Boynton Dive Report

[Scubakevdm]

Whoa. The word for today is... Cold. I think its the word for tomorrow too. Anyway, we know enough maniacs to throw a trip together even in this cold weather, so here it is- today's dive report. Seas were kinda big, mostly swell (like 4') with a little chop, but bearable. The vis was gone again, back down to about 25'. We still had fun though. We did Gazebo the first dive, and then Linn's on the second. The current was very mild South, but there was a powerful surge. Notables include a colony of very large Dog Snapper, several very large Black Grouper, a sleepy Loggerhead, and a curious Green Morray. Also we welcomed one brand new diver into the ranks, congratulations Josh, great job!

 

[Scubakevdm]

Well, its been a while since the last report. We made up for quantity with quality today though. SmokeAir and Madeline came down to visit and we had a great time. I had a great time anyway. They couldn't have picked a nicer day. Seas were flat, The vis was okay, starting out at about 60-65', and dropping off throughout the day down to about 45-50' by the fourth dive. Current was slight and variable.
The first dive was Clubhouse in reverse, however the current shifted about halfway through the dive. SmokeAir won the prize for finding the coolest thing with a Polka Dot Batfish. He also spotted a spotted morray.
The second dive I'm going to have to turn over to SmokeAir to report on, I sat it out topside due to an o-ring tragedy. The drop was Black Condo. Everyone seemed to have fun. People saw turles, eels, nurse sharks etc. All of the regular cool stuff.
The third dive was the Tony. Madeline gets the coolest thing prize for spotting a large, scardy-cat Bull Shark. I didn't see any of the Jewfish. There were lots of Barracuda, ooh I saw a Scorpionfish, and a Sea Slug too.
The fourth dive was Linn's. There was almost no current at all so we hung out up at God's Spot for the whole dive, where we saw 17 Godzillion fish of many different makes and models. Some extra cool stuff was the school of Spadefish, Some free-swimming Green Morray eels on the prowl for grub, and a Black Grouper zipping around. Old Scubakev foung treasure too... a fancy anchor that Captain Lynn seemed to like. God's Spot is a very cool place.
Hopefully SmokeAir and Madeline will have something to add to this, by the way, thanks for coming to visit! Old Scubakev is gettin kinda sleepy, I'm pretty worn out from a big day.

 

[SmokeAire]

First of all I want to give a very big thanks to Captain Lynn and an even bigger thanks to Scubakevdm, reef guide extrodanaire, for a great time. They run an excellent operation. More on that later.
I must admit spotting the Polkadot Bat Fish was a thrill as it was the very first one I have seen.

Kevin was a bit modest about the 0-ring disaster. What happened was after I switched tanks after the first morning dive I turned on the air and I heard a pop and hissing of air. Crud! It turned out I blew the o-ring in my first stage. Kevin gave me his reg. and tank to use for the second dive, sitting out the dive himself. Over and beyond in my books. Thanks again for the rescue. And he repaired my reg. between boat trips.

Black Condo was also a great dive. Huge Green Moray, another Spotted Eel and my favorite a very laid back turtle that allowed me to swim next to him/her for several minutes until I had to turn back and go find my group. Other people saw squids, and octopus and many sharks. Sorry my mishap caused Kevin to miss this one.

The dive on the Tony was my first intact wreck dive and it is a great dive.

My last dive in the afternoon was a disaster...ten minutes into the dive I lost one contact, the close vision one....ok no problem...I'll just see distance.....15 minutes later the distance contact left it's home. Now I can't see a thing let alone find my group so up I went and there was the boat. Oh well visibility was going a bit sour anyway.

Like I said their operation is great. Their first priority is for the divers to have fun. Very generous bottoms times. If a group wants to go their seperate ways and not follow Kevin they are giving their own dive flag to tow. I have never seen that before and thought that was great. And Captain Lynn seems to know just where you are coming up.
Everything was laid back, we weren't rushed and did not feel like cattle. They do bend over backwards to try to satisfy every divers wishes.

I highly recommend them and my dive buddy and I are already planning our next trip with them. I just hope we can get more of our TVSC members to go.

Chuck

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey, thanks again Chuck and Madeline, very kind of you to say. I have to amend your report though... we do ask that divers limit their dives to one hour each. I probably forgot to tell you. Sorry. Anyway, here's today's report:
Seas were flat calm again. We did four dives. The fist was a wreck called the Castor. The M/V Castor was sunk on December 14, 2001 in 110 feet of water where she sits upright with her bow to the South. The wreck is 258 feet long by 37 feet wide by 50 feet tall rising to within 70 feet of the surface. For safety reasons, all hatches and doors have been removed. The main deck is at 90 feet and the maximum depth is 115 feet.
This was the first time in six months that I have been on the Castor, and she's really starting to develop some growth. There was a moderately strong North current. Vis was like 65', maybe 70 but eventually dropped off in some areas of the wreck. Pretty cool dive. Oh yeah, my computer says... 75 degrees.

Next we did a Briney/Gazebo split. The vis on the reef was like 50'. I dove with Marco and his instructor. Marco is working on his junior advanced open water certification and is a very cool dive buddy. We got to see some pretty cool stuff including a Nurse Shark out on the prowl. 73 degrees.

The third dive was Black Condo where I saw A giant Cubera Snapper, a very curious Mutton Snapper, a giant female Hawgfish and two lobsters... one lucky, one not. 75 degrees.

The fourth dive was split, Castle ledge, then up to Linn's. We saw two turtles a giant Black Grouper and one of the Pacific Sailfin Tangs. 75 degrees. All in all, a pretty good day of diving. And I am off to finish my chores and settle in for a very long night of sleeping. Peace, -Kev.

 

[SmokeAire]

Hey, thanks again Chuck and Madeline, very kind of you to say. I have to amend your report though... we do ask that divers limit their dives to one hour each. I probably forgot to tell you.

Ah.
Or we were just having a great time our brains suffered overload.

Chuck

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! I'm back with another report. Today was kinda bumpy. There was like a three foot chop. The water was nice however, once you got down. Vis was like 75' on the first dive , then like 55' on the second. Water temp... 75 degrees. The current was a strong North. The first dive was Briney Breezes, where we saw two medium large Nurse Sharks and the friendly Loggerhead. The friendly Loggerhead was scared of my buddy though, and didn't stick around too long. I didn't have alot of manueverability with the current ripping and carrying the flag, so there wasn't much I could do about corraling cool stuff to the group.
Next we did Castle Ledge, where we saw two more turtles, both Loggerheads. They pretty much avoided us too. The current was pulling so hard that we got sucked up the reef to Linn's about halfway through the dive. It was really rough staying on the ledge up there, but guess who we saw up there? The friendly Loggerhead again. She peeped me out for a minute, but I couldn't breath right or move right 'cause I was in such an uproar with the flag and the current and that whole battle, so she didn't come over. At least she's still hanging around out there. Tomorrow is suposed to be flatter, but rainy. I anticipate a report anyway.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hello, from not so sunny Boynton Beach. Even though it was not the prettiest day topside today, out of the reef it was awesome. Seas were like 1', except during the rain squall. Vis... not too hot. Probably 40'. Not alot of light either. Water temp, 73 degrees. We did Gulfstream, then jumped right back in at Black Condo, so it was almost like one continuous dive. I can't remember which stuff happened where, so I'll lay it all on you at once. First we saw a giant Stingray, and he was even kinda friendly. Well, how about he wasn't really too scared of us. We had some interaction with it, when who do you suppose happens along but the friendly Loggerhead. The Stingray wasn't too hip to the turtle, so he jetted, but for a minute there was a stingray/loggerhead interaction combo going on. I think Peter was able to squeeze off a few shots. If they come out I'll post them. Anyway, there was also a large Nurse Shark just chillin' out in the open, but he wasn't too social. I pretty much just was hanging out about 20-25' up off the bottom so that I could wrangle stuff to Peter, so I didn't see too much macro stuff today. Ooh, I almost forgot. Peter found a Tiger's Tail, which is a very gnarley looking kind of sea cucumber, about four feet long. I guess that's about it.

 

[madeline]

I too want to say that the dive on the 21 was great! the best was Capt.Tony wreck dive. Comming down I was able to see some bull sharks, then going around the deck was able to catch a glimps of more sharks, tho they were quick in and out. enough big baracuda to keep me happy. a great crew, I do hope to get our club to come out for another dive. thanks again.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey, thanks Madeline! It was great having you. So, here it is... today's Boynton Dive Report. Seas were about 2' I guess, the vis was crappy, probably 25-30' on the first dive and then about 40-45' on the second after the sun came out. I think they're doing some kind of beach re-nourishment somewhere north of here, that's what it looked like anyway. So there was a strong South current, probably 1.5-1.75 kts. the water temp was chilly, my computer says 68 degrees. I was diving dry today, so its hard for me to gauge the validity of the readings. Maybe I'll download the dives later on an look at the temp traces. Anyway, for now let's just say 68, and I'll verify and post later. The first drop was Black Condo, but the current moved us all the way through Gulfstream too. Peter saw a Batfish, but got swept away before he could line up on it to get a photo. There were tons of fish everywhere today, that whole "density of aquatic life is inversely proportional to the vis" thing was going on.
The second spot was Gazebo, and into Briney Breezes. The current was kinda variable, and for a minute or two, it even seemed like it stopped completely. I was expecting it to start going North, but it just started right back up going South again. Don't ask me. Anyway, tons of fish again, The friendly Loggerhead, a Nurse Shark and a Spotted Morray with it's head stuck in a brown rope sponge looking for grub I guess. It was pretty fun.
I saw GDI in the parking lot a little while ago. He went out on my friend's boat in the afternoon. I understand that the little waves went away at some point during his trip and were replaced by larger ones. Anyway, they did the Tony and somewhere on the reef. I asked him if he would write about it for us, and he said he might. Maybe I'll PM him to remind him. Oh, here are the Gulfstream friendly Loggerhead and Southern Stingray shots from the other day. Look at how dark it was. Peace, -Kev

 

[Scubakevdm]

Okay, I looked at the temp traces for the two dives. The first dive was almost entirely 71 degrees, the second was mostly 73, with some 71 mixed in there every now and again. The 68 degree recordings came from the surface layer. Sorry about the bum dope.