Tuesday Night 6/8 Hibiscus St

[Former FLL Now MSP Diver]

Uh oh.

Current Weather at 5:05pm.

86°F
Partly Cloudy Feels Like 93°F
UV Index: 4 Low
Dew Point: 73°F
Humidity: 65%
Visibility: 10.0 miles
Pressure: 30.09 inches and steady
Wind: From the East at 16 mph

Check out the wind. 16 mph...from the east. That'll be kicking up a few waves.

Marc

 

[chuck41]

Great dive. That surf kinda wore me out a bit, and the vis on the first reef was kinda murky, but the second was better. I took lots of pictures. Will let you know if they come out. Unfortunately I will not get them back for a few days. Saw lots of fish I had not seen before and some smiled for me when I took their pictures. Thanks for the great comraderie. Hope to dive with you again next trip if not later this week.
Chuck

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Hey Chuck, nice meeting you. Good seeing Tammy again, and of course always a good to dive with Grier. Mike, well, I owe ya one or two..
Ok, so the surf was a little rough.
(Sung to the tune of Rhinestone Cowboy)
"Like a neoprene Cowgirl,
Getting caught in the surf
without inflating her Bee Cee Deee
Neoprene Cowgirl...."
The usual critters were out and about. vis was maybe 20+ on the second reef (which is actually the first reef, but we won't get into that right now...), big trigger fish, queen angelfish, golden moray, yellow stingrays, damsel fish, bluehead wrassee, and a big yellow shark. The problem with the shark is that it would swim up behind me and try to steal my fins...I dunno, he had a couple already, don't know why he wanted mine....
Good diving, glad I went and didn't see Marcs post until just now...

 

[Marvel]

Signed,

The Red-headed Stepchild....

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Ummm Marvel, I believe you are blonde...
I am so very sorry that you were excluded from diving with us. It just wasn't the same without you and seeing your black and yellow wetsuit peering under crevices. The excitement of the dive was lacking without your presence.
Next time, I will make sure I personally call you and make sure you are invited personally to dive in your back yard..
Please accept my apologies for this horrible blunder.
(enough of the guilt already )
Oh, and Marvel, you are a wonderful hostess and a blessing to all us divers living where you live, no matter what that neighbor of yours does when he leaves in a couple months (the bum!)

 

[Marvel]

Ummm Marvel, I believe you are blonde...
I am so very sorry that you were excluded from diving with us. It just wasn't the same without you and seeing your black and yellow wetsuit peering under crevices. The excitement of the dive was lacking without your presence.
Next time, I will make sure I personally call you and make sure you are invited personally to dive in your back yard..
Please accept my apologies for this horrible blunder.
(enough of the guilt already )
Oh, and Marvel, you are a wonderful hostess and a blessing to all us divers living where you live, no matter what that neighbor of yours does when he leaves in a couple months (the bum!)

Ha! I'm milking this for all it's worth!!! Furthermore- it appears as if the rumors of my neighbor's upcoming move are not true!!!

 

[GrierHPharmD]

Hi folks, there's not much to add, but I'll throw my two cents in. (Surprise!)

I'm really glad that I was able to make this dive. As Jenny said above, we always have great dives together, even when conditions are less than perfect. (I still can't get over expecting good conditions for a dive. In my former life, if it was warm enough to get in, if you could find a buddy, if you could get off work, if you could see your hand in front of your face, it was considered a good dive. By those criteria, this one was spectacular!)

This was my first evening/night dive off of Hibiscus, and I learned a few things:

1. Check the batteries in your lights. No, change that. Put NEW batteries in your lights before going out in low light conditions. I took two lights that looked pretty bright while I was gearing up, only to have them die quickly. Luckily this was an evening, not a complete night dive.

2. The viz gets much better past the Swiss Cheese. It's worth the little bit of extra swimming to get there. (I know Mike's saying, "Finally, he gets it!" )

3. There are a helluva lot of fish and critters that come out as the sun goes down. The corals open up, the fish are playing, hunting, flirting, and, in general, much more active. We saw lots and lots of bugs who came out just to flip us off(Just you guys wait till the mini-season!), and in general had great conditions.

4. I, for one, would probably feel more comfortable in low light if everybody carried a light or glowstick and stayed a little closer together. I was a little uncomfortable not being able to see all of the group, as I always worry about somebody running out of air, getting entangled, running into a bull, etc. Call it novice's paranoia.

5. This is the most important point: ALWAYS CALL MARVEL IF YOU ARE DIVING AT HIBISCUS! Marvel, I just assumed that you had read the thread and were busy. I'm sorry that we didn't try harder. Your presence was missed.

Tammy and Chuck, it was great to meet you guys.

Chuck, I hope you'll consider diving with us either when you return from your cruise or the next time you come down this way. (I can't wait to see the photos you shot yesterday!)

Tammy, I'm sorry I didn't have too much time to socialize. Next time I won't stack my schedule so tightly. I really think you should join us on Saturday for the cleanup. It's going to be a blast.

Mike, as always, you were the perfect host. (I came straight from work and did a Clark Kent in Mike's bathroom. What are friends for?)

And Jenny, as I've said before, every dive together is a pleasure. Thanks for setting this one up and telling me to get my butt up there and dive. It sure was better than spending a late afternoon at the office.

Best wishes and safe ascents to all,
Grier

 

[MikeJacobs]

Hey Chuck, nice meeting you. Good seeing Tammy again, and of course always a good to dive with Grier. Mike, well, I owe ya one or two..
Ok, so the surf was a little rough...SNIP...

Understatement... that sucked! Of course, the company of the dive-team made up for it. Thanks all I had a blast anyway! Maybe shore-dive conditions will deteriorate further and we can do it again real soon lol...

 

[GrierHPharmD]

It's always fun to bust a few wave-broncos with you Mike. I think it's time to corral a few sea veal. Where's Colin when we need him?

(Damn it! Jenny's got that "Neoprene Cowgirl" song running through my head now. It's almost as bad as a few weeks ago when she was singing "What if God was one of us?" as we were gearing up. Try to dive with that looping through the old brain...

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

Understatement... that sucked! Of course, the company of the dive-team made up for it. Thanks all I had a blast anyway! Maybe shore-dive conditions will deteriorate further and we can do it again real soon lol...

MIke, slight correction...Venice Beach was tough diving...in comparison, this was easy

Grier, I can't believe you brought that song up again...now its stuck in MY head! AARRRGGGHHHH
:dazzler1: What if God was one of us.... :dazzler1: