scubamiller
Contributor
Very cool dives this President's Day weekend! Friday, we headed down to Fort Pickens, FL to dive the jetty at high tide; we made it there about 2 hours before, and by the time we got suited up and geared up, we had 90 minutes or so until high tide. This was the first time me and the wife have dove this site...
We had read about the jetty, and were not surprised by the short beach walk to get to the rocks; the water was cool at 59*F; not bad for me in my 3/2 one piece (with a hood) or my wife in her 5/4/3 (with hood). The visibility was not great due to the recent rains and incoming storm...probably 12-15 feet or less. The drop off was easy to find and the depth down to 50 feet was easy to get to; we could not find the jeep frame that is supposed to be there, but saw quite a few crabs, snails, and small fish. Found one old crab trap and plenty of beer bottles/cans (which we picked up as part of the "green diver" program). "Tons" of lead to be found and LOTS of fishing line down there. Practiced some UW navigation with my new wrist compass and ended up within 5 feet of my dive flag anchor; not too shabby in that dark water. Got dried off after a 50'/50 minute computer dive, just in time to get rained on, by a big storm coming in from the West (LA/Texas). Called the second dive and went to eat great Chinese food at the King China Buffet.
Day #2:
Took the pretty drive from NAS Pensacola to Gulf Shores, AL. Specifically Bahama Bob's to dive the "Whiskey Wreck". Again, never dove there before, so we asked a Gulf Shores lifeguard about the conditions (red flags all up and down the beach for the incoming storm). He said we had an hour or two until the currents were expecting to pick up; advised us just to keep a watchful eye on how much we were getting towed around. Walked down to the water all set to dive; and got in the 58*F water. Tough back swim through the surge out the sandbar, keeping Bahama Bob's in sight and counting kicks. About 150 yards out we dropped down with the dive flag anchor, into about 10 feet of water, and the wreck was right where it was supposed to be. Lots of sand piled up around it, and not too much marine life to look at except a few fish, a big crab in one of the ships beams, and quite a few very quick snails. We stayed around the wreck which is a neat 3 foot tall wall to traverse; we found the second piece (large triangular upright chunk) in spite of the 8-10 foot visibility, in about 16-18 feet of water, about 40 kicks farther south. Navigated back to the flag/anchor and found the surge really increasing to between 4-5 feet; very difficult beach exit with the heavy surge from the storm. We must've been working even harder than we thought, because someone in the beachside condo/hotel called the beach patrol to come help; we walked up the beach as the guy on the four wheeler with a flashing light came rushing to our "aid". Showered off at the uber convenient shower point on the ultra fancy boardwalk out to the beach and dried off after a 27'/47 minute computer dive. Had some great food at Lambert's Cafe in Foley, AL, just a short drive north, and weathered the big east bound storm in style, dodging "throwed rolls"!
Could have only asked for better vis....other than that GREAT WEEKEND underwater!
Mike
We had read about the jetty, and were not surprised by the short beach walk to get to the rocks; the water was cool at 59*F; not bad for me in my 3/2 one piece (with a hood) or my wife in her 5/4/3 (with hood). The visibility was not great due to the recent rains and incoming storm...probably 12-15 feet or less. The drop off was easy to find and the depth down to 50 feet was easy to get to; we could not find the jeep frame that is supposed to be there, but saw quite a few crabs, snails, and small fish. Found one old crab trap and plenty of beer bottles/cans (which we picked up as part of the "green diver" program). "Tons" of lead to be found and LOTS of fishing line down there. Practiced some UW navigation with my new wrist compass and ended up within 5 feet of my dive flag anchor; not too shabby in that dark water. Got dried off after a 50'/50 minute computer dive, just in time to get rained on, by a big storm coming in from the West (LA/Texas). Called the second dive and went to eat great Chinese food at the King China Buffet.
Day #2:
Took the pretty drive from NAS Pensacola to Gulf Shores, AL. Specifically Bahama Bob's to dive the "Whiskey Wreck". Again, never dove there before, so we asked a Gulf Shores lifeguard about the conditions (red flags all up and down the beach for the incoming storm). He said we had an hour or two until the currents were expecting to pick up; advised us just to keep a watchful eye on how much we were getting towed around. Walked down to the water all set to dive; and got in the 58*F water. Tough back swim through the surge out the sandbar, keeping Bahama Bob's in sight and counting kicks. About 150 yards out we dropped down with the dive flag anchor, into about 10 feet of water, and the wreck was right where it was supposed to be. Lots of sand piled up around it, and not too much marine life to look at except a few fish, a big crab in one of the ships beams, and quite a few very quick snails. We stayed around the wreck which is a neat 3 foot tall wall to traverse; we found the second piece (large triangular upright chunk) in spite of the 8-10 foot visibility, in about 16-18 feet of water, about 40 kicks farther south. Navigated back to the flag/anchor and found the surge really increasing to between 4-5 feet; very difficult beach exit with the heavy surge from the storm. We must've been working even harder than we thought, because someone in the beachside condo/hotel called the beach patrol to come help; we walked up the beach as the guy on the four wheeler with a flashing light came rushing to our "aid". Showered off at the uber convenient shower point on the ultra fancy boardwalk out to the beach and dried off after a 27'/47 minute computer dive. Had some great food at Lambert's Cafe in Foley, AL, just a short drive north, and weathered the big east bound storm in style, dodging "throwed rolls"!
Could have only asked for better vis....other than that GREAT WEEKEND underwater!
Mike
