Boynton Dive Report

[Scubakevdm]

Oh, hey! Hows about a little 100'+ vis and some 82 degree water? All that and more in today's (really yesterday's) astonishing installment of the Boynton Dive Report. So -as I was saying, the scary green water has left the building and in has come some cracklin' clear Gulfstream water.
I went fish capturing at an undisclosed loctation, both dives. Seas were flat going out and maybe 2' coming in. Current was moderate to strong and to the south.
The first dive was the dive that everything went wrong. I suffered through the following:
Broken mask strap clip
Broken catch bag clasp
Creeping reg
Entangling various hoses and equipment with my reef hook.
Still, I captured two Hogfish, and saw three turtles all mid water. One of them was the giant Green Turtle I posted a picture of a month or so ago. After my return to the boat I dumped my bag into the cooler and only one fish came out. This was my first clue that I had clasp issues. Actually, the turtle circling me was my first clue. Probably waiting for another fish to pop out of my bag. Anyway, on the surface interval I resolved all of the issues. I thought.
The second dive was much more pleasant graceful, and fruitful, if fish can be counted as a fruit. After bagging four more Hogs I prepare to ascend, but out of the corner of my eye I spot a medium sized Black Grouper. I gently ease over to him and suprisingly he doesn't spook. He does act very interested in old Scubakev though, and displays never before seen Grouper behavior. He kept just enough room between us that I couldn't poke him with my pointed stick. He pretended to be interested in other things and not to be running away and I pretended to be interested in other things and not to be chasing him. We went around in circles like that for about 10 minutes, each of us hiding behind sponges, poking our heads up to see where the other one was, being really non challant about the whole thing. Eventually I came to understand that this fish was better at swimming and pretending than me, so 12 minutes late (the boat I was on has a 60 minute policy) I begin my ascent.
I break the suface just behind the waiting boat and wince as the captain heads towards me... but instead of angry, he looks delighted.
"Look what I caught!" he says, holding up a familiar looking Hog. My heart sank as I looked down to my wide open, completely empty catch bag and realized that I just had a Grouper for dinner.

Here's the Huge Green Turtle again. I think its the very same one.

 

[alemaozinho]

i missed out again but next week is my turn again,see yah tomorrow.Peace

 

[Scubakevdm]

Well hello and welcome to another Boynton Dive Report. Today was a mavelous day to dive. The vis was down a bit at around 70'. Water temp was 80 degrees every time I looked. The current was slight and to the north. Seas were less than 2'.
We did Gazebo on the first dive. We saw all kinds of morays including a free swimming Spotted Moray. Also notable was a school of Great Barracudas.
The second dive we ran Castle Ledge, Lynn's and ended at God's Spot. I don't know if I've ever really talked very much about God's Spot, but its the jewel of this particular reef system. It is at the crest of the reef, and it's kinda hard to get to, unless you get dropped into it. Its incredibly busy with snappers prowling in and out of all the nooks and crannies, groupers, jacks, all kinds of fish. At Castle we ran into a 4' Goliath Grouper who came out of his hole to check us out, was unimpressed and went back in. We ran into a Hawksbill muching on a sponge inbetween Lynn's and God's Spot. He played with us for a minute, then got back to his lunch. So, great stuff. We had fun.

Here's a shot of me that Peter took today at Gazebo. You can really see the cragglyness of the reef in the shot. This is typical of the north end of the reef.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! The word for today is Current. I think this morning wasn't too bad, but I crept out this afternoon with some friends and whoa Nelly! We did the entire 3.6 miles of this reef system in two drops. The current was strongest at the center of the reef around Black Condo, probably between 2.5 and 3 kts. The vis was crappy.... like 25' from all the crap the current picked up. There was all kinds of stuff floating around out there.
Anyway the first drop was Black Condo then Briney Breezes, then Gazebo, then Castle Ledge, then the first third or so of Lynn's. The second dive was Clubhouse, then Gulfstream, then Black Condo again. I counted nine sea turtles including a big Green that was looking at me kinda funny. We also saw lobsters, morays, a Nurse Shark, and two giant African Pompano. Whew I'm tired.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! Here's the report for today:
Seas were 2-3', water temp was 80 degrees, vis was like 25' with fine fog like silt. The current had died down and was mild to moderate and to the north. We did Delray ledges, then Black Condo. Nothing really exciting today, but it was fun. As an addendum to the last report I would like to add that my neck and the neck of my buddy on the dives of 6/6 have blossomed into fields of welts, possibly from the current coursing over the reef, ripping up bits of hydroids and other stingy stuff and peppering us with it, possibly regular old sea lice (Sea bather's eruption) or both. I used Safe Sea today and will report on the results tommorrow either here or in a new thread entitled "The Boynton Neck Report" depending on my mood.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey what great diving we had today! Seas were less than 2', vis was like 70-80',the current was nil to slight north. Water temp was 82 degrees except for a thermocline at about 55' that was 80. We did Briney Breezes then Lynn's. The coolest thing we saw was a giant Loggerhead that was snoozing with her head in a bush. Really it was soft coral (Plexaurella nutans) and not a bush, but to me they look like underwater bushes. She sure had a big head too! My oh my, it was the size of a basketball. Anyway summer's finally here.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! Another great day of diving. Seas were less than 2', vis was around 100' water temp was 82 degrees. The current was moderate and to the south this morning and for the first dive this afternoon then changed to East, and seemed like it was starting to go north on the second. We did Tabletops and Lynn's into God's Spot. Notables were an African Pompano, two Cubera Snapper, a bunch of Black Groupers, one small Gag and a Nassau. Oh yeah, and a free swimming Green Moray.
Here's the picture Peter took of the turtle from the other day.

 

[aquasport]

Man i want to be back down there kev.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Man i want to be back down there kev.

Hey! What's up man?
So, another day of calm, clear, warm water. Seas were 82 millimeters, vis was 82' and water temp was 82 degrees. Current was south, swinging east on the second dive.
We did Lynn's/Castle then Briney/Fingers. I saw a small Black Grouper, a large Green Morray and a medium Southern Stingray that swam with us for a minute. It was a very relaxing, very pretty dive.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! How's about another Boynton Dive Report? Seas were about two feet, Vis was about 50', water temp was warm with intermitent thermoclines. By my computer max water temp was the upper part of 84, dropping to low 82's at times. The current was generally slight north, but sometimes blasted westward. I don't know why, it was wierd.
Anyway the first drop was Briney Breezes. We saw tons of fish, a big Loggerhead and a Nurse Shark. Next we did Castle and Lynn's. On Castle we saw a very big Loggerhead sleeping under a ledge. She was stretched out north/south, so we could see the whole left side of her. Her front flippers were huge! I was creeping around trying not to wake her up. I turned to get the attention of John C. who is a photo guy from NY and turned back to her and she was looking at me like, "Don't bug me, I'm sleeping". I felt pretty bad. Then John took a couple of shots, and she got mad and crawled under the ledge better. Sorry. She's a bigg'n though. About 15' north of the loggerhead is where a Goliath Grouper lives. He came out and peeped at us for a minute while we were fussing over the turtle. Up at Lynn's I saw the giant Green Turtle, but he was swimming kinda far away. We saw a Green Moray up there too. His head was out of his hole, laying on the reef like he was sleeping or something. I hope he's okay. If we go to Lynn's tomorrow I'll check on him.