on_two_wheels
Contributor
A little delayed but here we go....
I was a bit excited about diving this day. First time in my new harness. I have an OMS IQ pack but switched to just plain old webbing and a bare plate. I was also using a weighted STA this time. I probably could have gotten away with 8 lbs of lead but had two fives. If that wasn't enough to be excited about, I was also using my new (to me) computer. I have an Atmos Elite but tried out the Aladin Air Z this time.
First dive went great except for the Air Z. It showed 73% battery life before going in and 6 minutes into the dive it stopped. Err became the word for the dive. I had loaned my dive buddy my Elite so she had to track the depth for me and safety stop time. I still had my SPG for my own air info. On the bright side, we saw a large bat ray with a wingspan of close to 4 ft, one of the larger I've seen. We also saw two black sea bass that were really impressive. I think I've got about 30-40 dives just in the park and have never seen one until this dive....and I saw TWO. As they swam away they passed a class. One of the students must have thought it was dangerous because he/she blew a LOT of bubbles and started to swim away. Someone else got her attention and she quickly stopped and remained with the group.
SI was great since the clouds hung in there. I heard it was 64 degrees at 90 feet but dove the drysuit anyway. Glad I did. With the clouds it was almost chilly. Plus, the thermocline was no joke. It was mucho chilly below it!! I swapped out transmitters and put my buddy's console back on her 1st stage for the rest of the day. No further problems. The harness wasn't as hard to get in/out of as I thought it would be. Not too comfy on the surface but don't really need it to be. Loved it in the water, though. Very tight package set up like that. Thinking the IQ pack might have to go on the chopping block.
Dives two and three were relatively uneventful. Saw a school of fish hiding out getting cleaned up by another fish. Not sure what they were...help me out? They were a foot + long and had a bluish color (almost entirely). It was pretty neat to see one open his mouth and a smaller fish nibble something out of it, probably a parasite I guess. I also saw the sue jac for the first time. Just never went that far down that direction. Those that have seen it know I wasn't really missing that much except the great reef formation on that end.
Another bright note was navigation. My buddy just got her compass so I had her lead the way. She did pretty well. I think she got a bit astray coming back from the sue jac, though. Once I realized that, I took over and we ended up back at the buoys. I was surprised at the number of people there on a monday. Probably 20 divers and close to 10 swimming. No idea why but I was completely worn out after 3 dives. More than usual for diving the park. Well worth it. Got to help a buddy navigate, saw giant sea bass, large bat ray, another wreck I hadn't seen yet and got to DIVE!! There was one negative: I don't know if it was a student but I swam past someone literally standing on the rocks. Then he/she went to swim away and kept kicking the reef with fins, at least 6 kicks, both feet. I hoped it was a student so I could be hopeful that conduct wouldn't last. Then I hoped it wasn't because that meant the buddy was an instructor and didn't notice or ignored it. Ugh!!
Visibility was 30-50 ft depending on location....overall, I was thrilled with the vis. I didn't look at the temps but can say down to about 50 fsw it was nice, prob mid 60s. Below that thermocline it was downright cold on my hands/face. Surge wasn't bad at all until the third dive around 12:30. Even then it wasn't enough to challenge even a novice diver.
Hope all had a great weekend above and below the surface.
I was a bit excited about diving this day. First time in my new harness. I have an OMS IQ pack but switched to just plain old webbing and a bare plate. I was also using a weighted STA this time. I probably could have gotten away with 8 lbs of lead but had two fives. If that wasn't enough to be excited about, I was also using my new (to me) computer. I have an Atmos Elite but tried out the Aladin Air Z this time.
First dive went great except for the Air Z. It showed 73% battery life before going in and 6 minutes into the dive it stopped. Err became the word for the dive. I had loaned my dive buddy my Elite so she had to track the depth for me and safety stop time. I still had my SPG for my own air info. On the bright side, we saw a large bat ray with a wingspan of close to 4 ft, one of the larger I've seen. We also saw two black sea bass that were really impressive. I think I've got about 30-40 dives just in the park and have never seen one until this dive....and I saw TWO. As they swam away they passed a class. One of the students must have thought it was dangerous because he/she blew a LOT of bubbles and started to swim away. Someone else got her attention and she quickly stopped and remained with the group.
SI was great since the clouds hung in there. I heard it was 64 degrees at 90 feet but dove the drysuit anyway. Glad I did. With the clouds it was almost chilly. Plus, the thermocline was no joke. It was mucho chilly below it!! I swapped out transmitters and put my buddy's console back on her 1st stage for the rest of the day. No further problems. The harness wasn't as hard to get in/out of as I thought it would be. Not too comfy on the surface but don't really need it to be. Loved it in the water, though. Very tight package set up like that. Thinking the IQ pack might have to go on the chopping block.
Dives two and three were relatively uneventful. Saw a school of fish hiding out getting cleaned up by another fish. Not sure what they were...help me out? They were a foot + long and had a bluish color (almost entirely). It was pretty neat to see one open his mouth and a smaller fish nibble something out of it, probably a parasite I guess. I also saw the sue jac for the first time. Just never went that far down that direction. Those that have seen it know I wasn't really missing that much except the great reef formation on that end.
Another bright note was navigation. My buddy just got her compass so I had her lead the way. She did pretty well. I think she got a bit astray coming back from the sue jac, though. Once I realized that, I took over and we ended up back at the buoys. I was surprised at the number of people there on a monday. Probably 20 divers and close to 10 swimming. No idea why but I was completely worn out after 3 dives. More than usual for diving the park. Well worth it. Got to help a buddy navigate, saw giant sea bass, large bat ray, another wreck I hadn't seen yet and got to DIVE!! There was one negative: I don't know if it was a student but I swam past someone literally standing on the rocks. Then he/she went to swim away and kept kicking the reef with fins, at least 6 kicks, both feet. I hoped it was a student so I could be hopeful that conduct wouldn't last. Then I hoped it wasn't because that meant the buddy was an instructor and didn't notice or ignored it. Ugh!!
Visibility was 30-50 ft depending on location....overall, I was thrilled with the vis. I didn't look at the temps but can say down to about 50 fsw it was nice, prob mid 60s. Below that thermocline it was downright cold on my hands/face. Surge wasn't bad at all until the third dive around 12:30. Even then it wasn't enough to challenge even a novice diver.
Hope all had a great weekend above and below the surface.
I certainly hope I don't have to wait that long to see them again!
