Cayman Aggressor IV Captain's Logs

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Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report July 13 – 20, 2013

Water temp 84F+
Air Temp 85's
Vis 100ft+
Wetsuit req 3mm shorty or less

And again we had the pleasure of 18 happy divers coming to spend a week onboard the CAIV. Several familiar happy faces were seen, as well as plenty of new and happy faces too! Once the last couple came onboard, we started the engines and headed up the west side to enjoy a BBQ dinner, complete the welcome safety briefing, and get a good night’s sleep getting ready for our first dives in the morning.

Sunday. The wreck of the Doc Polson was up first! This is a shallow tugboat wreck in 50ft of water with an easy 20 yards swim to the drop off. Today there were plenty of critters around. Everyone enjoyed getting back into the water and getting wet. This was a perfect spot for our check out dive! The wreck of the Kittiwake and the Sand Shutes was our afternoon dives. Here we get to enjoy two dive sites in one. The 300-foot USS Kittiwake was a US Navy submarine rescue ship that was intentionally sunk in Jan 2011 as an incredible dive site for all to enjoy. Right off this site is Sand Chutes, which is an incredible series of chutes and swim thru’s that head to the edge of the drop off!

Monday. After a bumpy crossing we ended up on Bloody Bay Wall! Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off, exploring the chimneys, and swimming through the archway. Today we spotted several turtles, a yellow ray, nurse shark and plenty of reef critters. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was as we had two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thrus. ‘Cosmo’, the friendly Nassau grouper, came by and so did an eagle ray, several turtles, nurse shark, giant green eel, a couple of reef sharks and a huge school of horse eye jacks. The night dive produced all the usual suspects including channel crabs, sharks, sleeping turtles, lobsters, eels, and of course octopus! Another incredible day of diving CAIV style!

Tuesday. Leah Leah’s Lookout was our morning site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility and a little current. We were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, two spotted drums, mating groupers, and more lobsters than we could all eat!! Bus Stop was the afternoon site and is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, Nassau groupers, plenty more reef sharks, and a beautiful eagle ray all were spotted along with the sail fin blennies. For the night dive more nocturnal critters came out to play, with more crabs, more lobsters and another octopus! Wow, what a great day of diving!

Wednesday. After a beautiful evening cruise over to Cayman Brac we dove the wreck of the Russian Destroyer. Today, nine brave divers jumped in at 5:45am (before breakfast) under a beautiful rainbow to enjoy the morning sunrise from 60ft below on the Russian Destroyer in the daytime! :) Everyone enjoyed exploring the ins and outs of this wreck. The vis was excellent and plenty of pics were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Of course, the guys enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms. Back on Little Cayman, Bus Stop was up for the afternoon. This is one of my favorite dive sites, and always a hit with our guests! Reef Sharks, turtles, eagle rays, and all the amazing swim thru’s off the wall. But lets not forget the sailfin blennies and jawfish hunt. The night dive produced more stuff, including a giant lobster, crab, pufferfish, and yes, you guessed it - another octopus!

Thursday. Eight hardcore (or hard headed?) braved the early 5:45am dive at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea. This beautiful teacup pinnacle had plenty of shark action! Turtle, eagle ray, several very old anchors, and a giant 10 ft nurse shark were also spotted. A quick dive at Donna’s Delight was a treat before lunch and then The Great Wall was our last stop here in LC before heading back to Grand Cayman. This shallow reef begins at 20 feet and drops off to 6000 feet and makes for an awesome afternoon dive. ‘Freddie’ and his band of groupers came by to entertain us and get their fair share of attention, as did another couple of turtles, mating angelfish, a sleeping nurse shark, and a dozen giant lobsters.

Friday. We enjoyed a smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman to our first site at the Aquarium and OV. This is a great place to go fish watching and check out the nearby wall. Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and once again we enjoyed the schooling silversides and the tarpon enjoying an “All You Can Eat” buffet and is always a favorite. All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party.

Congrats go out to Hanna for passing her SSI Nitrox class. Happy Birthday Cynthia and thank you to all for making this, another wonderful safe week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew







 
Cayman Aggressor Captain’s Report July 20 – 27, 2013
Family Week

Water temp 82F+
Air Temp 80’s
Vis 80-100ft
Wetsuit 3mm or skin

It’s “Family Week” and this week we were joined by 18 guests with plenty of young ‘uns onboard. We departed Georgetown dock for a beautiful cruise up the West Bay enjoying Kinsley’s BBQ to start an excellent week of eating, sleeping and diving - Cayman Style!

Sunday. Our first dive of the week was the wreck of the Doc Poulson and it the perfect site to start our week. The wreck is in 50ft and there are always plenty of critters, including our resident green eel! A nice nearby drop off brought in a turtle and a ray. Garden eels and plenty of jacks rounded out a great dive. The wind was blowing so we decided to dive the wreck of the Kittiwake for the afternoon and night dive. Wow - we had incredible 100ft+ vis with turtles, an eagle ray, green eels, giant mutton snappers and schooling jacks to mesmerize us. The night dive lived up to its reputation of providing plenty of nocturnal critters, including crabs, lobsters, eels, puffers and even a couple of octopus. What a great start to our week!

Monday. Big Tunnels was up first! An incredible dive on a series of cuts, swim thru’s, crevices, and tunnels make for fun exploration! Our next stop was Stingray City. Always a highlight of the week, and this week was no exception! The resident rays were hungry and everyone had a chance to feed them with only the best “top grade” squid! Our third site of the day was Babylon. Here we enjoyed another pinnacle and shear drop off where we explored the ledges and swim thru’s off the edge of the wall. The visibility was incredible. Babylon truly is one of the best dive sites in Grand Cayman.

Tuesday. After a late night crossing we made it over to Bloody Bay on Little Cayman where Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. Clear 150ft+ vis with two chimneys, the archway; shear wall, and lots of turtles. It was a great way to start our morning. The Meadows was our 2nd dive site of the day. If you can name it we saw it and took both pictures and video of this amazing dive site. We encountered turtles, sharks, eagle rays, schooling jacks, barracuda, very friendly groupers, green and spotted eels, and so much more. The night dive produced all the usuals including huge channel clinging crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters and a total of 3 beautiful octopus! What an Excellent Day Of Diving!

Wednesday. Our morning dive site was Leah Leah’s Lookout. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility and little or no current and we were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark, and the ever popular spotted drums. Our afternoon was spent on 3 Fathom Wall. This dive is three sites in one, and makes for plenty of exploring. We enjoyed all types of marine animals, including eagle rays, sharks, scorpionfish, turtles, schools of snappers and wrasse. After the afternoon dives we made a beautiful cruise over to Cayman Brac. Once we arrive we enjoyed a night dive on the wreck of the Russian Destroyer.

Thursday. Twelve brave divers rose before the sunrise to watch the sun come up over the Russian Destroyer wreck from below at 80ft! What a great way to start the day, and breakfast always tastes so much better! Yum - yum! We made another dive here to explore the many areas of the wreck from the deck guns, bridge, engine rooms and pilothouse! The vis was excellent and plenty of pictures and video were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Today the weather was calm as a lake so we decided to stop on the East End of LC to explore this little dived reef and wall! A little current made for a challenge for some, but we discovered virgin swim thru’s, reef sharks, rays, turtles and a sleeping nurse shark that were complimented by the outstanding visibility. Bus Stop followed and this spot is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, friendly Nassau groupers and a couple of reef sharks were sighted. But lets not be forgetting the sailfin blennies and a 10ft Hammerhead Shark! Yes, I said Hammerhead! What an awesome way to finish our dives in LC! :fishslap:

Friday. After a smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman, we arrived at Devils Grotto. We decided today that two dives here would be better than one, as the tunnels are filled with silversides by the billion! OMG - it was absolutely incredible today! We swam through the grotto and were completely surrounded by the silversides that were hiding away from the tarpon, jacks, groupers, and snappers that were enjoying an “All You Can Eat” buffet! All that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at our farewell cocktail party this evening.

Congrats go out to Nick, Andrea, Jenn, Colleen, Olivia and Mary for completing their SSI Nitrox class and to Olivia for passing her SSI Advanced class! Well done to you all!

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew

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That was a great trip. I was on that boat. Allan is possibly the best captain ever. The diving was great. Thanks, Allan for granting me with Nitrox and my Advanced open water diver. And the fourth picture is me. :)
 
Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report July 27 – Aug 3, 2013

Water temp: 84F+
Air Temp: 87’s + Thunderstorms
Vis: 150 ft+
Wetsuit Req: 3mm shorty or skin

Fifteen excited guests joined us once again for another week of “Eat, Sleep and Dive” Cayman-style. Once the last couple boarded, we headed up the west side to enjoy our BBQ dinner on the sundeck followed by our welcome aboard briefing and a good night’s sleep in anticipation for our upcoming day of diving.

Sunday. We woke to lake-like conditions and dove the wreck of the Doc Poulson for our first dive of the week. Here we enjoy a shallow wreck in 50ft of water and a sloping wall with a beautiful crevice leading out to the drop off. A turtle, eagle ray, and a free swimming green eel started our week in a great way! A short cruise to the north side put us on Hammerhead Hill for our next of the day. Here we get to cruise the true north wall of GCM. This is a shear wall starting at 60ft and makes for quite an experience of flying and the three eagle rays wasn’t that bad either! We moved further east to dive Babylon for a dive on the pinnacle and another shear wall with its amazing sponges, black coral, and swim thru’s before we headed over to Little Cayman.

Monday. Randy’s Gazebo was our first site and here we enjoyed descending into the blue, cruising the drop off, exploring the chimneys, and swimming through the archway while spotting a sleeping nurse shark in on the ledge, a couple of turtles, scorpion fish, and a cruising reef shark. Meadows was the afternoon site and what a great afternoon it was. Two dives to enjoy the shallow reef top and explore the swim thrus. ‘Cosmo’ the friendly Nassau grouper came by, so did an eagle ray, several turtles, nurse shark, school of squid, and plenty of reef sharks. The night dive produced all the usual nighttime critters including a curious reef shark, crabs, lobsters, burr puffers, squid, and two octopus! Wow - what a great day!

Tuesday. Leah Leah’s Lookout was our morning dive site. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we were treated to a couple of turtles, eagle ray, spotted drums, scorpion fish, and even a mantis shrimp! 3 Fathom Wall was our next site. Two afternoon dives and a night dive produced plenty of reef critters including reef squid, flounders, yellow spotted rays, friendly groupers, and plenty of crabs and lobsters, and yes another three octopus! :)

Wednesday. Nancy’s Cup of Tea was our morning site with its pinnacle, swim thru’s, and old anchors making for a fun morning for everyone! We had current today so we had to kick a little, but boy did we have awesome visibility! J Friendly turtles, reef shark, mating French angels, along with white spotted filefish and a beautiful feeding eagle ray in the sand! Bus Stop was up next. Here we got to explore the swim thru’s and caves off the edge of the wall and also the weekly sailfin blenny hunt was successful with many male blennies being spotted! The weather was picking up so we departed and headed back to the safety of Randy’s Gazebo for our late afternoon dive and dusk dive! All the usual suspects came out to say ‘hello’ including Frederica, our resident Labrador Nassau grouper, and Marc became one with a very curious and over friendly remora! :blinking: What happens in Cayman stays in Cayman! :wink:

Thursday. An early before breakfast dive start to our day today. Twelve ‘Gung Ho’ divers jumped in before they were awake. Reef sharks, turtles, schooling jacks, grouper cleaning stations and a shear wall were all enjoyed before breakfast. Donna’s Delight was our next site. Here the wall just drops and drops into the blue! Great Wall was the spot for the afternoon dives. Here we have ‘Freddie’ and his band of very friendly groupers, more turtles, spotted drums, yellow ray, scorpion fish, nurse shark, and of course the shear wall! Back to GCM on calm and following seas!

Friday. Just two dives left to enjoy with the first being the wreck of the Kittiwake with plenty of places to explore and plenty of bottom time, being that the deepest point is only 60 ft. Today we were treated to a visit by three beautiful feeding eagle rays that made the dive just wonderful! As always Devils Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. Once again the schooling silversides made this a dive that MANY WILL NEVER FORGET!

Sadly, all that’s left to do is wash our gear and get ready for a cold drink or two at the farewell party. Great to see several familiar faces onboard again including Cathy, Mike and Jim. Congrats go out to Tom for completing his SSI Nitrox class. Awesome to Patty for completing her 400th dive! To Theresa for becoming a qualified “Princess” and a BIG thank you to all for making this, another wonderful week of Aggressor diving in the Cayman Islands.

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew.

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Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report August 3 – 10, 2013

Water temp: 82F+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80-100f
Wet suit: 3mm or skin

Sunday. We departed Georgetown dock with 18 guests for a beautiful ride along the coast of Grand Cayman to start an excellent week of Eating, Sleeping and Diving Cayman-Style! Our first dive of the week was the wreck of the Doc Poulson and it was the perfect site to start our week. The wreck is in 50ft and there are always plenty of critters, including out resident green moray eel! A nice drop off close by brought in a turtle and ray. Garden eels and plenty of jacks along made for a great dive. A quick move over to the wreck of the Kittiwake for our next two dives. Here we have the chance to explore the nearly 300 foot long wreck of an ex US Navy submarine tender. Four decks for our divers to check out, including the engine room, workshops, steering room, mess, galley, bridge and even two recompression chambers! A great way to start the week before we move over to Little Cayman.

Monday. After a late night crossing, we made it over to Bloody Bay on Little Cayman and Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. Clear 150ft+ vis with two chimneys, the archway, and a shear wall to explore. The turtles we spotted made it a great way to start our morning. The Meadows was our next dive site of the day. If you can name it we saw it and took pictures and video of this amazing dive site. We encountered more turtles, along with sharks, eagle rays, schooling jacks, barracuda, very friendly groupers, green moray and spotted eels, and more and more and more. The night dive produced all the usual’s including huge channel clinging crabs, rainbow squid, lobsters and octopus! Wow - What an excellent day of diving!

Tuesday morning our dive site was Leah Leah’s Lookout. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from the 20ft shallows out to the wall at 100ft! Today we had incredible visibility and little or no current. We were treated to reef sharks, another sleeping nurse shark and spotted drums. Our afternoon was spent on 3 Fathom Wall. This dive is three sites in one, and makes for plenty of exploring. We enjoyed all types of marine animals, including eagle rays, sharks, scorpion fish, turtles, schools of snappers and wrasse. After the afternoon dives we made a beautiful cruise over to Cayman Brac where once we arrive we enjoyed a night dive on the wreck of the Russian Destroyer.

Wednesday morning we made two more dives on the Russian Destroyer #365 wreck to explore the ins and outs of the wonderful wreck set up just for divers. The visibility was excellent and plenty of pictures and video were taken around the bridge and stern gun. Everyone also had a chance to enjoyed going inside the wreck and exploring the engine rooms, bridge and hallways. After exploring the wreck we made a slow cruise during lunch back to Little Cayman and our afternoon dive site called Bus Stop. This site is believed to be one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean! Golden coneys, queen angelfish, sleeping stingrays, lobsters, rainbow squid, friendly Nassau groupers and a couple of reef sharks were all spotted. But, let’s not be forgetting the sailfin blennies!

Thursday. We had several guests get up at 5.30 am for the pre-breakfast dive. It was awesome to watch the reef waking up, as were the divers. Also a great way to start the day and somehow breakfast tasted even better afterwards. A short cruise over to Donna’s Delight put us on another spectacular wall! With a shallow 20ft reef covered in hard and soft corals and all the usual Cayman reef critters enjoying the beautiful sunshine! The Great Wall was our final site in Little Cayman. This is the best wall dive in the Caribbean in our opinion, and the guests just love this dive! We love the shear drop off and meeting ‘Freddy’ and his group of friendly groupers! Sadly, we say goodbye to Little Cayman until next week! :(

Friday. After a smooth crossing back to Grand Cayman we arrived at Big Tunnels for our first morning dive! Here we get to explore the many caves, cuts, and swim thru’s. Devil’s Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring, and today we were once again treated to the schooling silversides that were being hunted by the tarpon, jacks, groupers, and every other fish in the ocean!

It’s time to wash and pack our gear and meet on the sundeck for our final farewell gathering. We’ll toast a cold one (or two, or three) to a wonderful safe week of Cayman style diving!

Congrats go out to Sara for completing her SSI Nitrox class and a big Happy Birthday to Gary! Also, a BIG Thank You to all for making this, another incredible week of Eat, Sleep, and Dive!

Until next time…
Cayman Aggressor IV crew







 
Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report Aug 10 – 17, 2013

Water temp: 84F+
Air Temp: 85F
Vis: 80-100ft
Wet suit: 3mm or skin

Saturday. We departed Georgetown dock with 15 guests from all over the USA and Canada for a sunset dinner cruise along the coast of Grand Cayman to start an excellent week of eating, sleeping and diving.

Sunday. Our first dive today was the wreck of the Doc Poulson, and it’s a great dive site to start our week. The wreck sits in 50 feet of clear, warm, Caribbean water and there’s always plenty of critters to be found, including out resident green moray eel! A nice drop off brought in a turtle, stingray, and an eagle ray. Lots of garden eels, scorpionfish and plenty of jacks made for a great morning of Cayman diving. The wreck of the Kittiwake was our afternoon site. Here we get to enjoy not only the wreck but also the beautiful wall at the Sand Chutes dive site. The deepest part of the Kittiwake is only 60 feet so we had plenty of bottom time to explore the engine rooms, work spaces, galley, mess, bridge and many other little nooks and crannies of this nearly 300 foot wreck! We were having such a good time we decided to do our first night dive of the week here! Wow, giant lobsters, crabs, squid, scorpionfish, sleeping turtles, and 3 octopus topped off an excellent day of diving! :diver:

Monday. It’s deep wall diving time and there is no better place than Big Tunnels on Northwest Point to start our wall diving! Several tunnels, arches and swim thru’s make for a great dive and today we were treated to three turtles, a free-swimming green eel, tarpon, and silversides. It was a great morning! Our next dive site is always the highlight of the week, Stingray City. As we dropped the anchor in a shallow area of sand, the rays swim right up to us - and they are hungry. Everyone had a chance to feed them only the best, top grade squid! Some very good pictures and video was taken and NO hickies or war wounds were received today.

Tuesday. A little bumpy crossing to Little Cayman put us on our first dive site at Randy’s Gazebo. Once we tied up we enjoyed calm seas and excellent visibility :kiss2: exploring the two chimneys, the archway, and shear wall. We found spotted filefish, our two resident labrador-size groupers, and three turtles. It was a wonderful way to start our first day in Little Cayman. The Meadows was next and as always was a ‘BIG hit’. If you can name it we saw it, and took pictures and video of everything spotted at this amazing dive site. We encountered turtles, sharks, eagle rays, schooling jacks, barracuda, very friendly groupers, green and spotted eels and more. The night dive produced all the ‘usuals’ including huge channel clinging crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters and octopus! Another Excellent Day Of Diving!

Wednesday. Leah Leah’s Lookout was up first. Here we get to enjoy the crevice that runs from 20 feet (almost right under the boat) out to the wall at 100 feet! Today we had incredible visibility and little or no current, and were treated to Caribbean reef and nurse sharks, spotted drums, along with both a really huge turtle and a little tiny turtle. We also witnessed a Nassau grouper trying to eat a scorpionfish! Really! :eyebrow: Bus Stop was our afternoon and dusk dive site. Everyone enjoyed the beautiful swim thru’s off the edge of the wall, and the resident reef sharks that always come in to say ‘hello’! The dusk dive is a completely different type of dive where the daylight turns into nighttime and the critters are either going to sleep or coming out to play!

Thursday. Eight hard-core divers got up for the 5.30am pre-breakfast dive. It was awesome to watch the reef waking up, as were the divers. It’s also a great way to start the day and somehow breakfast tasted even better afterwards. We followed with another dive here at Nancy’s Cup Of Tea that produced several turtles, reef sharks, green eel, old anchors and schooling jacks. Donna’s Delight was our 3rd dive of the day! Another incredible wall with all the usual critters including a golden coney, reef squid, spotted drums, yellow spotted ray and a giant barracuda. The Great Wall was our final site in Little Cayman. This is a very simple site with both shallow terrain and deep along a shear wall! Two nurse sharks, spotted eel, and every reef critter know to man came in to say ‘hello, including Freddie our friendly Nassau grouper! Wow - a great way to end the diving in Little Cayman.

Friday. After crossing back to Grand Cayman we stopped at Aquarium for our first site of the day. Here we see fish, fish, and more fish! Just like in an aquarium! A short cruise over to Devil’s Grotto for our final dive of the week and this is always a favorite. Swim thru’s, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring, and once again we were treated to the schooling silversides inside the caves and all the gourmands enjoy an “All You Can Eat” buffet. All that’s left is to wash down our gear, try and pack it all away, and enjoy a cold drink or two at the farewell party! :happywave:

Congrats go out to Rebecca and Fred for completing their SSI Nitrox class, and to Fred for completing his 100th Dive! A BIG Thank You to all for making this, another wonderful, safe week of “Eat, Sleep and Dive” Cayman-style!

Until next time………….
Cayman Aggressor IV crew







 
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Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report August 17 – 24, 2013
Dive With The Owner - Wine Appreciation Charter

Water temp: 85F+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80-100f
Wet suit: 3mm or skin

Saturday, we departed Georgetown dock after enjoying Kingsley's famous BBQ Ribs & Chicken dinner for a very special week of “Eat, Sleep, Dive & Drink fine wines” with AF/DF owner Wayne Brown! Because of his love of fine wines Wayne has decided to combine two of his favorite pastimes in life (diving and drinking fine wine) by hosting his very popular wine appreciation week onboard the CAIV! As you can imagine we had 14 very excited people looking forward not only to the incredible Cayman diving but to taste some spectacular wines from around the world - after diving is finished of course! What a great combination! :blinking:

Sunday, the weather being perfectly calm we made the crossing over to Bloody Bay on Little Cayman. Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. Calm seas and excellent visibility with chimneys, an archway, a beautiful shear wall and turtles. It was a wonderful way to start our first day of diving. The Meadows was next dive site of the day as Bloody Bay in Little Cayman offers so many choices to dive. At the Meadows we swam next to turtles, sharks, schooling jacks, barracuda, very friendly groupers, and lots more. The schedule is for dinner to be served after our last dive of the day, so we opted for a dusk dive to finish off a wonderful day of diving! And to enjoy our dinner of crab cakes, Caesar salad Cayman-style, seared fresh deep-water red snapper, rice and beans, plantains, yucca and cay-lime pie for desert! Wayne’s selected wines tonight were the 2010 Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc & 2009 La Creama Pinot Noir. Mmm, mmm just delicious.

Monday, Leah Leah’s Lookout was up first and here we enjoyed crevices that run from the 20ft shallow reef out to the wall at 100ft! We had incredible visibility, with little or no current, and were treated to reef and nurse sharks. Becky tried to tie the knot with one reef shark, but he got cold feet and swam away. We moved down the reef a ways to one of the best dive sites in the Caribbean, in my opinion that is, 3-Fathom Wall! Wow, 18 feet to the top of the reef with a shear wall dropping down to 6000 feet. A beautiful swim thru into the sand pocket at 50 feet where we hunt for the male jawfish with his eggs in his mouth. Sleeping nurse sharks, eagle rays, golden coneys, schooling French grunts, red snappers, and grey snappers were everywhere! Another great afternoon of diving! Mmm, now time for dinner! Tonight’s menu was goat cheese & mushroom salad followed by minted rack of lamb, orange glazed pork tenderloin, gorgonzola gnocchi pasta, and fresh steamed asparagus! White chocolate cream brulee and fresh berries for dessert followed all this. Wayne’s wine choice for tonight was a 2009 Stags Leap Chardonnay and a 2006 Ruffino Chianti Reserva!

Tuesday, five brave soles headed into the water at 5:45am, yes AM, to start the day out with a bang at Nancy’s Cup of Tea! Wow, what a great way to start the day with great encounters of the reef shark kind, as well as turtles, stingrays, cowfish, smoking sponges, and a free-swimming green eel. Another dive at Nancy’s allowed for the lollygagger’s to jump in for a great dive to check out the wall, tea cup pinnacle, and our four resident reef sharks! Lunch today was curried chicken and shrimp creole, and of course peanut butter bread pudding. A quick siesta followed, then an afternoon diving at Donnas Delight and Marilyn’s Cut! A shallow 25-foot wall leads out to a shear drop-off that drops into ‘no-mans land’ at 6000 feet below. Giant sponges, black coral trees, rope sponges, and many cracks and crevices makes a perfect hangout for nurse sharks, spotted yellow rays, pufferfish, angelfish, groupers, spotted eels, lobsters, channel crabs, and every other reef critter one would expect to find on a beautiful healthy reef!

Tonight we cruised over to Cayman Brac for a couple of dives on the wreck of the Russian Destroyer 356 in the morning. But more importantly, tonight’s dinner included blue cheese & bacon wedge salad, grilled filet mignon steak & Caribbean buttered lobster, fresh steamed green string beans, and rosemary minted fingerling potatoes! Followed by a homemade Bailey’s & toffee cheesecake! Wayne’s wine offering for this evening was a 2010 Cooper Hill Pinot Gris and 2008 Terrunyo Carmenere. OMG - I think I’ve dived and gone to heaven! :angel:….

Wednesday, we woke to clear blue skies and calm seas to enjoy two dives on the Russian wreck! 200-foot vis greeted us as we descended into the wreck where a complete tour took us into the bridge, forward deck gun, control room, missile launcher, engine room, stern gun, and crew mess! A quick visit by ‘Oscar’ the Goliath grouper and several other friendly grouper topped off a great morning of wreck diving. As the conditions were near perfect we stopped at the east end of Little Cayman to do a little exploring! We came upon a magical wall with beautiful swim thrus and crevasses in the reef! The reef was alive with all the usual reef critters you would expect to see on a seldom-dived reef including 3 eagle rays, (Yes Rich, there were 3!) a turtle and a giant nurse shark! We named the site “Magic Mike’s” after our good friend and onshore co-worker Mike Lawrence, who sadly passed away recently.

Mmm mmm, dinner tonight consisted of an Asian rice noodle salad, with a main course of fresh pan seared fresh lionfish (that we caught today), cashew ginger rice, and stir fried fresh veggies! Chef Kingsley followed this with a warm chocolate lava cake and vanilla ice cream! Wayne’s wine choice included a 2010 Yangarra Shiraz and a 2009 Yangarra Chardonnay. No too shabby of a day of Cayman diving I would say! :cheeky:

Thursday, Bus Stop was up first! A great way to start the day exploring the many swim thrus, caves and tunnels, and six curious reef sharks kept us company at Cumbers Caves. A short swim over to the mini wall provided corkscrew anemones, snapping pistol shrimp, peacock flounders, and of course sailfin blennies. The Great Wall is always another final favorite and today we were treated to incredible day of shallow wall diving with a couple of nurse sharks, ‘Freddie’ the grouper, a turtle, and another green moray eel. It’s Thursday, so tonight is our traditional Thanksgiving dinner enhanced by several bottles Ste Michelle “Saint M’ Riesling-Pfalz and a 2007 St Francis Old Vine Zinfandel. What a way to complete our wine appreciation week. Thanks Wayne B. for all the awesome wines, videos and wine knowledge you shared with everyone! :cool2:

Friday, and we are back on Grand Cayman. We have only two dives left of our great week with the first being on the wreck of the Kittiwake. A 300-foot, ex-US Navy vessel, she makes for a fun exploration dive through her many decks and compartments. We followed this with our final dive of the week at Devils Grotto! Once again the caves were filled by the billions of silversides and all the hungry snappers groupers and tarpon just waiting for the “all you can eat buffet” to open up! Wow! All that’s left is for us to wash down our gear, start packing, and getting ready for a cold one or three at the farewell cocktail party!

Congrats go out to Becky, Cooper and Gary for completing their SSI Nitrox class, A BIG Happy Birthday to Rita, and a huge Congrats to Phyllis and Fred on celebrating 53 years of marriage! Amazing!

We believe everyone really enjoyed the unique combination of awesome diving, amazing food, and fine wines that was made available this week! So a BIG “Thank you” goes out to Wayne & Dana Brown for making this an incredible week of Eat, Sleep, Dive & Drink fine wines :thumbs-up onboard the Cayman Aggressor IV.

Until next time….
Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

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Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report August 24 – 31, 2013

Water Temp: 84F+
Air Temp: 80s
Vis: 80-100ft
Wet suit: 3mm or skin

Saturday and we welcomed twelve divers on board this week. Great to see Iyla, Mark and Polly again! Everyone else is new to the Cayman Aggressor – Welcome! A BBQ ribs and jerk chicken dinner on the sun deck was thoroughly enjoyed as we awaited the arrival of one last passenger. Alex finally arrived and we all got a good night's sleep – ready for an awesome week of diving.

Sunday. First dive of the week was on the wreck of the Doc Poulson in 50 feet of water. Everyone brushed off the cobwebs and had a great dive. Frankie clocked up his 200th Dive! Garden eel hunting, a very patient turtle and the Doc Poulson’s own spotted drum all added to a perfect first couple of dives. Our next stop was the world famous Stingray City. This seems to be the highlight for most everyone on the trip. Christina got a lasting souvenir! Beautiful stingrays swim right up to us looking for some wonderful tasting squid. It’s an experience not to be missed. Babylon was our last dive site for day one and featured lots of black coral between the pinnacle and wall, streams of creole wrasse like a river along the edge of the wall, and a couple of bold channel crabs out and about feeding during the day. A light dinner and the best ever cay lime pie - thanks to Chef Kingsley from Jamaica, then it was chill out time as we crossed to Little Cayman overnight.

Monday. Welcome to Little Cayman! Iyla is the only guest on board who has experienced the magic of Bloody Bay Wall before. Can I just say WOW!!! Randy’s Gazebo was our first dive site. Calm seas and excellent visibility. We first jumped in on top of two turtles feeding that were very cooperative with all photographers on board. We think one turtle fell in love with Alex from Montreal! Two chimneys, an archway, the wall and ledges, along with super friendly groupers and a 7-foot nurse shark were waiting for us all in the last cave! An incredible start to Little Cayman. The Meadows was next dive site of the day. At the Meadows we had close encounters with sharks, schooling jacks, turtles, barracuda, very friendly groupers and even an inquisitive green moray eel. The night dive produced all the usuals, including octopus, huge channel crabs, sleeping turtles, lobsters, feeding basket stars and corals. Oh, and congratulations to Alex on his first ever night dive!!

Tuesday. Our first morning dive site was Lea Lea’s Lookout where we enjoyed crevices that run from 30 feet and out to the wall at 100 feet! We had incredible visibility, crazy sponge formations and Jill and David discovered a goliath grouper inside a massive barrel sponge. The cleaning stations and of course a nurse shark was checked in at the ‘Shark Hotel’! We all got our work out and thoroughly earned the fresh cinnamon rolls as there was a bit of a current this morning! After a short ride we enjoyed world-famous 3 Fathom Wall/The Mixing Bowl. Mark was so excited to get in that he forgot to attach his first stage to his tank! (We have photographic evidence!) Once we were all submerged we were surprised by stingrays sleeping in the sand that were unseen until the last minute, along with yellow headed jawfish and sail fin blennies. A large green moray eel was spotted being cleaned, plenty of schooling mahogany snappers were seen, Bermuda chubs and grunts combined with magnificent sunshine and a depth of 18 feet brought out the colors and marine life that just blow you away. Steak night aboard the CAIV and a cruise over to Cayman Brac for a night dive on the wreck of the Capt. Keith Tibbetts, 356, koni-class Russian built frigate. Hot chocolate with rum – Caribbean style, hot towels and the hot tub under the stars followed. What a way to top off a tremendous day.

Wednesday. Kicked off the day with a couple of dives on the Russian destroyer wreck and our guests were amazed to see where they had been diving the night before. Sunk in 1996, she is covered in sponges and a favourite place for ‘Oscar’ the resident Goliath grouper to inhabit. We could not believe our eyes. Not one, but two Goliath Groupers! Frankie really enjoyed exploring the wreck, as did all other divers. A few technical difficulties with lights and strobes not working meant Chip was stoked to have two chances to dive the wreck. Burgers on the sundeck followed our morning dives with a cruise back to Little Cayman to Bus Stop. This site is always a favourite dive of the week. Swim thru’s down sandy chutes out on to the wall, sharks to greet us, sailfin blennies and yellow-headed jawfish played up to the cameras during this dive. Iyla was spotted swimming in strange formations on the sea floor… finishing up her Navigation Specialty class, with stingrays feeding all around her. We finished up the day with a dusk dive that had some close shark encounters. Afterwards it was dinner with a drink and early to bed, as tomorrow we start at 6 am!

Thursday. Nancy’s Cup of Tea was our early morning dive. This is an absolutely superb dive site as the wall here is vertical with huge colorful sponges. Some local sharks were also up early to meet us on the wall. It really was a magic dive. At one point we had a 400-year-old anchor complete with a resting nurse shark, a bleary-eyed large turtle and a few Nassau groupers all in the same place. What do you look at first! Later in the morning the search was on for ancient anchors embedded in the reef. World-famous Great Wall was the last site of the day. This is the sheerest wall you will dive and an amazing tapestry of color and life. Just to swim out from the wall and look back is immense. A spotted moray eel was spotted feeding on a lionfish, a huge hawksbill turtle made a swim through everyone, and a beautiful eagle ray soared past in the blue. The original friendly grouper ‘Freddy’ was there as always to bid us farewell before we head back to Grand Cayman.

Friday. After the late night crossing back to Grand Cayman our early morning dive was on the Doc Poulson and Marty’s Wall, then off to the wreck of the Kittiwake. On the wreck there’s plenty of places to explore and everyone was able to get lots of bottom time, as the deepest part of the Kittiwake is only 60 feet. We explored the engine room, galley, the crew mess, recompression chambers and of course the bridge! Silversides, groupers, schooling horse eye jacks were sighted all right next to the reef and wall. Devil’s Grotto was our last dive of the week and is always a favorite. Swim throughs, caves, cracks and crevices were there for the exploring, along with the thousands of silversides and tarpon – spectacular!!! It wasn’t a deep dive so everyone had lots of time underwater to end a great week of diving on the Cayman Aggressor IV, which is still the best place for Eating, Sleeping and Diving.

Thanks for a great week, and congratulations to Iyla for completing her Navigation Specialty, and to Alex for completing his SSI Nitrox certification.

Until next time. Safe Diving
Cayman Aggressor IV Crew

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Cayman Aggressor IV Captain’s Report Aug 31 – Sept 7, 2013

Water Temp: 29C (84F)
Visibility: 80-120’
Exposure Suit: Shorts, Skins, 3mm suits

Saturday – 31st August: 16 guests arrived throughout the afternoon and a big welcome back to Allison and Jeff as it always great to see familiar faces. A large storm over the island held up a few planes, but finally our last guest Robert (fresh off the Belize Aggressor III) stepped aboard. Our guests enjoyed a fantastic BBQ dinner, then a great night’s sleep after a long day of traveling.

Sunday – 1st September: We began heading out to our first dive site by 6am where the Doc Poulson and Marty’s Wall was the chosen morning site. Here we found a couple of turtles on the reef, stingrays feeding in the sand, an eagle ray passed us by, and the wreck delighted us all with all her residents and corals. A great start to the week and today is a wreck day as the Kittiwake kept us busy for the afternoon! This is a super wreck located in about 60 feet of water. Everyone was busy checking out the engine room, recompression chambers, crew mess, bridge and the schools of silversides throughout. A bit of a current here made everyone earn their dinner - and a glass of wine that night.

Monday – 2nd September: A busy day ahead that started at Big Tunnels. Wow - it was going off with the beautiful archways and tunnels in and out of the reef, from 120’ to 60”! Tarpon and again silversides were present. One of the swim thrus was so jam-packed with silversides you couldn’t see through. Black sea fans and sponges filtering the water and we spied turtles feeding! Everyone came back to the boat beaming! Angel Fish Reef was the after-lunch dive and it is a great shallow dive, but with a finger reef system that leads out to the 6000’ wall. The Oro Verde wreck was the late afternoon and night dive site. What a dive! Two green moray eels, a large hawksbill turtle feeding, a lobster out and about, as well as, the wreck and nearby Aquarium Reef kept everyone finning and exploring. Only two takers for the night dive tonight… Bob and Frank, but guided by Alan they were lucky enough to spend time with two octopus! Also an eel, lobsters, and a lot of the usual night critters were found.

Tuesday – 3rd September: Today started with the Cayman Aggressor heading out to the South Side in the morning with a stunning sunrise! Eagle Ray Rock was our morning stop and this lush area is covered in soft corals and schooling juvenile fish. A large green moray eel was the camera magnet of the dive, and the channels and swim thrus were popular as we are always looking out for eagle rays and stingrays in the sand. Pedro’s Castle further east was our next adventure filled with deep pinnacles looming out of the deep, shallow canyon ways and finger formations right behind the boat. Squid, lobsters, cleaning stations, and a large school of tarpon busy feeding on millions of silversides were some of the sightings. A fantastic night dive, and the squid stole the show!

Wednesday – 4th September: We had an early start this morning as we headed east along the southern shoreline. Tunnel of Love is an incredible dive site and our first stop today. There are a couple of tunnels right under the wall that pop you out at about 100 ft. Gnarly formations of corals and sponges along the pinnacles make up the topography and nurse sharks and more squid were spotted! The afternoon took us to Kelly’s Caverns and Crushes Wall. A turtle was there to greet us when we first jumped in, and a nurse shark was trying hard to ignore us as we sighted a large school of barracuda! We had a great couple of dives in and around the pinnacles here as we following instructor Mark in, around, over, under, and through the maze of Kelly’s Caverns. On the way back to the boat we found a hole in the reef with at least seven large Caribbean spiny lobsters!!

Thursday - 5th September: A busy day lay ahead as the kick off dive today was at Lighthouse Reef. Congratulations to Frank for clicking off his 100th Dive!! A cake was made of him on the back deck in true Aggressor-style. :) Here we have an impressive wall, riddled with swim thrus and overhangs. It was a deep, but beautiful morning dive. Spots Reef was the next, quite easy dive with a shallow section of bommies and reef heading out to the wall. There were lots of critters to be found, along with tarpon, flounder, pufferfish, and cleaning stations galore. For the afternoon Bullwinkle was a hit. Fantastic elk and staghorn corals give this site its name. Tarpon, caves, arches and swim thrus abound, as this is a fantastic site to wind your way around, and for the macro lovers the sandy areas were full of yellow headed jawfish. Turkey dinner and a cruise back over to the west side of Grand Cayman for a night dive followed on the Oro Verde…. WOW! Octopus! Plus, a large green moray and giant rainbow parrotfish sleeping in and around the wreckage were all seen. A great dive was had by all.

Friday - 6th September: Our final day and Devil’s Grotto here we come. Amazing swim thrus full of silversides and feeding tarpon! The natural cave system is shallow enough for natural light to filter down through and we spotted schooling chubs and snapper along the reef. This is a great dive to really test your navigation skills, as it’s similar to swiss cheese! Alas, it is that time of the week when we wash out the gear, pack it all away, and gather on the sundeck for the final night cocktail party.

Congratulations to Louise for clocking up her 400th dive this week, Donna with her 250th dive and Frank achieved the milestone of 100 logged dives.

Thank you all for a great week of diving, until next time…
Dive safe.

The Cayman Aggressor Captain and Crew
 

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