Trip Report : Key Largo
May 12-16, 2003
Monday May 12:
My wife (Renee) Goes to BlueWater Divers for her class/pool part of a Resort class.
I go out with HMS Minnow.
Dive 1 Spiegel Grove Seas 1-2 ft , vis 80, light current.
Went down on the stern, went back around & checked out the Prop, then back over the deck & forward to the gun mounts. Less fish than normal but a huge number of arrowhead crabs. This is also the first time I got far enough into the well deck to realize the decking was wood.
90ft- 36 min
Dive 2 French Reef Seas 1-2 ft, vis 60-70, min current.
Basic sight seeing, Swim-thrus on sandy botttom,Christmas tree and one other I dont know the name of. Lots of fish. Average 30 ft 1 hour.
My wife survived the pool, will dive tomorrow.
Tue May 13: The Ocean is like a lake.
I start a Wreck Diver Specialty class with Horizon Divers
Dive 1 Elbow Reef City of Washington. Seas 1-2 inches, vis 80+, no current (tough).
Did Feature mapping around the entire wreck, then through the center.
Had a long encounter with a 5 ft 350+ lb Jewfish who was as interested in watching us as we were in watching him. His friend was a 6+ foot Green Moray.
Also saw a couple of nice Bugs, but the season is over
Average 21 ft 1 hour
Dive 2 Mikes Wreck Seas picked up to 2-3 inches, vis still great, no current.
Worked on Laying out a line, following it with eyes closed, then retrieving it.
Then checked out the rest of the wreck & surrounding reefs. Saw another huge Jewfish(less friendly) and some very large Bugs (Thats Lobster for you fresh water divers).
Average 18 ft, 1 hour.
Rush from Horizen back over to Bluewater to go out with my wife on her Resort class dives.
Dive 3 Molasses Reef Spanish Anchor Seas still 2-3 inches Vis 60 ft, some current.
Hung around on the bottom & watched Brent (keylargobrent) get Renee to the bottom, properly weighted & starting to swim. She had a few buoyancy problems (didnt we all) at first, but got thru them. The current started picking up so the dive ended after 35 mins.
Dive 4 - French Reef Seas 2-3 inches vis 60+, NO current.
Cary moved us over to French reef to get out of the current, found a great spot.
Renee was swimming much better this time, and got a chance to see lots of fish, Feather worms, Lobster, etc. Its great watching someone see all this for the first time. Spent a full hour looking around at 30 ft. She had pretty good breath control for a newbie-in-training.
Wed May 14:
Wreck-Diving Course work in AM (plus trying to get Nitrox fills another story)
Renee went to Theater-of-the-Sea, had a great time.
Dive 1 Spiegel Grove Seas 3-6 inches, Vis 80+ Current Strong 0-40 feet, but no current below 40 ft.
Still working on Wreck Diver Specialty class Dropped into the Bridge but did not exit the bottom as we were both on 32% nitrox and did not want to go down to the sand (130). Came back up & spent 15 minutes roaming thru various passage ways inside the ship. Need a skid plate for my Primary. I am now even more hooked on wrecks.
We had a bit of a traffic jam on the safety stop, 18 people on the same line, we had people hanging on from 15-45 ft. My stop was at 22 ft.
Max Depth 112, total time 35 min.
Dive 2 French Reef Sandy Bottom Cave Conditions still tough
Did several swim-thrus with focus on Buoyancy control & alternate kicks to avoid silting. Ran into a pair of Tarpon. 1 was 5 ft long with what looked like a cataract in the right eye. The other was 4 ft & followed the other closely on the right-rear. Interesting pair.
Average Depth 30 ft - 1 hour.
My thanks to Kip my instuctor, I learned a lot.
Thursday May 15.
Rode the Harley from Key Largo to Key West, had lunch, got a picture at the Southern-most point of USA, (check profile in a few days) then drove back. Its something I swore I would do back in 1976, and now was the time.
Friday May 16:
Brent at Bluewater Divers very generously offered to take Renee for two more dives as part of her Resort course.
Dive 1 Pickles Reef Seas 1-2 Ft (back to feet now not inches) Good vis.
I checked out the wreck while Brent got Renee checked out & set up. Then he let me take her on a tour. I held her hand & very slowly toured the reef. Everyone cooperated, we saw, Cleaner shrimp, Arrowhead crabs, Lobster, Squid, Ray, acouple of Nurse sharks, Triggerfish, Hog fish, Angels, Queens, & hundreds of schooling fish. Even some Florescent blue little guys hanging out in the recesses of a Brain coral, (maybe Brent can help me out with a name?)
All in all, a great dive. Average depth 20 ft, 55 min.
Dive 2 Moved over a few hundred yards to another reef, but I forgot the name (Brent, help me out again?) A little more current here but still Lots of fish
Bottom line : A great way to introduce my wife to our fantastic sport.
And the really good news it worked. Brent is a great instructor.
We are going back in July to get her OW class.
My wife will soon be my Dive Buddy as well as my Biker Babe.
It dont get no better than that.
See you on the bottom.
May 12-16, 2003
Monday May 12:
My wife (Renee) Goes to BlueWater Divers for her class/pool part of a Resort class.
I go out with HMS Minnow.
Dive 1 Spiegel Grove Seas 1-2 ft , vis 80, light current.
Went down on the stern, went back around & checked out the Prop, then back over the deck & forward to the gun mounts. Less fish than normal but a huge number of arrowhead crabs. This is also the first time I got far enough into the well deck to realize the decking was wood.
90ft- 36 min
Dive 2 French Reef Seas 1-2 ft, vis 60-70, min current.
Basic sight seeing, Swim-thrus on sandy botttom,Christmas tree and one other I dont know the name of. Lots of fish. Average 30 ft 1 hour.
My wife survived the pool, will dive tomorrow.
Tue May 13: The Ocean is like a lake.
I start a Wreck Diver Specialty class with Horizon Divers
Dive 1 Elbow Reef City of Washington. Seas 1-2 inches, vis 80+, no current (tough).
Did Feature mapping around the entire wreck, then through the center.
Had a long encounter with a 5 ft 350+ lb Jewfish who was as interested in watching us as we were in watching him. His friend was a 6+ foot Green Moray.
Also saw a couple of nice Bugs, but the season is over
Average 21 ft 1 hour
Dive 2 Mikes Wreck Seas picked up to 2-3 inches, vis still great, no current.
Worked on Laying out a line, following it with eyes closed, then retrieving it.
Then checked out the rest of the wreck & surrounding reefs. Saw another huge Jewfish(less friendly) and some very large Bugs (Thats Lobster for you fresh water divers).
Average 18 ft, 1 hour.
Rush from Horizen back over to Bluewater to go out with my wife on her Resort class dives.
Dive 3 Molasses Reef Spanish Anchor Seas still 2-3 inches Vis 60 ft, some current.
Hung around on the bottom & watched Brent (keylargobrent) get Renee to the bottom, properly weighted & starting to swim. She had a few buoyancy problems (didnt we all) at first, but got thru them. The current started picking up so the dive ended after 35 mins.
Dive 4 - French Reef Seas 2-3 inches vis 60+, NO current.
Cary moved us over to French reef to get out of the current, found a great spot.
Renee was swimming much better this time, and got a chance to see lots of fish, Feather worms, Lobster, etc. Its great watching someone see all this for the first time. Spent a full hour looking around at 30 ft. She had pretty good breath control for a newbie-in-training.
Wed May 14:
Wreck-Diving Course work in AM (plus trying to get Nitrox fills another story)
Renee went to Theater-of-the-Sea, had a great time.
Dive 1 Spiegel Grove Seas 3-6 inches, Vis 80+ Current Strong 0-40 feet, but no current below 40 ft.
Still working on Wreck Diver Specialty class Dropped into the Bridge but did not exit the bottom as we were both on 32% nitrox and did not want to go down to the sand (130). Came back up & spent 15 minutes roaming thru various passage ways inside the ship. Need a skid plate for my Primary. I am now even more hooked on wrecks.
We had a bit of a traffic jam on the safety stop, 18 people on the same line, we had people hanging on from 15-45 ft. My stop was at 22 ft.
Max Depth 112, total time 35 min.
Dive 2 French Reef Sandy Bottom Cave Conditions still tough
Did several swim-thrus with focus on Buoyancy control & alternate kicks to avoid silting. Ran into a pair of Tarpon. 1 was 5 ft long with what looked like a cataract in the right eye. The other was 4 ft & followed the other closely on the right-rear. Interesting pair.
Average Depth 30 ft - 1 hour.
My thanks to Kip my instuctor, I learned a lot.
Thursday May 15.
Rode the Harley from Key Largo to Key West, had lunch, got a picture at the Southern-most point of USA, (check profile in a few days) then drove back. Its something I swore I would do back in 1976, and now was the time.
Friday May 16:
Brent at Bluewater Divers very generously offered to take Renee for two more dives as part of her Resort course.
Dive 1 Pickles Reef Seas 1-2 Ft (back to feet now not inches) Good vis.
I checked out the wreck while Brent got Renee checked out & set up. Then he let me take her on a tour. I held her hand & very slowly toured the reef. Everyone cooperated, we saw, Cleaner shrimp, Arrowhead crabs, Lobster, Squid, Ray, acouple of Nurse sharks, Triggerfish, Hog fish, Angels, Queens, & hundreds of schooling fish. Even some Florescent blue little guys hanging out in the recesses of a Brain coral, (maybe Brent can help me out with a name?)
All in all, a great dive. Average depth 20 ft, 55 min.
Dive 2 Moved over a few hundred yards to another reef, but I forgot the name (Brent, help me out again?) A little more current here but still Lots of fish
Bottom line : A great way to introduce my wife to our fantastic sport.
And the really good news it worked. Brent is a great instructor.
We are going back in July to get her OW class.
My wife will soon be my Dive Buddy as well as my Biker Babe.
It dont get no better than that.
See you on the bottom.
