Destin Jetties dive report 9/4/06

[SeaYoda]

Met up with kchFLA and hatman0_13 this morning at about 07:00. The parking report is so-so, there were quite a few divers there so I parked at the entrance to the marina. We had a good walk across the sand due to lower morning temperatures. When we got to the water, we decided to do the water-walk to take some weight off our shoulders. I was walking backwards and chatting away as I felt a "string" go across the back of my calves. Before I could say "UH-OH", the string became a sting. You guessed it, the jellies are in town. We weaved our way around a few more nice nettles and reached the jetty. Viz was a little disappointing in the 20' depth range. It was about 20' and had a lot of particles. KCH had a mask issue around the point area and had to abort the dive. Hatman and I descended below the 20' level and the viz opened up to a milky 35'. The water temp was 84 degrees and the current was still pushing in from the Gulf quite a bit. This was hatman's first dive at the jetties so I taught him the Jedi crawl maneuver . We made it to the first anchor but not the second due to the current and lack of rocks to hold on to. We turned the dive and fought to keep from being blown back around the point. The only unusual thing besides the jellies was the amount of baitfish shimmering all around us - pretty cool! Upon our surfacing, we joined up with our missing buddy and did a leisurely water-walk back to where we needed to cross the sand to the entrance. It was a another good day of diving! Here are some pictures:

 

[mike_s]

did she have to "abort" and surface straight up or was she able to make it back to the entry point?

doing a "straight up" abort has always been a worry there due to the boat traffic.

 

[SeaYoda]

did she have to "abort" and surface straight up or was she able to make it back to the entry point?

doing a "straight up" abort has always been a worry there due to the boat traffic.

She headed to the rocks for protection - just like I would do . She wasn't too far down so not out in the traffic zone.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Sounds like a great dive, I hit lots of jellies last weekend, but not many at all this weekend. Maybe they headed your way?!

 

[kchFLA]

I think I finally figured out what my mask issue is - the lack of a receding hairline. In fact on either side I have two spots where the mask sits on top of hair, even if I have pushed it back. I need to figure out why this is more of a problem sometimes than others and what I can do about it.

Yesterday I could not keep the mask cleared at all and then had difficulty seeing. In fact I evidently went through or very near about 4 jelly fish. I guess what you can't see can't hurt you.

 

[mike_s]

Kira,

check with your local dive shop and pick up some "silicon lube". It comes in a small tube or small canister about the size of a "Carmex" bottle/jar.

It's typically used by men who have a mustache. you put a small amount on the top of the moustache and it helps seal the mask. You can use it and put a small dab on your hair line and it will help seal the spot where water is seaping in. that should help greatly with the problem. you don't have to put much on. a very small amount will do it.

 

[kchFLA]

Thanks. I was going to stop by at lunch and see what they suggested.

 

[hatman0_13]

had a great time diving this weekend with seayoda & kchfla. it was nice to put some faces with people from the board after reading so many of your dive reports. while the vis was a bit milky at first it was waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better than the conditions i have become used to diving in. i'd almost frogotten that it was possible to dive in anything less than a 5m & hood. i'd also forgotten what swimming into a pretty decent current was like. thank goodness bill was kind enough to shuck one of his gloves & lend it to me so i could hit bottom & do the ole pull & glide. especially since i'd managed to overlook bringing mine after he said i'd need them. if it hadn't been for that i would have probably swam in place & watched my pressure drop for @ 30 minutes or so. did hate it for kira that her mask wasn't willing to coopperate. maybe we'll get another opportunity to dive together sometime soon. thanks again for meeting me down there and diving together. anytime you get bored with those conditions and want to go where its cold and dark give me a yell and i'll hook you up. til then i'll see you on the board. oh and bill thanks for loading the pictures. they are great.

 

[SeaYoda]

Glad to meet up with you too. Next time maybe the current will be down enough to get to anchor #2. You didn't miss much by not seeing it, but the swim out is usually fun.

 

[divinginn]

nice pics yoda,loved the jellyfish