I am doing the Sunday update as Kevin was out of commission for the day.
The forecast was calling for 2’ – 4’ building to 3’ – 5’ in the afternoon. Well, the 3’ – 5’ started coming in a bit early. There were 4 of us on the boat. There were two of Kev’s regulars, Joystershell & myself.
Despite the sea conditions Captain Alex made the day a great one.
We did the first dive on Club House. We weren’t sure which way the current was running, so Alex put us in where we could go either North or South. As it turned out there was a very light North current.
Visibility was really bad when we got in. The water was a pea soup green, and I couldn’t see more than 10’. Once we dropped below 20’ we discovered that it was a layer of bad water at the top. The water below the layer was blue, and vis was 50’ – 60’. Water temps were very comfortable in the mid 80s.
I was shooting a new lens on the dives, so I was glad to see the clearer water below. Joystershell was hunting lobsters; one of the others was also shooting pictures, while the fourth diver was shooting video.
Saw lots of the usual fish. Butterflies, Angels, and Triggers galore. Joyster spotted a Nurse Shark cruising the top of the reef. We spotted a couple of lobsters, but both were shorts. There was also a very curious Green Moray out for a swim.
Dive two started out on Lynn’s, and then jumped over to Castle Ledge. A few minutes into the dive I spotted a cooperative Coronet fish. He let me photograph him for a while. He even let me change some settings to get better shots. Hopefully at least one of them comes out.
There was a nice section of the ledge that was teaming with Copper Sweepers. They are tough to shoot, but I think I managed a few decent pics.
The visibility started out the same as on the first dive. About half way through the dive we heard the rain overhead. After the shower passed the sun came out, and the visibility picked up. So did the current. What started out as a gentle North bound current shifted to a West bound current. We made the shift along the ledge and followed it with the current. As we went West we soon felt the current shift again. It was nearing the end of the dive so we decided to drift with it back to the South.
All in all it was a good day under water. I will hopefully have some pictures to post after I have a chance to go through them.