augie
Guest
We went out on DCI's boat Little Deeper II with Captain Doug on Sunday morning.
There were thirteen or fourteen divers aboard, including our group of four that consisted of myself, my son Shane, My friends Russ and Ed Jewell (who posts here occasionally).
Due to requests made before we arrived our sites were to be Gulfstream for the first dive and Briny for the second.
Seas were virtually flat, maybe swells of a foot. Water temp at depth (60fsw) were aroung 83-84F. Vis on the first dive was 30-40ft, probably 20-30 on the second with more particulate in the water and less sunlight. Current was very light to the north on the first dive, and only a little stronger on the second.
We saw a lot of puffers and trunkfish on the first dive, a few lobsters that survived mini-season, some eels, and a turtle.
Saw a napping turtle on the second dive, and more eels. The reefs appeared to be in a healthy state and we were surprised to see very little evidence of fishing - of course that may have due to the fact that didn't see many edible fish (the spearfishermen on the trip were shut out).
During a maneuver to back up the boat to hand a diver his camera the propeller shaft broke, sending one of the props to the bottom at the beginning of the first dive. This neccesitated a recovery dive by Tony the DM during the surface interval, and Doug asked us to limit our second dives to 45 min. so that he could beat the outgoing tide at the inlet since he was down to half power.
This was Shane's first post-certification trip and he did fine. Seeing him dive took me back to my days as a new diver - he still is learning to "see" the underwater scenery - he was almost touching the sleeping turtle before he realized what we were all pointing for him to look at.
Our group had lunch at Margy's before driving back home. It's right around the corner from the Two Georges Marina, and is a little family owned old fashioned eatery. Nothing fancy, but good food, served quickly and reasonably priced.
I'll be back out with DCI again next Sunday morning - anyone care to join me?
There were thirteen or fourteen divers aboard, including our group of four that consisted of myself, my son Shane, My friends Russ and Ed Jewell (who posts here occasionally).
Due to requests made before we arrived our sites were to be Gulfstream for the first dive and Briny for the second.
Seas were virtually flat, maybe swells of a foot. Water temp at depth (60fsw) were aroung 83-84F. Vis on the first dive was 30-40ft, probably 20-30 on the second with more particulate in the water and less sunlight. Current was very light to the north on the first dive, and only a little stronger on the second.
We saw a lot of puffers and trunkfish on the first dive, a few lobsters that survived mini-season, some eels, and a turtle.
Saw a napping turtle on the second dive, and more eels. The reefs appeared to be in a healthy state and we were surprised to see very little evidence of fishing - of course that may have due to the fact that didn't see many edible fish (the spearfishermen on the trip were shut out).
During a maneuver to back up the boat to hand a diver his camera the propeller shaft broke, sending one of the props to the bottom at the beginning of the first dive. This neccesitated a recovery dive by Tony the DM during the surface interval, and Doug asked us to limit our second dives to 45 min. so that he could beat the outgoing tide at the inlet since he was down to half power.
This was Shane's first post-certification trip and he did fine. Seeing him dive took me back to my days as a new diver - he still is learning to "see" the underwater scenery - he was almost touching the sleeping turtle before he realized what we were all pointing for him to look at.
Our group had lunch at Margy's before driving back home. It's right around the corner from the Two Georges Marina, and is a little family owned old fashioned eatery. Nothing fancy, but good food, served quickly and reasonably priced.
I'll be back out with DCI again next Sunday morning - anyone care to join me?
