SeaYoda
Contributor
The weather and the waves finally cooperated today to allow a boat dive with ScubaTech. My friend Larry and I were on the boat and on our way into the Gulf by 8 AM. This was Larry's first dive since being certified about a month ago. What a great day to start your dive career! There were 17 divers aboard today with no OW class. We went first to Amberjack Rocks (a natural reef about 88' depth). Upon entering the water it was no colder than the jetties so things are warming up. The surface current was light and it was easy to get to the anchor line. There was a thermocline at about 20', above which the water had a good amount of floating particles. Below there was cooler water (sorry I forgot to check the temp) but it was not cold. I was in a 3 mm full suit with no beanie or booties and was plenty comfortable the whole dive. The water clarity opened up to 40' - 50' viz. There were a few hunters on board who found several flounder. Larry and I went along the reef checking out angels, damsels and the usual small Gulf stuff. Above the ledge there was a large school of fish that swirled around and entertained us for a while. We turned the dive and returned along the reef and up to the boat. I remembered to check the temperature above the thermocline - 67 degrees. Our second dive was on the old bridge rubble (about 70' depth). We got there so quick we had to sit on board for half an hour to off-gas a decent amount of nitrogen. Larry and I were the last ones in and the conditions at the surface were the same as dive one. Believe it or not, The viz below the thermocline was better on the second dive than the first! It was 50' - 60'. The light at depth on both dives was not bright due to some passing clouds and the particle layer on the surface and again I forgot to check the temp (I was just having too much fun with all that viz!). This dive held some new creatures to look at - several arrow crabs, sea cucumbers, starfish, and schools of bait fish. There was a guy on the trip that was diving with a re-breather - I got a picture of the back of his gear. The hunters in the group did well this trip, there were lots of flounder and a few shovel-nose lobsters. Since Larry and I were the last ones in the water, we got to stay a little longer after the others were on board. The fish were just returning to the area when we were heading to the anchor line. Several angels and one large flounder swam past as we started to ascend. We got back on the boat and made it home safe. Attached are some pictures.
