Crystal River Dive Report (long)

[pchelp]

Crystal River, Kings Bay
Dive report, 3/2/03
Weather was cloudy, and it started raining on the boat trip to the spring. We already had our wetsuits on, so it was no problem. Went with a couple of friends (newly certified divers) I had never dove with before. Figured the springs would make an easy refresher dive after a couple of months out of the water. On the drive up we talked about gear configurations, why to plan the night before, etc. Well, we get to the site, and anchor the boat, and all start gearing up. First problem, one of the divers realized they had not brought their weights, that was o.k., because they had brought an extra weight belt for me (trying out a BP/Wing, so my integrated weights wouldn't help). I then noticed, while I had brought extra weight for the thicker wetsuit, I had left my integrated weights in the truck (so I'm 16 lbs. short), but still had 14 lbs. with me, so I figured I could make it (steel tank). Next problem, one of the divers realized that in packing the night before, her regulator was still at home, she wasn't happy. Fortunately, I had brought an extra reg (1st and 2nd), with a depth and pressure guage (didn't think about a LP inflator hose), so she was able to still dive (no octo, so we stayed close), and as a new diver manually inflating her bc was a lot of additional task loading. O.K. now we all get geared up and ready to dive, 2 of us jump in and are waiting for the 3rd diver. New problem, he lost his mask somewhere on the boat, now I had just handed it to him 2 minutes before. So one of us climbed back on the boat and found his mask. O.K. lets try again.

Kings spring was easy to find, water was pretty stirred up, with a couple of classes going on there. I started to get some nice pictures of the schools of mullet, etc. Got a real nice one from inside the opening at the bottom of the spring, school of fish in the opening and my buddy above them. Water clarity in the room at the bottom was perfect, lots of fish.

Next stop was 3 sisters springs, parked the boat, jumped in. About 10 minutes later, one of the divers notices his brand new hugh Titanium Knife, that had been strapped on his leg was missing. Despite an intensive search, his new toy was gone. And on only his third dive (their class only required 2 OW dives). Now trying to get a few more pictures, I notice my camera seams to have reset, and shows no film??? Well, I will check it back at the vehicle, I figure. Well, it flooded nicely, water poured out of the housing, and the camera itself (even the film canister).

Total of 3 dives, my max. depth was 48', each of the dives was 30-40 minutes.

Oh, yea, another mistake I made, had set my O2 % on my wrist computer, but did not finalize the setting. Upon hitting 20' depth, it locked me out for an O2 violation. Good thing my air integrated won't do that (and yes I know, not to rely on an air computer when diving Nitrox), and that they will rot my brain.

It was great to get back underwater, the vis. was wonderful, but I think I still prefer the ocean to fresh water.

 

[Wendy]

Sounds like you had some kinda dive. Glad you enjoyed yourself and it sounds like you travel prepared with the extra gear. If it were me and we had that many problems before hitting the water I would have called the dive.

Maybe you should try having a "gear date" the night before a dive. That's when you set up all your gear like you were baout to get in the water. Look over all the gear, making sure you have everything and that everything is in working order. The gear date is best done in the parking lot of a dive shop, that way you can run inside and get whatever it is that you need. Just a suggestion.

You didn't mention if you saw any manatees while you were there.

 

[pchelp]

Sorry no manatees

I almost forgot, another fun part, after jumping in the water for the first dive, diver 1 can't find his regulator. I try to remind him to relax, drop his right shoulder, sweep his arm (which he did) and your reg. is right there (he just couldn't find it), so I hand it to him, and he complains it does not feel right, I look over the connection and he had mounted the first stage upside down (causing the hose to feel shorter). So I made him inflate his bc, we were on the surface by the boat, and I disconnected his first stage and mounted it properly.

As far as calling the dives for the day, no, that is what the purpose was, to iron out any difficulties, and get them comfortable not being in a "controlled, supervised" environment. Working out any problems was a good exercise. Since it was only the 3 of us, we could take all the time necessary. On the return drive home, we discussed what had happened, and how to prevent it in the future. I told them a checklist was a good idea. If they lived closer a check the night before would have been great idea, I do it the night before any dives. They had tested their gear in the pool a couple of days before. And I wouldnt have forgotten my weights in the vehicle, if I had left them in the dive bag and not wanted to make it lighter to carry.

 

[chepar]

Sounds like a fun set of dives.

Isn't it great getting back in the water after a few dry months?

How did you like the BP/Wings?

 

[pchelp]

It was a fun set of dives, and getting back in was great. I have been in the pool a couple of times, and 1 dive in 60 deg. about 6 weeks ago, but it was only to 40' for just enough time to say, I'm done. 72 was much easier, I didn't even put on the vest/hood part of my wetsuit.

Because of the adventure we were having, I choose not to try the backplate/wing just yet. Also, will be replacing the abs/plastic backplate with a FredT stainless, but I got a real deal on the wing so I'm not complaining. Will probably jump in the pool this week and give it a try. I'm sure I will stay with the backplate/wing combination. I did get some strange looks and questions, "what's that?", "can you really wear that?".

Cheryl - is Beau still working at HSA? If so say hello for me. Hope all is well.

 

[mwpowell]

I was also at Crystal River a couple of weeks ago. Didn't see many manatees, but did get some pictures of fish swimming around the cavern at Kings Bay. I was there over a weekend, and there were way too many divers/snorkerlers for my taste. I did get to see a manattee nursing a pup at Three Sisters. The poor things were being mobbed by a over a dozen snorkelers, so I took a quick look and left. I felt bad for invading their home. All in all, I prefer the ocean too, but at least I got to rince the saltwater off my gear.

mike

 

[cstreu1026]

Kind of strange, the owner of one LDS was there with a group around the first of February and said they saw hundreds of Manatee. I guess its all about timing.