October 29, 2006
Gulf of Mexico Rig Trip
Dive Operator: Sport Divers of Houston w/ MV Easy Diver
Capt. Randy and Sharon are kicking off a celebration with their newly acquired boat (6 pack). Myself and several of the CHUM gang took advantage of a rare $100 rig trip special for CHUM members. I'd also note that this boat is larger than the previous if you've ever been out with them before.
The weather outlook was looking sketchy at the beginning of the week with anywhere from 3 to 5' seas for Sunday. It calmed down a bit towards the end of the week. Capt. Randy called it a "Go" on Friday. We met at 08:30 at Bridge Harbor Yacht Club Sunday morning (Map). Divers included "Reefhound", "Bozo", "Jdavis", "Big Dave", "texdiveguy", and myself. "Gloria", from Sport Divers of Houston, served as our Dive Master. We loaded our gear for two dives and were on our way. It was REALLY flat for the first ten miles or so. Then, some chop came. Once we arrived on site, it was really a gorgeous day. We couldn't have asked for better dive weather. Seas were about 1 to 2'.
Dive #1
Rig: GA424-C
Location: 32 miles from Freeport
Depth 100fsw
Dive: time: 56 min.
Temp: 77f @ surface, 79f @ 100fsw (yep, warmer on the bottom)
Visibility: 3' @ 100fsw, 40' @ 50fsw, and 70' @ 15fsw
Comments:
Texdiveguy and myself teamed up since we had the most gas out of the group. He in double 85s and I in single 119. We formulated a quickie dive plan and suited up. We decided to go ahead and hit the muck layer and then just slowly work our way back up while checking things out. We pretty much stuck to one leg and twirled around it on our way up. The bottom was dark and visibility was pretty poor; expected for this distance from shore. What surprised me was that it cleared up pretty good around 50fsw. It was better than I expected. We saw the usual fish but no whale sharks.
It was decided to run to the rig closer to shore during our surface interval to save some time. Note: GA424-C was operating but GA393-P is non-manned.
Dive #2
Rig: GA393-B
Location: 20 miles from Freeport
Depth: 95fsw
Dive time: 55 min.
Temp: 75f @ surface, 79f @ 95fsw (yep, warmer on the bottom)
Visibility: 3' @ 100fsw, 30' @ 50fsw, and 50' @ 15fsw
Comments:
With about almost a two hour surface interval, texdiveguy and I splashed for our second dive. Oh, and for you dry suit divers out there; don't you hate it when you forget to take out your neck ring?
Tex and I were advised to stick to this one particular leg due to fishermen favoring it. So, we took the advice. We were rewarded with LOTS of fish. What kind were they? Fish. 
Most that know me know that I can tell the difference between a whale shark and a clown fish and that's about it. My passion is wreck diving. At any rate, I can't remember the depth now, but Tex and I got ambushed by a large school of reef sharks. I estimate the size to be in the 3 to 4 foot range. It was kinda neat since the visiblity wasn't all that and you could see the closer ones very well with shadows of the others lurking all around. Quite awesome! They hung around for a minute or so and then took off. That was the best part of the dive.
I usually take my camera diving but I didn't on this trip. I didn't expect the visibility to be all that great so I wanted some top side pics that we rarely are able to get. Others in our group do have pics so if you make your way to this Kodak Photo Gallery, you can see them there. My top side pics are here.
I'd like to give a huge THANK YOU to Kickady Scuba in The Woodlands. Given my logistics and rigid schedule, I wasn't free during the day on Saturday to get EANx fills. Jerry (owner) was willing to let me come by even as the shop was closing to get filled. They are one of only a couple of shops that pump EANx on site. Jerry also said O2 and Trimix capabilities will be coming very soon (waiting on some hardware). This is the only shop that I know in Houston that will be pumping Trimix and O2 on site!
Capt. Randy, Sharon, and Gloria did a great job getting us on site and back safely. The boat is equipped with EPIRB, inflatable raft, life jackets, radio, and GPS. We had a lot of fun with them. They are really nice people. For a good day trip, their normal rate is priced well. They'll be running day trips on the weekends all through the winter as long as the weather is cooperating. Give them a shout for a great day trip.
Sport Divers of Houston
281-338-1611
Gulf of Mexico Rig Trip
Dive Operator: Sport Divers of Houston w/ MV Easy Diver
Capt. Randy and Sharon are kicking off a celebration with their newly acquired boat (6 pack). Myself and several of the CHUM gang took advantage of a rare $100 rig trip special for CHUM members. I'd also note that this boat is larger than the previous if you've ever been out with them before.
The weather outlook was looking sketchy at the beginning of the week with anywhere from 3 to 5' seas for Sunday. It calmed down a bit towards the end of the week. Capt. Randy called it a "Go" on Friday. We met at 08:30 at Bridge Harbor Yacht Club Sunday morning (Map). Divers included "Reefhound", "Bozo", "Jdavis", "Big Dave", "texdiveguy", and myself. "Gloria", from Sport Divers of Houston, served as our Dive Master. We loaded our gear for two dives and were on our way. It was REALLY flat for the first ten miles or so. Then, some chop came. Once we arrived on site, it was really a gorgeous day. We couldn't have asked for better dive weather. Seas were about 1 to 2'.
Dive #1
Rig: GA424-C
Location: 32 miles from Freeport
Depth 100fsw
Dive: time: 56 min.
Temp: 77f @ surface, 79f @ 100fsw (yep, warmer on the bottom)
Visibility: 3' @ 100fsw, 40' @ 50fsw, and 70' @ 15fsw
Comments:
Texdiveguy and myself teamed up since we had the most gas out of the group. He in double 85s and I in single 119. We formulated a quickie dive plan and suited up. We decided to go ahead and hit the muck layer and then just slowly work our way back up while checking things out. We pretty much stuck to one leg and twirled around it on our way up. The bottom was dark and visibility was pretty poor; expected for this distance from shore. What surprised me was that it cleared up pretty good around 50fsw. It was better than I expected. We saw the usual fish but no whale sharks.
It was decided to run to the rig closer to shore during our surface interval to save some time. Note: GA424-C was operating but GA393-P is non-manned.
Dive #2
Rig: GA393-B
Location: 20 miles from Freeport
Depth: 95fsw
Dive time: 55 min.
Temp: 75f @ surface, 79f @ 95fsw (yep, warmer on the bottom)
Visibility: 3' @ 100fsw, 30' @ 50fsw, and 50' @ 15fsw
Comments:
With about almost a two hour surface interval, texdiveguy and I splashed for our second dive. Oh, and for you dry suit divers out there; don't you hate it when you forget to take out your neck ring?
Tex and I were advised to stick to this one particular leg due to fishermen favoring it. So, we took the advice. We were rewarded with LOTS of fish. What kind were they? Fish. Most that know me know that I can tell the difference between a whale shark and a clown fish and that's about it. My passion is wreck diving. At any rate, I can't remember the depth now, but Tex and I got ambushed by a large school of reef sharks. I estimate the size to be in the 3 to 4 foot range. It was kinda neat since the visiblity wasn't all that and you could see the closer ones very well with shadows of the others lurking all around. Quite awesome! They hung around for a minute or so and then took off. That was the best part of the dive.I usually take my camera diving but I didn't on this trip. I didn't expect the visibility to be all that great so I wanted some top side pics that we rarely are able to get. Others in our group do have pics so if you make your way to this Kodak Photo Gallery, you can see them there. My top side pics are here.
I'd like to give a huge THANK YOU to Kickady Scuba in The Woodlands. Given my logistics and rigid schedule, I wasn't free during the day on Saturday to get EANx fills. Jerry (owner) was willing to let me come by even as the shop was closing to get filled. They are one of only a couple of shops that pump EANx on site. Jerry also said O2 and Trimix capabilities will be coming very soon (waiting on some hardware). This is the only shop that I know in Houston that will be pumping Trimix and O2 on site!
Capt. Randy, Sharon, and Gloria did a great job getting us on site and back safely. The boat is equipped with EPIRB, inflatable raft, life jackets, radio, and GPS. We had a lot of fun with them. They are really nice people. For a good day trip, their normal rate is priced well. They'll be running day trips on the weekends all through the winter as long as the weather is cooperating. Give them a shout for a great day trip.
Sport Divers of Houston
281-338-1611
