Boynton Dive Report

[Scubakevdm]

Nice save, Kev!

Hey, thanks man. So... another day, a couple more dives. The ground swell continues. (Ground swell is salty dog jargon for a kind of wave that is kinda flat and long. They reach all the way down to the bottom out at the reef and cause everything to surge back and forth. By the time they reach the beach they're all stacked up on themselves 'cause the water is too shallow, then they break. So today there were like 6 foot waves at the beach, but it was pretty flat out in deep water.) There was a boat, maybe 21' flipped over right outside the inlet. It was still there when we went in. Anyway, I digress. Seas were like 1-2' once you got out, water temp 75, almost no current. The vis off the reef was about 70', but like I was saying, the surge was stirring up the bottom pretty good. Maybe 20' vis on the reef. The first dive was on the Tony, but I'm afraid I can't tell you very much about what went on down on the wreck because I had my hands full helping one of the divers, sorry. I did set the hook and retrieve it though, and the vis was about 40' on the wreck.
The next dive was Castle Ledge in reverse. There was a slight South current. The Vis on the reef was pretty milky, but the top layer was quite clear. I remember looking up at one point during the dive and seeing a big kingfish. I guess he was about 70' away. Also we saw a huge reef squid. He was about as big as a nerf football. We also saw three lobsters. We didn't see any regular cool stuff today though, like nurse sharks, morrays, or turtles. The squid,lobster and kingfish were cool though. Maybe tomorrow.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Well the word for today was "visibility" The ground swell subsided and the South current blasted some crisp clean Gulfstream water into old Scubakev's jurisdiction. I'd say we saw 130' + visibility at points, but it gets kinda hard to judge once it gets past 100'. Anyway, it was pretty. Seas were like 2-3' mostly 2 and mostly chop. Water temp... 75. We did two trips today, I didn't dive the first one, there was too much going on topside. People seemed pretty excited though. Someone saw a shark but couldn't ID it. There were tons of turtles and nurse sharks and eels. Some people captured lobsters too.
The second trip I got to dive. We did the Castor in 115' feet, then Gulfstream Ledge. The Vis was like 100' on the Castor. I had a diver that needed extra attention and didn't get to fully explore the wreck, but I did see a goliath grouper, and there was an enormous school of sardines swimming around mid-water that was really cool to watch. The Castor is very cool. Here's a pic from the last time we went. It's in B/W 'cause Peter likes to do wrecks in B/W, but in real life the growth is very colorful.
Anyway, Gulfstream was nice too. It was like 4:30 by the time we got in the water again, so we didn't have tons of light. I'd say the vis was about 70'. We saw a tiger's paw, a very cool yellow stingray, and a sleeping loggerhead.Oh yeah and spotted and green morrays. They were both excellent dives. I'd say top 3%. Here's the wreck.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

What's a tigers paw?

 

[Scubakevdm]

What's a tigers paw?

It's a kind of sea cucumber. They anchor one end in cracks and crevices and stretch out and forage with the other.They're pretty big, about 4' long. Kinda gross. Here's a pic.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I saw one of those once down here (I think) and had no idea what the heck it was...thanks...
(ok, I learned my one new thing today...the rest of the day I have off )

 

[Scubakevdm]

You're very welcome Jenny.

... I get a kick out of reading your reports. Mostly I want to see rude comments about the guys I dive with when I get down there (Mike Gray, Kurt & Lynn S., and Lee Bell) but you never mention them. Either you're a coward, a diplomat or they're being quiet for a change. Say hello to them for me.

I did. They said that you're right.

There was no trip today, our passengers opted out due to rough seas, so no report. Sorry

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hey! Hello, and thanks for reading this. It was a tragic day for the boat today, our port engine kicked the bucket on the way out. Luckily we have two engines, and luckily we are friends with other dive boats too. We all switched over to Loggerhead and went out. We did the Tony first and then Castle Ledge/Tabletops. Seas were flat. Vis was about 60' Water temp on my computer was 75, but it felt colder. Mike Gray's said 73. The was a moderate North current on the Tony, and a mild North at Tabletops. Notables include a starfish, a scorpionfish and a nurse shark swimming over the bow of the wreck, and out on the reef there were several guitarfish, morray eels, a sea turtle and a great big nurse shark.
It seems as though there won't be any dive reports from me for a few days, while we fix the boat. Maybe someone else that reads this will be diving around here and fill in for me.

 

[JohnF]

Hey! Hello, and thanks for reading this. It was a tragic day for the boat today, our port engine kicked the bucket on the way out. Luckily we have two engines, and luckily we are friends with other dive boats too. We all switched over to Loggerhead and went out. We did the Tony first and then Castle Ledge/Tabletops. Seas were flat. Vis was about 60' Water temp on my computer was 75, but it felt colder. Mike Gray's said 73.

I can't believe you got Mike in the water at only 75 degrees. He's such a wimp.

JF

 

[GDI]

What was the water conditions like today Mar 20th?

 

[Scubakevdm]

What was the water conditions like today Mar 20th?

Sorry, I'm away from my computer. Water was flat, vis was like 60'. Temp was up, 77. I'll post the entire report later on today, but I wanted to answer GDI.