Palm Beach Dive Thread

[NothingClever]

Below is Luke, one of the Captains from Kyalami II (Palm Beach). His pre-departure safety brief is great. I get a little worn out with Florida boat Captains who think they’re on a comedy tour; it makes them sound amateur and doesn’t inspire confidence that they’ll be on their game when things go wrong. In contrast, Luke gets right down to business while keeping it light - a bullseye. Predictably, Luke’s communication with the crew and control of the vessel during pick up is excellent. I appreciate the consistency in how Luke runs pick ups.

Off topic, Luke rides a Harley to work and I have half a mind to help him get to a MotoAmerica race so I can introduce him to the HD Factory Bagger Racing team.

This is Mike, one of Kyalami’s DMs. Like all of Kyalami’s crew members, he does a great job of tailoring customer service to the needs and wants of the customers. Need lots of help? Mike’s there. Just need a high five and your DSMB rolled up nice and neat like you’d do it? Mike’s also there. He does a really great job running through a centralized pre-dive equipment prep brief. If you’re new to diving, Mike will get you safe to splash. If you’re an experienced, meticulous diver, Mike’s brief doesn’t make you feel insulted (like when some charter crews slip into their Kindergarten persona). Mike’s currently training and well on his way to earning his Captain license.

This is Meme who guided both dives yesterday. A Florida girl with a real sense of adventure, she’s back from guiding in Alaska to make her imprint on Palm Beach. Meme does a great job with her dive site briefs and sketches.

 

[NothingClever]

Oops…wrong spot!

 

[tekkydiver]

Meanwhile I was out on the boat when the phone rang and found out the Lobsters were walking. 4 of us limited is short order.

 

[MrChen]

Went diving Saturday out Jim Barry Park. We headed north of the inlet.

First dive:
Seas were nearly flat with a glossy surface. One of the days where you can just watch diver bubbles break the surface. Visibility was about 50 ft. The current was pretty strong. I was struggling to stay balanced on my Tusa as the current parachuted my zookeeper, which was slung on my left side (hoping to keep it closer to my body to be more streamlined). I eventually got comfortable with the angles of the current which had a westerly push. At the seafloor, the current wasn't as bad as up in the water column. I did have to do a little hand crawling to get to the lobsters but wasn't being blown off once there. I had a 20" hog get away from me as I couldn't get a good angle in the current.

We started heading south from the first dive spot and put the second group of divers in. We saw a turtle on the surface coming up for air. The water looked much clearer south, at least the top 20-30ft. We saw Mahi swimming by. If I had more time, I would have donned my fins and mask and jumped in with my speargun. They were gone as quickly as we spotted them.

Second dive:
We continued heading south. This time we dropped to the SW of the Princess Anne. Seas were still non-existent. The glossy surface was broken up by the wind. The current was mild, and visibility was slightly improved, about 60ft. This is a very wide and patchy area. I expected to see lobsters everywhere, but that wasn't the case. I was up in every hole with my flashlight. I did find 3 really large ones together in a small blowout. I saw one sticking out and with my flashlight, saw the other 2 deeper in. I was able to pull one of the deeper ones out, but the activity resulted in the other 2 backing into the hole. I should've played this a little differently and could have possibly gotten 2 by pulling the exposed one out first. The hole was so deep that I could slide my entire speargun under the ledge and still not reach the lobsters. I backed off to see if they'd make their way out. They started to, but not enough for me to tickle them out before they retreated. I spent about 10 minutes and gave up. There's a reason these guys were so big. I came up on another blowout area and saw about 10 various tropical fish darting in and out of a hole. In it was a large lobster. This is the first time I've witnessed this behavior which Johnoly has pointed out before.

At the end of the day, I got my lobster limit. I didn't find any eggers or shorts. 5 of the lobsters were pretty big, so much so that the smallest one, I measured 3 times with different gauges and asked others to double check it on the boat. It was good by 4-5 mm and the other ones were just that much larger.

 

[Johnoly]

. This is the first time I've witnessed this behavior which Johnoly has pointed out before.

Thanks for the conditions report. I'm waiting to see what gets moved around after this next storm passing.

 

[PBcatfish]

...I was struggling to stay balanced on my Tusa as the current parachuted my zookeeper, which was slung on my left side (hoping to keep it closer to my body to be more streamlined). ...

Sometimes in heavy current it helps to put the zookeeper between your legs. It's cumbersome but it can help. Tucking it under your BC, if you have a jacket BC, may also help. My rig is much more streamlined. Between the legs or under the tank are my only current dead spots. Beneath the tank is hard to control.

 

[johndiver999]

Today good vis, moderate current hard thermo at 80 ft, maybe 65 degrees? On bottom. So far got 4 bugs one lion and a minor eel bite and the scooter is busted again.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

Today good vis, moderate current hard thermo at 80 ft, maybe 65 degrees? On bottom. So far got 4 bugs one lion and a minor eel bite and the scooter is busted again.

BRRRRR!!!

 

[NothingClever]

...and the scooter is busted again.

I feel your pain.

Final score from this weekend:

Atlantic Ocean - 1

BlackTip - 0

 

[Johnoly]

hard thermo at 80 ft, maybe 65 degrees?

The gasoline effect !!. That's the lower 'dissolved O2 level hit' that we needed to move the deep red bugs up to the dive depths. Combined with the passing hurricane with a deepwater ground swell, next week should be epic for bugs. Thanks for the report!!