3 tank dive Dec 29th, West Palm Beach

[Scuba_Dad]

I live in Kissimmee. I can possibly help. Any way you can get over here? :icon5: If not, may be able to leave early and go that way...

Let me know.

Lee

Lee,
I'm expecting my wife's van to be out of the shop... but... ya never know... You know how Murphy's Laws are... (No pun intended MurphDiver) The good thing is I live right off of 192... 5 miles east of I-95. I could probably meet you where 192 and I-95 intersect...

Al

 

[baitedstorm]

hey guys, I'm gonna wait until Sunday (figure it would be a bad idea to call on Christmas) and give Doug a call to see if there's anyway we can take out the bigger of the boats seeing how I'm getting more pm's wanting on the boat. It looks like everyone is a definate except Brian who will let us know. Hey Eric is D/S Stanton still comming? I'm sure we'll get it all worked out.

Merry Christmas ya'll

 

[ZenDiver]

hey guys, I'm gonna wait until Sunday (figure it would be a bad idea to call on Christmas) and give Doug a call to see if there's anyway we can take out the bigger of the boats seeing how I'm getting more pm's wanting on the boat. It looks like everyone is a definate except Brian who will let us know. Hey Eric is D/S Stanton still comming? I'm sure we'll get it all worked out.

Merry Christmas ya'll

I am a definite....=)

 

[baitedstorm]

groovy!

 

[adrisen]

Thanks mempilot

 

[Orlando Eric]

I spoke with TWO dive boats in Jupiter and they both went out and said not bad at all about three footers and not as windy as the weekend!

Several of us went to Blue Springs park in Orange City it was awesome! The diving is mediocre but the company was great. It was a blast to drop down into the "crack into the earth" to see the interesting crevices and ledges erroded away into the limestone over the last few "geo-ticks." It was also interesting to watch the cavers drop expertly into the darkness with skill and grace. On the other side of that perspective it was kinda funny to watch the very new diver appear under wieghted, BC inflator unhooked and just in a general twisty mess due to the up current. Then he forcefully struck his head on a overhead ledge, loud enough for me to clearly hear the "Kabong" I went to him saw no blood, he seem somewhat clear in thought (this was at my 15' stop by the overhang tree) His buddy came over.. and the 'kabongee' made a motion that his ears wheren't clearing.. (maybe vertigo) I looked at his buddy and pointed to the kabongee and made the very stern, no exception thumb up motion. He had the look of 'Yes sir, I aggree" on his face and off they went. Nice to know I still have 'command presence' in a mask and reg set.

The Manatees where among us. Though there was absolutley ZERO contact! Yess sirree Bob! We did not scratch their little tummies. BAitedStorm was not seem swimming amoungst them with what appeared to be a hug. I did not meet one EYE to EYE and give him a scratch in which he rolled over in approval. ABSOLUTLEY NOT! That is not the kind of behavior that would be expected from Instructors, dive masters, (an instructor trainee wannabee) and not one, but TWO officers sworn to uphold the laws of the state! So I repeat there was none of this mantee interaction nonsense and anyone who tells you other wise is a fabricator of the truth! (IT was cool )

The daughter of scuba dad did a fantastic job not only for such a youngin but excelled some of the others in the hole that day.. (see previously mentioned Kabongee)

The swim down the river was also fun. There where HUGE Alligator Gar fish swimming around like the barracuda in the keys. Monsters! Little bream and bass. Several more Manatees (six in total) WHICH where not harrassed in any way mind you. There where reportly some "almost" twenty year olds in bathing suits spalshing around in the water but I did not notice such a thing, since I am thirty-five.. that would be wrong of me to look.

The day was well spent, the manatee's asked us to come back and to wear more abrasive gloves next time. I would like to go back and camp there, canoe the next day and hike the trail.

BAITEDSTORM- next trip try this for an opening line.. "If there's enough interest, minimum of 6 divers with a max of 12 (we'd have the whole boat to ourselves with 12--AND YOU ARE NOT A SCARED LITTLE SISSY BOY (girl), THAT IS GOING TO STAY HOME AND CRY FROM UNDER THE COVERS BECAUSE THE SEA IS A LITTLE CHOPPY...

 

[mempilot]

Well, the holiday flying sucked. I got extended due to crews timing out and I didn't get home until midnight on the 28th. I hadn't had a chance to log on during the entire 4 day trip due to running late and having no breaks. I was going to bag the dive on fatigue alone until I heard it was cancelled due to weather. I'm glad to see some of you got wet anyway.

Ash, I feel bad I wasn't able to meet you. I was worried about you being able to find a ride. I hope your visit wasn't a bust.

 

[Orlando Eric]

hehehe He Said "Sucked, Extended, Log, got wet, find a ride, and BUSt.. all in the same post...

 

[Scuba_Dad]

To summarize the posts we had in this thread since 24 Dec...

Looks like it's going to be a lot of fun... a lot of people want to go... not enough room on the boat for everyone.. weather went south... the thought of sea sickness turned people away.. almost (I think we had 4 left) everyone cancelled out... the die hards went to Blue Springs...

Vickie,
Thanks for organizing the 3 tank dive. Even though it didn't work out as planned, everyone who went to Blue Springs had a great time.

I'll start the trip report, and everyone else can add to it. We had Scuba_Dad, ScubaKat11 (Scuba_Dad's daughter), Octotat, BaitedStorm, MurphDiver, Orlando_Eric, and SimBrooks' roomate... (I don't know his handle)...

Amazingly enough, we got there at about the same time. When I arrived in the parking lot, I called BaitedStorm, and everyone else was at the gate registering. We couldn't ask for better timing. The only problem was finding a parking spot for all four vehicles...

We all geared up at our cars, then started the long trek to the entry area. The trek wouldn't have been so bad, but I carried ScubaKat11's gear with me. By the time I got about half way there, I started to run out of gas... fortunately, MurphDiver carried her tank the rest of the way. Thanks, MurphDiver!!! As we got into the balmy 73 degree water, we were immediately greeted by 3 manatees. What a treat!!! Some of us decided to walk up to the spring head, and some of us decided to swim up. Swimming was a BAD decision that didn't last long at all. When we got to the boil, we turned around and noticed a manatee had followed us, and the manatee swam within a few feet of ScubaKat11.

We all went down into the spring... some went down to 93 feet, and some of us only went down to 51 feet. The spring was interesting... it was a spring... kinda wish they would let us carry lights, but... I understand why they don't allow lights for non cave divers...

Most of the excitement happened after the dive... we swam around with the manatees for a while. They watched us, and we watched them. I think we saw 5 manatees... the last one at the exit was huge, and BaitedStorm knew for sure that she was pregnant.

After the dive, we all went to 2 guys pizza for lunch. The food there was excellent. We had a great time... listened to a lot of LEO experiences... yes! It was interesting...

The original 3 tank dive with lunch ended up being a 1 tank dive with lunch... I think we saved a lot of money... and had a great time. I'm looking forward to seeing the pictures...

Al

 

[KBeck]

I'm glad you guys got the chance to hit the water, one way or the other, esp. octotat, dragging all his gear from Colorado! Sounds like a great day for everyone!
It worked out for the best for me as well; like mempilot, things went nutty at work this week and I would have had to cancel either way...would've hated to have to do so if conditions were just perfect!
I think we should attempt a "try again" dive day once the weather starts cooperating again.....