I didn't see any SB'ers on Datura St yesterday. I would have gone to Hibisicus, but we were diving with Jack's (my 16 yr old) Venture Crew.
The Venture Crew decided to leave Melbourne at 7:30, but... I wanted to park near the beach, so Jack and I left at 5:30. I'm glad we did. When I arrived at 8:00, all the parking on both Datura and Hibisicus was gone, so we parked across the street. So, we weren't that far off of the beach. I'm glad I had Jack with me... he has a good strong back, and carried all the tanks.
When we arrived, the ocean was nearly flat. The waves at the beach were maybe 1 foot or a foot and a half. My concern was the water clarity. The water color at the beach appeared to be greenish brown. Were we ever fooled. It must have been the angle of the sun or something... We swam out to the first reef, and the entire kick out there, we could see the bottom. It looked crystal clear. We dropped down on the first reef, and we continued to leisurely kick east towards the second reef. We spent most of our time on the second reef until Jack started hit 1200 lbs of air. As we headed back, we hit the cannons and the anchor... so, we did an accidental good job of navigating. First dive was 72 minutes, max depth 17 feet, water temp was a nice 82 degrees. Visability ranged from 20-50 feet. The current was minimal.... I thought it was heading south while I was on the first reef heading back, and Jack thought it was heading north. I was navigating over the reef, and I had to keep readjusting to the right every time I checked my compass.
Jack's Venture Crew finally arrived as Jack and I were getting ready to do our second dive. So, we let them get set up. I was amazed by the number of tanks we had lined up along the wall. We had a lot of divers. Jack was assigned a buddy... and the group leader wanted me to hang out with her O/W class to add a third instructor in the water during the ascent skills. I wasn't too keen on the idea, because my plan was to improve my fish ID skills and to dive with Jack. Well... to my fortune, there was a new diver whose son and husband were doing the DPV Adventure dive... so, I was assigned to dive with the wife... So, off we went....
On the second dive, the current picked up. We swam out to the first reef, and headed against the current and went south. It was slow moving, but we were busy trying to ID fish... so, it really didn't matter. This time, my computer was registering 84 degrees. I hit it a few times, because it couldn't be right. I'll accept 82, but 84? Our second dive lasted 58 minutes. My buddy was diving with a 63, and she swam out to the first reef with her regulator in her mouth... We did see a huge turtle munching on some reef... That was my buddy's first turtle, so she was excited and made the entire trip worth while. The visability on the second dive was still real good. I'll still say 20-50 feet.
Now... the majority of the Venture Crew let the current take advantage of them. They were all pushed towards the pier... got the sheriff all upset... Some ended up on the other side of the pier... what a disaster. I'm sure the next crew meeting we're going to have a good long discussion about currents... dive planning... the importance of a compass... etc...
Al
The Venture Crew decided to leave Melbourne at 7:30, but... I wanted to park near the beach, so Jack and I left at 5:30. I'm glad we did. When I arrived at 8:00, all the parking on both Datura and Hibisicus was gone, so we parked across the street. So, we weren't that far off of the beach. I'm glad I had Jack with me... he has a good strong back, and carried all the tanks.
When we arrived, the ocean was nearly flat. The waves at the beach were maybe 1 foot or a foot and a half. My concern was the water clarity. The water color at the beach appeared to be greenish brown. Were we ever fooled. It must have been the angle of the sun or something... We swam out to the first reef, and the entire kick out there, we could see the bottom. It looked crystal clear. We dropped down on the first reef, and we continued to leisurely kick east towards the second reef. We spent most of our time on the second reef until Jack started hit 1200 lbs of air. As we headed back, we hit the cannons and the anchor... so, we did an accidental good job of navigating. First dive was 72 minutes, max depth 17 feet, water temp was a nice 82 degrees. Visability ranged from 20-50 feet. The current was minimal.... I thought it was heading south while I was on the first reef heading back, and Jack thought it was heading north. I was navigating over the reef, and I had to keep readjusting to the right every time I checked my compass.
Jack's Venture Crew finally arrived as Jack and I were getting ready to do our second dive. So, we let them get set up. I was amazed by the number of tanks we had lined up along the wall. We had a lot of divers. Jack was assigned a buddy... and the group leader wanted me to hang out with her O/W class to add a third instructor in the water during the ascent skills. I wasn't too keen on the idea, because my plan was to improve my fish ID skills and to dive with Jack. Well... to my fortune, there was a new diver whose son and husband were doing the DPV Adventure dive... so, I was assigned to dive with the wife... So, off we went....
On the second dive, the current picked up. We swam out to the first reef, and headed against the current and went south. It was slow moving, but we were busy trying to ID fish... so, it really didn't matter. This time, my computer was registering 84 degrees. I hit it a few times, because it couldn't be right. I'll accept 82, but 84? Our second dive lasted 58 minutes. My buddy was diving with a 63, and she swam out to the first reef with her regulator in her mouth... We did see a huge turtle munching on some reef... That was my buddy's first turtle, so she was excited and made the entire trip worth while. The visability on the second dive was still real good. I'll still say 20-50 feet.
Now... the majority of the Venture Crew let the current take advantage of them. They were all pushed towards the pier... got the sheriff all upset... Some ended up on the other side of the pier... what a disaster. I'm sure the next crew meeting we're going to have a good long discussion about currents... dive planning... the importance of a compass... etc...
Al
