A few days late posting but I thought I'd tell you all about one of my most memorable dives in recent months. A group of divers from Scubaboard went out on the 4th with Splashdown Divers in Boynton Beach. The group included Pete (Netdoc), Dan (Pete's best friend) & GF Lisa (on her 1st ocean dives), Scuba_Jenny, Joyce (Joystershell) & her husband Mike. There were others on the boat but I did not know any of them.
We left the dock about 1:30 PM & headed out to open seas to the first dive site, Black Condos. Boynton is known for drift diving, more than wrecks, & our plan was to do 2 drift dives that day. We were cruising at a pretty good clip over open water when Pete's tank- fully set up with gear- slipped out of its bungee & went off the back of the open boat. It happened so fast that no one could grab it in time & before anyone could react & jump in after it, it sunk out of sight. Captain Lynne quickly turned the boat around & went back to where we thought it fell in. David, the DM, went down & searched the 60' deep sandy bottom for about 15-20 minutes with no luck. Pete was bummed but philosophical- much more than I would be at losing a steel 120, Deep Sea Supply bp/w, a nice set of regs & a new wireless air integrated computer sensor. The rest of us geared up & did our first dive as planned- a nice drift dive in the 60' range. Lots of critters to see- a beautiful, relaxing dive- totally uneventful.
After we came up from the dive, almost everyone on board voted to go back to where Pete's gear was lost to search for it in the (slim) hope of finding a needle in the haystack. The captain dictated that we were to search in groups of 3-4 but only for 5 minutes & we were not to go below 20' so that we would be able to do another dive safely. Jenny, Joyce & I were in the first group to be dropped & we quickly realized that visibility had dropped & we needed to go deeper to be able to see the bottom. We dropped down to about 40' & spread out in a line to search. Our 5 minutes went by way to quickly with no sight of Pete's missing gear. Bummed, we headed to the surface to be picked up by the boat. Since we were the first group in the water, we expected to be the first to surface but we noticed that the boat was busy picking up another group of divers. When they finished & drew close to us, we spotted gear in the empty spot where Pete's had been before. Not believing our eyes, we shouted to the boat &, sure enough, they confirmed, the gear had been found!!!! Dan had been dropped right on top of the gear & had quickly gone down & brought it back to the surface. Pete's grin was ear to ear!!!! We picked up the rest of the divers & headed toward our 2nd dive site- the Castle. All but one of the divers on board that day participated in the search. Divers are such fantastic people!!
Dropping down into the water, we bottomed out in the 40'-50' range & settled in for another nice drift dive. There were five in our group- Pete, Jenny, Dan, Lisa & myself. Lots of life- a green moray, butterfly fish, LOTS of fish eggs scattered along the bottom. We slowly drifted along with the current. Pete & Jenny were concentrating on spotting the small stuff while Dan, Lisa, & I just drifted along enjoying the scenery. WE started on the western side of the reef but the current was running a little NE & toward the end of the dive we found ourselves on the easter side of the reef in 70' water. About that time, a school of jacks swam by acting a little funky. No one else was paying a lot of attention to them except for Lisa & me & so, we were the only ones to see the bull shark chasing the jacks. He disappeared into the distance & we all decided it was time to ascend. Now, this is when it gets interesting.
Remember, Jenny, Joyce & I had gone to 40' looking for Pete's gear with very little surface interval. Jenny dives with a Suunto Mosquito- a very conservative computer. As we ascended, she indicated that she had 14 minutes of deco obligation- none of the rest of us who had dived before did. We slowly ascended as a group to 15'-20' & settle in to wait out Jenny's deco with her. Visibility is maybe 20'-30' at this point & we can't see the bottom or much else but particle matter in the water. I'm looking around when all of a sudden I see a bull shark circling off & below us- he's totally visible which indicates to me that he's around 20' away. I give the sign for shark but no one else appears to have seen him. OK, settle back down, still looking around & there he is again! This time others see him too & we all start looking around a little closer. I spot him again & point only to see that Jenny is pointing in the opposite direction. So, there are at least two bull sharks circling us. They're not acting aggressively but, given Walter's recent experience with bulls, I am not a happy camper. Walter's sharks weren't aggressive at first but became so & I definitely don't want to experience the same thing. I'm already visualizing having to swim toward one of those things to ward it off & I'm not really liking the mental picture that I get. We're all seeing them by this time & so, I signal to ascend.
Jenny is down to about 4-5 minutes of deco obligation at this time but since Dan, Lisa & I never hit deco, we are pretty confident that Jenny will be OK. The five of us ascend to the surface & the boat is right there to pick us up. All of us swim to the boat keeping a close eye below for any sight of our visitors but they seemed to have disappeared. We all got back on the boat safely with Jenny roundly cursing her computer. The combination of the 5 minute dive to 40' with little surface interval after the first dive & the reverse profile of the second dive is what caused the computer to go into deco. The other divers were all quickly picked up. Joyce & Mike told us that one of our bulls had swam right between them at one pointed heading off somewhere in a hurry. They said that he was about 10' in length, a pretty big size for a bull. From what they described of his direction, he was on his way to visit us. Now, many of you know that I like sharks- I was like a kid in a candy store in NC on the second shark-filled dive but this was a little different. I definitely do not want to be seen as a tasty meal by any bull sharks Still, they are such fascinating, graceful creatures that I really enjoy watching them- just swimming by, not circling!
All in all a truly eventful dive trip, one that I will remember for years to come! Lisa, it was a pleasure to share your first ocean dives- you'll have to sign my log book next weekend in the Keys, OK?
__________________
We left the dock about 1:30 PM & headed out to open seas to the first dive site, Black Condos. Boynton is known for drift diving, more than wrecks, & our plan was to do 2 drift dives that day. We were cruising at a pretty good clip over open water when Pete's tank- fully set up with gear- slipped out of its bungee & went off the back of the open boat. It happened so fast that no one could grab it in time & before anyone could react & jump in after it, it sunk out of sight. Captain Lynne quickly turned the boat around & went back to where we thought it fell in. David, the DM, went down & searched the 60' deep sandy bottom for about 15-20 minutes with no luck. Pete was bummed but philosophical- much more than I would be at losing a steel 120, Deep Sea Supply bp/w, a nice set of regs & a new wireless air integrated computer sensor. The rest of us geared up & did our first dive as planned- a nice drift dive in the 60' range. Lots of critters to see- a beautiful, relaxing dive- totally uneventful.
After we came up from the dive, almost everyone on board voted to go back to where Pete's gear was lost to search for it in the (slim) hope of finding a needle in the haystack. The captain dictated that we were to search in groups of 3-4 but only for 5 minutes & we were not to go below 20' so that we would be able to do another dive safely. Jenny, Joyce & I were in the first group to be dropped & we quickly realized that visibility had dropped & we needed to go deeper to be able to see the bottom. We dropped down to about 40' & spread out in a line to search. Our 5 minutes went by way to quickly with no sight of Pete's missing gear. Bummed, we headed to the surface to be picked up by the boat. Since we were the first group in the water, we expected to be the first to surface but we noticed that the boat was busy picking up another group of divers. When they finished & drew close to us, we spotted gear in the empty spot where Pete's had been before. Not believing our eyes, we shouted to the boat &, sure enough, they confirmed, the gear had been found!!!! Dan had been dropped right on top of the gear & had quickly gone down & brought it back to the surface. Pete's grin was ear to ear!!!! We picked up the rest of the divers & headed toward our 2nd dive site- the Castle. All but one of the divers on board that day participated in the search. Divers are such fantastic people!!
Dropping down into the water, we bottomed out in the 40'-50' range & settled in for another nice drift dive. There were five in our group- Pete, Jenny, Dan, Lisa & myself. Lots of life- a green moray, butterfly fish, LOTS of fish eggs scattered along the bottom. We slowly drifted along with the current. Pete & Jenny were concentrating on spotting the small stuff while Dan, Lisa, & I just drifted along enjoying the scenery. WE started on the western side of the reef but the current was running a little NE & toward the end of the dive we found ourselves on the easter side of the reef in 70' water. About that time, a school of jacks swam by acting a little funky. No one else was paying a lot of attention to them except for Lisa & me & so, we were the only ones to see the bull shark chasing the jacks. He disappeared into the distance & we all decided it was time to ascend. Now, this is when it gets interesting.
Remember, Jenny, Joyce & I had gone to 40' looking for Pete's gear with very little surface interval. Jenny dives with a Suunto Mosquito- a very conservative computer. As we ascended, she indicated that she had 14 minutes of deco obligation- none of the rest of us who had dived before did. We slowly ascended as a group to 15'-20' & settle in to wait out Jenny's deco with her. Visibility is maybe 20'-30' at this point & we can't see the bottom or much else but particle matter in the water. I'm looking around when all of a sudden I see a bull shark circling off & below us- he's totally visible which indicates to me that he's around 20' away. I give the sign for shark but no one else appears to have seen him. OK, settle back down, still looking around & there he is again! This time others see him too & we all start looking around a little closer. I spot him again & point only to see that Jenny is pointing in the opposite direction. So, there are at least two bull sharks circling us. They're not acting aggressively but, given Walter's recent experience with bulls, I am not a happy camper. Walter's sharks weren't aggressive at first but became so & I definitely don't want to experience the same thing. I'm already visualizing having to swim toward one of those things to ward it off & I'm not really liking the mental picture that I get. We're all seeing them by this time & so, I signal to ascend.
Jenny is down to about 4-5 minutes of deco obligation at this time but since Dan, Lisa & I never hit deco, we are pretty confident that Jenny will be OK. The five of us ascend to the surface & the boat is right there to pick us up. All of us swim to the boat keeping a close eye below for any sight of our visitors but they seemed to have disappeared. We all got back on the boat safely with Jenny roundly cursing her computer. The combination of the 5 minute dive to 40' with little surface interval after the first dive & the reverse profile of the second dive is what caused the computer to go into deco. The other divers were all quickly picked up. Joyce & Mike told us that one of our bulls had swam right between them at one pointed heading off somewhere in a hurry. They said that he was about 10' in length, a pretty big size for a bull. From what they described of his direction, he was on his way to visit us. Now, many of you know that I like sharks- I was like a kid in a candy store in NC on the second shark-filled dive but this was a little different. I definitely do not want to be seen as a tasty meal by any bull sharks Still, they are such fascinating, graceful creatures that I really enjoy watching them- just swimming by, not circling!
All in all a truly eventful dive trip, one that I will remember for years to come! Lisa, it was a pleasure to share your first ocean dives- you'll have to sign my log book next weekend in the Keys, OK?
__________________
