Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain's Logs

[Aggressor Adventures]

Water Temperature: 84 - 86° F
Thermal Protection Recommendation: 3 mm
Visibility: 25 meters

Hello and Welcome on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor!! Boarding our floating hotel this week are Marcos & Marcia, Sasha & Joshua, Silvina & Jose and Alan.
Delicious snacks and cocktails welcomed our guests in the salon, where they chatted and made some new diving buddies.

We headed out of Turtle Cove Marina late Saturday afternoon, to calm seas and a beautiful sunset. Heading over to North West Point, our guests had time to settle in their cabins and familiarize themselves around the vessel. Phil, our Master Chef, prepared a mouth-watering meal, which was enjoyed by all.

We woke up with people eager to get wet. At a balmy 84 degrees, the water welcomed the divers at our first dive site, Eel Garden that is known for its sandy bottom where stretches of garden eels poke out of the sand. If approached slowly you can get close to see their periscope shaped heads looking out from side to side. Divers came back reporting sightings of Peterson cleaning shrimps, a large Nassau grouper and a barracuda meandering around under the boat - a nice one to see while hanging out completing your safety stop. There was also a green moray lurking under an outcrop that was spotted.

After lunch we moved onto our next dive site, The Dome. This is one of our more popular dive sites, especially for the small critters. The Dome structure is the remains of an interesting, somewhat dangerous TV show. Let’s just say that free diving and breathing compressed air should not be mixed. Our keen photographers were spoilt with lots of activity at various cleaning stations around the Dome. Swimming into it, very large Yellowline Arrow Crabs, with their lilac claws and long dangly legs were in abundance. This made an awesome night dive to end another day of eating, sleeping and diving! The evening was spent by some divers, curled up on the comfy sofas in our salon, with a DVD showing on our flat screen. Popcorn and a glass of wine was the final order of the day.

An early start, we left around 5:30am, heading for West Caicos. Keen onlookers were out and about looking for the flamingoes that are seen around here. Amanda, our Captain, briefed our guests about our next dive site, Elephant Ear Canyon. Heading over to the reef wall, you get a first glimpse of this expansive canyon floor sitting at around 95ft. With large outcroppings of reef floor and wall jutting out, it makes for a great site to see some of the larger inhabitants. Before even getting in the water, we saw some reef sharks very near the surface on the starboard side of the boat. Jose, a guest from Spain, was the mid morning entertainment on the upper sun deck. With The Bee Gees playing through the sound system, he was dancing away and having some fun. Chuckle Chuckle!!

Our afternoon and evening dive was spent at Gullies. As the boat hangs over the reef wall, right over the abyss, we jump in off into the deep blue. Peering down from the surface, aqua surrounds you. You get a sense of size…. just how small we really are out there. The great ocean, our home for those precious minutes while searching for the perfect photograph or moment with the creatures below. The Gulley itself has a nice swim through like ‘tunnel’, descending a few feet and opening out on the wall’s edge. “Sully”, our resident Caribbean reef shark, circled around a few of our divers towards the end of the dive. Jacks and other reef fish were milling about on the edge of the wall. Leigh, our Divemaster on board, and Alan, a guest, were lucky as Sully came in really close a few times and passed by with her black eye looming out at them.

The next day, we unhooked our lines from Gullies and moved south, a short distance, to ‘Rock Garden Interlude’. Captain Amanda gave a briefing, which got divers enthusiastic to get wet as soon as possible. Sasha, who has been enjoying her honeymoon with us this week, spotted a large scorpion fish, a great find with its detailed camouflage. On that note, Aggressor Fleet congratulates Sasha and Josh for choosing to spend their honeymoon with us.
Our trip, cut short by the approach of Hurricane Sandy, ended at the dive site of Black Forest. A final glimpse of the reef sharks and an abundance of yellow-headed jawfish gave our guests a final treat. Lobsters and crabs peeped out from the nooks and crannies of the wall. An early but great end to the week. We hope that our guests will return in more clement weather to enjoy the other delights that our islands have to offer.

Your crew this week were… Captain Amanda, Engineer Rob, Steward Rosie, Divemaster Leigh and Chef Phil.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Nov 3 – 10, 2012 Captain’s Report
Water Temperature: 82 - 84° F
Thermal Protection: 3 mm suit ideal, with hooded vest for those prone to getting cold.
Visibility: Various, this week between 40-80 ft

Saturday 3^rd November
Greeted personally by crew upon arrival at the airport, our guests this week were Martha & Jeffrey, Amy & Dale, Richard & Katherine, Mary Jo & Peter, Tim, Susan & Steven, Stephen & Cindy, Mike, Stephen and Paul.

Boarding the vessel that afternoon our intrepid aquatic explorers where settled in to both their rooms and dive lockers before moving upstairs to the upper deck to enjoy a drink. A little later all our guests headed downstairs to the salon for a more formal meet and greet with crew before being served their evening meal of pan seared chicken breast with caramelized onion and mushroom ragout, served with herbed roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli, all followed by warm chocolate brownie with ice cream!

Sunday 4^th November
With Sandy having passed and the tide just right, we set sail early on Sunday morning under a blue sky, passing one of the marinas resident ospreys, preening on a ‘no wake’ sign we wound our way out of the marina toward the open ocean and onto North West Point, our first Port of Call.

A full breakfast served during travel, we moored up at Eel Garden and briefs were given both for the ‘back deck’ procedures that make the week run smoothly and safely, and also on the dive site itself, with crew taking the opportunity to get artistic with a detailed and somewhat colorful dive map. With some of our guests having a little less experience than others, and with this being the first dive of the trip we put 2 crewmembers into the water to assist with getting our guests comfortable and happy with the environment. Eel Garden has (as its name would suggest) a large colony of garden eels living within the large sand area around the mooring, the wall is just a few fin kicks away, 2 dives here in the morning and a great way to start the trip.

That afternoon we moved the short distance to ‘Black Forest’ to visit the amphitheatre style scooped out overhang with its black corals, yellow headed jawfish, lobster and sharks. Fuelling up on a lunch that included Coconut and Squash soup and Creamy Pesto Shrimp Penne we were set to stay here for both day and dusk dives AND a night dive. 3 dives really gives guests the opportunity to thoroughly investigate all the nooks and crannies that this lovely dive site has to offer, guests surfaced reporting sightings of Horse Eye Jacks, Yellow Headed Blennies, Black Jacks, Lobster, a Manta Ray, social feather dusters, Christmas tree worms and Flamingo Tongues as well as a group of 9 rather large Amberjacks that hung around the outskirts of our flood lights during both the dusk and night dives, which was a beautiful and uncommon sighting.

Monday 5^th November
Our guests awoke to a wonderful breakfast spread, enjoyed whilst the vessel moved around the archipelago to the deserted and idyllic island of West Caicos. We took mooring at the topographically stunning ‘Brandy Wine’; a site of multi levels plateaus and a plethora of critters and did 2 morning dives there.

In between dives our crewmember Josie did a breathing workshop with our guests, explaining the physiology and anatomy of breathing and the different respiratory muscles involved. A fun and interesting 30 minutes which all our guests enjoyed and more than one benefited from as awareness of breath and movement, comfort and relaxation developed.

We moved the short hop to ‘Gullies’ for our afternoon and evening dives. Gullies has both swim through, sporadic coral heads, a beautiful wall and of course, Sully of the Gully, our resident female shark, often accompanied by two male sharks. Guests enjoyed a leisurely lunch that included Potato & Leek soup and a wonderfully tender Pulled Pork and coleslaw. Critters spotted included a bandtooth conger, sharks, turtles and neck crabs, and guests were treated to a show of shark activity whilst on the hangbar during their safety stop. Dinner that evening was a decadent Pan seared New York Strip loin, smashed yams & sautéed zucchini.

Tuesday 6^th November, AM
On to ‘Anchor’ the next morning, a site with a great swim through on top of the wall which has an old anchor embedded into the side. During the briefing our considerate crew gave a little extra info on navigating to and from the swim through, as winds and water had the boat sat away from the wall. Our Engineer Rob waited poised to capture shots of our guests exiting the swim through (as well as to point out the rather well disguised and not really very shiny anchor!) reached out with his right hand to stabilize himself only to see a cute little nudibranch sat there! Very excited by his find (the crew really do love their small stuff, and nudibranchs are generally uncommon round these parts) he then proceeded to enthusiastically show the little critter to anyone and everyone he could. At time of writing crew believe the pretty little creature to have been a Purple Ring Aeolid, well done Rob!!

During a lunch of beef, chicken and fish Taco’s with all the trimmings we traveled on to the tiny island of French Cay and took the G-Spot mooring in preparation for our afternoon and night dives. G-Spot is arguably one of the crews favorite sites, a rich, distinguished and firmly established reef offering both reef and nurse sharks, with the younger nurses being very familiar and at times quite up close and personal with our divers! With the stern of the vessel positioned over the blue, the swim to the wall had a somewhat spooky element to it, especially on the night dive as the spotlights caught the occasional shark eye or illuminated an opportunistic Black Jack. Both crew member Josie and Captain Amanda witnessed reticulated brittle stars out in abundance on night dives this week, with the specimens seen displaying behaviors that suggested they were spawning. Also seen here were giant basket stars fully opened and ready to catch passing nutrients. With an evening meal of to follow, it really was a great day.

Tues 6^th (PM), Weds 7^th & Thurs 8^th (AM) November, French Cay.
2.5 days of some of the most perfect sea and sun conditions. The surface became progressively flatter and calmer during these days that it took on an almost mirror like quality, with the horizon reflecting the puffs of white cloud, to the point where sky and sea merged and it became hard to distinguish one from the other.
We dived the Double D, Rock n Roll and Half Mile, experiencing the best of what French Cay has to offer, an abundance of soft corals giving a garden like quality to the topography, sea mounds, lots of confetti fish (the various little colorful fish that float about on top of the reef), chainlink, spotted and honeycomb morays, White Spotted File fish, Gray Angels, a Cubera Snapper estimated to be approx 45lb, 3 beautiful Angel Fish dancing around a Barrel sponge, Squirrel fish and Coneys, and all this with crystal clear visibility. We actually had guests surfacing from their dives reporting that they could read the name of the boat down from 75 ft!!

Lunches these days included dishes of Chicken & Shrimp Jambalaya, Asian noodle salad, Soups, Salads, Seafood Curry & sun dried tomato couscous and evening meals of Moroccan spiced pork tagine with candied apricots and Tiramisu, a BBQ on the sundeck with ALL the trimmings and a full Thanksgiving dinner as well!

Thursday afternoon we started our travels back, first stopping at the wonderful RGI at West Caicos for just one dive before moving round to North West Point and mooring up at Dome for our 5pm dive. As expected, conditions had changed, with waves and winds coming from the NW, making surface conditions choppier and introducing a little surge onto the dive site. Divers still enjoyed the dive, spending time on (and in!) the Dome and admiring the reef life that now calls it home. The conditions called for due care and attention when approaching and mounting the ladders, but crewmembers were on hand to assist. As conditions were not set to improve before the scheduled night dive Captain felt it best to call it off and wait to dive it again in the morning.


Friday 9^th November
Earlier dives of 07:00 and 09:30 were offered this morning, to give guests opportunity to still get 2 dives in and have plenty of opportunity to investigate the Dome and surrounding area. Conditions still required due care upon entry/exit but all our divers were up for the challenge and timed their exits perfectly, and of course crew were on hand to help with fins / cameras etc. The Dome was still a winner, with Blennies, Grunts, Angels, Nurse Sharks, Turtle, Social Feather Dusters, Sponges and Gorgonians a plenty.

Knowing the conditions on the North Shore would be a little heavy Captain made arrangements for the vessel to dock in Caicos Marina & Shipyard on the South side, as opposed to the usual Turtle Cove Marina. An enjoyable ride back as was quite smooth and part of the journey took us alongside the south coast of Provo where we could admire the coastline and home of Chalk Sound.

The week was topped off by nibbles and drinks on the Sundeck for our end of charter party … all guests and crew gathered together to socialize for one last time and of course the award ceremony for this weeks Iron Divers, milestones and achievments.

---------- Post added November 20th, 2012 at 09:24 AM ----------

Water Temperature: 82 - 84° F
Thermal Protection: 3 mm suit ideal, hooded vest optional
Visibility: Various, this week between 40-80 ft

Our guests this week were Laura & Jason, Miriane, Carsten, Brian, Hermann & Christa, Rodney, Jim Jnr, Philip, Irv, Josh, Richard, William, Dave & Jim.

Sat 10^th Nov
We started the charter slightly differently this week, with strong waters on the North Shore making it more comfortable to dock and depart from Caicos Marina and Shipyard on the South side of Providenciales, rather than the usual Turtle Cove marina on the North. We waved goodbye to the local potcakes (dogs) at 7pm and headed straight to French Cay, guests enjoying their evening meal as we traveled.

Sun 11^th Nov
Continental breakfast laid out at 06:30 ready for our early risers, followed at 07:00 with a hot breakfast. Suitably fortified for the diving day our guests were briefed and we all got ready for our first day of the trip. Rock & Roll was the morning’s site of choice, and what a good choice it was, with sharks, turtles, lobsters and a whole host of reef fish to watch. Lunch served we moved for our afternoon and evening dives at nearby dive site ‘G-Spot’, a crew favorite and a site smothered with sponges, with sharks, eagle rays and horse eye jacks, to name but a few. We stayed here for the night dive with spot of the day being what was believed to be a green post larval moray about 2.5 inches long, it was very active and fascinating to watch, especially knowing that as an adult this creature can grow up to 8ft long!

Monday 12^th Nov
By the time guests rose for our wonderful breakfast spread we had already moved the boat the short hop to the morning site of ‘Half Mile’. With its sloping wall, and shallow water right under the boat it’s a site of nooks and crannies and a whole host of critters. After the 2^nd dive we moved to Double D, which has 2 sea mounds and a variety of interesting creatures, in particular the large Nassau Grouper that posed beautifully for our photographers and videographers. We stayed for 2 dives here before moving back to Rock n Roll, as current on Double D can be a little too strong for night diving.

Tuesday 13^th Nov
An early departure whilst guests slept, we moved from French Cay and headed to West Caicos, arriving at ‘Anchor’ in time for the 8am first dive. The swim-through was just a short fin away from the boat, with the aged and encrusted Anchor set beautifully into the side of the wall. With beautiful corralomorphs, Corkscrew Anemones with Pederson Cleaning Shrimp perched outside waving their antennae, and Snapping Shrimp artfully hidden inside, ready to snap at any intruder! We also had Hawksbill Turtles …. Energies were maintained by a lunch of Tacos whilst guests were treated to footage from our Whale Charters, whilst Cole narrated with some interesting info on the Whales. That afternoon we moved to the 2 tiered, topographically stunning Brandywine, for more turtles, filefish, angels and post dive discussions on whether it was an anemone or a coralomorph that divers had admired!

Wednesday 14^th Nov
First dive of the day at Driveway, a large ‘ski slope’ type slope on the top of the wall, with a sheer wall face to the North and sloping wall to the South. Sporadic coral heads litter the seabed with some larger heads in the shallower waters to the East. Immediately upon entering the water guests met 2 of our local reef sharks that quickly became 4, they spent the whole dive with us, even rising to the surface as we prepared to move the boat. We also saw a big chunky green moray, a host of juveniles (also fondly referred to as confetti fish), a LOT of horse eye jacks milling around under the boat, southern stingrays, a buddy pair of Orange Spotted Filefish, Queen Trigger and a whole host of other critters.

Moving for the 2^nd and 3^rd dives to ‘Gullies’ guide and video Pro Cole was in the water to help point out the Atlantic Spadefish, Turtle, Sharks and Garden Eels. With the back of the boat hanging over the blue, guests were treated to a panoramic view of the site as they swam beneath the boat toward the wall; a truly beautiful scene.

RGI (Rock Garden Interlude) was on the agenda for the final day dive and night dive. With the vessel on ‘boat time’ (i.e. an hour behind island time) we were able to enter the water during daylight and experience the reef through dusk, surfacing in time to watch another of TCI’s beautiful sunsets from the back deck. The Tiger Tail sea cucumber was out and about today, as were sharks, rays, drums and neck crabs

Thursday 15^th Nov
Having spent the night at RGI we were very close to Elephant Ear Canyon so was only a short distance to move to the mornings dive site and we were there before breakfast. Again a crew favorite, and once you’ve dived it you’ll know why. A vast colony of garden eels under the vessel, with conch, stingrays and jacks milling around as well. The wall is simply stunning; colorful and active and full of life. This is the site for pipehorses and pipefishs, both of which we found today. It’s always fun to look for them as they take time and teamwork to find, it’s quite a sight to witness a group of dives tentatively working their way slowly across a field of sea grass, noses down and fins up!

During lunch we moved to North West Point and moored up on Dome. The remnants of an old TV show, ‘Dome’ is now an artificial reef, with it’s metal structure now the home of Blennies, Grunts, Angels, Sponges, Worms, Mollusks and an array of other curious critters. Lying in only 30ft of water, the Dome is a great end to a wall dive, though it’s very easy to spend an entire dive in and around its structure. We spent 2 afternoon dives and the night dive here. A real treat today was crewmember Josie finding 2 pipehorses close to the dome; they were in a great position, on a small sandy mound on the sand, so divers could get close.

Friday 16^th November
An earlier first dive this morning, guests were in the water for 7am & 9:30am to dive ‘Black Forest’, a pretty wall with an interesting overhang, often referred to as an amphitheatre, where we can find different crabs and black corals, makes for a very interesting dive. It’s also a very good site for seeing and photographing Yellow Headed Jawfish. Divers saw Hawksbill Turtle, Secretary Blennies, Shark, Schooling Horse Eye Jacks, a HUGE Spiny & Spanish Lobster, Green Moray, Squirrel Fish and Christmas Tree Worms.

Departing North West Point we headed back toward Turtle Cove Marina and dry land. We spent a relaxing afternoon hanging out at the Marina before getting together for one last time for our wine and cheese party on the Sundeck, and of course the traditional award presentation.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain’s Report Nov 17 – 24, 2012
Water Temperature: 79 - 84° F
Thermal Protection: 3 mm
Visibility: 80- 100ft

Our guests this week were Martin & Susan, Yukari, Steven & Teri, Kevin, Melanie & Suzanne, Michael & Nancy, Ellen & Peter Wood, Robert, Peter Blackburn and David.

Guests were greeted at the airport by Leigh, our Dive Master, and shuttled off to Turtle Cove Marina where the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II was docked. Snack platters and welcome cocktails awaited the new arrivals. Divers chose a dive locker and were soon setting up their gear and getting to know their fellow buddies. After a delicious meal of pan-seared chicken served with an onion and mushroom ragout, herbed roasted potatoes and steamed broccoli, some guests enjoyed a bourbon before heading to their cabins.

Some early risers enjoyed the continental spread put out in the salon. Phil, our master chef, took eggs to order and we can safely say that all were well fed and up for the first dive. As we approached the dive site, the vessel passed over the wall, with waters crystal clear, the wall and reef were clearly visible. The dive site was Eel Garden, so with a back deck briefing done by Rob, our engineer, all were eager to get in the water. Rob, who also lead the dive, headed to the reef wall and then North. A little way North along the reef wall, a dogs leg in the reef jutted out with a crack in the wall, inviting divers to explore this amazing underwater topography. Cruising back up over the wall and heading South back towards the boat; a baby green moray was seen. Kevin, a keen photographer and diver who will be celebrating his 2000^th dive with us this week, stopped to take a few shots. On a celebratory note… The aggressor fleet would like to congratulate Ellen and Peter Wood who celebrated their 500^th Dive this week, as well as Steven Pearson who dived his 400^th dive this week. Keep it up and we hope you enjoy many more dives in the future.

Moving onto The Dome for the rest of the day’s dives, as well as a great night dive spot. The Steel Dome structure, the remains of a French Canadian TV show, is a habitat for all sorts of small critters and coral life. Loin fish, Yellow line Arrow Crabs, a shark and more were seen. Moving on early Monday morning, we headed over to West Caicos Island, where there are some awesome dive sites. First treat for the guests was Gullies. Sully, our resident reef shark was there to greet our divers as usual. Rock Garden Interlude was next for the day. A large turtle was sitting at around 30m just off the reef wall, munching away at the coral. He posed for some great photos and frequently gazed up at us. Ellen spotted a juvenile damsel swimming around, perhaps the same one seen when last time she dive here… Peter Wood reported back on board that he has seen a large crab and a spotted drum. Did they stop to pose for your camera Peter?
After the 5pm dive, our divers warmed up with our hot water showers on the back dive deck. A cup of tea or coffee and chatting away in the salon waiting for dinner to be served, was the order for the surface interval.

Tuesday morning, Brandy Wine awaited us. With lots of coral heads right under the boat, it’s a good place to hang out looking for a drum fish or other smaller creatures. Heading west to the wall, a massive shoot took us down to 85-90ft where we then headed south. The vastness of everything here is apparent as you look around. Melanie, one of our guests on board, and Leigh, our Dive Master, saw a huge Barracuda. Back on the boat discussing it, we both initially thought it was a shark at first distant glance. As it approached, not only was it huge, but also it was in fact barracuda swimming past us. Just before, we had seen a massive turtle, which was posing for Peter, Bob and David, our guests from Manchester, UK. We also counted more than 10 lionfish, ranging in size and color.

Double D was next here at French Cay. With the boat hanging over the blue, jumping in over the deep blue is quite something. A sense of how small we really are in the ocean is more apparent. Swimming under the vessel, we headed down the mooring line, and as we descended we saw the reef wall shape become clearer. With a slight current coming from the East, we headed that way first. Triggerfish, turtle, porcupine fish, smooth trunkfish and a large lobster were seen. Cameras were snapping away.

The next morning, the smell of cheesy grits and sausages got the mouths watering, so after a filling breakfast, we jumped in at Rock n Roll. Peter, from the UK, came back commenting we should rename the dive site, Turtle City. Enough said! Ellen was telling us about her encounter with a camera shy Spotted Moray. Or was it just the cameraman….Rob? This moray poked his head out of a hole, then swam right out to another comfy spot in the coral, or again, was it to get away from Rob? Oh, Rob, our engineer…we love him really!

A dive site not dived very frequently was moved to next, so the guests and crew were excited to get wet and see what it had to offer. West Sand Spit looked very inviting. With a large sand shoot leading out to the reef wall, Cole led the group past some big coral heads. A giant anemone danced with the movement of the ocean, and inside hiding was a Yellowline Arrow Crab. Moving on, we saw a reef shark, which is actually unusual for this dive site, unlike most of the dive sites around Turks and Caicos, reef sharks are abundant. Some big stuff out here… a huge stingray lay on the sand. We watched it, hoping for some movement, but only its’ beady eye darted around. Heading back to the boat, there was a large overhang under a coral head, Ellen quickly counted more than 8 lobsters hanging out, their feelers poking out at us. Also, plentiful crabs inhabiting conch and other shells. Melanie, a diver from California, chilled out watching one happily eating away, drawing its pincers left and right into its’ mouth, just like a knife and fork.

Thursday’s dives were set to be great if judged on the first dive of the day. Half Mile invited us in with a drum fish darting around, identified by its distinctive body shape and color. A slight current from the east was flowing, so divers headed into the current first, along the wall. Neck crabs and shrimps were seen hiding in the nooks and crannies. Heading back, the current taking us along, a spotted eel was fully out of its’ hole. Lots of lobsters and a beautiful corkscrew anemone were keeping a yellowline arrow crab safe. Back to the boat for one of Phil’s warm sweet snacks, and a bit of chill out in the sun to warm up. During lunch we moved to G Spot. A great dive site for some bigger sightings and lots of reef fish where there is a big dog’s leg shape in the reef wall, so this creates a whirlpool of activity.

Friday morning arrived and guests were invited to do a dawn dive. Watching the reef come alive, as the sun beamed through the ocean surface was a great way to start the day off. Moving onto South West Reef for our final dive, guests came back reporting of a close turtle encounter. A bit too close reported Teri from Alexandria, the actually swam into her. Maybe you have a turtle magnet somewhere on your gear… We pulled up the ladders and headed our way back to Turtle Cove Marina. Our last night was spent reminiscing at the cheese and wine party on the sundeck. Thanks to all for another great week of eating, sleeping and diving!

Your crew this week were… Captain Amanda, Engineer Rob, Stewardess Rosie, Dive master Leigh, Instructor Cole and Chef Phil.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain’s Report Dec 1-8, 2012

Water Temperature: 82˚
Thermal protection: 3 – 5 mm
Visibility: 80 feet

An interesting departure from Turtle Cove Marina took us out around the north coast of Providenciales to Northwest Point. Joining us week were nine GOOSE’s being Don, Rob, Jay, Bob, Howard, Craig, Jim, Howie and Amir. With them enjoying our week of Eat, Sleep and Dive are Darren, Ralph & Kathy, Mike & Marie and bringing a little international flare is Ted & Debby from Canada and Anja & Rene from Switzerland.

Our first dive site was to be Eel Garden a site where we can get access to another dive site called The Crack. We were greeted as usual with sharks that set the tone for the week. It was also the start of our week’s encounters with the less popular lionfish. A great start to the week that was continued as we moved at lunchtime to The Dome and The Chimney.

Our first afternoon dive proved to be spectacular. The Dome was forgotten, the pipehorses ignored as Jojo, the dolphin, came to visit us. Decreed a National Treasure of the Turks & Caicos Islands, this friendly bottlenose dolphin has been delighting snorkelers and divers alike since the eighties. This was our chance to spend some valuable time with this enchanting creature. As guests approached their safety stop Jojo would visit with each one and then use the bottom of the boat and the chase boat to scratch an itch before swimming in and amongst the divers. It was a great photo and video opportunity that was taken by all. No one was left untouched by this encounter. The second dive at the Dome returned the attention to the usual critters – secretary blennies, grunt, porcupinefish and damselfish alike.

A change of schedule for the week for our following day involving some early morning dives. Before breakfast our brave travelers ventured in to Shark’s Hotel, where it became evident that the sharks had not checked out but were still cruising the wall. A beautiful wall with very dramatic scenery, swim throughs and gullies gave a great pre-breakfast wake up to all involved.

Our afternoon took us to Brandywine to check out the giant (in name if not size) anemone that we see at 83 feet on the wall. It has moved recently but we were still able to track it down – it had not gone far, but it is still and lovely blue until you light it up when and it changes to a glowing fluorescent pink. The night dive brought out the octopus – always a happy sight for divers. We were also party to a very casual performance from a large hawksbill turtle for our night diving enthusiasts. Happy to sit and munch upon a sponge whilst almost every diver either got close to see, photograph or video – a definite movie star. A brown doris was another treat for this evening, a sight not seen often in this area. A large spotted moray swam freely looking for a morsel to nibble on and a variety of lobsters made an appearance. Not just the usual Caribbean spiny, but also the banded lobster provided and brilliant red to brighten up its surroundings.

In the morning we moved to West Caicos and Rock Garden Interlude. A great dive where the sharks hung out with us for the entire morning, together with the resident hawksbill turtle, with its single passenger – a barnacle – on its back. A juvenile spotted drum swam in patterns at the base of a coral head whilst a large spotted moray sat half exposed just above it. Stingrays searched the sands for food accompanied by bar jacks hoping to get lucky with a surprised shrimp.

We moved to The Anchor (now also known as Pennsylvania Ski Patrol – long story!) to check out the 300 year old Spanish anchor that has been gracing our waters and providing an artificial reef with a difference ever since. A lone eagle ray presented it self to some of the divers but did not hang around for long. More turtles, more sharks, more lobsters and the night dive found a small frogfish hanging out on a barrel sponge – we hope that he will remain for the future and we can enjoy him some more in the weeks to come.

French Cay was our next stop and the delightful site of Double D. Both dives we were accompanied by a reef shark that just swam lazily in and amongst the divers, making some of us jump. A single permit hung out above one of the mounds that gives the site its name – as the tide was coming in it was obviously just waiting for the change that would bring the nutrient rich waters out from the banks. Our resident tiger grouper hung out in its usual cleaning station – talk about a groomer, were it human I don’t think we would ever get it away from a mirror!! A little way off from the Ds a friendly Nassau grouper vied for the attentions of the guests allowing a very careful petting.

The G-Spot is always a favorite site and today was to be no exception. Reef sharks circled, nurse sharks slept and the edge of the wall was swarming with Creole wrasse and blue chromis. A green moray had found a cleaning station and was receiving the attentions of the resident Pederson cleaner shrimps. At the edge of the wall an adult spotted drum dipped in and out of its hole showing itself for a moment before tucking away again.

We moved back to West Caicos to check out Elephant Ear Canyon. We encountered great shark activity and a plethora of Southern stingrays that fed upon the garden eels that frequent the sandy bottom. The sand together with the edge of the wall creates a dramatic environment for this great dive site. We usually spend time looking for the little critters but there was too much going on with the larger animals! Also the site at which there may have been nuptials performed underwater – is there a precedent for an underwater marriage between two humans with the ceremony performed by a GOOSE?

A favorite of the crew, Gullies was the last dive site at West Caicos. Schooling fish provide great mid water action with three Caribbean reef sharks swimming in and amongst the divers. Out into the blue, a spotted eagle ray was seen and left everyone excited, so you can imagine the delight when three more cruised along the edge of the wall coming within ten feet of some of the divers. It was a breath-taking encounter. The night dive brought out all the crustaceans, including the channel clinging crabs, a host of lobster and a couple of nurse sharks – a great end to the night diving for the week.

Friday morning awoke to Northwest Point, our point of origin in terms of the beginning of our diving here. Black Forest provided a gorgeous wall with an abundance of spiny lobster and a number of scorpion fish, not often encountered more than one per dive. It was a great end to a wonderful week of diving, a lot of laughs and a great deal of fun!

Another full week ahead – I am certain we will get to encounter all of our beloved residents together with the visitors that surprise and delight us. Check in next week to see what is going on.

Your crew this week were Captain Amanda, Rob, Cole, Phil, Rosy and we are delighted to welcome back Captain James.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain’s Report Dec 8 – 15, 2012

Water Temperature: 82˚
Thermal protection: 3 – 5 mm
Visibility: 80 feet

Departure from Turtle Cove Marina was smooth and took us out around the north coast of Providenciales to Northwest Point. Joining us week were Jocelyn, Sean, Rod, Michelle, Chuck, Laurice, Emma, Greg, Toni, Richard, Pat, Donn, Rod, Tony and Jeremiah enjoying our week of Eat, Sleep and Dive.

Our first dive site was to be Eel Garden, a site where we can get access to another dive site called The Crack, two for one. We headed north along the wall where the reef sharks joined us, Greg reported the finding of a monster spiny lobster, and four of the ever-present lionfish were hanging out in one of the gullies in the wall. Over the top of the wall for the return to the yacht stingrays were snuffling in the sand for their breakfast and the garden eels were out to see us pass by. Also Cole our video pro caught a green mantis shrimp on camera. Under the yacht were a porcupine fish and a school of jacks circling to see us back to the dive platform. Lunchtime we moved to The Dome and The Chimney for the afternoon and night dive. The resident pipefish on the Dome looked like he was carrying eggs. We will be keeping an eye on him to see when they hatch. We also saw a juvenile scorpion fish. The Dome is a perfect place for macro photography. Secretary blennies, skeleton shrimp, nudibranchs and neck crabs and our resident devil damselfish, as usual, terrorized our guests while investigating the Dome’s critter life.

The change of schedule for the week so far has proven good, so for the following day an early morning dive before breakfast at West Caicos at the dive site: the Anchor. After gliding through the gulley we saw the old coral encrusted anchor as we get headed towards the wall where a big hawksbill turtle is waiting to greet us a family of spiny lobsters were waving there antennas at us further along the wall, reef sharks along with several large Nassau groupers were stopped at cleaning stations on the top side of the wall. Here we also had several sighting of lionfish. We moved to Brandywine dive site for just before lunch where we discovered a 1 ½ foot nurse shark tangled in fishing line and a float bottle which we rescued and released with the hope of seeing again. On the dive we saw sharks and scorpion fish. Tony spotted a golden hamlet, and a green moray eel was hiding in the reef. He should come out on the night dive as well as the octopuses.

This morning the group awoke to a new dive site, Driveway. There we were greeted by sharks. In the sand were yellow headed jaw-fish popping in and out of their holes. We eventually even found two that had eggs in their mouths. For our afternoon and night dive we moved to Magic Mushroom. The mushroom coral head had no less than eight spiny lobsters hiding in holes. A big channel crab was hiding in a barrel sponge and tried to eat Dennis’s strobe light when taking a photo. Two big reef sharks were doing their figure of eight pattern under the yacht at the end of the second dive, and a very friendly shark sucker was trying to attach itself to JT during his safety stop.

The next morning we are on Elephant Ear Canyon. Here the sand area is covered with garden eels. Two pipefish were seen in the grass reeds, stingrays were gliding around and Chuck found a flying gurnard in the shallows. Just before lunch we moved to RGI. Two big eagle rays were there in the sand under the yacht and the resident hawksbill turtle, with its single barnacle on its back, was swimming along the wall and nearly ran in to Dennis and Pat. It hen sat in the sand and munched on a coral head without a care in the world in front of cameras and video.

Thursday is here and we have moved to The Gullies dive site. Great photos were taken by Rob our photo pro of the divers coming through the gullies out onto the wall. These photos are theirs to take home. This is the best dive site to see spadefish circling through the gullies. The resident West Caicos reef sharks soon showed up to keep us company. We moved back to Northwest Point for our afternoon and night dive at Black Forrest. This proved to be excellent diving with shoals of horse eye jacks swimming through the black coral that paints the natural amphitheatre a brilliant array of blacks and greens. On the top of the wall a green moray smiled at divers, providing a wonderful photo opportunity. The yellow headed jaw fish danced and flittered about underneath the boat.

We finished of our week on Friday morning on the dive site Two Step, which is home to a big green moray eel. All the guests got out of the water happy but sad that their week of spectacular diving was coming to an end. We all got to gather that evening on the top deck of the Turks and Caicos Aggressor for our traditional wine and cheese party and to reminiscence over the week.

Your crew this week was Captain Amanda, Rob, Cole, Phil, Rosy and James.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain’s Report Dec 22 – 29, 2012

Water Temperature: 78 - 82˚
Thermal protection: 3 – 5 mm
Visibility: 100 + feet

Guests boarded the Aggressor II at Turtle Cove Marina at 3pm. Snack platters and cocktails were enjoyed while guests got acquainted with their floating hotel and new home for the week. Around 5pm, soon after all guests had boarded, we headed out of Turtle Cove Marina, in time to catch the last light to help guide us out safely. A beautiful sunset was the view from the sun deck as we headed safely through ‘The Cut’ and out into blue. With winds blowing, we had some rolling seas to tackle, but all went well and in no time we were at North West Point, where we stopped to enjoy our first dinner together. We decided to move into Sapodilla Bay, on the South side of the island, for a bit of protection. Staying overnight here, we then headed to French Cay for our first few days of diving.

Guests enjoyed a wholesome breakfast before their first of many great dives. Rock n Roll was the dive site. In the water, weight checks and down they went. After a fun, relaxed dive, divers were back on board talking about attractive blue damsels, colorful parrotfish, large lionfish and yellow-headed jawfish. Of course, a popular sighting at all dive sites around Turks and Caicos were the Caribbean reef sharks. After lunch, we moved onto G Spot. Another dive and guests were in the hot tub afterwards, warming up. Lobsters, nurse sharks and more were down there to greet them. Our ladies onboard also took some R&R time and soaked up the sun while lounging on the sun deck chairs.

Monday morning we moved onto Half Mile. Dara and our Dive master, Leigh, were swimming along the reef wall, when Dara started pointing and waving ecstatically. In the deeper water, a huge spotted eagle ray ascended towards us, coming up close and personal with Dara. The eagle ray then swam along, circled in towards the reef wall right among the group. Cameras snapped away and big smiles were evident behind their masks. Sally also spotted a tiny drum, darting in and around a coral head. Lu came back reporting a bit of current, which she liked, as she could drift along. Pam, aka ‘NudiGal’, also had some amazing photos, which she shared with the guests. One great find was of a tiny white speckled nudibranch.

After diving Double D, a great dive site for some small critters that hang around the two large coral heads, we had a visitor on the surface… while on deck between the dives; we saw a large splash of water on the port side of the vessel. Keeping our eyes glued to that spot, it happened again. Guests and crew alike were treated to an eagle ray jumping out of the water…. its full body for all to see on deck. Monday evening we spent watching Grillos’ footage of his under water sightings. He caught on tape more than 8 lobsters hanging out under a coral head at Rock n Roll. Guests sat counting the creatures on our big flat screen in the salon. Thanks to Grillo for the evenings show.

Tuesday was a very Merry Christmas morning. G Spot awaited us and she had many surprises for our divers. Two large sharks were under the boat, waiting to greet our divers. Jeremy, also reported seeing a large barracuda. Keeping up the Christmas cheer, Amanda, our Captain, decided to wear a red fluffy Christmas hat under the water. Who knows what the sharks thought? During the second dive, Santa and his elves were busy delivering gifts to the cabins and Phil, our master chef, was preparing to pull out all the stops for a delicious Christmas dinner.

Wednesday morning, we had The Anchor to look forward to. With a large sand shoot to the north of the Anchor, and then the Anchor itself, which sits jutting out of the reef wall around 80ft, and let’s not forget the sandy bottom with colorful coral heads, you have more than enough choice of where to go and what to look at, at this dive site. Divers were looking out for the long snouted seahorse, which has been spotted just south of the Anchor. W saw a yellow line arrow crab and two very large barracudas. A real little gem, which looks more like a floating die, with its black and white spots, the juvenile trunkfish was popular too.

Gullies, at North West Point, has so much to offer, with its swim through gully-like topography taking divers down towards the deep blue, or hanging out on the sandy bottom watching the garden eels poking out, which Dara enjoyed. Pam and Lu saw a large green moray out of its home, cruising through the water. Rob, who was leading the dive, pointed out many sharks out in the distance. There was a friendly hawksbill turtle, posing under the water for our divers. They are distinguished by their overlapping shell plates, the only species with this. An overhanging upper beak, resembling a “hawk’s bill” is another feature to help identify. The night dive at Rock Garden Interlude was a real hit.... with a baby octopus and lots of activity under the boat…sharks, stingrays and a variety of fish. A large cubera snapper was also lurking about for the divers to see.

Thursday arrived and we had some great dive sites still left to explore. First up was Elephant Ear Canyon. A vast sand shoot lead the divers down to the reef wall, where there is quite a sheer drop off. Big coral formations, sponges and gorgonians were plentiful as we headed north along the wall. Swimming over the canyon, it’s the perfect place to just take a few minutes and gaze up at the surface and spectacular surroundings….the divers look like little ants. After exploring the wall, filled with lobsters and a moray eel, we headed up and onto the sandy bottom under the boat. Garden eels were layering across the sand, poking their heads in and out. Amanda, our captain, was on the lookout for pipe fish and success it was. Heading back to the boat, Yuko pointed out a huge snapper while sitting on her safety stop.

Off to The Dome. What more has to be said other than this is three dives sites in one…yes here at Aggressor we really spoil our divers. Along the wall, heading north, you can go explore the chimney swim through, or head south to see colorful coral and reef formations, or head onto the sandy bottom where the Dome structure lies. This area is filled with an abundance of life for day and night dives.

Friday morning we started the engines up early and departed for a dive in Grace Bay, just off the main island of Providencials. A dive site called Cathedral was the last treat for our divers, and a sighting of a manta ray was the real last treat. We headed back into Turtle Cove Marina, where guests kick backed and relaxed. Thanks for joining us for another week of great eating, sleeping and diving!!

Your crew this week was Captain Amanda, Rob, Cole, Phil, Leigh and James.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain’s Report Dec 29, 2012 – Jan 5, 2013

Water Temperature: 78 - 82˚
Thermal protection: 3 – 5 mm
Visibility: 100 + feet

This week the Turks & Caicos Aggressor II welcomed Hugh Clark & Judy, Mark & Linda, Dustin, William, Audrey & Frank, Erica & Bob, Stan, Glenn, Dana, Bita, Laurie and Kelly & Joseph. Our guests boarded at Turtle Cove Marina at 3pm. Snack platters and cocktails were enjoyed while guests set up their dive gear and wondered around the yacht. Some people decided to enjoy a sun downer on the deck, watching the beautiful sunset over the marina. Amanda and crew gave a safely and orientation briefing and soon all were seated and enjoying a delicious dinner and a glass of wine. We stayed at the dock on Saturday night.

At first light, James, our second captain, gave the orders to throw the lines loose. He steered her out safely, guests watched her leave as the sun was coming up to welcome us to a calm clear day. Other guests stayed tucked in bed, the lull of the engines and rolling ocean swaying them as they slept. Black Forest was the first dive site. Rob gave a back deck briefing and soon the divers were wet. With the amphitheatre style formation underwater and sand shoot, there was a lot for divers to see, as they got comfortable and used to being back in the water. Dustin saw a large scorpion fish, yellow-headed jawfish and some gobies poking around.

Over a scrumptious lunch of tomato basil pasta with shrimp and other dishes to choose from we moved the yacht to West Caicos. A smooth journey over, and we moored up to the dive site, Rock Garden Interlude. Snorklers used to explore this area, between two other dive sites, Gullies and Elephant Ear Canyon, and now it has become a popular dive site to explore below the surface. With a sandy bottom, divers looked out for corkscrew anemone, which are inhabited with Peterson cleaning shrimp. Their dancing lilac bodies bouncing up and down. Also among the anemone was a red snapping shrimp. Their distinctive red and white striped long antennae, reddish body covered with white markings are clear identification features. Just beware, if you trying for a manicure and your hand gives a sudden movement, these creatures are likely to dart forward and give you a bit of a nip. The first night dive was quite something for our divers. Slipper lobster, octopus, lots of rays and a shark were seen. After the night dive we moved to French Cay.

Monday morning the dive site closest to French Cay awaited us. Half Mile has a sloping reef wall, which is a bit different from the usual steeper drop offs. There were lots of lobsters under an overhang. We counted more than 7! Many anemones were spotted, with shrimps in and around them, keeping busy with their business. A puffer fish cruised around a coral head; two spotted eels and an eagle ray gave us a fly by.
G Spot was next. Rob jumped in to feed the mooring line up to the main vessel and soon the pool was open for divers to go explore. Dana had a close encounter with a large barracuda. The night dive was a pleasant one…nice and relaxing. Divers saw octopus, lobster and sea cucumbers. A nurse shark was milling about between the divers and a ray was sleeping on the sand floor. To welcome the New Years in, Amanda, our Captain, offered divers a midnight dive. Kelly and Joe took up the offer and got to do the countdown to midnight 60 feet under. Champagne welcomed divers back on board.

Tuesday morning and Rock n Roll was the dive site. Laurie saw sharks and a big barracuda. Lionfish and other critters were just waking up. Audrey, a keen photographer, was very patient while waiting for a yellow-headed jaw fish with eggs to protrude from its hole. The eggs were still at an early stage and the fish’s mouth was not bulging hugely yet. Erica joked… ‘Pregnant but not showing.’ Rock n Roll, has various sized coral heads under the boat and all around the mooring pin. Good place for a shallower dive. A green moray, sea cucumber, large arrow crab, very big coral banded shrimp along the wall with its long white thin hair like antennae were spotted. Two turtles swam with the divers…making good video for Amanda, our video pro this week too. Lunchtime we moved to Half Mile. We mad a short stop then back to Rock n Roll for a night dive. Big stuff on the night dive, lots of reef sharks, nurse sharks and rays. After dinner we moved onto West Caicos to explore the diving there.

First up Wednesday was Gullies. Nice swim through and interesting topography of the reef wall here. Some curious sharks came in close and Frank got some good shots of them. A huge green moray all out in its glory with mouth open was seen. Some big trigger fish and angel fish with their colors were admired. The Anchor was next…. Great swim through and either north or south along the reef wall always proves a great dive. Scorpion fish, nurse shark, neck crabs and an eel swimming about were reported. A lovely evening for alfresco dining up on the sun deck was enjoyed.

Thursday divers jumped in at Elephant Ear Canyon. The site is filled with large coral formations and both hard and soft corals with fabulous colors. Lots of sponges full of life. Hugh saw a baby green moray. The group came back also very happy to have seen a seahorse in the grassy sandy area under the boat. Bill had a very close encounter with a shark, close enough to reach out of touch it…but he did keep his hands to himself. We pulled the ladders up and made our way to North West Point for the rest of today’s dives. Arriving back at North West Point, many day boats were out, so we decided to go find the octopus that appears during the day at The Amphitheatre. Success it was, not only an octopus, but a turtle too. After a very cool dive, we move onto The Dome…… Two dive sites in one…the divers had a few dives to explore all it had to offer. The wall is spectacular! Heading north, you get to the Chimney…a nice swim up to the top of the reef wall. Tunicates and all sorts of life in the tube coming up were seen. The Dome itself was alive with critters. Nudibranchs and other small stuff were seen and photographed. A large clinging crab was hanging off the Dome structure. Inside the Dome we saw two lobsters hiding underneath. Also spotted where lots of schoolmasters and grunts, as well as beautiful anemones situated within the tubes.

Friday morning guests had two dives at Sharks Hotel to explore. With two plateau structures sitting around 90-100ft just along the reef wall, this creates lots of nooks and crannies to be looked at. Glenn saw a huge green moray, about 5ft long and out in all its glory. A nice dive site to end the week’s diving. We headed back to Turtle Cove Marina, where guests were invited to a cheese and wine party to enjoy and reminisce over another great week of Eating Sleeping and Diving. The crew would also like to congratulate Bob, who completed his open water course and is now a certified diver… well done Bob!!!

Your crew this week were Captain Amanda, Rob, Rosy, Phil, Leigh and James.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain’s Report Jan 5 – 12, 2013

Water Temperature: 78 - 82˚
Thermal protection: 3 – 5 mm
Visibility: 100 + feet

The Turks & Caicos Aggressor II welcomed John & Debbie, Larisa & Rustem, Wayne, Bao, Tim, Mike, Betsy & Sandy, Larry, Scott, Alan and Bill aboard at 3pm on Saturday. While divers were unpacking their gear and getting set up, crew were at hand to help. Cabins next… crew swiftly moved bags into the cabins and orientated guests to their new ‘home away from home’. All enjoyed a delicious meal while still docked at Turtle Cove Marina, and afterwards some had a stroll around the marina, admiring some of the other yachts.

At first light on Sunday we headed out of the marina and moved to North West Point, where we moored up to our first dive site, Black Forest. Also known as ‘Amphitheatre’, because of the scooped out reef section in the wall, creating a staging platform where all sorts of critters and bigger stuff hang out. Leigh, our dive master, was in the water, assisting with weight checks and ensuring all divers were comfortable and safe as they got used to being back underwater. A bit of current was around, so she led the dive initially south along the wall, then had a nice drift back towards the boat for the latter half of the dive. Lobsters were poking their antennas out from under the overhangs. A shark was cruising around us most of the dive, which Alan was checking out. A few yellow line arrow crabs were spotted, one big one under the boat between some corkscrew anemones. A juvenile slender filefish, only about an inch long, was seen too. Sandy saw a baby spotted moray, just peeking out of its hole. After the dive the fun was not over as a pod of dolphins came swimming past. Scott, from Australia, jumped in with his fins and snorkel for a close encounter. Eel Garden was dived for the rest of the day, including a dusk and night dive. An interesting topography lay below waiting to share its secrets with our guests. With a large crack in the reef wall, this really is a beautiful dive site. Divers saw a turtle, shark, arrow crabs and other small critters hiding between the rocks.

Rock Garden Interlude was next. Isolated coral heads below host a lot of creatures here. One particular coral formation we like to call ‘Juvi Hall’, because of the host of small juvenile fish found. Numerous southern stingrays were seen here. Larry had a nice close encounter with one, and caught it on video. It was a gorgeous day for BBQ lunch on the sundeck. Guests sat around admiring the views and enjoying the chef’s delights.
Brandy Wine was dived for the remaining of the day. With a large sand shoot leading down to the reef wall, divers saw a number of sting rays. As they headed to the reef wall, there were 3 sharks circling around. Heading north, we saw lobsters, lionfish, eels and a big grouper.

A beautiful sunrise on the deck was enjoyed by some guests to welcome Tuesday morning. A dive site called The Anchor was soon to be seen for the 7am and 9:30am dives. Bill was lucky to see a grouper getting his mouth cleaned at a cleaning station, and also witnessed the Peterson cleaning shrimp leaving the mouth and reestablishing their location among the corkscrew anemone. He decided to have a go and in no time his hand was being cleaned too.

Moving north to a dive site called Magic Mushroom, divers had 3 great dives here, including a night dive. Bill and Scott both came back talking of our large resident shark here that was circling around during the night dive. Amanda saw 2 squid floating by along the reef wall, when suddenly a swift jack sped in for the kill; however the squid escaped leaving the jack darting off to feed on something else.

Elephant Ear Canyon awaited divers for the first two dives on Wednesday morning. Large sponges and soft coral cover the reef wall here, making a fabulous dive. With a bit of current, the divers headed North then drifted back towards the boat. They headed into a sea grass area full of stingrays. Amanda found a pipefish and a pipehorse, while Leigh pointed out a fire worm.

Next was Gullies. One of the crews favorite dive sites. The boat was hanging over the deep blue when divers jumped in. Heading East back under the boat and soon the wall could be seen, with the cut out of the reef, we call the ‘Gully’. The night dive was popular. Huge clinging crabs were scampering across the corals. Squirrel fish were demonstrating their usual shy behavior hiding out, their big eyes watching us.
After a BBQ dinner of jerk chicken, baked potatoes and all the trimmings, we started up the engines and headed back to North West Point.

Wake up; roll out of bed and into the water. What could be easier? This is what most guests get to do every morning while vacationing with us here on the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II. While some guests choose to roll over and have a lay in, why not, you’re on vacation!!

Shark’s Hotel is a dive site located at North West Point. That would be the North Westerly point of Providenciales, or as locals call it……Provo. The shark’s ‘check out’ of their hotel at 7am, so just in time for divers to see them on the first morning dive. Ha
With a sloping wall in some areas and a large plateau reef structure laying below the main drop off, it really is a beautiful site. A turtle hung out with us as we swam south along the wall. She came really close to Debbie, which was a treat.

Off to The Dome for the remaining day and night dive. Tim came back after the first dive here, talking of a large green moray, very thin in body. The night dive was popular. Great place for small stuff. Secretary blennies cover the sides of the Dome structure. There was a spotted eel laying out in the open, on one of the ledges of the steel piping too. Larry got a great shot of a squid, very close, which he was pleased about.

Friday always comes too soon, but here at Aggressor we cherish every moment and spoil our guests till the very last minute.

With tides coming in later today, guests were offered an additional third dive. Two Step awaited them and it was a great last dive site for our divers. We headed into Turtle Cove Marina late afternoon, with enough time to relax and get ready for the cheese and wine party of the sun deck. Thanks again for all those who joined us for another week of fabulous week of eating, sleeping and diving!!!

Your crew this week was Captain Amanda, Rob, Rosy, Phil, Leigh and James.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor III Captain’s Report Jan 12 – 19, 2013

We had a variation on a theme this week with the same great diving, but with the added attraction of the ‘Wineworks’ Wine Appreciation week. A delight to have Wayne and Dana Brown onboard and to appreciate diving and wine we were joined by Will & Lita, Ana & Emanuel, Mike & Michele, Dick, Tom, Veronique, David, Galen and Rick. With water temperatures of 79°f (26°c) there was definitely a brisk feel to the dives and many of our guests were wearing 3mm suits with hooded vests or a shorty. Visibility was great - at times clearly 100 feet.

We departed at first light on Sunday morning to our first dive site called Black Forest. This was to be our location for two dives and where we encountered our first sharks of the week – a theme that was to continue. The yellow-headed jawfish that we see at all our sites are by far more abundant here. It is coming into that time of year when the males start brooding the eggs in their mouths. Definitely the money shot if you are able to catch the oxygenation as the jawfish spits the eggs and then sucks them back, in a split second. The amphitheatre provided the usual display of black coral in a number of colours and was inhabited by some tiny decorator neck crabs.

At lunchtime we moved on to West Caicos and to the dive site Spanish Anchor where we encountered the West Caicos Caribbean reef sharks that were to entertain us for the week. A resident hawksbill turtle, identifiable by its single barnacle on its back, cruised along the edge of the wall. A couple of scorpionfish provided great photographic modelling as they sat clearly thinking that they were invisible in light of their camouflage. The night dive brought out strapping great clinging crabs and a number of different lobsters, including the red-banded lobsters, which seem to be rapidly increasing in numbers over the last few months. Of particular interest was the strange looking slipper lobster, which could easily be mistaken for something out of a prehistoric monster movie (if it were bigger!).

That night a 2010 La Crema Pinot Noir and a 2009 Cakebread Sauvignon Blanc accompanied our supper whilst we learnt about the history of wine and our wine appreciation began. After supper we travelled down to French Cay so that we awoke on Monday morning to a beautiful sunrise and some of the best diving that the Turks & Caicos has to offer.

Rock & Roll was our first site and provided some awesome shark encounters. At one point six Caribbean reef sharks circled the guests and crew alike making for some incredible still and moving footage. New editions to our camera rental program are two ‘GoPro’ Hero 3 Black Edition HD video cameras, accompanied by a Light & Motion Sola 800 photo light. We are very excited to have them onboard and they made a great impact recording shark footage. We are looking forward to offering them in the future to our guests for our dive and our humpback whale snorkelling charters. For those who were not concentrating on the sharks, a couple of great encounters with eagle rays provided a fabulous experience. With wingspans of at least eight feet we watched in awe as these majestic creatures glided by. As the only yacht at French Cay we had the pick of sites and moved across to everyone’s favourite – G-Spot. More sharks, with the addition of the nurse sharks, captured everyone’s attention. As we often see here, angel fish worked their way around the reef eating the polyps off the gorgonians – French, grey and the more colourful queen. The night dive brought out the nurse sharks in earnest. Happy to swim in and amongst our intrepid night divers they are not afraid to get up, close and personal and if they appeared large the huge cubera snapper that hangs out under the boat definitely made them look smaller. We returned to supper and Australian night – a 2010 Penfolds Thomas Hyland Chardonnay and a 2010 Rosemount Estate Shiraz.

Back to West Caicos and to Magic Mushroom, a fairly new addition to our itinerary. Lobster hotel, which last week hosted about six spiny lobster, this week housed twelve, as well as a couple of large channel clinging crab, some would say a fantastic feast, but we enjoyed observing them in their entangled natural environment. It is a great wall with all the usual suspects and the continuous sound of dolphin in the background on this occasion. Sadly we did not see them, but it was great to know they were close by. For the afternoon, one of the crew’s favourites was the order of the day. Gullies provided an awesome afternoon and night. Four Caribbean reef sharks, all female and showing signs of mating, swam with us. Circling out over the wall and then back over the reef they maintained their swim pattern amongst us. In the sand a couple of peacock flounder camouflaged themselves against whatever they could find and in the higher water column Atlantic Spadefish slowly wended their way amongst the bar jacks, horse eye jacks and blue runners that accompanied the hull of the yacht as it swung lazily over the dive site. The purple gorgonian that adorns the edge of the gulley fielded a decorator neck crab that clung, front arms out, to catch any unfortunate prey that may pass. Under a coral head, an intermediate drum swam its crazy little pattern, creating a flow of tail and fin in monochrome.
Back to the boat, supper and more to learn about sparkling wine. Tonight’s accompaniment was a 2010 Chateau St Jean Chardonnay and a 2009 Ruffino Aziano Chianti Classico.

The morning took us to Elephant Ear Canyon and plenty of southern stingrays. Also for the first dive we discovered a small black seahorse. Usually the home to pipehorses, we were delighted to see again this tiny creature from two weeks ago. Unfortunately the pipehorses were a little more elusive, although the pipefish were evident amongst the sea grass. Two flying gurnards tapped their way across the sand attempting to frighten any little shrimp or creature that may provide sustenance. The reef adjacent to the mooring revealed Pederson and spotted cleaning shrimp in the different anemones, and squat anemone shrimp bouncing their tails above their tiny heads. Spotted, purple mouth and chestnut morays hid in the low-lying coral formations. The afternoon took us across to Driveway and more yellow-headed jawfish sporting eggs. It was also the nearest dive site to Yankee Town, the ruins left of the salt mines and sisal plantation that was left in West Caicos. Much of the machinery is left abandoned in amongst the undergrowth. A cistern is left with land crabs that crawl up and down the walls. Our hope was that the flamingos were in the salt flats, but alas they were not to be seen although the day before we had glimpsed a flock of fourteen circling the island and over the yacht.

The night dive brought with it an octopus, lobster and crabs. An unusual sighting of a red and white ribbon worm got us heading for the creature ID books upon our return together with another creature that we believe is a corallimorphs, but was not identified in the books. And so on to our evening’s wine bouquet of a 2012 Vina Underraga Sauvignon Blanc, and Wayne Brown’s favourite, a 2009 Folie à Deux Zinfandel.

Thursday morning and we were back at Northwest Point. Shark’s Hotel proved its name by revealing a number of Caribbean reef sharks. A turtle brought great delight to the divers as he swam the edge of the wall. A large Nassau grouper posed for stills and videos alike and chased any other grouper out of the area and then moved into one of the many cleaning stations. A visit to the swim through that adds to the dramatic underwater landscape makes for an exciting detour from the wall and then we journeyed on to The Dome for the remainder of the day.

Always a popular site, The Dome, has two aspects – the wall, including the chimney, and the structure itself. A fingerprint cyphoma caused excitement, as the rare cousin to the flamingo tongue. A juvenile slender filefish, still very silver from its post larval state, hid amongst the polyps of a sea plume. Warty corallimorphs played home to a spotted cleaner shrimp and that was before we got to the Dome. On the Dome the blennies provided great amusement as they darted out of their recycled homes. Rather than build their own homes, blennies use the cast off holes of worms and other small holes to live in – true recycling in the natural world. Lobsters hung out underneath the main structure and grunts and schoolmaster used the inside as protection. Our resident octopus came out for the night dive to accompany the sponge crabs that we regularly see at this site at this time of year.

Being Thursday it was Thanksgiving supper that was served with a 2010 Duck Pond Oregon Pinot Gris and a 2011 Carmen Reserva Pinot Noir and a lesson about the making of barrels.

Two Step was our final dive site of the week. So-called for the two levels of reef that create the dramatic affect that is this dive site. Two sandy bowls provide a great contrast from the reef and some great cleaning stations are located around the edge. Nassau grouper are prevalent at this site and it is great to watch them open up their gill plate as a tiny Pederson cleaner or shark nosed goby moves in between each plate to remove any parasites. A great last dive for the week before heading back to Turtle Cove Marina.

The ‘Wineworks’ Wine Appreciation weeks are designed to combine the love of diving with the love of wine, not necessarily the high end wines but the reasonably priced good quality wines. This is combined with videos designed to educate in several different areas of winemaking and history. Much fun was had by all. Thank you Wayne for putting a fresh spin on a great week of diving.

Your crew this week was Captain Amanda, James, Rob, Cole, Leigh and Rosy. We are all very excited about our forthcoming whale charters. Check with us next week to see how our last dive charter went before our departure to Puerto Plata and the Silver Banks.

---------- Post added January 29th, 2013 at 01:36 PM ----------

Turks & Caicos Aggressor III Captain’s Report Jan 19 – 25, 2013

And finally it is upon us – the final week of diving before our transition over to the whale charters. A shorter week but still packed with the same locations as any other of our charters.

With 79-degree water temperatures, a 3mm suit, with hooded vest was sufficient for some, but then others preferred a toasty 7mm to keep off the winter chill induced by five dives per day. Visibility was its usual 80 to 100 feet, giving us some great encounters.

We departed to a beautiful sunrise on Sunday morning and headed over to Northwest Point. Eel Garden was a great place to start our week with eel sightings, not unsurprisingly in light of its name, along with decorator neck crabs and spiny lobsters to name but a few. Accompanying us with these great critters this week are Don & Sharleen, Becky & Carl, David & Leah, Roger & Beverly and Marie, who was starting a diving epic by joining the Belize Aggressor after this week.

Unusual for us we started the week with an entire boat of enriched air virgins, so we had soon encouraged them to move to the dark side and breathe the green gas (Nitrox) and fully enjoy the delights that the islands have to offer.

At lunch on Sunday we moved across to West Caicos and dived Rock Garden Interlude where our two favourite resident girls, both Caribbean reef sharks, introduced themselves to our group. The other resident that graced us with its presence was our broad banded moray that has been absent for a few weeks. We were happy to see its return, and the coral head that it frequents was teaming with life. Another moray, this time of the spotted variety shared the hole and a tiger’s tale sea cucumber crept out the other side.

We have been watching the growth of a yellow tailed damsel, who started out as a tiny canvas of brilliant blue spots and is slowly getting bigger. The spots are still brilliant but I do not think that he will be darting in and out of the sponge where he lives for much longer as there is a definite increase in size! I wonder how he will look when we return from our whale charters?

Elephant Ear Canyon was our choice for Monday morning – and what a great choice. Not only did we see one of the tiny pipehorses, but also in the shallower area a short nosed batfish – with the face that only a mother could love – standing absolutely motionless on the sand – a very exciting find. The rocky outcrop by the mooring brought out the purple-mouthed moray and a small goldentail along with all the cleaner shrimp that we are all so fond of – Pederson and spotted and also the squat anemone shrimp.

We traveled the length of the island for the afternoon dive at The Anchor. Our female sharks joined us and a turtle added another dimension to the dive – all guests saw the anchor, which is sometimes not the case, despite its size.

That evening we moved across to French Cay and awoke Tuesday morning to Rock N Roll. It is a great dive site that brought us sharks and a plethora of spotted eels. An adult spotted drum provided a great photographic opportunity. A turtle, so enchanted by Sharleen’s camera, swam straight into the lens. They can be so clumsy at times! The end of the dive was transformed when a large spotted eagle ray glided by, just a few feet away from guest Beverly.

G-Spot was the location for our afternoon and the sharks came out in force – both Caribbean reef and nurse shark. Eagle rays were present for both afternoon dives – always a special treat. Angelfish, the size of dinner plates, dipped in and around the coral head plucking from the gorgonians. The night dive brought out many crustaceans including the unusual slipper lobster as well as the red banded lobster and the more commonplace spiny lobster. An octopus captivated a couple of our guests as it fed around the coral heads close to the boat.

Back at West Caicos on Wednesday morning and to Gullies, a favourite of the crew. Our Caribbean reef sharks circled around the guests and a large school of Atlantic spadefish cruised by. Many different schools of jacks and snapper adorned the mid to high level of the water column making for an entertaining safety stop. As the guests moved to the hang bar and then the ladders the reef sharks accompanied the divers to the end of their dive.

We moved to Northwest Point to our penultimate dive site, The Dome. Here we saw neck crabs on the gorgonians and our regular damselfish that can take on the world that hangs out on the Dome. Yellow-headed jawfish peeked out of the holes that are their homes – we were hoping to see eggs but today was not the day, so we will wait until after the full moon. The night dive revealed a small reef octopus that was a beautiful aquamarine colour. Long horn nudibranchs crawled along the gorgonians and were more difficult to see on the coral itself. When bathed in the light from a black light they glowed red and green, the phosphorescent not seen by the naked eye. Sponge crabs roamed across the frame of the dome and the local measled cowries moved, surprisingly quickly across the sand. A great last night dive for the week.

Our last dive was at Two Step, the most northerly dive site at Northwest Point. Two sand bowls form the lower of the two levels and create a gorgeous contrast with the reef that surrounds them, and always in the background a reef shark will circle.

We are very sad this week as it is our last diving for a while, but excited that in just a few days we will be swimming with humpbacks. Check out next week to see how our first charter was.

Your crew this week is: Captain Amanda, James, Rob, Cole, Leigh and Rosy.

 

[Aggressor Adventures]

Turks & Caicos Aggressor II Captain’s Report April 7 – 13, 2013

Water Temperature: 78-80 F
Air Temperature: High 70’s, Low 80’s
Exposure Suit Recommendation: 3mm

Being crew on Turks and Caicos Aggressor II is an incredible experience. We have spent the 10 magnificent weeks on the Silver Bank snorkeling with humpback whales and sharing the experience with our guests. Now we return to our home in the Turks and Caicos to continue to share our experiences with our guests. But this time we are diving with critters instead of snorkeling with them as we do on the Silver Bank.

Our first charter back in the T&C gets off nicely with mild weather that allows for the appreciation of the sites on the lee side of Providenciales. The northeasterly winds have created a little bit of a swell that has translated to a very slight and gentle surge underwater.

Our first dive of the day was at North West Point. This site was a first for most of our guests but we had Ron returning for his second trip aboard the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II (TCAII). All of them had good conditions for checking their equipment, buoyancy, and get accustomed to the warm water. Although the Turks and Caicos waters will warm up to 84 degrees, the 78-80 degree water didn’t bother many of our guests as most of them were visiting from the northern parts of North America (Canada, Washington, Michigan, and Oregon).

After a nice lunch (and a warm soup) we dove The Dome. The Dome offers divers a couple of options; wall or small reef and the structure of the dome. I found myself focusing mainly on the different shapes and angles offered by the pieces of the dome. Rays of light filtered through the mesh structure onto small schools of fish hiding under the structure of the dome. My favorite photograph was one taken from the lower edge of the dome looking at a 45 degree angle upwards towards the schooling fish. The night dive at The Dome was just as impressive as the day dives. One of our guest commented that his night dive was one of the best he had ever done.

On Tuesday, we headed to West Caicos for a couple of dives before we headed south to French Cay. We were greeted by a quick rain shower that kept the morning cool but since it moved off quickly, it didn’t deprive us of the needed sunshine for our underwater photography. Visibility was 100 feet at the site we call Brandy Wine. We saw a friendly reef shark that swam within 6 feet of our divers. We also saw lionfish, jacks, a tiger grouper getting cleaned, and several large parrotfish.

G-Spot, our first dive site on French Cay, is one of our favorites. It’s a site not visited by many divers but one that should be; it’s spectacular. French Cay is small and does not provide a lot of protection from the sea conditions. However, on this day the seas were pleasant enough to allow us to dive it comfortably. Hundreds of small corals heads splatter the clear sandy bottom. Each and every coral head is an oasis for small fishes and other critters. On this particular dive there were more than just a few small fishes, there was also a very large cubera snapper hiding under a coral head that wasn’t much bigger than the length of the snapper. The snapper measured close to three feet in length. Octopus, nurse sharks, and squid modeled for us on the night dive.

Rock and Roll was the name of our last dive site on French Cay, before we made our two and a half hour voyage back to West Caicos. Just a short distance from G-Spot, the layout of the dive site is similar but the marine life and the coral growth are just as impressive. We saw large barrel sponges along the top of the reef and lots of flute sponges along the wall.

Back on West Caicos on the site we call RGI, we found calmer seas and slightly better visibility (100’). The sharks were friendly and getting a close up photograph was easy. The sharks swam above, below, and right next to us. My favorite part of RGI though is the stingrays along the clear and bright sandy bottom that fills the area between the wall and inter-reef area.

It’s a beautiful morning at Gullies; breeze from the northeast and scattered clouds with calm seas. We saw lots of sharks as we did yesterday afternoon, but in addition we saw a large moray eel, juvenile spotted drum, and a large hawksbill turtle.

For our afternoon and night dives we moved to North West Point on Providenciales to Black Forest. We had great visibility at Black Forest that allowed us to get a good perspective on the size of the amphitheater located at a depth of about 90’. The amount of sponge growth both on the wall and star coral formations at the bottom of the wall were also impressive. Several gray reef sharks swam by to say ‘hello’.

Friday mornings dive was at Shark Hotel. Our divers witnesses an unusual behavior with two moray eels intertwined together in an act of aggression…or was it love?

Our group this week seemed very happy with their experience. There was a fair share of divers new to live-aboard diving but we also had several repeat Aggressor Fleet visitors.

Joining me on the crew this week were Captain James, Cole, Dave, Carlos and Brian.
Captain Nelson