Since we have worked pretty much non stop since last year, Lynne and I looked forward to a trip to the Florida Keys last week. My son in law, Chuck, has a business buddy who was kind enough to lend his ocean front cottage in Lower Matecumbe Key and I was promised playtime with my grandkids. I also needed a nitrogen fix bad, and was itching to get wet and work with my new camera rig.
I wish to thank all who responded to my posts regarding dive operators. Our own Captain Gary promised a lot if we would give him a shot, and I decided to swing my business to a SB member. Gary and his wife, Brenda, run the Conch Republic Divers out of Tavernier Creek, and I must say he delivered on the rather high expectations he had created.
Saturday 6/11 the last of the heavy NE quadrant of Arlene passed over South Florida, so the car was packed in a torrential thunderstorm. Things cleared up as we drove south. The afternoon of Sunday, 6/12, we introduced ourselves to Gary and Brenda, and hopped aboard the Republic VII for two afternoon dives. The storm had kicked up sediment and the seas were running 3'. Lynne did not feel comfortable diving and was looked after by Gary and his divemaster Les. Gary found two shallow sites that actually had reasonable vis considering the silt and the surge (see the pics in my gallery album shot on the Horseshoe and Little Conch reefs).
I quickly admired Garys operation. He is the first operator I have dove with that uses the DAN diver tag system to assure all are on board before the boat weighs anchor from a site. His safety lecture and the layout of the boat respect diver safety and comfort. His vessel and operation are friendly to underwater photographers; from the oversize rinse barrel to divemaster Les who is an accomplished videographer and had a lot of useful suggestions. We owned all of the dive sites with the exception of the Duane which had a crowd. Gary and Brenda did their best to fulfill all reasonable requests.
Lynne does not dive as much as I do, so Gary and I worked up a plan to provider her with a refresher course taught by divemaster Andy. It got her confidence back and got her back into the water. On 6/13 and 6/15 I dove the Conch Wall with the Pillars and the Davis Ledge in between. Beautiful dive sites and we were the only ones there. The second day was a marvelous drift dive on the Conch Wall. The seas had settled down and the vis was back. Both days provided enjoyable dives.
June 15th was a dive your brains out day for me, a 4 tanker. In the am Justin took four of us on the Aquatic diver to the Duane, a popular wreck that sits in 130'. My max was 110' on the lower deck to conserve precious bottom time. All 4 divers had previously dove together and were accomplished divers, so when Jus saw that the site was packed, he chose not to moor at a ball. Instead, he dropped us off the bow and let us drift to the stern. The current was 2kt + and hard to swim against, but keeping close to the superstructure improved the dive conditions. My buddy, Dave, and I toured the entire boat and had a great dive. The exit buoy was packed with divers from another boat so we ended up doing a wait stop at 30' until we could move up to 15' for a safety stop. I felt like a flag in the breeze. The second dive was on the outside edge of Molasses reef.
That afternoon Lynne joined me for two shallow dives on Spankys and Shark Ledge. My nitrogen fix was complete. If you want to see my pictures then CLICK HERE and check out the album. There are a lot of shots so, if you want, click on the first image and then click on the slide show mode. Let me know what you think.
Happy and Safe Diving to All
Bob
I wish to thank all who responded to my posts regarding dive operators. Our own Captain Gary promised a lot if we would give him a shot, and I decided to swing my business to a SB member. Gary and his wife, Brenda, run the Conch Republic Divers out of Tavernier Creek, and I must say he delivered on the rather high expectations he had created.
Saturday 6/11 the last of the heavy NE quadrant of Arlene passed over South Florida, so the car was packed in a torrential thunderstorm. Things cleared up as we drove south. The afternoon of Sunday, 6/12, we introduced ourselves to Gary and Brenda, and hopped aboard the Republic VII for two afternoon dives. The storm had kicked up sediment and the seas were running 3'. Lynne did not feel comfortable diving and was looked after by Gary and his divemaster Les. Gary found two shallow sites that actually had reasonable vis considering the silt and the surge (see the pics in my gallery album shot on the Horseshoe and Little Conch reefs).
I quickly admired Garys operation. He is the first operator I have dove with that uses the DAN diver tag system to assure all are on board before the boat weighs anchor from a site. His safety lecture and the layout of the boat respect diver safety and comfort. His vessel and operation are friendly to underwater photographers; from the oversize rinse barrel to divemaster Les who is an accomplished videographer and had a lot of useful suggestions. We owned all of the dive sites with the exception of the Duane which had a crowd. Gary and Brenda did their best to fulfill all reasonable requests.
Lynne does not dive as much as I do, so Gary and I worked up a plan to provider her with a refresher course taught by divemaster Andy. It got her confidence back and got her back into the water. On 6/13 and 6/15 I dove the Conch Wall with the Pillars and the Davis Ledge in between. Beautiful dive sites and we were the only ones there. The second day was a marvelous drift dive on the Conch Wall. The seas had settled down and the vis was back. Both days provided enjoyable dives.
June 15th was a dive your brains out day for me, a 4 tanker. In the am Justin took four of us on the Aquatic diver to the Duane, a popular wreck that sits in 130'. My max was 110' on the lower deck to conserve precious bottom time. All 4 divers had previously dove together and were accomplished divers, so when Jus saw that the site was packed, he chose not to moor at a ball. Instead, he dropped us off the bow and let us drift to the stern. The current was 2kt + and hard to swim against, but keeping close to the superstructure improved the dive conditions. My buddy, Dave, and I toured the entire boat and had a great dive. The exit buoy was packed with divers from another boat so we ended up doing a wait stop at 30' until we could move up to 15' for a safety stop. I felt like a flag in the breeze. The second dive was on the outside edge of Molasses reef.
That afternoon Lynne joined me for two shallow dives on Spankys and Shark Ledge. My nitrogen fix was complete. If you want to see my pictures then CLICK HERE and check out the album. There are a lot of shots so, if you want, click on the first image and then click on the slide show mode. Let me know what you think.
Happy and Safe Diving to All
Bob
