wow.... what a weekend!!! Al/Scuba_Dad summed it up perfectly with the weather. The viz I saw on the Breakers and at the Trench seemed much better then 40-50, but heck.... that man's been in the water a whole lot longer than me. My computer read 79° on all four dives. I had an AMAZING group with me all weekend. WhiteKnight5X5 brought down another one of his groups, 18 in total for the AM dive (I think
). I got to dive with all the AOW guys and Shane and Chad (Instructors) got busy getting 12 freshies certified. Woooohooooo, what a fun group of guys (and one chickie....hehehehe, can't leave her out) everyone was amazingly excited a constant reminder to me why I love what I do.. (I can't wait to dive with these guys again.... way funny and loads of bald guys)
The pm dive, was just as much fun with the same exact weather conditions. Little "Miss Thing" aka KBeck saved our (crew) butts this weekend BIG TIME.. man, that girl rocks at being a deck hand. She worked harder and faster then I could ever have imagined, often anticipating what I or the Captain needed before we even knew we needed it. *note, don't ever let that well dressed nicely spoken woman fool you, she gets down and dirty with the best of us
... Thanks Krista... girl you rock!!
Sunday started out pretty rough for me when I found my truck with smashed windows and missing camera. We got off to a late start because of this, but no one seemed to mind when I finally made it to the dock... Good thing for me, this was the day dive dreams are made of. With my husband at my side working the deck and driving the boat on and off, things weren't nearly as bad as they could have been.
We didn't have any student diver on aboard so we headed North to what is now known (thanks to Whiteknight5x5/Shane for naming it for us) as Minor Major. This is my personal favorite site in all of Florida, also the first time we've ever taken a group out there (it's usually our little hide away for crew dives) I get pretty stingy with this site because of it's beauty, depth, and enormous sized fish. For the most part, I seriously discourage trips there only out of fear of someone tearing up such a glorious reef. The group that comes down from the Orlando area (C & N Divers) have always been an exception. Even their students rock. Must be something in the water they drink up there... hehehehhe, that shop and those Instructors' really must love what they do, I have yet to see one of their guys do something silly enough for me to complain. It's refreshing to see someone put so much of themselves into their students. (Kudos guys)
Back on track.... We drop down to the reef ledge about 90 feet, viz is at least 80-100 feet (horz) water temp at 76°, once again completely flat seas. Very mild North current and big fish every where. Group one made friends with a turtle (not fair I assure you
), my group ran into the biggest dang turtle I've ever seen in my life. His head was bigger then mine. I crept up onto him for a better look (not touching .... I swear!), that was one cranky fellow. He popped his head up and looked at me and call it ESP, but that turtle told me, "So help me God lady, if you touch me, I WILL bite you" needless to say, I backed away. What a beaut! , he certainly didn't get that big letting people play with him.
Beautifully wonderful days at the office this weekend, followed up by making some really great new friends. Thank you Shane and Chad for lending me a cot for some well needed sleep and the great advice about putting one foot on the floor.
