What about the puking? Who carried whose tanks? Anybody get stuck with the lunch bill? Come on... let's have the gory details...Scuba_Jenny:Ok, a trip report.
It was fun. Good vis, lots of critters. Ho Hum.
AquaZoo 02-19-2005
- Thread starter Orlando Eric
- Start date
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OP
Okay - So we arrive to Hollywood and spend sometime at Outdoor World (aka redneck Mecca) shortly there after we meet up at Rickey's the World Famous Wing house in Hollywood. Then back to Jenny's house. She has some really cool wall paintings as in the wall is painted to look like coral reefs along with the fishes and critters. By this time I am into the 29th hour without sleep and plop down in the recliner and it's lights out till morning for me.
We arise and head out to the boat. VALET is the word of the day here. USE it.. cause you are gonna pay $3.00 for it anyhow. I opted to pull into the lot across the street and displayed my parking permit but that would have cost about $6.00 otherwise.
The boat is a flat deck 35 person boat.. but we knew that and all smile and laugh anyway. The ride out was rocky and splashy but I did not see anyone ralph. I was COLD.. I want summer and I want it now! The DM jumped in and tied to the wreck and we shuffled to the exit. Descent little current but we have all seen much worse than this little blow.
1st Dive = 72' / 44 minutes / 73° / 60' vis / 4' swells / mild current
The wreck has multiple compartments that you can enter and transverse that was alot of fun and I reccomend to anyone who is looking for a intro into wreck diving under a OW cert to see if they like it. There where the ususal tropicals in schools and to my delight a little banded shrimp hiding in the rusty iron.
A juvenile turtle came out to play and glided along and got so close I thought he wanted a hit of EAN but he declinded and went back to his resting spot. A Green Moray tried to get some beads from Jenny but she was not impressed by what he had to show and did not get any beads. Yet another sea critter that tried to take a bite of Jenny.. wonder if she looks tasty to the creatures of the deep?
Several rays where seen cruising around to look for handouts. We saw a perfect impression of a ray in the sand to include the mouth outline that was way cool. We swam the inside and around both sides and end of the wreck. The rubble pile and the culverts. My buddy looked and me shrugged and thumbed up.. I glanced around and confirmed the same, easy ascent on the down line (now a upline).
2nd dive 55' / 50 minutes / 73° / 60' vis / 4' swells / mild current
This was some reef in the nearby area I am sure that they said the name at the dive briefing but....
The plan was for several groups to bail out and each group to have a flag. The PLAN was for Myself, Lee,Vickie, DM Canidate ScubaKAt, and some guy Mike(?) to plop in and dive along. In a rush it ended up being Me, Lee and Vickie that met up at the bottom no others to be seen. Mike had the flag. We were flagless, but surprisingly we lived anyway. Turns out DM canidate and Mike got stopped by the crew do to our spreading out the group.. there is a smart move.. put three in But keep the flag onboard.
The reef was typical WPB reef in that it was REALLY cool. We three expert divers swam easily to the ledge without a single ° in deviation. We saw all sorts of cool critters in and around the ledge. Queen and French angels galore. A lobster (short) a Juvenile Highhat and some sort of crab critter. Barracuda where seen in the shadowy distance. Lee spotted a huge Green Moray WAY WAY back in the reef. Lee got the X10KT38123 or \/\/hatever that camera of his is in place and took a picture of it. I like my reefmaster.. I can always blame crappy pics on the camera. But when you got one of those multiarm fancy gizmos like Lee if they don't come out.. it's all yer fault bub.
We ran into two other groups of divers with flags and some female pointed out another banded shrimp to me in a rock formation west of the ledge. Thank you! I do not know who you where!?! The two groups seemed to be racing to the other end of the earth so we waved bye bye to them and continued our now again flagless journey.
We shot another Azimuth as the ledges where starting to break up. We saw several more tropicals and I was hoping for the big "Bull" shark since I was diving near vickie but it never came around. We where getting cold and Lee's very conservative Uwatec said time to go so he blew his bag, deployed the reel and made his expert 30 fpm ascent. Vickie and I conferred about staying to see a little more on our her 1200 my 1000 but in the end decided to join Lee in the Acsent.
One of the peaks of the dive was the safety stop. A school of Bar Jacks (ID'd by SCUBAJENNY El Post Facto), swam to and fro around us. They where darker than the normal jack blue on blue with a blue background in a word I can only describe as MAJESTIC! We spent some quality time at the surface bobbing around watching everyone else get picked up, comparing the size of our sausages Lee winning that battle, so I need to buy a new one!
We got on the boat and everyone waited shivering for SCUBAJENNY and her .5 CF per minute dive to end. The captian considered using the boat hook on her flag and towing her to the dock.
The day ended for me headind home for a quick rinse of gear and off to work. As for the after dive activities at Jenny's I have not heard the gossip as to yet hopefully someone will post the PG-13 version for all of us to read and envy.
Eric
We arise and head out to the boat. VALET is the word of the day here. USE it.. cause you are gonna pay $3.00 for it anyhow. I opted to pull into the lot across the street and displayed my parking permit but that would have cost about $6.00 otherwise.
The boat is a flat deck 35 person boat.. but we knew that and all smile and laugh anyway. The ride out was rocky and splashy but I did not see anyone ralph. I was COLD.. I want summer and I want it now! The DM jumped in and tied to the wreck and we shuffled to the exit. Descent little current but we have all seen much worse than this little blow.
1st Dive = 72' / 44 minutes / 73° / 60' vis / 4' swells / mild current
The wreck has multiple compartments that you can enter and transverse that was alot of fun and I reccomend to anyone who is looking for a intro into wreck diving under a OW cert to see if they like it. There where the ususal tropicals in schools and to my delight a little banded shrimp hiding in the rusty iron.
A juvenile turtle came out to play and glided along and got so close I thought he wanted a hit of EAN but he declinded and went back to his resting spot. A Green Moray tried to get some beads from Jenny but she was not impressed by what he had to show and did not get any beads. Yet another sea critter that tried to take a bite of Jenny.. wonder if she looks tasty to the creatures of the deep?
Several rays where seen cruising around to look for handouts. We saw a perfect impression of a ray in the sand to include the mouth outline that was way cool. We swam the inside and around both sides and end of the wreck. The rubble pile and the culverts. My buddy looked and me shrugged and thumbed up.. I glanced around and confirmed the same, easy ascent on the down line (now a upline).
2nd dive 55' / 50 minutes / 73° / 60' vis / 4' swells / mild current
This was some reef in the nearby area I am sure that they said the name at the dive briefing but....
The plan was for several groups to bail out and each group to have a flag. The PLAN was for Myself, Lee,Vickie, DM Canidate ScubaKAt, and some guy Mike(?) to plop in and dive along. In a rush it ended up being Me, Lee and Vickie that met up at the bottom no others to be seen. Mike had the flag. We were flagless, but surprisingly we lived anyway. Turns out DM canidate and Mike got stopped by the crew do to our spreading out the group.. there is a smart move.. put three in But keep the flag onboard.
The reef was typical WPB reef in that it was REALLY cool. We three expert divers swam easily to the ledge without a single ° in deviation. We saw all sorts of cool critters in and around the ledge. Queen and French angels galore. A lobster (short) a Juvenile Highhat and some sort of crab critter. Barracuda where seen in the shadowy distance. Lee spotted a huge Green Moray WAY WAY back in the reef. Lee got the X10KT38123 or \/\/hatever that camera of his is in place and took a picture of it. I like my reefmaster.. I can always blame crappy pics on the camera. But when you got one of those multiarm fancy gizmos like Lee if they don't come out.. it's all yer fault bub.
We ran into two other groups of divers with flags and some female pointed out another banded shrimp to me in a rock formation west of the ledge. Thank you! I do not know who you where!?! The two groups seemed to be racing to the other end of the earth so we waved bye bye to them and continued our now again flagless journey.
We shot another Azimuth as the ledges where starting to break up. We saw several more tropicals and I was hoping for the big "Bull" shark since I was diving near vickie but it never came around. We where getting cold and Lee's very conservative Uwatec said time to go so he blew his bag, deployed the reel and made his expert 30 fpm ascent. Vickie and I conferred about staying to see a little more on our her 1200 my 1000 but in the end decided to join Lee in the Acsent.
One of the peaks of the dive was the safety stop. A school of Bar Jacks (ID'd by SCUBAJENNY El Post Facto), swam to and fro around us. They where darker than the normal jack blue on blue with a blue background in a word I can only describe as MAJESTIC! We spent some quality time at the surface bobbing around watching everyone else get picked up, comparing the size of our sausages Lee winning that battle, so I need to buy a new one!
We got on the boat and everyone waited shivering for SCUBAJENNY and her .5 CF per minute dive to end. The captian considered using the boat hook on her flag and towing her to the dock.
The day ended for me headind home for a quick rinse of gear and off to work. As for the after dive activities at Jenny's I have not heard the gossip as to yet hopefully someone will post the PG-13 version for all of us to read and envy.
Eric
Ok. It is now Monday morning. I was trying to be nice and not be the first to post. Thank you Eric for posting.
It was a cold and stormy night...oops wrong story. Lemme try again.
By the time I had gotten home Friday night, Eric and Vickie were already in town and hitting the stores to go shopping and Brian was waiting for me at my door. Brian, Hermit Crab and I arranged to meet up with Eric and Vickie at Ricky's, famous in this area for their chicken wings. Good food, then back to my house where Eric promptly found the chair and fell asleep. He was a prime candidate for nail polish, but I, in a weak moment feeling compassion for the guy, did not jump at the opportunity. Jeff arrived a short time later, and we all hit the sack.
Early Saturday morning we all awoke and headed out to the boat. By the time Brian and I arrived, most everybody was already there and making preparations. We headed out along the choppy intercoastal with a cool brrrreeze into the channel, and then to open water. Oliver and I buddied up, and for the first time, we were the FIRST on the wreck. No other boats in the area! Whoo Hoo! Vis was pretty good, maybe 40+, and we descended down the anchor line and then headed along the top to the other end of the wreck. About midway, we saw the turtle, allowing us close approach. Got near the end and made our way to the sand, and the culverts then out to see the stingray buried. Shortly we were accompanied by the other divers, and the stingray realizing it is not gonna get anymore rest, took off into the blue. So, we headed back south along the western side and found the free swimming moray under the barge in the washout area on the south. The eel came very close, then meandered away. We met up with a few other divers here and there. Then we saw the Goliath grouper. He stayed a safe distance away, but did not take off at the sight of all the divers. I turned around to see the moray swimming right at me. It was very close, I could see down his throat! I knew it was friendly, but it was acting more like a bad date! LOL I stuck my camera out as a barrier between me and it. Finally it got the hint (date over) and swam away, between Vickie, whose fins I had to grab to show her, and me. Oliver and I hung out a bit longer then decided to thumb the dive and ascend. We did our 1 minute deepstop, then our 3 min safety stop for a total run time of 56 min, depth 21.9m. Yeah, I lent out my computer and unknown to me, when I got it back was set in meters! So the water temp was a balmy 23....celcius! Oliver and I were the last on the boat.
During the SI we agreed that we would wait and be the last ones in on the next dive just to extend our SI a bit. We buddied with Renee, Brian, and some non SB member, Jeff. Jeff was on air and using tables, so he was the first of the group to thumb the dive. Unfortunately he missed the huge O moray who I swear was interested in those beads (whose idea was it anyhow to wear beads on a dive and be barracuda/moray lures??), as the animal came out of hiding to say hi to us divers. The reef was full of algae in the beginning of the dive, but by the end the topography changed from reef/rubble and ledge to lots of soft corals. We saw lots of fish, I saw a coney in its bicolor phase, Renee pointed out a cowfish with a small remora, and Brian pointed out the grunt with a bubbly eye. yuk. Oliver is a good buddy, and its been way too long since we dived together.
After leaving the boat and giving directions we all headed back to my place where Krista set up the bar. I wish I had a picture of the 4 of us sitting at the table, filling out our log books like good divers! Oliver showed up for a little bit, Jeff arrived and so did Renee. We had a few drinks, ate some food then it was off to the concert.
Brian, our knight in shining armor, chauffeured us to and from the concert keeping the gals safe. Good weekend. Good friends. Good food. This is the good life!
It was a cold and stormy night...oops wrong story. Lemme try again.
By the time I had gotten home Friday night, Eric and Vickie were already in town and hitting the stores to go shopping and Brian was waiting for me at my door. Brian, Hermit Crab and I arranged to meet up with Eric and Vickie at Ricky's, famous in this area for their chicken wings. Good food, then back to my house where Eric promptly found the chair and fell asleep. He was a prime candidate for nail polish, but I, in a weak moment feeling compassion for the guy, did not jump at the opportunity. Jeff arrived a short time later, and we all hit the sack.
Early Saturday morning we all awoke and headed out to the boat. By the time Brian and I arrived, most everybody was already there and making preparations. We headed out along the choppy intercoastal with a cool brrrreeze into the channel, and then to open water. Oliver and I buddied up, and for the first time, we were the FIRST on the wreck. No other boats in the area! Whoo Hoo! Vis was pretty good, maybe 40+, and we descended down the anchor line and then headed along the top to the other end of the wreck. About midway, we saw the turtle, allowing us close approach. Got near the end and made our way to the sand, and the culverts then out to see the stingray buried. Shortly we were accompanied by the other divers, and the stingray realizing it is not gonna get anymore rest, took off into the blue. So, we headed back south along the western side and found the free swimming moray under the barge in the washout area on the south. The eel came very close, then meandered away. We met up with a few other divers here and there. Then we saw the Goliath grouper. He stayed a safe distance away, but did not take off at the sight of all the divers. I turned around to see the moray swimming right at me. It was very close, I could see down his throat! I knew it was friendly, but it was acting more like a bad date! LOL I stuck my camera out as a barrier between me and it. Finally it got the hint (date over) and swam away, between Vickie, whose fins I had to grab to show her, and me. Oliver and I hung out a bit longer then decided to thumb the dive and ascend. We did our 1 minute deepstop, then our 3 min safety stop for a total run time of 56 min, depth 21.9m. Yeah, I lent out my computer and unknown to me, when I got it back was set in meters! So the water temp was a balmy 23....celcius! Oliver and I were the last on the boat.
During the SI we agreed that we would wait and be the last ones in on the next dive just to extend our SI a bit. We buddied with Renee, Brian, and some non SB member, Jeff. Jeff was on air and using tables, so he was the first of the group to thumb the dive. Unfortunately he missed the huge O moray who I swear was interested in those beads (whose idea was it anyhow to wear beads on a dive and be barracuda/moray lures??), as the animal came out of hiding to say hi to us divers. The reef was full of algae in the beginning of the dive, but by the end the topography changed from reef/rubble and ledge to lots of soft corals. We saw lots of fish, I saw a coney in its bicolor phase, Renee pointed out a cowfish with a small remora, and Brian pointed out the grunt with a bubbly eye. yuk. Oliver is a good buddy, and its been way too long since we dived together.
After leaving the boat and giving directions we all headed back to my place where Krista set up the bar. I wish I had a picture of the 4 of us sitting at the table, filling out our log books like good divers! Oliver showed up for a little bit, Jeff arrived and so did Renee. We had a few drinks, ate some food then it was off to the concert.
Brian, our knight in shining armor, chauffeured us to and from the concert keeping the gals safe. Good weekend. Good friends. Good food. This is the good life!
I'm sure i did, i didnt dive either, my wonderful immune system let another cold through at the end of last week so i spent the weekend feeling great (and working as i had a project to get out by today). Sounds like you all had a good time, maybe next time, or at least for the Peace River get-together!!diver doh:Wet
You missed a good time!
KBeck
Contributor
See, I love waiting till after others have posted their trip reports-then I get out of the dull detais and on to the juicy stuff!!
First Dive--buddy Scott and I descended to the wreck, and followed the adventurous Vickie and buddy inside the wreck. Vickie was eager to do a little penetration, and I hesitantly considered the possibility. However, after watching Vickie and buddy headed through to the next compartment, I was comfortable enough to join, knowing my very competent buddy was with me as well. As mentioned, this was a GREAT wreck to try out a little penetration, as every compartment was open from above, with easy exits available, yet plenty of internal areas to explore.
As we ascended out of the last compartment, Scott spotted a spotted moray hanging out in a crevice. Then, turning around as we came up, along came a (still can't identify them) turtle, who hung around long enough to pose for a few pics and took off.
Proceeding around the back of the wreck, we explored the concrete culverts, just enjoying the dive. I looked up and spotted a Goliath Grouper just hanging out in the distance. Then, a large green moray poked his head out of the nearby culvert, posed for some videotaping by Zendiver (I think), and came out, swimming free. A brave diver got a good pet in before he headed for safer territory, spotting Jenny's beads somewhere along the way. While watching this spectacle, the resident Stingray blew right by my head, apparently also wanting in on the action. He made a few rounds before disappearing somewhere in the deep. I joined Jenny to pose for a few pics--did someone say something about beads? before continuing the remainder of the dive.
Second dive was on the Mystery reef--I think we have a tentative confirmation on the name as "Abbey Reef". After hopping in, I was put in charge as the handy compass monitor (little did my buddies realize my skills are sorely lacking in that department).....somehow, I lined up that "W" on the compass and led us...lo and behold...to a reef for some fishy viewing. After about 40 minutes of enjoyable shivering (figuring out after the dive that I'd forgotten to rezip my wetsuit), I convinced my buddy it was time to head up. We enjoyed a nice long safety stop while he played with a few toys
Topside it was time to warm up in the sun, then headed back to Jenny's for a standard post-dive get-together. As the resident bartender, I was sure to keep the drinks nice and light. Really.
Someone required a power nap (ahem) before it was time to head Off to See the Lizard (aka, Jimmy Buffett). Some unfortunate singing ability was revealed, and some other board members got a telephone serenade of their very favorite song Many, many, many thanks to our chauffer and fellow Conch, Brian!!!
Sunday, of course, was recovery day..........and, as always, the important question remains: WHEN'S THE NEXT DIVE!???!!!!!
First Dive--buddy Scott and I descended to the wreck, and followed the adventurous Vickie and buddy inside the wreck. Vickie was eager to do a little penetration, and I hesitantly considered the possibility. However, after watching Vickie and buddy headed through to the next compartment, I was comfortable enough to join, knowing my very competent buddy was with me as well. As mentioned, this was a GREAT wreck to try out a little penetration, as every compartment was open from above, with easy exits available, yet plenty of internal areas to explore.
As we ascended out of the last compartment, Scott spotted a spotted moray hanging out in a crevice. Then, turning around as we came up, along came a (still can't identify them) turtle, who hung around long enough to pose for a few pics and took off.
Proceeding around the back of the wreck, we explored the concrete culverts, just enjoying the dive. I looked up and spotted a Goliath Grouper just hanging out in the distance. Then, a large green moray poked his head out of the nearby culvert, posed for some videotaping by Zendiver (I think), and came out, swimming free. A brave diver got a good pet in before he headed for safer territory, spotting Jenny's beads somewhere along the way. While watching this spectacle, the resident Stingray blew right by my head, apparently also wanting in on the action. He made a few rounds before disappearing somewhere in the deep. I joined Jenny to pose for a few pics--did someone say something about beads? before continuing the remainder of the dive.
Second dive was on the Mystery reef--I think we have a tentative confirmation on the name as "Abbey Reef". After hopping in, I was put in charge as the handy compass monitor (little did my buddies realize my skills are sorely lacking in that department).....somehow, I lined up that "W" on the compass and led us...lo and behold...to a reef for some fishy viewing. After about 40 minutes of enjoyable shivering
(figuring out after the dive that I'd forgotten to rezip my wetsuit), I convinced my buddy it was time to head up. We enjoyed a nice long safety stop while he played with a few toys Topside it was time to warm up in the sun, then headed back to Jenny's for a standard post-dive get-together. As the resident bartender, I was sure to keep the drinks nice and light. Really.
Someone required a power nap (ahem) before it was time to head Off to See the Lizard (aka, Jimmy Buffett). Some unfortunate singing ability was revealed, and some other board members got a telephone serenade of their very favorite song
Many, many, many thanks to our chauffer and fellow Conch, Brian!!! Sunday, of course, was recovery day..........and, as always, the important question remains: WHEN'S THE NEXT DIVE!???!!!!!
BIGSAGE136
Contributor
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I will post. I'm resting my eyes. I do believe for the first time I squeezed them. Go figure. Everything else was great. I tried to do the pictures and noticed things were blurry. Much better now.
Great dive Jenny. Best one yet.
Great dive Jenny. Best one yet.
Wow!!! With reports like hat, I don't think there's much else to add....Except maybe a big fat THANK YOU to Eric for hooking us all up on this fantastic dive...... Oh, and wait.....there was Friday night at Jenny's place, while everyone was sleeping, I heard the aweful sounds of a cat being slowly eaten by a dog, maybe several dogs (lots of barking outside). The sounds were really freaking me out a bit and I thought for sure there would be blood and guts everywhere in the morning. I finally managed to dose off and got about 2 hours of actual sleep time (kept looking for the crazy dog to come barging inside the house). As the sun started coming out, I had to have a look outside to see the "blood & guts", but nothing was there, not even a little fur ball. To my humbling suprise, I was then informed that the sounds I was hearing were, in fact, not dogs eating a cat but instead, a little kitty nookie was taking place. (scarey stuff) I was then further educated on the way to the dive boat on why the lkitty actually makes those noises (thanks Eric...lol)
When we got to the Boat area, there's were already a bunch of people hanging out. I'm not sure how many SB'ers were on the boat that day with us, but I'd love to do a head count...
All aboard say ......... I
When we got to the Boat area, there's were already a bunch of people hanging out. I'm not sure how many SB'ers were on the boat that day with us, but I'd love to do a head count...
All aboard say ......... I
baitedstorm:
I'm afraid to ask.... :icon_ques: Espescially if it came from Eric....
I wish I could have been there instead of being couped up in the house all day staring at my computer and waiting to read the trip reports....
Al
murphdivers286
Guest
I feel your pain.....
Scuba_Dad:
Hi,
Both Cheryl (ScubaCat04) and myself had a wonderful time. All the way home, she talked about how great 'my friends' are and that it's obvious that they knew how to work (and play) well together! She'll be a regular feature on future dives - and so will my elusive wife! Just have to get to warmer weather. But I must admit that their are advantages to diving in cooler water. What exactly they are, well, I'll let your minds wander....
It's great to hear that Krista liked the penetrations during the first dive. She must have, she did it a number of times and she seemed quite happy afterwords!
Anyway, I'm gonna try and post some of my pics here. They aren't great, but they are better than any I've seen posted in this thread yet! Hope you all enjoy them!
The 'Sick Moray' was a critter that Vicki, Eric and myself saw on the second dive. Look closely and you'll see the side of his head isn't doing very well.
Lee
Both Cheryl (ScubaCat04) and myself had a wonderful time. All the way home, she talked about how great 'my friends' are and that it's obvious that they knew how to work (and play) well together! She'll be a regular feature on future dives - and so will my elusive wife! Just have to get to warmer weather. But I must admit that their are advantages to diving in cooler water. What exactly they are, well, I'll let your minds wander....
It's great to hear that Krista liked the penetrations during the first dive. She must have, she did it a number of times and she seemed quite happy afterwords!
Anyway, I'm gonna try and post some of my pics here. They aren't great, but they are better than any I've seen posted in this thread yet! Hope you all enjoy them!
The 'Sick Moray' was a critter that Vicki, Eric and myself saw on the second dive. Look closely and you'll see the side of his head isn't doing very well.
Lee
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