NEW YEAR'S EVE dives on the USCGC DUANE, pics,,,,,,,,,,,,

[OceanEyes]

Some very nice photographs reefman. Makes me wish that I were there. Wait a minute…
It's 5:15 in the morning, and I'm about to hop in my trusty Subaru and make the drive from Miami down to Key Largo to join some friends for AM dives on the Duane and Bibb. At least that's the plan. NOAA posted a small craft advisory this morning, and predicts that seas will be 4 to 7 feet. Might have to settle for plan B, whatever that may be. Plan C may call for sheltered inshore reefs. If we get to plan D, late breakfast at Waffle House, I'll probably pull the plug and head back to Miami.

 

[timg]

Some very nice photographs reefman. Makes me wish that I were there. Wait a minute…
It's 5:15 in the morning, and I'm about to hop in my trusty Subaru and make the drive from Miami down to Key Largo to join some friends for AM dives on the Duane and Bibb. At least that's the plan. NOAA posted a small craft advisory this morning, and predicts that seas will be 4 to 7 feet. Might have to settle for plan B, whatever that may be. Plan C may call for sheltered inshore reefs. If we get to plan D, late breakfast at Waffle House, I'll probably pull the plug and head back to Miami.

Thank you OceanEyes. Hope you get to dive today.

 

[OceanEyes]

Strong current and high seas led us to abandon our original goal of diving the Bibb and Duane, so plan B had us moor on the Spiegel Grove for a double dip. Ours was the first boat to arrive at the site, and thus we chose our favored mooring on the port side crane. Seas were big enough to make for a rather “sporty” day on the water. In fact half of our ship’s company opted not to make the second dive as the young lady with us was unwell, and the gentlemen simply vomited.


On the up side, only one other vessel ventured out to the site and they arrived just as we were finishing our first dive and were gone before the end of our surface interval. Thus we four lucky souls who remained hale and hearty had the entire wreck to ourselves. First dive offered a slight south running current, with decent water clarity, and my computers showed a surprisingly balmy 75 degree water temperature. Current increased for the second dive, and water was much more milky, thus creating a hazy, somewhat spooky atmosphere that I find quite becoming. Large creature highlights included the usual barracuda, schools of Horse-eye Jacks and Spadefish, a lone reef shark, and a trio of Goliath Grouper. We were quite pleased not to have seen any Lionfish at all. As the boat returned to the dock with all hands and most of the equipment, it was a good day.