pdoege
Contributor
Hey guys -
I dove Lantana this weekend 2/15/03. We went with the Starfish Enterprise. Capt. Craig is really good, and the DM Linda is the best that I've ever had. This is a really nice boat for newbies and makes for a very relaxing dive.
The reefs off of Lantana are really nice as well. Lots of life.
I reworked my light (Pro6) to hang from my waist strap as opposed to the BP. Much easier to don this way. I moved my SMB to the left waist D-Ring. It was getting in the way on the chest D-Rings. These changes really made in much easier to don my gear.
The water temp was about 70 degrees and the vis was about 30 ft. Not very good for Lantana. I was using a drysuit w/ gloves and a hood. I stayed very warm with just a T shirt and trunks. My buddy had a 3/2 wetsuit with gloves and a hood. He was a bit cold, but not too bad.
The first dive was a learning experience. I did not properly purge the air out of the suit on the surface. More on that later. We went down around 60 feet and just drifted along. We were in a group of 4, 2 buddy pairs. The other pair where a mixed EAN/Air group and they had the float ball.
The ball holder went up when she had 1500PSI left. Her 5mm did not fit that well and she was very cold. The air user stayed with us, but did not take the float ball. When I had around 1500PSI, I went up over the reef and the air in the dry suit started expanding. I went up about 20 feet before I got my bouyancy control back. I felt really dumb sending OK signals to my concerned buddy. Drat! Oh well, lesson learned.
Surprisingly enough, the air user stayed with us the entire time. I was surprised that he was running a EAN36 profile on air, but he was a DM candidate guy and all.
Didn't see anything exciting, 1 lobster. We turned the dive at around 900PSI.
The 2nd dive was much better. This time we got our own float ball and dove in. I properly purged the suit, and bouyancy was not an issue.
The surf was really jerking my buddy around and we were not able to do our normal drift pattern. I took over the ball at 1500PSI to give him a rest. He was really pissed about his lack of ability to control the float. I personally think that he was doing a great job, especially considered the wave action.
We ran across the EAN36/Air pair. Once again the EAN36 girl went up early. The air user stayed with us. ???. I remember wondering what kind of tables he was using.
Anyway, we saw a beautiful nurse shark swim across our path. Really nice! We also stumbled across a rock fish and some other camoflaged fish. Much longer than the rock fish. I really need to by a fish ID book.
We turned the dive at 900PSI. My ball got tangled with another groups ball at the safety stop and we spent a while untangling it. This was my first time, and I just hung out and did my best to keep my line accessable so the other group could clear the tangle. Worked really well.
Good dives, I had a lot of fun.
The addition of a hood makes a huge difference in warmth. My buddy in a 3/2 and hood was doing better than people using 5mm suits. I would much prefer a 3/2w/hood combo than a 5mm. My buddy is thinking about moving to a higher bootie and some 5mm gloves.
I think the 3/2, hood, high bootie, glove combo is good pretty much year round in southern FL. The only issue is the surface interval air temp, but that is an issue no matter what wetsuit you wear.
I will need to get some "Sink the Stink". My hood is getting to be a bit smelly.
Thanks for reading,
Peter Doege
I dove Lantana this weekend 2/15/03. We went with the Starfish Enterprise. Capt. Craig is really good, and the DM Linda is the best that I've ever had. This is a really nice boat for newbies and makes for a very relaxing dive.
The reefs off of Lantana are really nice as well. Lots of life.
I reworked my light (Pro6) to hang from my waist strap as opposed to the BP. Much easier to don this way. I moved my SMB to the left waist D-Ring. It was getting in the way on the chest D-Rings. These changes really made in much easier to don my gear.
The water temp was about 70 degrees and the vis was about 30 ft. Not very good for Lantana. I was using a drysuit w/ gloves and a hood. I stayed very warm with just a T shirt and trunks. My buddy had a 3/2 wetsuit with gloves and a hood. He was a bit cold, but not too bad.
The first dive was a learning experience. I did not properly purge the air out of the suit on the surface. More on that later. We went down around 60 feet and just drifted along. We were in a group of 4, 2 buddy pairs. The other pair where a mixed EAN/Air group and they had the float ball.
The ball holder went up when she had 1500PSI left. Her 5mm did not fit that well and she was very cold. The air user stayed with us, but did not take the float ball. When I had around 1500PSI, I went up over the reef and the air in the dry suit started expanding. I went up about 20 feet before I got my bouyancy control back. I felt really dumb sending OK signals to my concerned buddy. Drat! Oh well, lesson learned.
Surprisingly enough, the air user stayed with us the entire time. I was surprised that he was running a EAN36 profile on air, but he was a DM candidate guy and all.
Didn't see anything exciting, 1 lobster. We turned the dive at around 900PSI.
The 2nd dive was much better. This time we got our own float ball and dove in. I properly purged the suit, and bouyancy was not an issue.
The surf was really jerking my buddy around and we were not able to do our normal drift pattern. I took over the ball at 1500PSI to give him a rest. He was really pissed about his lack of ability to control the float. I personally think that he was doing a great job, especially considered the wave action.
We ran across the EAN36/Air pair. Once again the EAN36 girl went up early. The air user stayed with us. ???. I remember wondering what kind of tables he was using.
Anyway, we saw a beautiful nurse shark swim across our path. Really nice! We also stumbled across a rock fish and some other camoflaged fish. Much longer than the rock fish. I really need to by a fish ID book.
We turned the dive at 900PSI. My ball got tangled with another groups ball at the safety stop and we spent a while untangling it. This was my first time, and I just hung out and did my best to keep my line accessable so the other group could clear the tangle. Worked really well.
Good dives, I had a lot of fun.
The addition of a hood makes a huge difference in warmth. My buddy in a 3/2 and hood was doing better than people using 5mm suits. I would much prefer a 3/2w/hood combo than a 5mm. My buddy is thinking about moving to a higher bootie and some 5mm gloves.
I think the 3/2, hood, high bootie, glove combo is good pretty much year round in southern FL. The only issue is the surface interval air temp, but that is an issue no matter what wetsuit you wear.
I will need to get some "Sink the Stink". My hood is getting to be a bit smelly.
Thanks for reading,
Peter Doege
