NOV Keys Family Reunion

[catra8104]

Again, what an awesome time!!! Anchor's chain was gorgeous!!! Saw a black angel with a yellow tail & I swear they were blue gems on it's back... Spectacular!!! Christ dive was great still, even though everyone else was complaining about the vis.. It's still better than I've ever dove before...

Up to 10 logged so far!!!

Silent World was excellent... Great prep & info.. Wonderful captain & crew!!! I can't thank them enough for making me feel comfortable on my first Atlantic dives...

Sorry I don't have any pics.. :depressed: Camera got waterlogged on very first dive.. At least I can get a new one... Glad hubby bought the replacement warranty..

Becky, you're marvelous!!! Glad I can call you friend... Without you it would have been a lot longer before I got to see the splendor of the keys..

I'm psyched, can you tell???
TTFN

 

[catra8104]

Theresa, where's the one of me being reverent??? Hubby just said I was being disrespectful...

It was wonderful to meet you btw... Had a blast..

And Mr Lee, Reef Haven, and the Brewskis...

Is it time for the next one yet???

 

[Speargirl]

Here's to everyone for a Great Weekend:grouphug:

I had a GREAT time diving with everyone Great friends and diving what else is there. The sea's were not always on our side but that did'nt stop us we had a blast. Whats that saying Men and Weather
Theresa as always no party or dive would be complete without you. I could not ask for a better friend than you.:kiss2:
Catra it was wonderful diving with you. Had you not told me you were a newbie I would have never known, you dive like you have been diving for years. I like diving with people who really do love the sport of diving, seeing your face when you saw for the first time what diivng is all about what just fantastic you were like a little kid at christmas. I would dive with you anyday my friend.
To everyone else that came thank you so much it was wonderful to see everyone on the boat having a great time.

A BIG thank you to Silent World as always you guys Rock. Captain John was great he made sure we were well taken care of on the boat. His funny wit and personality was great
Becky

 

[Reef_Haven]

Hi Becky,
I had a great time. It was nice meeting everyone, especially your two sons. Norman was very entertaining too.
Nice job on the potluck, everything was great. I was half way home when I realized I forgot to swipe your smoked fish dip
Mr. Lee thanks for the Bailey's, it was great with eggnog icecream. Good luck with law school, if you decide to go into criminal law; I hope I never need your services.
Teresa, nice meeting you. Thanks for posting the photos. Hope to see you Saturday at BHB.
The Brewskis, thanks for sharing all your photos; hope you can post some of the Spiegel Grove, nice shots. I really liked the flag photos. Hope to dive with you in California, next time I'm there.
Caroline, good seeing you again. Nice to meet your husband. I'll try to bring the boat down to Venice soon so we can dive the boneyard.

 

[Reef_Haven]

Now for the dive reports.
Friday afternoon I dove Mike's Wreck followed by South South Ledges.
Mike's Wreck has been down for a long time, maybe 150 years. It covers a large area and is adjacent to a nice reef system. As soon as I splashed in I saw it was going to be a great dive, nearly 100 ft viz. I immediately came upon a small loggerhead only about a foot across. He reminded me of SQUIRT from the FINDING NEMO movie.
As I approached the wreck, a 3' goliath spotted me and came right up to me. It stayed with me for several minutes, actually rubbing against me and letting me pet him/her. Later I spotted a nice 5' nurse shark resting under a ledge. It let me approach very slowly to within a foot or so. There were lobster and barracuda on every reef dive as well as all the usual reef fish.
South South Ledges is a spur and groove system, with long fingers extending out into the sand. Each finger was at least a 100' long with about 10'-15' foot relief. Saw a nice Green Moray at least 8' feet long. All of the reef dives were a good 1 hr of bottom time.

Saturday morning the winds and seas had picked up a bit. I chose to do a double dip on the Spiegel Grove. I was solo, so I buddied up with Derek and Carl. What an enormous ship, viz was about 60', even though the surface was rough, we had zero current on the ship. We dove the forward superstructure and the bow on the first dive, 30 mins. Then back to the boat for a rough 1 hr surface interval, seas picked up to about 4 - 7 feet.
The second dive was even better. We dove the cranes and trusses then the stearn and a swimthrough. Lots of nice growth and tropicals on the ship. It's really going to something in a few more years when all those corals get bigger.
Sunday the winds had calmed down a bit. Still another foiled attempt for Becky to try get to Carysfort. We dove the Anchor's Chain and Christ of the Abyss. Two more great reef dives, an hour a piece. Everyone had a great time.
Can't wait till my next visit.

 

[tltracy]

Theresa, where's the one of me being reverent???

Hey Carolyn... you weren't close enough to the statute, the picture had you on one side and the statute on the other, with TOO MUCH CRUD between. Next time you'll have to be directly at the feet, plus the further I was away the yuckier the pic... next time though.

I'll try to bring the boat down to Venice soon so we can dive the boneyard.

Ooo, oooo... pick me, pick me Looking forward to this weekend at Blue Heron.

 

[Brewski]

Nice meeting you guys, next time lets leave the NE winds at home ok?

 

[Speargirl]

Nice meeting you guys, next time lets leave the NE winds at home ok?

I thinking it was the peeps from Caliefornie who brought in the winds It was such a pleasure meeting Sue and also seeing you and Carrie again. You two are the best :kiss2:

 

[catra8104]

Theresa, guess it was kinda difficult to communicate where exactly you wanted me underwater, esp when my back was turned... I just wanted proof that I wasn't silly the whole time...

Again, thanks to everyone and what a great group we had!!!
It did feel like Christmas!!! No, not the weather.. All the new fish... I really loved the Angel in the evening gown competition...

 

[Missdirected]

What a wonderful time we had this weekend, it was nice to meet the new folks that joined this year. I can't say enough about Silent World. Anchor's Chain today was the best, although I didn't find the anchor or the chain but there was a sting ray, and beautiful clarity on the reefs.

Christ of the Abyss has to be one of my favorites, although the visibility was kind of cruddy, pictures didn't turn out toooo bad... AND I found a Lettuce Sea Slug :blinking:

Looking forward to getting together with everyone again soon.

Becky, you are the best, thank you for everything. :kiss2:

I know two people in the group shot, you know who you are, who are the others Theresa? Oh and do you have a shot of the sea slug?