wjefferis
Contributor
I set out today (6-15-08) from Pensacola early this morning to get out to Garys Gulf Divers in Orange Beach to do some diving to treat myself for Fathers Day. The weather at the time looked great and we were all pumped to get started. On our way out of Perdido Pass I saw about a million jelly fish hanging out so you may want to avoid this area for a little bit. Seas were very calm at maybe ½ foot seas and stayed that way the entire trip. About 6 miles out we had a several mile storm system headed our way. We were lucky to just glance off the right side but not before seeing a really cool water spout. Even near the storm the seas never picked up at all.
The first site was the Avocet. Unfortunately we had scattered cloud cover and it began to lightly rain. Paul and I were the first to splash in and we made quick work of the decent. I decided to leave my camera on the boat for this dive since I knew it would be a little dark and just relaxed and enjoyed my dive. There was a little current at the surface, but it slacked off fast and was almost unnoticeable at depth. The snot layer is still there and the water temps in the top area is 80*. Once you hit the thermocline it is a rapid change of temperature to 70*, it almost took my breath away for a second. We hit the Avocet and visibility was 50 and up to 60 in places. The visibility would have been far better if there wasnt any cloud cover as there wasnt a lot of particulate in the water. Since Donna was not with us on this trip I took over her duties going on an Easter egg hunt for lead fishing weights and scored big time. Towards the end of my dive I was around eleven minutes outside of Deco when I saw a bright flash. I thought to myself was that lightening. I knew my camera was one the boat and I did not see anyone else on the boat with a camera. Then I saw another and I said to myself it is definitely time to go up. I was about 9 minutes out of Deco so I thumbed the dive and Paul and I started to head up. At about 53 fsw on the upline I looked down and see one of the other guys from our boat taking pictures. He took it out of his gear bag after we splashed in. The flashes I saw were not lightening they were his strobes firing
. Oh well. On the way up it was obvious that the storm had moved as it was much brighter. I enjoyed watching a large school of Amberjack and Spade fish swim around us on the way back up. Denise reported that she took a jelly fish sting to the lip (welcome to the club) :11:. I however didnt see any stinging nettles so it may have just been a tentacle. Not sure of my dive time, but max depth was 107. We spent our surface interval talking about our dive while eating freshly cut pineapple (mmmmmm).
The next dive was the YDT-14. I splashed in after a little over an hour surface interval and I took my camera on this dive. It was still a little darkish down there so I decided not to take any pictures, but I took a little bit of video just to play around with it a bit. The visibility was 40 here with the same surface temperatures, but a little cooler water temps at depth. Andy was unable to clear his ears on this dive so Denise joined up with Paul and I and it was nice to have my dive buddy back again. We made an entire loop around the site and just enjoyed checking things out. At the end of my dive my ear started to hurt a little at depth and I felt like I couldnt clear. I went up to the top of the wreck but it still wouldnt clear. I guess going up and down around the wreck I forgot to clear on one of my descents and tweaked my ear a bit. I was about eight minutes before Deco so I thumbed the dive and headed back up for a leisurely half stop then a safety stop. Going back into that thermocline today was truly like entering a sauna. It almost felt uncomfortably warm (I guess peeing in my wetsuit didnt help matters either)
. Once we were back on the boat I feasted on 3 grilled hot dogs and some chips. Even with the testy weather I was really glad I was able to get out today. Gary (algulfdiver) once again put on a great trip and DM Brian helped thing go smoothly. Cant wait for the next adventure
.
****** I have uploaded my short video clip on you tube. When it finishes uploading to their server sometime in the next 24 hours I will post it.****
The first site was the Avocet. Unfortunately we had scattered cloud cover and it began to lightly rain. Paul and I were the first to splash in and we made quick work of the decent. I decided to leave my camera on the boat for this dive since I knew it would be a little dark and just relaxed and enjoyed my dive. There was a little current at the surface, but it slacked off fast and was almost unnoticeable at depth. The snot layer is still there and the water temps in the top area is 80*. Once you hit the thermocline it is a rapid change of temperature to 70*, it almost took my breath away for a second. We hit the Avocet and visibility was 50 and up to 60 in places. The visibility would have been far better if there wasnt any cloud cover as there wasnt a lot of particulate in the water. Since Donna was not with us on this trip I took over her duties going on an Easter egg hunt for lead fishing weights and scored big time. Towards the end of my dive I was around eleven minutes outside of Deco when I saw a bright flash. I thought to myself was that lightening. I knew my camera was one the boat and I did not see anyone else on the boat with a camera. Then I saw another and I said to myself it is definitely time to go up. I was about 9 minutes out of Deco so I thumbed the dive and Paul and I started to head up. At about 53 fsw on the upline I looked down and see one of the other guys from our boat taking pictures. He took it out of his gear bag after we splashed in. The flashes I saw were not lightening they were his strobes firing
. Oh well. On the way up it was obvious that the storm had moved as it was much brighter. I enjoyed watching a large school of Amberjack and Spade fish swim around us on the way back up. Denise reported that she took a jelly fish sting to the lip (welcome to the club) :11:. I however didnt see any stinging nettles so it may have just been a tentacle. Not sure of my dive time, but max depth was 107. We spent our surface interval talking about our dive while eating freshly cut pineapple (mmmmmm). The next dive was the YDT-14. I splashed in after a little over an hour surface interval and I took my camera on this dive. It was still a little darkish down there so I decided not to take any pictures, but I took a little bit of video just to play around with it a bit. The visibility was 40 here with the same surface temperatures, but a little cooler water temps at depth. Andy was unable to clear his ears on this dive so Denise joined up with Paul and I and it was nice to have my dive buddy back again. We made an entire loop around the site and just enjoyed checking things out. At the end of my dive my ear started to hurt a little at depth and I felt like I couldnt clear. I went up to the top of the wreck but it still wouldnt clear. I guess going up and down around the wreck I forgot to clear on one of my descents and tweaked my ear a bit. I was about eight minutes before Deco so I thumbed the dive and headed back up for a leisurely half stop then a safety stop. Going back into that thermocline today was truly like entering a sauna. It almost felt uncomfortably warm (I guess peeing in my wetsuit didnt help matters either)
. Once we were back on the boat I feasted on 3 grilled hot dogs and some chips. Even with the testy weather I was really glad I was able to get out today. Gary (algulfdiver) once again put on a great trip and DM Brian helped thing go smoothly. Cant wait for the next adventure
.
****** I have uploaded my short video clip on you tube. When it finishes uploading to their server sometime in the next 24 hours I will post it.****
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