Saturday Afternoon:
The Eagle
The second dive was on "Little Conch Reef". I packed my lobster gear and spend the hour trying to find dinner... I ran across three lobsters, 1 short allowed himself to be caught. The other two wanted nothing to do with me, they were backed into their holes and wern't budging.
Sunday Morning:
The Spiegel Grove
Fortunately we were moored onto the superstructure amidship, I dropped down and then instantaneously forgot where I was going. Took me a few minutes to get oriented and find the machine shop, one of my favorite rooms a little off the beaten path... I then made my way forward and down a level where I found a nice stainless steel knife laying in the stairwell. I thought I was down below the main deck - when I came across a huge cutout and then noticed one of the thick lines running down the hallway... so much for penetration. I followed it around and then out onto the bow where I toured the chain locker - my second favorite place on the wreck.
I made my way back to the superstructure, the video really eats up the memory card, so I switched it off to save a few minutes for later. Ended up taking a wrong turn at one point and had to doubleback as I ran into a dead-end. Finally got my bearings again and lined up to get a good shot of Snoopy...
The mosquitos ate me alive and it was hot & humid - I'm going to have to rethink some amenities since all the campsites have power... Last time I camped here - Marco brought a window mounted A/C unit - sure it looked funny - but it kept the tent ice cold!
Saturday Morning:
US Coast Guard Cutter Bibb
US Coast Guard Cutter Duane
While hanging out on deco, a massive jellyfish came by...
Saturday Afternoon:
The Eagle
The second dive was on "Little Conch Reef". I packed my lobster gear and spend the hour trying to find dinner... I ran across three lobsters, 1 short allowed himself to be caught. The other two wanted nothing to do with me, they were backed into their holes and wern't budging.
Sunday Morning:
The Spiegel Grove
Fortunately we were moored onto the superstructure amidship, I dropped down and then instantaneously forgot where I was going. Took me a few minutes to get oriented and find the machine shop, one of my favorite rooms a little off the beaten path... I then made my way forward and down a level where I found a nice stainless steel knife laying in the stairwell. I thought I was down below the main deck - when I came across a huge cutout and then noticed one of the thick lines running down the hallway... so much for penetration. I followed it around and then out onto the bow where I toured the chain locker - my second favorite place on the wreck.
I made my way back to the superstructure, the video really eats up the memory card, so I switched it off to save a few minutes for later. Ended up taking a wrong turn at one point and had to doubleback as I ran into a dead-end. Finally got my bearings again and lined up to get a good shot of Snoopy...
Tuesday, September 05, 2006
Cave Diving - Trip Report
Ok, so we finished the NAUI Cave 1 program at the end of July. I got a PM over on the DecoStop from Dave Berman (whom I took DIR-F with), that he, Bob and Penny would be heading down to The Dive Outpost for a week around Labor Day. Seeing an opportunity to tack on a few vacation days and make use of the holiday, I set plans in motion to join. A quick email off to Raphael and it was set.
To help extend the dive times, I had put together a new set of Worthington 108's. No more dissimilar tank calculations due to me diving HP100's...! And I also had a chance to really break-in the new Salvo lighthead on my Sandho can. Some folks I dive with have a serious case of light envy going on now.
Half way up the Turnpike - I realized I had forgotten the TTL cable for my strobe & my wide angle lens - oh well - no pictures for this trip.
Cathy really went overboard and prepared a feast for everyone Sunday... You never leave the Outpost hungry.
8/31 15:10 60min Peacock 1 - Pothole - ~1000'
8/31 19:39 66min Telford - ~1200' - Posturepedic Passage
9/1 10:07 35min Peacock 1 - Pothole - Olsen - ~1464'
9/1 11:00 37min Peacock 1 - Olsen - Pothole - ~1464' return trip.
9/1 16:20 42min Little River - Main Line ~410' - Big Arrow
9/2 10:00 52min Madison Blue - Main Line - ~844' - half-hitch restriction
9/2 12:11 49min Madison Blue - Main Line - ~844' - half-hitch restriction
9/2 15:55 63min Peacock 1 - Nicholson Tunnel - ~1325' - End of line.
9/3 8:58 56min Madison Blue - Main Line - ~700' - Past Godzilla Room
9/3 11:52 63min Peacock 1 - Peanut Tunnel - 1500'
9/3 15:31 78min Orange Grove - ~1600', ~200' from Challenge Sink.
9/4 9:34 77min Peacock 1 - Pothole - Cisteen - ~1600' - near the Wishbone.
Being our first real trip outside of class - our goal was to see how far we could push on the main lines, get a good sense of gas consumption, learn and get more familiar with the caves. Two dives we turned on thirds, most were turned because we had gotten to the end of a line and were close to thirds, hadn't previously discussed jumps & T's, or honestly expected to get that far... I'd say one dive - Teford was turned on comfort. We think we entered Posturpedic Passage - a massive bedding plane, probably 30-40' wide, and all of 1.5-2' tall, and what felt like a few hundred feet long... it just kept going, and going, and going, and getting smaller, and smaller... I decided I had enough and called it. We'll go back and tackle it again when it gets a little cooler. We're armed with maps of all the systems now and we'll set goals for each trip.
4 nights @ Dive Outpost..... $100.00
933 cuft Nitrox 32%......... $74.62
Book: Taming of the Slough.. $28.00
Not having to multiply 100s of PSI x 5.6 = Priceless
To help extend the dive times, I had put together a new set of Worthington 108's. No more dissimilar tank calculations due to me diving HP100's...! And I also had a chance to really break-in the new Salvo lighthead on my Sandho can. Some folks I dive with have a serious case of light envy going on now.
Half way up the Turnpike - I realized I had forgotten the TTL cable for my strobe & my wide angle lens - oh well - no pictures for this trip.
Cathy really went overboard and prepared a feast for everyone Sunday... You never leave the Outpost hungry.
8/31 15:10 60min Peacock 1 - Pothole - ~1000'
8/31 19:39 66min Telford - ~1200' - Posturepedic Passage
9/1 10:07 35min Peacock 1 - Pothole - Olsen - ~1464'
9/1 11:00 37min Peacock 1 - Olsen - Pothole - ~1464' return trip.
9/1 16:20 42min Little River - Main Line ~410' - Big Arrow
9/2 10:00 52min Madison Blue - Main Line - ~844' - half-hitch restriction
9/2 12:11 49min Madison Blue - Main Line - ~844' - half-hitch restriction
9/2 15:55 63min Peacock 1 - Nicholson Tunnel - ~1325' - End of line.
9/3 8:58 56min Madison Blue - Main Line - ~700' - Past Godzilla Room
9/3 11:52 63min Peacock 1 - Peanut Tunnel - 1500'
9/3 15:31 78min Orange Grove - ~1600', ~200' from Challenge Sink.
9/4 9:34 77min Peacock 1 - Pothole - Cisteen - ~1600' - near the Wishbone.
Being our first real trip outside of class - our goal was to see how far we could push on the main lines, get a good sense of gas consumption, learn and get more familiar with the caves. Two dives we turned on thirds, most were turned because we had gotten to the end of a line and were close to thirds, hadn't previously discussed jumps & T's, or honestly expected to get that far... I'd say one dive - Teford was turned on comfort. We think we entered Posturpedic Passage - a massive bedding plane, probably 30-40' wide, and all of 1.5-2' tall, and what felt like a few hundred feet long... it just kept going, and going, and going, and getting smaller, and smaller... I decided I had enough and called it. We'll go back and tackle it again when it gets a little cooler. We're armed with maps of all the systems now and we'll set goals for each trip.
4 nights @ Dive Outpost..... $100.00
933 cuft Nitrox 32%......... $74.62
Book: Taming of the Slough.. $28.00
Not having to multiply 100s of PSI x 5.6 = Priceless
Sunday, August 27, 2006
The Hydro
8/27 - Pompano Beach; Avid Diver, The Hydro Atlantic
I've been in Florida for a year now. Did my initial tech training back up North - but didn't approach any 'real' tech dives for some time - minor backgas deco obligations on the Guy Harvey, Spiegel Grove or Duane. Having recently completed Helitrox with Lesley - I was ready to get back into the swing of things with a clear head. Managed to pull together a solid group of buds and we filled Oliver's boat for a morning dive on Pompano's crown jewel; The Hydro Atlantic.
Brian and Matt splashed first, Raphael and me splashed second, Scott and Marc brought up the rear as team #3.
These are my photos...
These are Matt's photos...
Earlier in the week - the forecast was calling for 2-4' seas. The morning of - it was at 2'. Out on the water- the day was perfect with waves less than 1' and once we got to the wreck - absolutely no current to speak of. The Captain decided to line us up - and have us dive bomb the wreck - no line or ball for descent.
Raphael and I planned on 10 minutes in the engine room @ 170' & 15 minutes on the deck @ 150' using 21/35 & 50% for deco. After 25 minutes on the bottom, we'd proceed to shoot bags from the wreck to let the Captain track our ascent.
I lost track of Raphael on the way down, as the blurred vision of the wreck came into view around 70'. As I approached - the massive city came into focus as I dropped admiship near the skylights. One quick spin and the glow of 3 HID's danced across the wreck. Raphael was right behind me... I quickly got my bearings, got my bouyancy situated and got my camera squared away for the dive. A quick up and over and we descended through the skylights into the engine room....
We ran tables for contingency - I had decided to run deco on my VR3, a slow ascent from depth added a few minutes to the dive, and then the VR3 decided to give me 24 minutes @ 20' versus the 17 minutes V-Planner called for got me a little tight on deco gas. I think I'm going to have to dedicate one of my AL40s to Oxygen and add an AL80 for 50%. Right as deco cleared - I had 100-200psi remaining. Switched over to backgas and proceeded on a nice leisurely 5 min ascent to the surface.
I've been in Florida for a year now. Did my initial tech training back up North - but didn't approach any 'real' tech dives for some time - minor backgas deco obligations on the Guy Harvey, Spiegel Grove or Duane. Having recently completed Helitrox with Lesley - I was ready to get back into the swing of things with a clear head. Managed to pull together a solid group of buds and we filled Oliver's boat for a morning dive on Pompano's crown jewel; The Hydro Atlantic.
Brian and Matt splashed first, Raphael and me splashed second, Scott and Marc brought up the rear as team #3.
These are my photos...
These are Matt's photos...
Earlier in the week - the forecast was calling for 2-4' seas. The morning of - it was at 2'. Out on the water- the day was perfect with waves less than 1' and once we got to the wreck - absolutely no current to speak of. The Captain decided to line us up - and have us dive bomb the wreck - no line or ball for descent.
Raphael and I planned on 10 minutes in the engine room @ 170' & 15 minutes on the deck @ 150' using 21/35 & 50% for deco. After 25 minutes on the bottom, we'd proceed to shoot bags from the wreck to let the Captain track our ascent.
I lost track of Raphael on the way down, as the blurred vision of the wreck came into view around 70'. As I approached - the massive city came into focus as I dropped admiship near the skylights. One quick spin and the glow of 3 HID's danced across the wreck. Raphael was right behind me... I quickly got my bearings, got my bouyancy situated and got my camera squared away for the dive. A quick up and over and we descended through the skylights into the engine room....
We ran tables for contingency - I had decided to run deco on my VR3, a slow ascent from depth added a few minutes to the dive, and then the VR3 decided to give me 24 minutes @ 20' versus the 17 minutes V-Planner called for got me a little tight on deco gas. I think I'm going to have to dedicate one of my AL40s to Oxygen and add an AL80 for 50%. Right as deco cleared - I had 100-200psi remaining. Switched over to backgas and proceeded on a nice leisurely 5 min ascent to the surface.
Playing catch up...
We'll see how this goes... not promising anything....
8/19 & 20 - Dry Tortugas National Park
The trip was originally planned to visit Cay Sal Banks in the Bahamas - but weather turned for the worse, and we opted for a trip to the Dry Tortugas & Fort Jefferson instead of 4 hous of pain crossing the channel... The trip was organized by Dean Marshall for a few like minded DIR divers - purely recreational fare.
The Windjammer
Lobsters!
Reef Dive....
8/25 - Boynton Beach, FL; Splashdown Divers, The Captain Tony
Spent friday afternoon w/ the wonderful folks at Splashdown, nicer reefs in Boynton compared to Pompano - alot more to distract you when lobstering! First dive was on the Captain Tony, I managed to shoot some decent video with the new camera setup. Unfortunately once the Goliath Groupers hear divers coming - they run to their hiding spot. The good news - we know where it is - and they don't fear divers who get a little close, so I got some good video. Met up w/ Darren & Mika who volunteered to spot lobster on the reef dive. Walked away with one 5oz. and 9oz. tails - dinner was served.
8/19 & 20 - Dry Tortugas National Park
The trip was originally planned to visit Cay Sal Banks in the Bahamas - but weather turned for the worse, and we opted for a trip to the Dry Tortugas & Fort Jefferson instead of 4 hous of pain crossing the channel... The trip was organized by Dean Marshall for a few like minded DIR divers - purely recreational fare.
The Windjammer
Lobsters!
Reef Dive....
8/25 - Boynton Beach, FL; Splashdown Divers, The Captain Tony
Spent friday afternoon w/ the wonderful folks at Splashdown, nicer reefs in Boynton compared to Pompano - alot more to distract you when lobstering! First dive was on the Captain Tony, I managed to shoot some decent video with the new camera setup. Unfortunately once the Goliath Groupers hear divers coming - they run to their hiding spot. The good news - we know where it is - and they don't fear divers who get a little close, so I got some good video. Met up w/ Darren & Mika who volunteered to spot lobster on the reef dive. Walked away with one 5oz. and 9oz. tails - dinner was served.
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