agesilaus
Contributor
We finally made it to Key Largo at the same time as good weather, had four dives over two days on the Tropical Odyssey boat from Rainbow Reef. Friday dives were to the Winch Hole and Fire Coral cave. Saturday we went to Northstar and then back to Fire Coral which irritated me a bit. The boat crew knew that there were a number of people on board that were on the boat Friday, not just our three divers either. They post a schedule but don't feel any need to adhere to it.
They had Snapper Ledge and Pillar Coral scheduled for Friday and Hole in the Wall and Fire Coral for Saturday. Out of those four we went to one of them twice and the others none. I understand that the schedule needs to be flexible but it was sunny, clear and the seas were just about dead flat with maybe a 1 foot swell. I can't see why the conditions would make any difference in where they went.
That being said the places we did go were fine except for the duplication.
The boat crew was great very helpful and friendly. I give them five stars for that.
Now to our last dive, I was whining about duplicating Fire Coral but actually except for the swim thru we did not see the same stuff. we headed out for new territories and ended up in 45 feet of water. When we came up this is what we saw:
Our boat isn't in the frame it's off on the left side and farther away than that visible boat. That's me in the back. I think our DM was newish at the job and got lost. I know I told him when I was down to 1200 psi and again when I hit 800. We passed a line down from a buoy and I was thinking that was the boat's dive buoy but it wasn't. I think the DM was thinking the same. When I got to 800 I headed up and he followed but when we got to the surface the boat was probably about a quarter mile away. He headed back down which puzzled me and I initially followed but then I was down to 500 and I headed back up followed by everyone else. My 15 year old son was down to 300 and he had told the DM as much and my wife was at 500 too. And I suspect the other three people were in the same pressure range.
No big deal, I inflated my sausage and waved it around. Not so easy it turns out That attracted the boat crews attention but we had to wait 20 mins or so for them to recover the other divers. Perfect weather for our float, 77 deg water temp and mid 80's air, seas were calm. The sausage turned out to be a good float that counteracted the backwards pull of the BCD.
I gave my son a warning to never be caught with 300 psi when you are diving, no matter what, head up before you get to 500. Ignore the DM if he doesn't. I should have been watching him more closely myself, but I usually run out of air first. I guess my attempts at breath control are making progress. I had a scare with the instructor from hell being at 70 feet with 300 psi a couple months ago.
I'm not going to mention the DM's name I doubt he will ever make that mistake again...heh. And I don't mean this incident to be read as a condemnation of Rainbow Reef. We had a very nice time with them and this event was just a bit of adventure at the end.
BK
They had Snapper Ledge and Pillar Coral scheduled for Friday and Hole in the Wall and Fire Coral for Saturday. Out of those four we went to one of them twice and the others none. I understand that the schedule needs to be flexible but it was sunny, clear and the seas were just about dead flat with maybe a 1 foot swell. I can't see why the conditions would make any difference in where they went.
That being said the places we did go were fine except for the duplication.
The boat crew was great very helpful and friendly. I give them five stars for that.
Now to our last dive, I was whining about duplicating Fire Coral but actually except for the swim thru we did not see the same stuff. we headed out for new territories and ended up in 45 feet of water. When we came up this is what we saw:
Our boat isn't in the frame it's off on the left side and farther away than that visible boat. That's me in the back. I think our DM was newish at the job and got lost. I know I told him when I was down to 1200 psi and again when I hit 800. We passed a line down from a buoy and I was thinking that was the boat's dive buoy but it wasn't. I think the DM was thinking the same. When I got to 800 I headed up and he followed but when we got to the surface the boat was probably about a quarter mile away. He headed back down which puzzled me and I initially followed but then I was down to 500 and I headed back up followed by everyone else. My 15 year old son was down to 300 and he had told the DM as much and my wife was at 500 too. And I suspect the other three people were in the same pressure range.
No big deal, I inflated my sausage and waved it around. Not so easy it turns out That attracted the boat crews attention but we had to wait 20 mins or so for them to recover the other divers. Perfect weather for our float, 77 deg water temp and mid 80's air, seas were calm. The sausage turned out to be a good float that counteracted the backwards pull of the BCD.
I gave my son a warning to never be caught with 300 psi when you are diving, no matter what, head up before you get to 500. Ignore the DM if he doesn't. I should have been watching him more closely myself, but I usually run out of air first. I guess my attempts at breath control are making progress. I had a scare with the instructor from hell being at 70 feet with 300 psi a couple months ago.
I'm not going to mention the DM's name I doubt he will ever make that mistake again...heh. And I don't mean this incident to be read as a condemnation of Rainbow Reef. We had a very nice time with them and this event was just a bit of adventure at the end.
BK
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