SeaYoda
Contributor
I had been watching the weather reports and checking the tide charts since late last week. I decided Monday to commit to a dive Tuesday morning. I called GFWB to see if he could jump in the water on short notice and he said yes. High tide was supposed to be at slightly after 7 am but sunrise was just at 6:45. Slack current was scheduled for around 9 am so we decided to meet at the parking area at 6:30. I made my way to the beach with the sand yacht while Glen geared up at the car. I was greeted on the beach by gulls, sand pipers, and several blue heron. The air was a little chilly with the north wind blowing. It made the 82* water feel warm. As we headed under water, the ever present haze made its appearance. Viz was about 20'. There was very little current on dive one until we reached the anchor. There was a slight push in toward the bay but no effort was needed to swim against it. We spent quite some time at the deep end of the pool and then up along the south side of the jetty for some beautiful sunrise views. We made our way back to the north side and when I stuck my head up out of the water I noticed that north wind immediately! The sun had not warmed things up yet so I made a mad dash for the beach, changed tanks, and got back in the water pronto. The water felt hot after that brief but cold interval. We decided to stay on the north side of the jetty for dive two. Our goal was to take some pictures of those skittish damsels and wrasse. While I was shooting, I saw Glen in the distance feeding the fish - not the toss your cookies kind of feeding but actually hand feeding them. I began to swim toward him when I noticed three cow fish making a beeline in his direction. Those guys know when a meal is on! Shortly after I returned to picture taking I noticed clouds of sawgrass coming from the direction of the shore. Since Glen was between me and the beach I figured he had forgotten all that fancy cave training and was plowing the field while taking his pictures. Alas, I was mistaken - the current had switched and slightly greener water was headed our way. It seemed like no time and I was at 500 lbs left in the tank so I let Glen know it was time to leave. I gathered the flag and was at about 23' when I heard something beeping. I checked my dive computer and almost laughed my reg out - I was in deco at the jetties 
. We had been down almost an hour and a half on that second dive and since I didn't do much of a surface interval between dives, I had to sit in time out for about two minutes. I reached the surface safely with just under 250 lbs of air left. Glen stayed in the water on his way back to the entrance while I had to get out and load the yacht for the trip back - I did adjust to the cool breeze pretty quick. We headed to Whataburger to debrief and then I went to ScubaTech for air fills. The day's excitement was not over just because I was out of the water. While the tanks were filling Rabbi noticed a slight bubbling from near the o-ring of one of the tanks. I joked that I would prefer the tank explode here rather than on a dive. As the tank was disengaged from the hose there was a loud POP and the hose was flapping all over. Upon inspection the o-ring was gone so we made fun of Steve who had just replaced the ring. The tank was placed back on the hose and then released again - POP! This time Rabbi got Mark to come check things out and the tank was placed on another hose without incident. They guess the valve on that first hose needs some work. Finally filled tummy and tanks headed home. Here are the pics:
. We had been down almost an hour and a half on that second dive and since I didn't do much of a surface interval between dives, I had to sit in time out for about two minutes. I reached the surface safely with just under 250 lbs of air left. Glen stayed in the water on his way back to the entrance while I had to get out and load the yacht for the trip back - I did adjust to the cool breeze pretty quick. We headed to Whataburger to debrief and then I went to ScubaTech for air fills. The day's excitement was not over just because I was out of the water. While the tanks were filling Rabbi noticed a slight bubbling from near the o-ring of one of the tanks. I joked that I would prefer the tank explode here rather than on a dive. As the tank was disengaged from the hose there was a loud POP and the hose was flapping all over. Upon inspection the o-ring was gone so we made fun of Steve who had just replaced the ring. The tank was placed back on the hose and then released again - POP! This time Rabbi got Mark to come check things out and the tank was placed on another hose without incident. They guess the valve on that first hose needs some work. Finally filled tummy and tanks headed home. Here are the pics:
