Ft. Pickens Dive Report 12-2-07

[wjefferis]

Went out today on a private boat out to Ft. Pickens and had a very nice day. Low tide was scheduled for 12:45 and we arrived on site at 10:00. We brought along some rope to tie off to the 10 ft cage and the 20 ft cage in case the current was running, but found there to be zero current at all at 10:30 when we splashed in. Surface temps were 61* with a thermocline at 15 fsw that brought the temp up to 65*. My Mares semi-dry worked like a charm and kept me nice and cozy all day. There was a lot of growth on the rocks with some type of plant life. Saw some decent sized snapper and grouper on site, as well as wrasse, trigger fish, crab, and a few fish I will have to look up to find their names. We navigated around and found that the golf cart is still there as well as quite a bit of the other more well known landmarks. On the second dive the tide was just barely moving so we entered in right by the rocks and let the current gently take us along on a slow drift dive. Diving this really made we want that darn road to be fixed so that I could enjoy this dive all the time. All in all I had a great day of diving, beats work any day.

 

[algulfdiver]

What was the Vis?

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Thanks for the report, I haven't been to Pickens since the roads were knocked out

 

[wjefferis]

oops, I forgot to put in what the viz was. Once I dropped below the thermocline the viz was in the 15 to 20 ft range. The skies were overcast and I think if the sun was shinning it would have increased the viz quite a bit and take into account that we were diving at low tide. Even with viz at 20 ft it was really a good dive. with all of the plant life growing on the rocks I bet this area has lots of tropicals on it in the summer. I saw lots of stuff hiding all over the area. I definitely want to get back to this site again even a couple times this winter wouldn't hurt my feelings. Maybe we can organize a trip out with Gary, what do you guys/gals think?

 

[denisegg]

That water is tooooo cold Walter!!! I just don't have enough exposure suit to make that a comfortable dive. I am barely comfortable at the springs in 68 degrees with 3 layers of wetsuit and a hood. I think my ocean diving is done until the temp rises a bit more than that.