May 1-2 Weekend: Official Roster

[Scuba_Jenny]

Quick note on the trip (will post more later). Seas were rough...General consenses was 5-7 with an 8 here and there. Almost everybody got sick. Those that did dive had almost no current, 20-40 vis, a good surge, and lots to look at.

Oh, one other thing. Since we are now post dive, I merged the two threads.

 

[amelo1999]

So are we doing an afternoon shore dive or what?

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I'm not...too windy here. Heres the beach cam...http://www.sunny.org/visitors/index.cfm
and Noaa's weather report
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/showsigwx.p...ard+County&product1=HAZARDOUS+WEATHER+OUTLOOK
...HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT ATLANTIC BEACHES TODAY...
Current Conditions
Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood Intl Airport
Last Update on May 2, 8:53 am EDT
Wind Speed: SE 16 MPH
*********

However, if ya'll want to meet up and hang out...I'm cool with that.

 

[amelo1999]

Well I won't be at the comp much so gimme a call if anything gets decided. 786-859-9692 Later

I'm not...too windy here. Heres the beach cam...http://www.sunny.org/visitors/index.cfm
and Noaa's weather report
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/showsigwx.p...ard+County&product1=HAZARDOUS+WEATHER+OUTLOOK
...HIGH RISK OF RIP CURRENTS AT ATLANTIC BEACHES TODAY...
Current Conditions
Fort Lauderdale / Hollywood Intl Airport
Last Update on May 2, 8:53 am EDT
Wind Speed: SE 16 MPH
*********

However, if ya'll want to meet up and hang out...I'm cool with that.

 

[Scubaguy62]

I wanted to thank all of you who showed up for yesterday's dive: Andy, Don, Pat, Marvel, Big Sage, Jenny, Joe, Grier, Chris, Rebecca, and of course, Angie and I.

Despite not being able to join you on the dive due to my debilitating injury of Friday night, Angie and I were very happy to meet those whom, not until yesterday, we had the pleasure of meeting, and sharing along with those whom we have previously met. I'm glad that despite the rough seas and the many who offerred their breakfast from DJ's Diner to the fish :11ztongue , we had such a good turn out, you all were able to dive, and had as much fun as I'm sure everyone did.

FYI, as I type this, it feels as if I'm regaining some feeling in the area of my finger that didn't have any.

 

[GrierHPharmD]

As usual for dives with this group, I had a great time yesterday. We decided to go out with Capt. Brian of Island Ventures, despite the report of 4-6 foot seas, and had two nice dives. Surface intervals were rough, though, and everybody on the boat except Scuba_Jenny got sick. (Roll call: me, H2Andy, Marvel, CincyDiver, Waterbabie, JoeDiver1, Scuba_Jenny)

But mal de mar or not, the dives were worth the trip. Dive 1 was the Benwood, with a max depth of 49 feet. Saw the usual Sgt majors, a few mid-sized groupers, a couple of barracudas, three spotted scorpionfish, a few bugs. Wreck is reasonably intact, with the bow in high relief, rising maybe 15 ft off the reef. JoeDiver1 pointed out some bugs in a little coral cave, and if we had just looked behind us, we would have seen the Benwood's anchor, according to a book that I saw last night. Oh well, next time...

Second dive was on French Reef, at a place that Capt. Brian called Grouper ledge. I think the South end of this area is also called "Five Caves" in some of the guides because of the numerous swimthroughs. Saw lots of life there, including a 5' nurse shark that we may have encountered twice. It was a bit agitated and didn't seem to welcome our attention, so we left it to ponder it's thoughts under the reef.

CincyDiver, Waterbabie and Scuba_Jenny were great buddies, and we saw lots of life as CincyDiver and Waterbabie gave their new camera housing its sea trials. Hope to see the digital shots on the board soon.

Marvel, we'll have to dive again soon, when conditions are a little more favorable. And H2Andy, I hope that this was just the first of many dives together. Have a safe drive back to Jax.

And no report of this trip would be complete without mentioning ScubaGuy, who, after organizing this event, couldn't dive due to a non-diving injury. Hope you heal soon, my friend, so that we can get underwater together. And his devoted wife, ScbaBabe, either wanted to show moral support or was smarter than the rest of us given the sea conditions and sat out with him. Had a great dinner at Hobos with them afterward, though.

Can't wait to do it again. It's always a pleasure to dive with you.

Hope the remainder of the weekend has been pleasant,
Grier

 

[Scubaguy62]

And his devoted wife, ScbaBabe, either wanted to show moral support or was smarter than the rest of us given the sea conditions and sat out with him

I think it was the latter considering how much she wanted to dive :06: , but I'm very glad she didn't leave me alone.

 

[CAPT HOOK]

Great to meet all of you yesterday. Glad you got a couple of dives in, shame you lost that good breakfast ;-) Maybe next time we can actually dive together, but for us older folks, sometimes discretion is the better part of valor.

Don & Pat

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Looking forward to seeing those pics!
Breakfast was wonderful sharing stories with each other. Oliver did call me on the cell after I told him of our intention to dive. He left a message saying he was 1/2 way to Key West by then!
I believe the ONLY thing that saved me from getting sick (and I got close a couple times) was taking the Bonine the night before and again that morning. We were definately the neoprene cowboys on the ride out and back in...too bad so many got sick from the ride!
Dive one, the Benwood was pretty cool. Andy was my buddy as we slowly circled the wreck, looking into the cracks and crevices. I did see for about 2 seconds a Spotted Drum, but couldn't find it for the photograher buddy. The thing that impressed me the most was the size of the fish. Up here in the Ft. Lauderdale area, we have the same fish on a beach dive, but a lot smaller. Nice seeing them full grown. There really wasn't any current, but the surge was pretty good, and as long as you didn't fight it, just going along for the ride, it was a very relaxing.
Dive 2, French reef. Greir and I buddied this time, leaving Andy to suffer the surface ride with Marvel. Again, a good bud to dive with. We went did some swim thros and the vis at time wasn't too good, only to get better then worse depending on where we were. Also hit a thermo in one area and it was downright cold! We stayed out on the fringes of the ledge hoping to attract the resident black tip or the goliath grouper. Well, in our minds we saw them. LOL!

HUGE O THANKS to Grier for lending me his extra regulator with computer. Although a bit leary about using others equipment, his is in excellent condition.

Thanks to Marvel who must of been doing a lot of praying on the trip down to get there on time..Actually we both were...great music a blarring thro those factory speakers! Marvel you were great company down and back and the time flew. So sorry that you didn't get to dive, but you will be rewarded someday.

Rick and Angie, thanks for setting this up. You did good picking the dive op who catered to our wishes. Truely no stress diving as they claim. I wasn't too sure how I was gonna switch out tanks and look down and not get sick, when Brian and the DM appeared and offered to switch it out for me so I could concentrate at looking at the horizen. Awesome!

Rebecca and Chris- Pleasure diving with you again. Looking forward to an email with a picture.

Joe. Good meeting ya, and look forward to doing some more diving.

And last but not least my buddies, Andy and Grier. It was a wonderful experience diving with ya. And look forward to doing it again.

Dinner at Hobos was refreshing and fun as any post dive SI should be. The beer from Key West was excellent and the food good.

 

[BIGSAGE136]

I was glad to meet the faces on the other side of the avatars, and as always it was good to meet you guys. Since 1) the captain wanted to call due to wind 2) I was traveling with my reclusive dearly beloved, and 3) I will be there next weekend to dive the Grove any ways, we hit Key West.

All in all it was trully a wonderful weekend.

Jenny, I am glad you got my message. I also left a message for the Captain so the group rate should have been solid.

The thumb is definetly up on Neptunes by the way. Good call there!