April 25 to 27, 2008
Breakfast at Sally’s came early Friday morning as we enjoyed fresh biscuits with tomato gravy and sausage patties. Then we headed to Vortex in search of a canoe. We checked into Grandview three and left all the stuff that wasn’t going into the canoe and headed for Vernon. We discovered that if you take highway 279 from Caryville to Vernon the trip Is only 20 miles one-way.
On the way in to Culpepper we found two turtles in the road. One appeared to be trying to dig a hole in the gravel shoulder. Wonder if she was trying to lay eggs?
We put the canoe in Holmes Creek at Culpepper Landing and paddled against a steady current. The creek was clear and the scenery fantastic. We passed a fisherman and his golden retriever Cosmo about half-way. We saw a cottonmouth swimming on the surface and a log with four turtles basking in the sun. Large birds that appeared to be cormorants were circling overhead with their sharp wings and forked tails. What were cormorants doing this far inland? I have been to Cypress a number of times and this is the first time that I remember seeing them here.
We tied the canoe to the large cypress tree and enjoyed an almost hour dive. The water is so clear that it appears blue when you go beneath the surface. We went into the cave – crawling against the outflow – and looked in every nook and cranny. Peaceful, serene, and fantastically beautiful is the only way I can describe it. Even if you stir some silt the flow is so great that it clears out right away. We found an odd creature that looked like an American eel. It was about 15 inches long with a blunt tail. On each side of the gills there was a leg with foot and on either side of the anus was another set of legs. The eyes were both on top of the head instead of on the sides like an eel. Identification of the creature is pending.
We stood in waist deep water and enjoyed our surface interval. The water company must have given up its fight to keep people out because the sign says “enjoy the spring but take your trash with you.” Cosmo and his dad came to visit. We enjoyed talking to them. Then a very loud boat load of folks came up and we were glad when they left.
The second dive was much like the first – just looking and enjoying the pristine spring. The trip back was not nearly as long. We felt raindrops and heard thunder in the distance. Rain really hit hard when we were trying to get the boat out of the water.
In the tradition of Bugman we had lunch at Dee’s. The trip back to Vortex only took about 25 minutes and we met with the Auburn crowd and our two advanced students. As is usual in the afternoon Vortex was kicked up and cloudy but not as bad as I imagined. Our students completed their navigation skills and did their night dives without problem.
Then it was off to Sally’s for dinner. Faire for tonight was light since we had already had a big lunch. We made meals from the salad bar.
Saturday we left for Panama City. We checked in at PCDC and had lunch at Montego Bay. The AOW girls had already headed for the beach. After we did a walk on the beach and got our toes wet we headed to the hotel for check-in and Winn Dixie for boat stuff.
Our group filled Captain Scuba and we headed past the rocks for adventure. Most folks on the boat had never done an ocean dive and it was a really large adventure for them. We hit the Accokeek first. Last week some of the Deep Dixie Divers reported a sand tiger shark. I knew we wouldn’t see a shark by the number of dolphins around the site. The visibility was so-so with a slight current and there were no major problems with the divers. I was very excited because off the starboard bow I saw garden eels in the sand.
We cooked hotdogs on the way to the next site. We wanted to do bridge span 14 but there were fishing boats there so to avoid an argument we headed to Black Bart. The visibility was a little better and the divers had little problem as they experienced their first night dive in the ocean. Porcelain Crabs were everywhere. The seas were calm and the water temperature on the surface 70 and 68 at depth both dives.
One of the girls on the boat got sick so I decided to test out the Quease Ease that they pawned on me at DEMA. She took a long sniff, looked at me funny and promptly hurled. She handed the tube back to me and shook her head no more.
Sunday morning we boarded the Island Diver along with the class from Troy State. We did our first dive at the Hovercraft. Visibility was about 25 feet and water temps had not changed. That aggravating thermocline that hangs out just above the bottom this time of year was there in force. I had an unusual experience on this dive. I put my fingers down on the LCAC deck and felt a sharp pain in my right thumb. I looked down and a 10-inch toadfish had my thumb in his mouth. He let go after one chomp and it appeared he squared off with me-daring me to mess with him. I just shrugged and said to myself “you better quit while you’re ahead big fellow!” I didn’t know if I was talking to myself or to the fish.
Second dive on Saturday was finally bridge span 14. We were cold by now and made this a short dive. There were large bait balls already and the span was beautiful as usual. Some things that folks saw were a large jewfish and a southern stingray. Vis on top of the span was great and the schools of Atlantic spadefish were outstandingly breathtaking. We saw one barracuda in the bunch.
Just outside the rocks we saw more than 20 dolphins feeding on the outgoing tide. These are marvelous creatures but the fishermen are complaining that every time they hook a fish the dolphins take them off the hook. They see them as pests.
By the time I got home and unloaded the truck last night I had no trouble sleeping. All-in-all it was a fantastic weekend that we definitely need more of.
Breakfast at Sally’s came early Friday morning as we enjoyed fresh biscuits with tomato gravy and sausage patties. Then we headed to Vortex in search of a canoe. We checked into Grandview three and left all the stuff that wasn’t going into the canoe and headed for Vernon. We discovered that if you take highway 279 from Caryville to Vernon the trip Is only 20 miles one-way.
On the way in to Culpepper we found two turtles in the road. One appeared to be trying to dig a hole in the gravel shoulder. Wonder if she was trying to lay eggs?
We put the canoe in Holmes Creek at Culpepper Landing and paddled against a steady current. The creek was clear and the scenery fantastic. We passed a fisherman and his golden retriever Cosmo about half-way. We saw a cottonmouth swimming on the surface and a log with four turtles basking in the sun. Large birds that appeared to be cormorants were circling overhead with their sharp wings and forked tails. What were cormorants doing this far inland? I have been to Cypress a number of times and this is the first time that I remember seeing them here.
We tied the canoe to the large cypress tree and enjoyed an almost hour dive. The water is so clear that it appears blue when you go beneath the surface. We went into the cave – crawling against the outflow – and looked in every nook and cranny. Peaceful, serene, and fantastically beautiful is the only way I can describe it. Even if you stir some silt the flow is so great that it clears out right away. We found an odd creature that looked like an American eel. It was about 15 inches long with a blunt tail. On each side of the gills there was a leg with foot and on either side of the anus was another set of legs. The eyes were both on top of the head instead of on the sides like an eel. Identification of the creature is pending.
We stood in waist deep water and enjoyed our surface interval. The water company must have given up its fight to keep people out because the sign says “enjoy the spring but take your trash with you.” Cosmo and his dad came to visit. We enjoyed talking to them. Then a very loud boat load of folks came up and we were glad when they left.
The second dive was much like the first – just looking and enjoying the pristine spring. The trip back was not nearly as long. We felt raindrops and heard thunder in the distance. Rain really hit hard when we were trying to get the boat out of the water.
In the tradition of Bugman we had lunch at Dee’s. The trip back to Vortex only took about 25 minutes and we met with the Auburn crowd and our two advanced students. As is usual in the afternoon Vortex was kicked up and cloudy but not as bad as I imagined. Our students completed their navigation skills and did their night dives without problem.
Then it was off to Sally’s for dinner. Faire for tonight was light since we had already had a big lunch. We made meals from the salad bar.
Saturday we left for Panama City. We checked in at PCDC and had lunch at Montego Bay. The AOW girls had already headed for the beach. After we did a walk on the beach and got our toes wet we headed to the hotel for check-in and Winn Dixie for boat stuff.
Our group filled Captain Scuba and we headed past the rocks for adventure. Most folks on the boat had never done an ocean dive and it was a really large adventure for them. We hit the Accokeek first. Last week some of the Deep Dixie Divers reported a sand tiger shark. I knew we wouldn’t see a shark by the number of dolphins around the site. The visibility was so-so with a slight current and there were no major problems with the divers. I was very excited because off the starboard bow I saw garden eels in the sand.
We cooked hotdogs on the way to the next site. We wanted to do bridge span 14 but there were fishing boats there so to avoid an argument we headed to Black Bart. The visibility was a little better and the divers had little problem as they experienced their first night dive in the ocean. Porcelain Crabs were everywhere. The seas were calm and the water temperature on the surface 70 and 68 at depth both dives.
One of the girls on the boat got sick so I decided to test out the Quease Ease that they pawned on me at DEMA. She took a long sniff, looked at me funny and promptly hurled. She handed the tube back to me and shook her head no more.
Sunday morning we boarded the Island Diver along with the class from Troy State. We did our first dive at the Hovercraft. Visibility was about 25 feet and water temps had not changed. That aggravating thermocline that hangs out just above the bottom this time of year was there in force. I had an unusual experience on this dive. I put my fingers down on the LCAC deck and felt a sharp pain in my right thumb. I looked down and a 10-inch toadfish had my thumb in his mouth. He let go after one chomp and it appeared he squared off with me-daring me to mess with him. I just shrugged and said to myself “you better quit while you’re ahead big fellow!” I didn’t know if I was talking to myself or to the fish.
Second dive on Saturday was finally bridge span 14. We were cold by now and made this a short dive. There were large bait balls already and the span was beautiful as usual. Some things that folks saw were a large jewfish and a southern stingray. Vis on top of the span was great and the schools of Atlantic spadefish were outstandingly breathtaking. We saw one barracuda in the bunch.
Just outside the rocks we saw more than 20 dolphins feeding on the outgoing tide. These are marvelous creatures but the fishermen are complaining that every time they hook a fish the dolphins take them off the hook. They see them as pests.
By the time I got home and unloaded the truck last night I had no trouble sleeping. All-in-all it was a fantastic weekend that we definitely need more of.
