Boynton Dive Report

[Scubakevdm]

Hey hi there, here's the Boynton Dive Report for 2/4/04. The seas were pretty calm, eventually building to 2-3', but mostly 2'. The vis was kinda down at about 50', and the water temp... 75. Yesterdays temp was 75 too, by the way. There was no current.
The first drop was set up to be Black Condo with a north drift, but we went south because we could, so we ended up doing Gulfstream in reverse. I don't like it when there is no current, 'cause then I have to kick. Usually you can just hang there and let the reef just float on by. Also, it helps to approach stuff if you don't have to kick, you know? You can get close easier. Anyway, the absence of current didn't stop us from seeing big nurse sharks, a couple of turtles and ... a very cool little goldentailed morray who was prowling in and out of some holes looking for something to eat. He didn't mind my face being a foot away from him at all. Nice.
The second dive we did Briney, because one of the guys asked to. Again, it was nice. I saw some cowfish mating on the way down. I think they were mating anyway, and a big green morray was freeswimming but got scared and ducked into a hole as we got closer. One of the divers was patient and still enough to see the goliath grouper that lives in the reef. Its a big one, about six feet long, but its very timid. They sure can squeeze into some tiny holes.
Alan of Venice Florida made his first Boynton dive today. He seemed pretty excited about it. He said, "There's an awful lot going on down there, an unbelievable amount of life. I'll definately be back."

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hello, and thanks for reading this. Today was a lovely day to be diving! Seas were small, like 2'. It was kinda windy but it was from the South, then by the afternoon it was from the West, so it didn't stir things up too much. The water was a bit chillier at 73 degrees, but the vis was decent enough... 65 to 70'.
We did four dives today all of them were very nice. We started at the middle of the reef and worked our way north covering Blak Condo, Gazebo, Briney Breezes, Castle Tabletops and Lynn's with some drops in the fingers outside as well. Notable stuff... still alot of large nurse sharks milling about, a freeswimming green morray, a new loggerhead turtle that was sorta friendly, a very nice tulip shell was collected, and two lobsters.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Whew! This was the horriblest day ever. Seas started out like 1-2', but instantly got whipped up to 4-6 as the wind turned out of the NW and came from the North at about 20 kts. I did not get to dive do to attempts to make repairs to the following casualties of today's trip.

1) The freshwater washdown pump melted... so no hot showers.
2) The head flush switch broke... so no toilet.

In spite of the cold and lumpy weather, and the loss of the most coveted luxuries we have to offer, everyone had fun. Well there was one guy who didn't have very much fun after the first dive. He got sick. But everyone else had fun, and they were very patient and understanding with me and the boat, so I just wanted to thank them all. The vis was reported to be "not so great" due to lots of flock in the water. I don't know exactly what flock is, but apparently it causes problems for wide angle photography. There was a pretty good surge stirring up the bottom, so maybe flock is that foggy silt.
There will not be a trip tomorrow, nor will I be taking the day off to go diving due to the emergent repairs necessary to the boat, hopefully Tuesday we'll be back on line, and I'll be back in the water.

 

[SmokeAire]

Kev, whatever you do please fix the head thingy.
I've never put anything in my wet suit I wanted to leave behind. ;-)

Chuck

 

[Scubakevdm]

Kev, whatever you do please fix the head thingy.
I've never put anything in my wet suit I wanted to leave behind. ;-)

Chuck

I'm looking forward to diving with you. No report for today, although the seas look like they're laying down. About 2-3'.

 

[H2Andy]

you guys have a head AND a shower in your dive boat?

luxury.

we have a garbage bag and a gallon jug. that's on a good day, when the dive master
is not hung over and remembers to throw them onboard.

 

[Scubakevdm]

you guys have a head AND a shower in your dive boat?

luxury.

we have a garbage bag and a gallon jug. that's on a good day, when the dive master
is not hung over and remembers to throw them onboard.

Yes sir.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Whoops! I for got yesterdays report again. Well here it is along with todays.
Boynton Dive Report 2/10/04. Seas were flat, a very beautiful day. Vis was around 60', with a very slight North current. We did Delray Ledges... very very nice shore facing high relief ledges with tons of soft coral. The coolest thing there was a group of three spotted eagle rays that I swam with for about five minutes while I turned them back to the ledge so that Peter could get some shots (forthcoming). We ended up making two laps from ledge to crest to ledge before the photo op worked out. They have very cool eyes. Anyway One sleepy loggerhead, a scorpion fish and a shark just on the edge of visability, maybe a reef shark.
Next we did Gazebo the intermediate ledge on a shore facing step ledge. A curious green turtle, a smallish nurse shark and two big green morrays. A very pleasant day of diving.
2/11/04 Again a beautiful day topside. Seas, 1-2'. The vis dropped off a bit to a greenish 50-55'. The current was a moderately strong North current, about 3/4 kt. The first drop was Gulfstream, High relief shore facing ledges. There was a ton of fish in general, but really alot of smooth trunkfish (I love them).
The second drop we did Linn's on the crest of the reef. The current becomes stronger up top, I think because there's not as much room for the water. Anyway, the aquatic life was dense to begin with, but the strong current really causes alot of them to pack into all the crevices and stuff out of the flow. So, we swam right through the giant school of spadefish that lives there. Also there were schools of cero mackeral, that swirled around us, becoming a great silver cylinder. The folks I was with saw two turtles too. It was another great day to be diving.

 

[BIGSAGE136]

I get to meet you Saturday at 9a. looking forward to it.

 

[Scubakevdm]

I get to meet you Saturday at 9a. looking forward to it.

Hey great! Me too. The marine forecast seems to think it'll be a nice day for us, at least in the morning.

So here's the dive report for today: Seas were probably 2-3 with about a 15kt SE wind. The vis was horrible, like about 30', maybe 35. Anyway, today was kind of an odd dive day. We were conducting research on cyanobacteria, so we got to dive some interesting spots that we normally wouldn't go to. The first dive covered the southern most tip of the Boynton Reef including some patch reefs. We dropped on the shore facing side in about 60'sw, kicked south, then rounded the tip and drifted north along the outside (sea facing fingers) at about 75'. Notables included a red grouper, a queen conch doing a wheelie and dolphin (mammal) noises.
The next dive we dropped in at Clubhouse, a high relief shore facing ledge in about 65' and kicked north along with an already pretty strong north current. I have never covered so much ground in one dive. By this time the vis was down to like 25', 'cause it was about 4:00pm and cloudy. Notables include a loggerhead munching on something, and a huge (maybe 4') african pompano that almost collided with me. I was about 20' off the bottom, doing about 4 kts, so I couldn't really see very much. Hey, it was all in the name of science.