Ft. Pickens Dive Report 6-9-09

[wjefferis]

My wife has finally decided to get certified and we went over to Ft. Pickens today (6-9-09) to do her first set of check-out dives. High tide was at 10:46 am and we splashed in for our first dive just a bit after 8:00 to 20 ft of viz and a moderate current. I saw some good sized snapper and grouper hanging around with all of the other usual marine life normal to this area. I did however see something that was unusual for our area, a French Angelfish. I have seen on other posts from Scubaboarders this year from Panama City to Pensacola with pictures of this species of angelfish. They are very common down in south Florida, but I have never seen them in this area before. It was definitely a treat. The batteries in my strobes were acting up on what was supposed to be a full charge so I didn’t get many shots that are worth posting. I guess I will have to change up my rechargeable batteries to make sure this doesn’t happen in the future. It was however a treat to just kick back and enjoy the dive without having to worry about trying to get the “perfect shot.”

We did a total of three dives today, with our deepest dive to 52 FSW. It was really cool to see my wife so comfortable in the water during her skills and just hanging around. We were able to check out a lot of the area from the golf cart on the East side, the rubble in the middle, and the large truck tires and rock on the West side.

I was talking to MrXray on Monday about the possibility of getting some folks out to Ft. Pickens to map out an accurate site plan for the area that is current. Unfortunately, the old Dive Pros map is no longer very useful as too many things have changed from recent hurricanes. I hope that this could be accomplished this year.

I purchased my season pass as well as the night owl pass, so I plan on making Ft. Pickens my second home this year. My schedule allows for days in the week as well as every other weekend off to get in some dives, so if you are interested in getting out there just PM me, or for those that have it just call me on my cell.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

Thanks for the report

 

[Hetland]

I plan on diving the hell out of that site this year too. A map is a great idea.

Nice that you're getting the wife to go along too!

 

[denisegg]

Excellent Walter!! I have only been diving there once. It would be great to see it again!!

 

[GLENFWB]

Last time we were there we talked about doing a new map. Maybe we can start a thread where we progressively work on a map. Meaning, each time we go diving we add to the map and then post it. Next person does the same thing....that way the map progressively grows with each dive.

Is there a computer program that we could use so the file format would be something we could all share?? Any of you computer geeks have any ideas???

 

[Hetland]

final format can be anything we want, .jpg, .png, .pdf but to map it we may have to use something a little more exclusive.

 

[grisgris]

I have been diving here for quite a while now and a new map would be great. However beening able to post or add to the map by anyone could lead to bad info and cause more problems. Some kind of check and balance system would have to be set up(like two or more different sources with the same positions) to keep things on track.
Oh and I going to be in Pensacola from the 12-18 and monday looks like a great day to hit Ft. Pickens.

 

[jhayes75]

one could snorkel the surface with this unit and log Gps coordinates. It's submersible to 1 Meter.

 

[SuPrBuGmAn]

You'd drift off the small landmarks and the points won't be accurate. Its a pass and the current and any wave action will make any surface positioning difficult and likely innaccurate.

Best thing to do...

Set a Base point and run lines from the "base" to different landmarks in a straight line. Keep the line taught and put knots every 5-10' in the line. Record an azimuth, depth at different distances(readable by counting knots), and distance to landmark. If you have to bend the line somewhere, be sure to record where(count knots) and record the new azimuth. You can then calculate the direct route using the distances and azimuths for a straight line heading and distance. Record features at different points on the line. Cave divers do basic surveys this way. If you look at the original map, it looks like thats how they made it as well.

If you set understood basepoint thats recognizable and everyone agrees on a method, many people can take on different landmarks and you can build a complete map from the information - unless someone sucks at it and records innaccurate information.

 

[paulwall]

unless someone sucks at it and records innaccurate information.

...raises hand. Sounds like a job for me!