We'll Go Back to the Brac ... Trip Report Oct. 18-25th, 2008

[nipi]

Before Cayman Airways flew the Twin Otters to Little Cayman & the Brac & only Island Air did, a friend of ours (who now pilots the CAL jets), used to pilot for Island Air & on some of their older planes as a single pilot so the co-pilot seat was always assigned to a passenger. He would always try to ensure that all the tourists boarded in the back first so the co-pilot seat would be available to one of us. Never had to take the controls though ... thankfully for all aboard.

 

[-hh]

Before Cayman Airways flew the Twin Otters to Little Cayman & the Brac & only Island Air did, a friend of ours (who now pilots the CAL jets), used to pilot for Island Air & on some of their older planes as a single pilot so the co-pilot seat was always assigned to a passenger...

I can recall learning to not to sit in the back row(s) on Island Air's old high wing ... Britt Norman? ... the Air Conditioning duct that ran down the ceiling would fill up with condensate water and when the aircraft would rotate for take-off, all of the water in it would run to the back and exit, dousing the passengers in the last row or two.

But I think that my (cough) favorite (cough) Island Air flight was one where take-off from GCM went uneventfully... but just as we were clearing East End (heading out over deep water en route to LYB/CYB), the pilot looked up at a gage, reached up and tapped it a couple of times, then looked out the window at the Port engine.

Tap-Tap-Tap
(glance)

Tap-Tap-Tap
(glance)

Repeated every five minutes for the entire ~40 minutes that we were flying out over deep water.

And I couldn't quite read what the gage was for!
(maybe engine / oil temperature?)


-hh

 

[caymaniac]

Ha, ha, ha, I took that flight on the old yellow over wing several times too. I loved that flight mostly because I knew what a treat I was in for. The last time I took that flight there were only 4 to 6 people on board.....maybe 1993?? It was a nice low flying trip.
Last time I went to Little Cayman, I was asked to sit in the co-pilots seat on the twin engine overwing. The pilot expressed his disdain for what the locals were doing for dollars as in tearing out mangroves so that Gov. harbor could become more habitable.

 

[Tim Ingersoll]

And you thought flying a plane was hard?

 

[-hh]

And you thought flying a plane was hard?

Not hard, but rather the old "what's the worst thing that can happen?" scenario.

As such, I didn't relish the idea that my first minutes of stick time was with my wife & other pax also onboard, instead of just me & the pilot.


-hh

 

[Indepth Watersports]

Hey all,
Well Its new years and so I thought I would clear up some mis- information IÃ×e read on here..
I about fell out of my chair when someone said no one would be diving in Cayman Brac this year. Anyone that knows us should know thats simply not going to happen. I know not too many people know about us but we have been around for 2 years and IÃ×e been here for something like 13 now..
Its looking like DOT will open the island sometime in Feb.. We have to get enough room stock on hand to bring people in.. However, work is moving along well, most of the island has power and lots and lots of equipment and supplies are coming in every day.. The main reason you donÃÕ hear much about what is going on down here is cause we are **** busy rebuilding it.. Also you are dealing with Brackers and they donÃÕ complain and want someone else to do it, they just get it done.. If you donÃÕ believe me book a trip down in March and all you will see is Sweet ocean and lots of new construction and very little mess if any..
Driving down the south side of the island some might not know anything happened at all.. (Other than the west end of course.. OUch..) I can poke fun as my shop pretty much got flipped upside down as well as our boat parked on the beach..
Ok now for what is up..
Tons of things going on.. Clevelands new hotel should be done in March.. They are nonstop on it... Brac Reef will bring a crew in and I think... dont quote me on this but im guessing April... If they decided to do it tomorrow it could be done.. They donÃÕ mess around.. Carib sands and Brac Carib will get moving quite well just after the first of the year and Carib sands had all ready started the new phase before the storm.
Now for us... We of course are working with home owners with private homes to bring them on line as fast as we can.. More like this month rather then not this year..
We have two ready for inspection and will have 3 more end of next week.
Indepth Watersports is building a new place on the North West end of the island where our place was knocked down... Carl is doing the design and needless to say it will be quite nice with Little Cayman and sunset views from your own white sand beach..
We have just landed our new boat, new breathing air systems and a new truck to deal with all the stuff.. The boat is a 10M Bollinger (This is the company that builds our US Coast Guard Cutters) RHIB, Fresh from the Seal team base in Coronado Calif.. These boats are 800K new, I went to California and with a team from Xtream Fabrications did a 4 month refit on her.. We will be posting pictures on our face book site as well as our web site very soon.. We are looking at about 15 min. to Bloody Bay wall from the Brac.. We expect this boat to surpass all expectations in safety, speed, ability with state of the art electronics. I built this boat to go see places like Pickle Banks and could put us within easy reach of Cuba.. hmm more on that later..
If anyone needs the straight poop on what is going on down here feel free to contact me on the Brac.. We will be diving off the new boat first of next week and starting the build on the house within the first week of January.
As soon as DOT opens the island we will be ready to rock.. Lots of exciting things planned for this year.. Stand by, or as we say here.. Soon Come..
Craig
indepthwatersports.com


PS.. Note to HH.. just for the record Double Wall as well as Airport wall are north west wall sites.. and BR Bar is alive and well and serving treats.. along with just about everyone else..

PSS. We have been diving several times and the reef looks good.. assorted sponges torn to shreads but the stucture is good.. There was not that big of a storm surge.. The wall is alive like crazy as it often is after a big storm. Nothing moved on the wall I can see, The Wreck is still the Wreck.. It looks to me like it just wiggled around..

 

[-hh]

...
I about fell out of my chair when someone said no one would be diving in Cayman Brac this year.

FWIW, "Not in 2009" appears to be the rumor for just the Divi Timeshares property (not the whole island). Is there any cleanup activity at all at the Divi site?

Tons of things going on.. Clevelands new hotel should be done in March.. They are nonstop on it... Brac Reef will bring a crew in and I think... dont quote me on this but im guessing April... If they decided to do it tomorrow it could be done.. They don't mess around.. Carib sands and Brac Carib will get moving quite well just after the first of the year and Carib sands had all ready started the new phase before the storm.

Good to hear. I'd expect BRBR to not rush crazy fast, since they have accommodations at LCBR open.

We have just landed our new boat, new breathing air systems and a new truck to deal with all the stuff..The boat is a 10M Bollinger (This is the company that builds our US Coast Guard Cutters) RHIB, Fresh from the Seal team base in Coronado Calif..

Great news! I hope that with your mods, its a dryer-riding boat than the old Rob Shirley Pro42 "Vomit Comets" jet drive boats that came to the Sister Islands in 1995.

As soon as DOT opens the island we will be ready to rock..

Who's the DOT point of contact?

Also, has postal mail been restored yet?

PS.. Note to HH.. just for the record Double Wall as well as Airport wall are north west wall sites..

Its open to interpretation, which you do by qualifying them with 'West'. I consider this zone to be simply 'west side' (or 'end of island'), as opposed to 'traditional' North or South. Since its borders are roughly defined by what's in the lee when the weather blows 'down the slot' (straight down-island), its not a North, not a South and thus its got to be something else.

and BR Bar is alive and well and serving treats.. along with just about everyone else..

Good to hear. The initial damage reports on Brac Reef claimed (erroneously) that it was all gone, but it appears that it was okay, but had simply been partially buried by debris...the initial report simply assumed the worst.


-hh

 

[jk722]

I have been diving in all kinds of environments since '82 but my girlfriend is a new diver with 10-12 open water dives. We are thinking about the Cayman Agressor in May. Are the currents strong at that time of year? Are they OK for a new diver?

 

[-hh]

I have been diving in all kinds of environments since '82 but my girlfriend is a new diver with 10-12 open water dives. We are thinking about the Cayman Agressor in May. Are the currents strong at that time of year? Are they OK for a new diver?

You're OK for current.

The Aggressor typically spends 90% of its week over on Little Cayman, which generally has very little current to be concerned about. When there is a current, its typically of the mild type where the rule is: "start your dive swimming into the current; drift back".

What's probably a bit more of a concern is buoyancy control, as the wall drop-offs are generally quite steep, going into La-La Land.

As such, for a <20 lifetime diver, I'd recommend starting out fairly conservative on max depths off the wall, to keep it to be less than 200fsw or thereabouts.
:dropmouth:

Okay...seroiusly, the max depth policy is typically 100-110fsw and I'd shoot for 75-80fsw max with a Novice, until such time that their buoyancy, SAC rates and Narcosis susceptibility risks are all adequately sorted out.

There are a few walls on Little Cayman where the dropoff literally undercuts, so if you drop a weight (or have buoyancy problems that crash you to the bottom), the first 'bottom' to be touched is supposedly at around 300fsw (I've not gone down to look).

Here's an example of the wall's slope off of Great Wall West; IIRC, at around 110fsw:

In many areas, I've found that there's a ledge at around 130-140fsw, or that the wall's slope breaks off (to "only" a 45 degree angle), and both of these are often visible below you (when you know what you're looking for), due to the typical 75-125ft visibility.


-hh

 

[keyshunter]

-hh
I was just informed that Brac Reef Resort is booking reservations for a June 1st opening. Great news!