DEEPLOU
Contributor
- Messages
- 766
- Reaction score
- 14
- # of dives
- 1000 - 2499
Although the dives were not local, I am.
Had a busy Feb. Drove to Fl on 2/5, got there on monday afternoon. Tues dove Boyntan Beach reefs. They had indicated they had lousy weather for most of Jan. But I was there just in time to catch a break. It was flat, but air was cool especially for Florida. Water was about 70 deg, and the air was about the same maybe a degree or two less. Vis was in the 40-50 range. Saw several morays, green and spotted. Also since this is not sancuary, hunting is acceptable (if u have license). I managed to bag one spiney bug.
The next day, Wed, took drive down to Largo. Although I wanted to do the Speigel Grove, no one was doing it that morning so I opted to do the Duane. It was much better than the last time i did it. There was minimal current, the vis was good. Off the stbd. bow were many sharks all lined up. Unfortunately, they were a little too far off to positively identify what kind. (although everyone seems to think there have been Bulls hanging around there). Air and surface temps were about the same as the day before, but there was overcast so no sunlight, that meant no warming up during surface interval. The second dive was on shallow reef, only 28 feet. As result of not warming up between dives, both myself and fella i was buddied with chilled out after only 30 min. Both of us returned to the boat with more than a half a tank left.
Thurs, skipped diving, due to a communications error. But got out again on Fri off Boyntan Beach. This time got my bug skills a little more tuned. Unfortunately, the first one still got away, but at least I was finding them. On the second dive, I picked up three. The first one was just about legeal, the second one was big enough that it didn't even need to be measured. The third after I got it into my snare, I realized it was too small. When I got on the boat, I found that instead of two bugs in the bag, I only had one. The draw string on the bottom of the bag opened up and one of the bugs, the smaller one, got away. Oh well, there was still enough for dinner for one.
Back at the dock, turned on the cell phone. There were several urgent messages from my wife (still in NY) about the storm for Sat night, could I fly home tonight. After contacting her and letting her know it was unwise to fly so soon after diving, I was booked on first flight out Sat morning. This gave me 19 hours before flying.
Got home in time to spend 4 hours digging out the driveway Sunday night. Then it was time to get ready to fly back to Fl. We were scheduled for a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale on Sat, the 18th. We flew down two days early on Thurs night (that's another story). This enabled me to do another dive off Boyntan beach. And yes, another bug. This day, however, it was sunny and warm.
Then the cruise. We went to Costa Maya, Mexico; Limon, Costa Rica; and Colon, Panama.
Costa Maya was the only place I could hood up with a dive operator. The water was clear, warm but rough outside the main reef. The marine life was not that pleantiful, but the formations of the coral were interesting with deep canyons between the coral fingers.
Costa Rica was white water rafting in the mountains, and in Panama it was a mello kyak trip on Gaton Lake (part of Panama Canal system)
Now its back and waiting for the local season to start.
Had a busy Feb. Drove to Fl on 2/5, got there on monday afternoon. Tues dove Boyntan Beach reefs. They had indicated they had lousy weather for most of Jan. But I was there just in time to catch a break. It was flat, but air was cool especially for Florida. Water was about 70 deg, and the air was about the same maybe a degree or two less. Vis was in the 40-50 range. Saw several morays, green and spotted. Also since this is not sancuary, hunting is acceptable (if u have license). I managed to bag one spiney bug.
The next day, Wed, took drive down to Largo. Although I wanted to do the Speigel Grove, no one was doing it that morning so I opted to do the Duane. It was much better than the last time i did it. There was minimal current, the vis was good. Off the stbd. bow were many sharks all lined up. Unfortunately, they were a little too far off to positively identify what kind. (although everyone seems to think there have been Bulls hanging around there). Air and surface temps were about the same as the day before, but there was overcast so no sunlight, that meant no warming up during surface interval. The second dive was on shallow reef, only 28 feet. As result of not warming up between dives, both myself and fella i was buddied with chilled out after only 30 min. Both of us returned to the boat with more than a half a tank left.
Thurs, skipped diving, due to a communications error. But got out again on Fri off Boyntan Beach. This time got my bug skills a little more tuned. Unfortunately, the first one still got away, but at least I was finding them. On the second dive, I picked up three. The first one was just about legeal, the second one was big enough that it didn't even need to be measured. The third after I got it into my snare, I realized it was too small. When I got on the boat, I found that instead of two bugs in the bag, I only had one. The draw string on the bottom of the bag opened up and one of the bugs, the smaller one, got away. Oh well, there was still enough for dinner for one.
Back at the dock, turned on the cell phone. There were several urgent messages from my wife (still in NY) about the storm for Sat night, could I fly home tonight. After contacting her and letting her know it was unwise to fly so soon after diving, I was booked on first flight out Sat morning. This gave me 19 hours before flying.
Got home in time to spend 4 hours digging out the driveway Sunday night. Then it was time to get ready to fly back to Fl. We were scheduled for a cruise out of Ft. Lauderdale on Sat, the 18th. We flew down two days early on Thurs night (that's another story). This enabled me to do another dive off Boyntan beach. And yes, another bug. This day, however, it was sunny and warm.
Then the cruise. We went to Costa Maya, Mexico; Limon, Costa Rica; and Colon, Panama.
Costa Maya was the only place I could hood up with a dive operator. The water was clear, warm but rough outside the main reef. The marine life was not that pleantiful, but the formations of the coral were interesting with deep canyons between the coral fingers.
Costa Rica was white water rafting in the mountains, and in Panama it was a mello kyak trip on Gaton Lake (part of Panama Canal system)
Now its back and waiting for the local season to start.
