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.

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.