Signed up for Flower Garden trip Feb 18th 2012

[element]

Been in Dallas for 7 years now and finally getting off my butt to dive the flower Garden. I am so excited but have to see if my drysuit seals are stil good. Have not used my dry suit since moving away from Boston. Any one else signed up for the Fling Charter? I signed up through ISG.

 

[element]

My seals tested good. Also went and bought my wife a drysuit so hope she has a good and warm time too. Been thinking about the dry suit for her since she is so thin and gets cold even in Cozumel where I where just shorts. Heard good things about the flower garden and hope the weather holds. We do a week of wreck diving each year in NC and hope I can brag about the flower garden on that trip this year when i meet up with my old pals from the MWDC. Young at heart pals?

 

[Aquatrax]

Enjoy the trip, let us know the details when you return!

 

[Jax]

Is this a liveaboard?

 

[redacted]

Yes. Not "luxury" but great diving and not too expensive. Fling Charters

For folks who have to fly in, spring trips are risky with many being cancelled due to weather. summer trips are pretty reliable.

 

[element]

Yep , as awap stated above the Fling is a live aboard. The plan is for 2 days of diving ( up to 7 dives) . We head out of port friday night and when we wake up we should be on the reef 110 miles or so offshore. We should be back to port by 6pm according to the website. Should make for a nice weekend .

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Best wishes on the trip running.

 

[Guba]

I think you'll find the FG to be a great experience. Because of its location (well isolated from the near-coastal region), it truly is one of the most "pristine" reef environments on the planet. That is not to say that it has the greatest biodiversity, but the benthic cover exceeds almost all other reefs in this hemisphere, and the ecosystem is healthier than nearly all of the others. I think you'll be impressed by the differences between FG East, FG West, and Stetson Banks, and hopefully you'll get a chance for a dive on High Island 369 (the oil platform in the corner of the NMS) as well as a good night dive. I find those to be particularly exciting and filled with life that you don't see during the daytime.

By the way, have you visited the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary website? Welcome to Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary It could provide quite a bit of information that would be good to know before you go.

Have a great trip, and be sure to post a trip report when you get back!

 

[element]

Down to a few days. Hope the weather accommodates us. Now performing the first of many "give me good weather dances". Not suitable for youtube...... . Trying to not over pack. Really, do I need 3 masks? 4 flashlights......oh where to draw the line.

 

[Guba]

I gotta tell ya', draw that line pretty darned close to "essentials". Your personal space will be roughly six feet long by two feet wide by two feet high...your bunk. Inside your curtained bunk space you will have a small reading light and hopefully a "hammock" style net on the wall. While it's true that most of your diving/camera gear will be outside on the gear deck and you can keep extra dive gear there, your space out there is restricted to what can fit under your seat. (tank, BC, regs are left connected for the duration of the trip. Your wetsuit will be hanging up on bars on the central part of the gear area.) My advice is take only what you absolutely MUST have. I might carry a spare mask and maybe maybe another reg, but that's about it. Pare it down to the basics if you can. That bunk area is awfully tiny.

By the way...keep doing those weather dances.

From the NWS for the Gulf of Mexico, 110 miles out
"SAT
W OF FRONT WINDS INCREASING TO 20 TO 25 KT. SEAS BUILDING
TO 4 TO 7 FT. E OF FRONT S TO SW WINDS 10 TO 15 KT. SEAS 3 TO 4
FT."

Not looking too promising, pardna', but keep the faith. It's marginal, but not truly discouraging...yet.


Have fun!