Excellent dives with Silent World

[deepstops]

My regular buddy (netmage) and I booked an technical dive with Silent World to the USCG Cutter Duane and we had an excellent day. Starting off with check-in at the shop, Chris and Alison checked our group in and had us all on our way to the boat (Silent World IV) in about 20 minutes.

Boarding the boat was easy (even with doubles) and we were under way before 9 a.m. Captain AJ gave us a thorough briefing on the boat and its' safety equipment and then on the wreck and what to expect there (there were a few divers that hadn't dove the Duane before). As someone who places a high value on faster, smoke-free boats, I was impressed to say the least. This Island Hopper is a Cat-powered full-tilt boogie machine

A group of us did a nice, long single technical dive while the others on the trip did two rec dives. It was very well organized and ran like clockwork. We planned to visit some places on the wreck that are rarely entered and had already confirmed nobody else on the boat had similar plans so we agreed to go last. Conditions on the wreck were good with about 50' of viz and a very slight current on the descent which had picked up to maybe 3/4's of a knot on our ascent an hour later.

Afterward, five of us had a great lunch at Buzzard's Roost before heading home. My buddy and I both agreed we've found both a new dive charter for Key Largo that offers an excellent deal on their multiple trip package and a new favorite restaurant.

 

[FLDVR]

Brian, we've always had a great time with silent world the times that we've used them also. very nice and organized(Its a British thing).
I hope that you got the chance to try the Hogfish at the Roost, its one of the few resteraunts that carry it on a regular basis

Have a great day.!
Henry

 

[Chris Brown Tech]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Its always great to meet fellow Scubaboarders / Decostoppers and put a face to the name

We have another tech trip this morning with the Miami DIR guys, however I think you picked a better day weather wise! AJ, Scary Gary and I had also planned to go to the SG later today for look at the props if the seas lay down any.

 

[Missdirected]

Good stuff to know Brian. I guess CCC is totally gone?

 

[deepstops]

Good stuff to know Brian. I guess CCC is totally gone?

No, CCC is still there running either a 42' or 46' Newton and a 26' fast cat but they are only running "pure recreational" trips since they want to fill their boat. They pulled the plug on our plan to dive the Duane, Bibb, SG, and Benwood because we "only" had 14 booked on a boat that holds 26.

No worries though, we moved the gig to Boynton

My buddy Joe Miller that was the watersports manager w/ CCC is no longer with them either so it's doubtful I'll be able to get them to run anything special on a weekend now. The good news is that Joe will hopefully be getting his own boat and running charters from the Mandalay Resort at mm 98 in the near future.

 

[deepstops]

Thanks for the kind words guys. Its always great to meet fellow Scubaboarders / Decostoppers and put a face to the name

We have another tech trip this morning with the Miami DIR guys, however I think you picked a better day weather wise! AJ, Scary Gary and I had also planned to go to the SG later today for look at the props if the seas lay down any.

Chris,

We dove the Hydro Atlantic (170') in Pompano Beach yesterday (Sunday) and endured 3-5's with 6's thrown in just to keep us honest. We surfed up to the wreck in following seas but we were taking it on chin going home and we sheared both bolts off a Cat 3116 front engine mount. The engine dropped to just enough that we partially pulled off the intake cooling hose and had water almost up to the risers before we realized something was wrong :11:

 

[Chris Brown Tech]

OMG what a nightmare. Did the shaft / coupling take any damage?

Our SG trip was also rough, and todays charters were worse. We had one boat out to the Duane, and the other to the reef. Both boats were back to the dock early - no one was keen on doing a second dive!

 

[netmage]

A group of us did a nice, long single technical dive while the others on the trip did two rec dives. It was very well organized and ran like clockwork. We planned to visit some places on the wreck that are rarely entered and had already confirmed nobody else on the boat had similar plans so we agreed to go last. Conditions on the wreck were good with about 50' of viz and a very slight current on the descent which had picked up to maybe 3/4's of a knot on our ascent an hour later.

The bow's the pointy end right.....?

 

[deepstops]

The bow's the pointy end right.....?

I was being a good friend by not pointing out your complete and total lack of boating knowledge but the answer to your question is yes. And furthermore, it's always a good idea to ascend the line your dive boat is tied to, which on Saturday was the round end.

 

[manda100]

Did the SG on Sunday on the same Boat as the Miami guys, great dive and great service.Monday did the reef dive 2 out of four of us sea sick so we came in early.Otherwise it was a great trip.We had a goliath grouper following us around so close that with the surge it was hard not to run into him.When we got topside we found out that the same grouper bit one of the other divers on the fin He showed no signs of aggression towards us. I would definitely recommend Silent World to anyone staying in the Key largo area.