Every once in a while I figure Im due a treat. I guess that was the thinking when Jo and I booked a trip on the Nekton Rorqual. The itinerary included a southern Bahamas run to the Cay Sal banks, with some diving near Bimini and Cat Cay on the route to and from. The boat departs from Ft Lauderdale which, for us, means no flight arrangements, airport strip searches, or man-handled baggage. It also means I can cut the grass at 3:00 in the afternoon, then board the Nekton ship a couple of hours later for the first briefing. Odd tho it seems the grass needs to be cut again!
The Operation: These folks do what they do very well. Van service (we parked at the remote i.e., cheap airport lot) was on-time and personable. A stop off for last minute supplies at a Winn Dixie is a nice touch for travelers. Lots of able crew carry your bags. Each passenger is greeted by a crew member who escorts you to a cabin, walks you through the marine head & shower routines, provides info about hot water and AC (both are plentiful), and offers some nice tips about the ship. Soon, the Captain (Nelson) calls for a general boat briefing during which we learn the protocol for customs & immigration, the safety features on the ship, how meals and evening presentations will work, etcetcetc. There is also a general dive briefing and a review of procedures for nitrox divers. Lots of opportunities for questions they are very good at that let no question go unasked, these folks are good about not making assumptions, and making sure the guests do not face any surprises.
The Conditions: We were blessed. Seas were wonderfully cooperative during our trip. Only once did we see anything that resembled 3-4 and that was off Bimini as a localized storm cell traveled by. Twice we saw winds between 20-25 knots, but that too involved temporary weather. Those who know about the Nekton boats (and multihulls in general) know that these boats are designed to ride stable in rough seas. The boats ride flat even in bad weather, but the trip conditions we had never tested the Rorquals ability to handle seas. Water temps were nice & warm, sometimes dipping all the way to 84 degrees, with highs of 87 on a couple of shallow dives. No need to add neoprene as the week wore on instead I dropped the polartec suit on the 3d day and ended up using only a skin. Currents came and went; we dove a few sites with up to ½ knot (Tuna Alley). Other sites had only enough current to have to pay attention, while still others had no current at all. Evenings gave us some beautiful sunsets (no green flashes) and at night there were gazillions of stars to be pondered. Lots of shooting stars. Saw a crescent moon rise at 3:30 am, followed the track of the North Star for a while, and still managed to get up for a couple of beautiful sunrises.
The Diving: The ship supplies steel 95s as the regular cylinder for divers; other options are available by request. This, of course, results in some very light weight belts for divers used to diving aluminum 80s. It also requires adjustment to dive planning since a full fill yields 2400 psi instead of 3000 a minor but necessary adjustment to planning your turn around pressures. We also requested nitrox, and their gas testing protocol is sound. Each fill is tested by a crew member and verified by the diver. I was pleased to see there were no short cuts there. The operation places limits on the nitrox however; users are limited to fills of 29-30%. The rationale is that this keeps everybodys PO2 within reason during deeper dives on walls and blue holes, but it also helps the operation manage a busy dive deck. However, not all dives are on walls and in holes; on many shallow dives I wished I had a 40% (or even a 36%) option to help off gas the multi-day N2 load. After a week of 4-6 dives a day (we totaled approximately 23 hours UW), the tissues can become pretty saturated, and I cant think of a better circumstance for a strategic use of nitrox mixes.
As you might expect, the diving is spectacular. Viz ranged from 50 to well over 150 out over the walls. The combination of sun, coral, white sand, and depths results in lots of changes in water colors, from deep blue (approaching coal gray) to a brilliant blue glitter. And of course there are fish. Big and little, slow and fast, pelagic and reef bound. Lobsters typically come out of their holes to wave antennae at you, and odd phenomenon for Florida divers. Crabs dont really go out of their way to hide. The hogfish were large and bold, feeding in grassbeds at Ladies Secret. Schools of jacks are frequent visitors, mackerel swim by occasionally, an occasional turtle shows up (a shell and bones found at The Playground), a couple of tarpon came to explore, a cubera snapper hiding in a school of school masters, a lone pompano, and then there were the triggers. While the queen trigger fish might be the most beautiful fish in the ocean, its the ocean trigger that you want to marry. They are curious. They have personality. They are just a bit cagey so that if you turn your back, theyll sneak in for a closer look. And, you can trick them. I found a blue plastic clothespin on a dive, and it became the most fascinating thing that must be seen by a trigger. The trigger would pretend to swim by without looking at it, but just never let it leave her peripheral vision. Swim away, but sneak back. Cruise by, but circle around. Turn her head away, but focus one eye on it. On a later dive I also used The Magical Swirling Glove to entice a few triggers to visit, but nothing worked as well as that blue plastic clothespin. Ill have to add that to my dive kit.
Did I mention there were sharks? Ooops, how could I forget. On several sites we saw sharks (Sistine Chapel, Elbow Cay wall), usually at a distance, often swimming up from a wall or from a blue hole. But at one site where they are sometimes fed (Big Blue Hole), the sharks were quite willing to approach divers and pose for pictures. Beautiful creatures! Captain Nelson of the Rorqual does not feed them, so divers do not have to deal with that craziness, but the sharks are present, and they are not shy. I saw reefs, and a couple of reef black tips. Another group saw a large hammerhead, and of course a few nurses were spotted during the trip.
When You Arent Diving: There are times between dives when other things happen. Like eating (Brett is a fantastic cook!). Or visiting with other passengers we met Jeff, another ScubaBoard family member, and his Remora date for the week. Or looking at the myriad videos and photos that divers take. The best of the best are culled and presented on the final evening, and Jeffs work held a prominent place in the showing in fact his crab took top honors! This was Jos first attempt at UW pix, so she played mightily with auto cleanup functions during our surface intervals, a no-no for the photo contest, but a great way to learn the pros and cons of light/contrast/shades, etc. Another thing that happens each evening is a presentation by crew members. This included traditional slides as well as Powerpoint presentations about sharks, turtles, and my new obsession: tunicates! Since this report is becoming an epic, there will be a whole other post about tunicates coming, but if you dont have any tunicate history, go learn as much as you can!
So a week of Bahamas diving is done, and the grass at home needs to be cut again. I guess that isnt a bad trade.
The Operation: These folks do what they do very well. Van service (we parked at the remote i.e., cheap airport lot) was on-time and personable. A stop off for last minute supplies at a Winn Dixie is a nice touch for travelers. Lots of able crew carry your bags. Each passenger is greeted by a crew member who escorts you to a cabin, walks you through the marine head & shower routines, provides info about hot water and AC (both are plentiful), and offers some nice tips about the ship. Soon, the Captain (Nelson) calls for a general boat briefing during which we learn the protocol for customs & immigration, the safety features on the ship, how meals and evening presentations will work, etcetcetc. There is also a general dive briefing and a review of procedures for nitrox divers. Lots of opportunities for questions they are very good at that let no question go unasked, these folks are good about not making assumptions, and making sure the guests do not face any surprises.
The Conditions: We were blessed. Seas were wonderfully cooperative during our trip. Only once did we see anything that resembled 3-4 and that was off Bimini as a localized storm cell traveled by. Twice we saw winds between 20-25 knots, but that too involved temporary weather. Those who know about the Nekton boats (and multihulls in general) know that these boats are designed to ride stable in rough seas. The boats ride flat even in bad weather, but the trip conditions we had never tested the Rorquals ability to handle seas. Water temps were nice & warm, sometimes dipping all the way to 84 degrees, with highs of 87 on a couple of shallow dives. No need to add neoprene as the week wore on instead I dropped the polartec suit on the 3d day and ended up using only a skin. Currents came and went; we dove a few sites with up to ½ knot (Tuna Alley). Other sites had only enough current to have to pay attention, while still others had no current at all. Evenings gave us some beautiful sunsets (no green flashes) and at night there were gazillions of stars to be pondered. Lots of shooting stars. Saw a crescent moon rise at 3:30 am, followed the track of the North Star for a while, and still managed to get up for a couple of beautiful sunrises.
The Diving: The ship supplies steel 95s as the regular cylinder for divers; other options are available by request. This, of course, results in some very light weight belts for divers used to diving aluminum 80s. It also requires adjustment to dive planning since a full fill yields 2400 psi instead of 3000 a minor but necessary adjustment to planning your turn around pressures. We also requested nitrox, and their gas testing protocol is sound. Each fill is tested by a crew member and verified by the diver. I was pleased to see there were no short cuts there. The operation places limits on the nitrox however; users are limited to fills of 29-30%. The rationale is that this keeps everybodys PO2 within reason during deeper dives on walls and blue holes, but it also helps the operation manage a busy dive deck. However, not all dives are on walls and in holes; on many shallow dives I wished I had a 40% (or even a 36%) option to help off gas the multi-day N2 load. After a week of 4-6 dives a day (we totaled approximately 23 hours UW), the tissues can become pretty saturated, and I cant think of a better circumstance for a strategic use of nitrox mixes.
As you might expect, the diving is spectacular. Viz ranged from 50 to well over 150 out over the walls. The combination of sun, coral, white sand, and depths results in lots of changes in water colors, from deep blue (approaching coal gray) to a brilliant blue glitter. And of course there are fish. Big and little, slow and fast, pelagic and reef bound. Lobsters typically come out of their holes to wave antennae at you, and odd phenomenon for Florida divers. Crabs dont really go out of their way to hide. The hogfish were large and bold, feeding in grassbeds at Ladies Secret. Schools of jacks are frequent visitors, mackerel swim by occasionally, an occasional turtle shows up (a shell and bones found at The Playground), a couple of tarpon came to explore, a cubera snapper hiding in a school of school masters, a lone pompano, and then there were the triggers. While the queen trigger fish might be the most beautiful fish in the ocean, its the ocean trigger that you want to marry. They are curious. They have personality. They are just a bit cagey so that if you turn your back, theyll sneak in for a closer look. And, you can trick them. I found a blue plastic clothespin on a dive, and it became the most fascinating thing that must be seen by a trigger. The trigger would pretend to swim by without looking at it, but just never let it leave her peripheral vision. Swim away, but sneak back. Cruise by, but circle around. Turn her head away, but focus one eye on it. On a later dive I also used The Magical Swirling Glove to entice a few triggers to visit, but nothing worked as well as that blue plastic clothespin. Ill have to add that to my dive kit.
Did I mention there were sharks? Ooops, how could I forget. On several sites we saw sharks (Sistine Chapel, Elbow Cay wall), usually at a distance, often swimming up from a wall or from a blue hole. But at one site where they are sometimes fed (Big Blue Hole), the sharks were quite willing to approach divers and pose for pictures. Beautiful creatures! Captain Nelson of the Rorqual does not feed them, so divers do not have to deal with that craziness, but the sharks are present, and they are not shy. I saw reefs, and a couple of reef black tips. Another group saw a large hammerhead, and of course a few nurses were spotted during the trip.
When You Arent Diving: There are times between dives when other things happen. Like eating (Brett is a fantastic cook!). Or visiting with other passengers we met Jeff, another ScubaBoard family member, and his Remora date for the week. Or looking at the myriad videos and photos that divers take. The best of the best are culled and presented on the final evening, and Jeffs work held a prominent place in the showing in fact his crab took top honors! This was Jos first attempt at UW pix, so she played mightily with auto cleanup functions during our surface intervals, a no-no for the photo contest, but a great way to learn the pros and cons of light/contrast/shades, etc. Another thing that happens each evening is a presentation by crew members. This included traditional slides as well as Powerpoint presentations about sharks, turtles, and my new obsession: tunicates! Since this report is becoming an epic, there will be a whole other post about tunicates coming, but if you dont have any tunicate history, go learn as much as you can!
So a week of Bahamas diving is done, and the grass at home needs to be cut again. I guess that isnt a bad trade.
