tekkydiver
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Palm Beach Dive Thread
- Thread starter Divin'Papaw
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johndiver999
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Tough conditions today. Strong surge in over 100 ft. In morning very little current, detached seaweed suspended in bottom 10 ft made for maybe 15 ft vis or less. Late morning, diving in 115, much better. Moderate current 40 ft vis no algae mats detached but very few lobsters. Amazing to get thrown around in 115 ft, felt like you were in 20 ft of water.
I went out Sunday. We actually went out Jupiter but ran pretty far south. All dives were east of the Juno Ledge. Visibility was 60ft. The closer to shore we got, the surface and at depth currents weakened and surge increased. The further out, we had a 3 knot surface current and a stronger current below.
We usually limit the boat on lobsters, but we struggled to find them and half of the ones we found had eggs. What we did find was a lot of large lionfish which we speared. We shot over 20 lions. I had one so big it took me several minutes to get in my zookeeper. I had to keep spearing it at different angles until I finally got it in.
Forecast was 5ft seas at 13 seconds. You could see the rollers, but it felt flat due to the long interval. Surfers were surfing just outside the inlet. You could see waves crashing on the shoreline.
I finished the day with 2 lobsters and 9 lionfish.
We usually limit the boat on lobsters, but we struggled to find them and half of the ones we found had eggs. What we did find was a lot of large lionfish which we speared. We shot over 20 lions. I had one so big it took me several minutes to get in my zookeeper. I had to keep spearing it at different angles until I finally got it in.
Forecast was 5ft seas at 13 seconds. You could see the rollers, but it felt flat due to the long interval. Surfers were surfing just outside the inlet. You could see waves crashing on the shoreline.
I finished the day with 2 lobsters and 9 lionfish.
18.78 is the state record??? How do you report larger lions than that? We've caught several 19 inchers in the past.
Unfortunately, I didn't measure it, I had too much going on. It barely fit in my ZK and I've had an easier go getting a 19 inch mutton in my ZK.
Unfortunately, I didn't measure it, I had too much going on. It barely fit in my ZK and I've had an easier go getting a 19 inch mutton in my ZK.
Johnoly
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I haven't been there since 2014 when we measured a hogfish that just missed FL record. But it's the Tequesta Field Lab - Southeast Field Station for FWC and FWRI. This is a lab that does all kinds of work including measurements, DNA, disease, etc. We called from the boat on our way in and luckily they had a qualified Lab Tech available that could give us an official "length" measurement. Many records in Florida are by weight, not length and there are scale/photo procedures to give a certified record depending on the agency (FWC / IGFA / Guinness /etc)
The FWC Tequesta station is on US1 right at the county line road that separates Palm Beach County from Martin county. It's just 3 miles north of JDC. For Lionfish, they are very interested in a record length since FWC keeps a database from all the tournaments to track the species. They will probably keep the fish to pull DNA from it so they can determine it's origin. They can even tell if it was grown in an aquarium !!
The biggest mistake I see on lionfish measurement pictures is the mouth is open. The mouth must be closed or the entry is disqualified and thrown out.
It was a great surprise treat to see @CosbySweater today on PVD’s single screw boat! I love seeing normal people from ScubaBoard on our Atlantic charters and it was a plessure to catch up.
Captain Dean, Amber and Delaney ran the boat.
Mid-reef was first. Lots of schooling fish. Amber saw a turtle. Vis was down just a bit not bad. Current was mild. Water temp was like a baby pool on the SS.
I busied myself learning my new G3.1 DPV. Things I focused on were DPV trim (5oz rear, 6oz front), speed control manipulation, locking the trigger on and off, keeping my Goodman thumb loop clear of the speed control with my right hand when my left hand is checking my SPG and “parking” the DPV with the nose handle. I think I graduated from leveraging my BlackTip’s nose proud trim I always liked with that DPV (throwing it between my legs and behind me).
Second drop was the WPB Wreck Corridor. Current was up a bit but the vis was still a little down from normal. 3-4 GGs on the Ana Cecilia with one having what looked like a fibreglass “spear” lodged in its dorsal area behind its head. It was long, looked totally distressing and I could tell it will complicate the fish’s normal mobility. The GG wasn’t having anything to do with anybody getting close enough to determine if the rod could be removed without further harm.
I ran up and down the line of drift to China Barge and back and ended up circling back to @CosbySweater who (I think) saw the same thing I did - a sleek, mature Caribbean reefie trailing a super long white (Dyneema?) fishing line. The shark meandered off and when I went to Buzz Lightyear velocity to try to catch up and cut as much line off, the shark just vanished in two, maybe three, tail wags.
Calmly came upon a huge GG making his way to China Barge (second lap). I can’t believe how agile GGs can be. He “jumped” ahead, got over the top of China Barge, went nose down, pirouetted and slipped inside a narrow opening between a couple of deck trusses. Sports car maneuver for sure.
Great day after a two month SI taken up by MotoAmerica races in Virginia and Ohio.
ETA: First dives today with my new D6 Signature regs for ST configuration. Not much to say - they breathe just like my D6 Signature twinset reg set and I always have a spare 1st or 2nd no matter what or where I’m diving.
Captain Dean, Amber and Delaney ran the boat.
Mid-reef was first. Lots of schooling fish. Amber saw a turtle. Vis was down just a bit not bad. Current was mild. Water temp was like a baby pool on the SS.
I busied myself learning my new G3.1 DPV. Things I focused on were DPV trim (5oz rear, 6oz front), speed control manipulation, locking the trigger on and off, keeping my Goodman thumb loop clear of the speed control with my right hand when my left hand is checking my SPG and “parking” the DPV with the nose handle. I think I graduated from leveraging my BlackTip’s nose proud trim I always liked with that DPV (throwing it between my legs and behind me).
Second drop was the WPB Wreck Corridor. Current was up a bit but the vis was still a little down from normal. 3-4 GGs on the Ana Cecilia with one having what looked like a fibreglass “spear” lodged in its dorsal area behind its head. It was long, looked totally distressing and I could tell it will complicate the fish’s normal mobility. The GG wasn’t having anything to do with anybody getting close enough to determine if the rod could be removed without further harm.
I ran up and down the line of drift to China Barge and back and ended up circling back to @CosbySweater who (I think) saw the same thing I did - a sleek, mature Caribbean reefie trailing a super long white (Dyneema?) fishing line. The shark meandered off and when I went to Buzz Lightyear velocity to try to catch up and cut as much line off, the shark just vanished in two, maybe three, tail wags.
Calmly came upon a huge GG making his way to China Barge (second lap). I can’t believe how agile GGs can be. He “jumped” ahead, got over the top of China Barge, went nose down, pirouetted and slipped inside a narrow opening between a couple of deck trusses. Sports car maneuver for sure.
Great day after a two month SI taken up by MotoAmerica races in Virginia and Ohio.
ETA: First dives today with my new D6 Signature regs for ST configuration. Not much to say - they breathe just like my D6 Signature twinset reg set and I always have a spare 1st or 2nd no matter what or where I’m diving.
Johnoly
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I didn't think PV allowed scooters unless it was a rebreather tech trip. Every shop & boat this week has been asking divers if they know about the spearshaft in the GG because it's not good for anyone and the FWC knows about it too. Nice you dove with Mark and thanks for the conditions report !!
That same GG was spotted at BHB earlier in the week.
Super day today! I got to meet @Pipehorse - another normal person on ScubaBoard. And how cool - he’s an instructor with PVD 
.
Ana Cecilia again. I was first on the wreck and it was still silted out from the previous dive, owing I’m sure to the really low current. Same GG with the spear in its head was there. Delaney (DM), a photographer and I got super close but we were in a face to face orientation so no chance of grabbing the spear and letting the GG determine how much he wanted to free himself. He turned down the starboard side and I tried to follow him to maneuver into his blindspot but he was in flight mode and I didn’t want to cause further distress so I broke contact. I left and cruised on down to Brazilian Docks to look around. Nothing but a barracuda that wanted to practice his speed matching.
Second dive was Danny to Spud Barge. Very little current. Before splashing, Captain Dean had said other charters were reporting a reversed current. It was pretty faint. Saw a couple of reefies and a big GG in the hull space of the barge.
Guide surfaced while some folks lingered. They seemed confused about what to do without a guide so I parked my DPV and shot my new closed DSMB from 20m. That’s normally enough for my DSMB to arrive at the surface textbook taut and proud. Hmmm…Halcyon DSMB was a limp loser and took on quite a bit of water. No idea how that could happen other than a defective one way valve or OPV. Going to give it another chance tomorrow in Jupiter with Kyalami.
.Ana Cecilia again. I was first on the wreck and it was still silted out from the previous dive, owing I’m sure to the really low current. Same GG with the spear in its head was there. Delaney (DM), a photographer and I got super close but we were in a face to face orientation so no chance of grabbing the spear and letting the GG determine how much he wanted to free himself. He turned down the starboard side and I tried to follow him to maneuver into his blindspot but he was in flight mode and I didn’t want to cause further distress so I broke contact. I left and cruised on down to Brazilian Docks to look around. Nothing but a barracuda that wanted to practice his speed matching.
Second dive was Danny to Spud Barge. Very little current. Before splashing, Captain Dean had said other charters were reporting a reversed current. It was pretty faint. Saw a couple of reefies and a big GG in the hull space of the barge.
Guide surfaced while some folks lingered. They seemed confused about what to do without a guide so I parked my DPV and shot my new closed DSMB from 20m. That’s normally enough for my DSMB to arrive at the surface textbook taut and proud. Hmmm…Halcyon DSMB was a limp loser and took on quite a bit of water. No idea how that could happen other than a defective one way valve or OPV. Going to give it another chance tomorrow in Jupiter with Kyalami.
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