Diving the Sea of Cortez!

October 14, 2017

In March, I attended an SSI conference in North Carolina. I met a lot of great people. One of them was Tonia Foster of El Mar Dive Center in Mesa, AZ. She discussed owning El Mar Dive Center in San Carlo, Mexico. They take monthly trips there to dive the Sea of Cortez. Oh, look, a bucket list item!

After I returned home, I checked their calendar against mine and found out October would be the best time for me to go. I called the shop and booked a seat. The October trip was going to be a bus trip. They do bus or car caravan several times a year, and October was the bus trip. I booked a flight. I was ready to go.

I flew to Phoenix the night before and grabbed a hotel for the evening. Early the following day, I Ubered to the shop in Meza. There, I met Tonia. She was not going this month, but she had an outstanding crew of dive professionals leading the trip. 

Once everyone was loaded up, we headed out. During the ride and the trip, I met some great people. We stopped just north of the border for a pit spot and to pick up lunch. 

The crew from El Mar had this process down. They let everyone know what to expect when crossing the border, what to expect from Mexican customs, and how to act and behave to move through the checkpoint quickly and efficiently.

We arrived late in the afternoon and checked into the hotel. The views were amazing; the pool view was from my balcony. Moving around that part of San Carlo was easy. Almost everything we needed for the weekend was within a short walk.

On Friday morning, we headed for the boat. They have a Newton, which has become the standard for group diving.  The boat crew was from their local shop, again seasoned professionals.  The dive site was San Pedro Nolasco Island, off the coast of San Carlo. The island is a protected resource and home to lots of sea birds.  No worries. We were there to dive.

The sea was calm and flat all weekend, and the dive conditions were excellent. I dove in a 3 mm suit; when I go back, I think I will take a 5 mm. The water temperatures were just on the edge of needing a thicker suit. 

The island is the reef.  All manner of sea life is attached to the exposed base below—respectable sizes of small and medium schools of fish swimming around.  I had not seen many sea urchins before; sections of the base were covered with them.   

On the first day, we did two dives on the south side of the island; the second day, we did two dives locally, just outside of the cove where the marina was; the third day, on our way out to the island we saw a whale, well we got a glimpse of a whale as it surfaced for a breath, still very cool.  We did three dives that day.  What made the day spectacular was the sea lions, they also live on the island, a few of them decided to swim with us. It was such a blast. They are fast. They will swim by and tap you on the head with a fin.  They will keep out of reach and put on a show of movement and speed; they darted in and out of our group as we dove.  It was such a fun dive. 

Sunday night, we had a group meal at Charly's Rock, across the street from the hotel. We had a great time, and the People were good.

The next day, we made our way north back across the border. That was a bit crazy. We had to stop at customs, take out all of our bags, go into the building, and run our bags through airport-style scanners. That was after they were checked by dogs. The bus had to go off to be inspected separately. Then we loaded up again. Ten miles up the road, at another checkpoint, armed border agents, looking more like military, walked through the bus. 

By evening, we had arrived back in Mesa.  I had a great time on this weekend trip.  Now, I have to see if I can get a group of my dive buddies to join me for a return trip.

Solo Diver Cert for Me

It was time, not that I am ever lacking for a dive buddy to go diving with. I figured it would be good information and education to add to my skill set.  A group of divers took the course in 2016 from Len our resident SDI/TDI instructor I had found out about it after they had finished their training. 

I asked Len if he was going to hold a course this year, he said: " if you are asking, I am holding it."   Later I was telling Lee that I was taking the Solo course and mention that he wanted to do it too. He too had missed the course last year. 

We both signed up for the online course. SDI/TDI had a very good online educational system. Completed the coursework and met Len at the quarry to do our classroom and in water exercises. In short order the classroom work was done, we were in the water being put through our paces both on the surface and underwater.  Once we were done Len waved bye-bye, Lee and I swam away on our own paths to explore the lake as solo divers.

I was diving with my 72 cu.ft. sling that I use for tech diving it was way too bulky.  Lee had borrowed Tige's 40 cu.ft. pony bottle for his dives.  We did two dives to complete the cert.  Lee was heading out I asked to borrow Tige's pony bottle for my next dive.

 What a difference.  It tucked in on my left side and felt the way it should;  like it belonged there.   Add a 40 to my list of gear I have to purchase. I completed three dives for the day.

 Solo Diving is fun to do but when you are used to having a dive buddy it is a little weird, there is nobody to talk to about your experience. 

My goal as a Solo Diver is to complete a series of dives then get my Solo/Independent Diver Instructor Cert to add to my skill set and offerings.

Now, what color do I want that 40 cu. ft. pony bottle in...

Boat Diver

Our goal when Ruben and I went to Deerfield Beach back in May was for him to complete both his Boat Diver and Waves, Tides and Currents Certs.  Friday's boat ride was a bit bumpy, Ruben decided to sit the second dive out. Leaving him one dive short to complete his boat cert.

Since Lake Phoenix added a boat to there offering of services this year I figured that would be a great way to completed this course for him. We got on site, arranged to use the boat, they provided a divemaster for us, nice touch.  We had a minor false start with an equipment issue which we quickly resolved,  Did a quick adjustment and rest our plan and off we went.

As expected Ruben did great!  Once he completed the first dive of the day he was certified as a Boat diver.  Since we were there we did our next dive for fun.  

Congratulations Ruben beside getting  Boat Diver he now has enough certs and I think enough dives for the Master Diver Cert, need to check when I get back to the dive shop!

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Ruben on our 2nd dive of the day.

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Back to the Bahamas!!

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At DEMA last year, Stuart Cove's was giving away a weekend dive package for three days of morning dives for two people. You had to get there and get your own accommodations—all in all, not a bad deal.

I figured I would ask my daughter Meg if she wants to be my dive buddy for this trip while at dinner one night in January. Naturally, Steven, her husband, had joined us for dinner and said: "I always wanted to learn to dive." 

Later that month, we all got together for a family dinner. We told the group our plan. Chris said he wanted to learn to dive. Patti and Robert would be happy to spend the weekend in the Bahamas; I couldn't dive this trip; someone had to hang out with my granddaughter.

There you have it,  a family weekend in New Providence. 

Worked at finding a place that we could all be together that would not break the bank.  Patti had recommended looking at AirBnB.  After a bunch of searches, we found a place on the edge of Nassau a block from Junkanoo beach and two blocks from downtown. The shuttle bus from the Stuart Cove's picked up from across the street it could not have worked out better.

The plan:  the divers would do two-morning dives;  the rest of the group would head to the beach for a morning of fun or find some other adventures to explore.   Then we would all get together for lunch and explore Nassau for the rest of day.

Flying in on three different airlines with three different arrival times. Meg and Steven arrived early in the day and spent some time on the beach.  Chris and I arrived early and found that Patti and Robert had just cleared customs so we meet them outside of customs.

Our AirBnB host offer to pick us up at the airport with a quick stop at the grocery store. Then our host gave us a tour of the place we were staying.

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Once we got the sleeping arrangement sorted and some dinner we reviewed the plan for the following day.

The divers were up and out early Friday morning to meet the dive shop bus.  Which took us to the other end of the island to Stuart Cove's.   Checked in, found our boat, they have a bunch of them.  In short order we setup up our gear, boat captain briefing done, we headed out.    A short ride off the to the south west of the island to the wreck of the David Tucker.  It sits in 60 ft of water with ledge a short distance away.   

Top of the ledge was at ~60 ft the bottom was estimated around 3000 ft. 

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Hearing there was a ledge that looked into the abyss, Steven and Chris wanted to go there first.  After the divemaster briefing, I give our crew an additional briefing about ledges, up-wells, walls and monitoring depth.  Since this was their first ocean dive we did not want to go too crazy with first. 

Little to no current, good, not great viz.  We were moored to the stern of the wreck. Once we all got in the water, weighting sorted out, we headed to the down the line and out to the edge.  To be honest diving ledges is in my top five favorite types of dives, there is usually so much to see.  Today was me making sure of dive group safety.  Everyone did well on the ledge and yes they pushed their depth limits, I stayed below them and told them not one goes deeper than me. I was at 75 feet so they all came to join me at one point so I eased our way back to 60 feet. We found a natural break in the reef and swam back to the top of the reef then did a tour around the wreck.  Everyone's air consumption was very good, we reach our dive time completed our safety stop and headed back top side. Ending a great first dive for the weekend and a great ocean dive 1 for Chris and Steven. 

Conditions as we are heading back to the dock after our second dive of the day on Friday on Elk Horn Reef

The second dive was to Elk Horn reef a great 25-35 ft shallow dive, great viz and no current. A good healthy reef with a good mix of fish.  A nice hour long dive then back to shore.

Oh yeah, I had planned my dives this year so I would hit my 900th dive during this trip.  Check another accomplishment off as done, this dive was #900.  Next goal Dive #1000 hoping to get it by the end of 2017 but we will see.

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The Queen's Staircase Nassau Bahamas

After the bus drive back to Nassau we meet up with the rest of the group.  We walked through town and made our way to The Queens Staircase.  Since Patti and Robert had recently been to Nassau on a cruise they knew the best way to approach the stairs was from the top and walk down.  We did our tour through town so we would end up at the top. 

Impressive structure considering it was all cut by manual labor.  Lots of old structures and having been a fan of the "Black Sails" series TV I wanted to see downtown Nassau. This is my fourth trip to downtown Nassau but this would be my first time to really walk around town. 

I had to walk around a little the first time I was here in 1998 or 1999 just as Atlantis was opening, From what I can remember a lot has changed. Not all of it for the better. There was an old-world island feel to the place, now it is gear toward the cruise ships.  I understand progress but it is not the same.

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Day 2 the divers head out early hoping for different part of the sea to explore but we ended up on the wreck of the Tucker again.  I mention it to the crew and they offered to change the 2nd dive to a different location.  That was nice since it was a full boat.  Today the guys wanted to do a quick dip off of the ledge then back to the wreck to explore.  The David Tucker is the model boat as the Austin Smith further down in the Exuma's. An old coast guard patrol boat, once it was decommissioned it was sunk as part of Nassau’s artificial reef program.  The boat is just the right size to explore the exterior at this depth. The was a bit more surface current on this dive then what we had yesterday but no big deal. Another good dive.

The second dive was to the Hollywood Bowl,  A sandy spot on the lee side a reef outcropping that creates a bowl shape, and as you would guess this is where just about every underwater movie scene in the  Bahamas is shot.  Due to the clear water, shallow depth,  easy to get to by boat from shore. A very fun dive. You can explore the bowl then work your way back into the shallow breakers, Great shallow dive.

Met up with the rest of the group, they went to the Zoo for the morning and had a great time. We headed back downtown to see the sites. Today we walked the waterfront, all geared toward the cruise ship population.; There were three ships in port today. We figured most of them must have been downtown in the morning because it was not that crowded.  Those of legal aged sampled the adult beverages as we strolled. For the record that was not me. heat and adult beverages are not a good mix.

We did stop for lunch at the Pirate Republic. The beer was good, the food was okay but very pricey for what you got. In the end, it is the location. Can't fault anyone for trying to make a buck.
 

Heading out of Stuart Cove's dock for some more great diving.

Day 3  our last day of diving. One cool thing about today's dive, we were on a flat top boat. Once the boat was secured and you got the all clear to dive you just step to the edge of the deck and did a giant stride in. The crew told us they use this boat when film crews are in town,   Allows a lot of people to get in the water quickly.

Today had its challenge and the challenge was the current. My new divers were not expecting it.  We had discussed the possibles and options,  but when you encounter it, it makes it real.  It was a strong two knot for the most part.  We were on the wreck BBC and there was another wreck beyond the BBC but we did not make it that far.  We got our dive crew to the lee side of this listing tug.  I attempted to swim around the bow and head to the other wreck the current was strong enough after about five kick cycles of me going nowhere I let them know we are going to stay here and explore the lee side of the tug,  out of the current.  We checked out the wheelhouse, the deck, we could get to the screws and rudder but could not get much further.  Others from the boat seem to sail past toward the other  wreck  but my group was content to explore this area  Coming up the line and for our safety stop we looked like flags on the line due to the current.  It added a level of respect for the power of the sea even at 2 knots for my group.  I have done drift dives in a 3-4 knot current, you are basically flying through the water. But fixed location dives are a challenge with the stronger current.

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Picture by Patti Yao

Our shore crew spent the morning at the beach.  Once we were all together we caught a ferry to Atlantis, we stopped at Margaritaville for lunch then over to Atlantis to walk the grounds and check out the aquarium, we divers wanted to our shore crew to share in some of what we saw diving. They did tell us they saw a lot of fish in the water at the beach as well.

That brought our weekend trip to a close. Monday morning we started flying out.  Patti and Robert caught the first flight out. Meg and Steven had a mid-morning flight.

Chris and I had an afternoon fight. We pack up the luggage and put it by the door then headed back downtown to do some last minute gift shopping.

Found our items, went back grabbed our bags, made our way to the airport and our weekend adventure was done.  We had a get time!

Now to start planning our next group adventure.

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Open Water with Chris and Steven

We are getting down to it, our big Bahamas weekend is at the end of the month! 
No more time to mess around got to get these two to become certified divers!

Off to the lake we went, could not ask for a better weekend. Top side it was a great spring weekend. In the water, since I was just here on Wednesday doing a Dry Suit class I knew it was  64 degrees.   Our dives at the end of the month will be in the high 70 or low 80's  so this was a good way to start.

These two are always fun when they get together.   Steven was apprehensive, could not figure out why, he did great, look great in the water. He is an athlete so this is another sport for him, with all the sports he does, I expected he would take right to it.

Chris surprised me, we have long history. But he is grown up now, I was more than impressed. after working though some initial equipment issues and the 'everybody is awkward'   the first dive and a half.  Watching him during dive 4 and 5 this guy is a natural. His is looking like he has been doing this for years. Could not have been prouder.

Next up Bahamas for the group at the end of moth, Can NOT WAIT! This will be a blast.

Deerfield Beach May 2017 TIGER SHARK!!!

This was the second annual trip to the southeast coast of Florida of the new era.  During the winter months, the shop runs up to two trips to the Florida Springs area. I am trying to revive the summer time southeast coast trip.  The shop used to do this trip twice a season and we would get 6-8 divers per trip.  The long weekend trip, arrive on Thursday evening, either fly or drive, dive Friday, Saturday and Sunday morning, then leave Sunday afternoon if driving or late Monday morning if flying. Good weekend getaway and great diving.

This year we did the trip in May and it was just Ruben and I.  Ruben did his open water cert with me about two years ago. He dives when he can. 

Our plan was to dive out of the Deerfield Beach area Friday but conditions in the area where keeping the local boats in port.  Started calling around to find out who and better conditions either north or south of Deerfield Beach.  Found Florida Scuba Charters out of Palm Beach was going out Friday morning. So we got up early and headed north. 

I won't lie the ride out was rocky. Big rollers, some we were at the bottom of the swell and your were looking a good way up at the crest of the wave.  They have a smaller boat it a bigger than a six pack, they said they can take 15 but don't normally book more than 10.  We were 9 and 10 that day. The captain headed north toward Jupiter Inlet.   Our first dive as Area 51. Sun was shining the sea was getting claimer, water a bit cooler then what I am us to for Florida.  Great dive, the best part was the tiger shark that came to check out about halfway through the dive.  He was much closer on the first pass. Ruben was so excited he almost forgets to turn had Go Pro on. Here is what Ruben recorded from the second pass as the tiger shark swam away.  The real highlight of the trip.  Also, a dolphin swam with him as he was on the line to get back on the boat.  At first, he thought it was the shark returning was glad to see it was a dolphin just take a look to see what he was doing.

The second dive Ruben sat out, the roll of the ocean got to him.  We had moved to the Amphitheater dive site good deep drift dive saw a really big Grouper but not much else.

Saturday the weather was perfect the sea was not, no one was going out that I could find. So we spent the day exploring Deerfield Beach.

Sunday's weather was perfect and so water was nearly perfect.  We were going diving!  Using our favorite the Lady-Go-Diver boat. The boat had about 15 people on it, it can handle up to 29, 15 was just about right.  The first dive site was the Sea Emperor, wreck to reef project. One of my favorite 50-60 ft dives in the area always good stuff to see.   Although I did not see the resident eel nor did I see the giant grouper. Others said they saw the eel.  The grouper is legendary in size and lives in a hollow under the wreck. A great dive with so few people no one was on top of each other plenty of room to spread out and explore.

Second dive site and last one of the trip was a drift dive along the Deerfield Ledge.  Good viz just enough current in the 50 ft range to just meander along the bottom. A great way to end the weekend. Lots of fish, a good reef with places to looks for sea life, lots of sponges and critters in the larger sponges to check out.  Another great dive.

Ruben completed his Waves Tides and Current cert and started Boat which we will finish when we get together again in June.

Lots of fun looking forward to next years trip in May. We may go here again or we may head to Key Largo, Tige is pushing to change it up.  It's Florida diving, I am good either way, both locations are excellent. 

Drew and What's Next?!

Spring is here and divers in this area want to get back in the water. Yeah, the lake is still cold but yeah ya got to go dive!

Drew wanted to complete Virginia Scuba's What's Next?! program.  A weekend of diving completing 3 certifications and 6 dives. The week before we did Drew's coursework for Enriched Air Nitrox so he could do all of his dives on Nitrox, While at the lake during surface intervals we would cover the coursework for Navigation and Perfect Buoyancy. Then do the dive for the certs. Great diving, crappy weather rained (poured) most of the time.  Lee was also there with Joe doing  Joe's Open Water Cert with Jerry as his DM.

Cold and rainy but we made the best of it. Had a lot of fun.  Drew did a large Nav around the lake as his final task brought us right back to where we started.

Congratulations Drew!  You are now that much closer to your goal of Master Diver!

April Dive Club weekend - Diving with this Guy!

Or a better title would -

You have a goal for this year. funny so do I!

Carl, this everybody, Everybody this is Carl.   Carl received his Open Water Cert during our Florida Spring Trip in 2016 and he was hooked.  So hooked within a year he did five specialties and 50 dives which earn him his Master Diver.  Then he started his career as Dive Professional currently a Dive Guide and soon to be working on his Dive Master looking to Dive Control Specialist/Assistance Instructor this summer. Yeah, that hook set deep.

We were sitting around the shop last week and he asked me if I was going diving this weekend.  I told him not if I don't have to the lake is cold.  To which he responded, "going diving this weekend?"  I relented, Even though I just did my dry suit cert last weekend I chose to use my wetsuit.  Since I could not dive the entire weekend due to other plans on Saturday, we dove on Sunday. 

During one of our surface intervals, we got on to the subject of personal dive objective for the year. I started the year diving in the Bahamas with dive number 831. During the course of that dive I remember thinking could I get to dive 1000 this year, what would that take.   After doing the math figured, okay, dive 1000 might be a stretch but it could be done, but dive 900 was well within reach. I decided dive 1000 was the overall goal for the year with dive 900 as the short term object.  Now how to do it.  I needed dive buddies and to make the time.

I explained this to Carl and he said it just so happens he is trying to get to his dive 200 this year, he is currently at dive 58. He as a well has short term goals dive 100 and dive 150 knowing that dive 200 was ways  out there. 

Since it was Sunday we only did three dives towards our goal. Traffic on 95 North on Sunday afternoon can be real pain  Beach traffic north of Richmond, then the entire section between Fredericksburg and Woodbridge where the top speed averages around 10-20 mph after 1 PM you didn't hang around long at the lake after 12 PM if you wanted to make it home at a reasonable hour.

We agreed if either one of us needed a dive buddy to let the other know.  Let's see how we do!

Dry Suit Training

I bought my dry suit over a year ago.  I have an Aqualung Fusion Sport. The delay in training was Tige and I could not come up with a weekend to do the training.  One of us was either teaching or could not get two days together to make it happen.  So we decided on April 1  and 2.  No other students had signed up for classes, the quarry opens for the season that weekend and the water temp was in the mid-40s. Not great for an Open Water Class but great for Dry Suit.

We started out Saturday in the pool covering the basics. I took my full face mask knowing it would be cold in the open water. A fun class to take. Completly changes your buoyancy, have to lean and work out a new set of skills.

As luck would have it we remember to bring the camera into the pool.  At the quarry, we forgot them in the gear bag so no photos from Open  Water.  It was fun, undergarments are the key, dress for the environment you are going in to. The deeper you go the suit changes it characteristics add a little air to the suit, move it around, life is good in cold water.   Buoyancy is going to take several dives to work out the correct amount of weight than to manage the necessary amount of air in the suit. Just a reason to dive more!!!

February Pool Fun

Chris and Steven did there run through Try Scuba to see if Scuba Diving was for them back in December.  Now it was time to step up. Time to get the certification underway. Amanda and Paul joined the class as well for their open water cert. Jerry was the Dive Control Specialist for the class.

All of them did great, they had fun. Now to wait for the quarry to open and the water to warm up a bit to complete the Open Water dives, For Chris and Steven then it is on to the Bahamas!!  That is the goal a family trip to Nassau NP Bahama.

Shark Feed!!

January 4 2017
While not a fan of the practice, it is still a thrill to see a shark feed.  What trip on Blackbeard's wouldn't be complete without stopping by the wreck of the  Austin Smith to provide a morning snack to the local population?

Since I was here last in October 2015, Hurricane Matthew blew through the Bahamas during the late summer of 2016. The storm actually spun the wreck bow to stern and broke it into three part. Talk about power.  The bow is broken off and set apart from the rest of wreck, midships is broken from the stern.  The shark feed still happens on the stern it is now just the other way from what I remember.

Austin Smith Jan 2017

Austin Smith Oct 2015 these are the best shots I have of the ship whole. The video below shows how it looks now.

The sharks are always impressive

The video shows the state of the wreck and the feed.  

Danger Reef - AWESOME.

January 3, 2017
Southeast of Cistern Cay is Danger Reef. The top of the reef is about 25 the sand is about 60 ft. Huge boulder shape reef clustered together. Far too much to see even on the two dives on we did,

At one time this area was a shark feeding site so there are still a lot of sharks.  The reef could take days to explore and would be well worth it.

Watch the Black Group to the left at the start of the video, if you wanted to know where the shark was, look where they were looking. They never took their eyes off of him.

Feeding the Swimming Pigs!

January 3 2017
The Swimming Pigs of the Bahamas, what could be more fun!

Okay, today we were there early and they were not swimming. But I have seen them swim in the past.   The crew saved a slop bucket which we brought ashore for the pigs to feed on.  On days the pigs are in the water they take apple slices for them to feed on while they swim as well. 

What's Next art work complete and assembled.

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Had no plan or thoughts to cobble together a  new dive training program.  As part of a discussion sitting around  the table with the guys at the shop  we wanted to have a way divers felt would move them along with their training. knowledge, skill level and confidence.  Did not create anything new, just repackage what is already being offered in a way that lets the diver feel accomplish.  Just a few months from idea to schedule. We are off to a good start.

Then we figured we needed artwork for a display end cap in the store.  About a month to get that all together, just a few years ago this would have cost a small fortune to do. It was not cheap but do-able.

This display will be hanging in the shop this Thursday afternoon.  that the next time I can get there. Once it is up I will add a store shot.

Update

on 2013-07-23 23:12 by Otter

And here it is in action. On display to infom all those who walk through the shop.  It looks AWESOME.  As I was leaving they moved it more towards the front of the shop beacuse they thought it looked awesome too.  :-)

Almost an Open Water Class today

This dive season has been challenging at Millbrook this year. As usual the water was it's normal cold back in April in the 40 degree range but it was pretty clear. May was about the same the water temp was not rising like it normally would due the rain, we have had a good bit this year.

From observation, but not by any scientific measurements, the picture you see here is the entrance to Beach one. There is a wooden platform with 5 or 6 steps.  Last fall the water level was so low only the last 2 steps were under water.  With this weeks past rain the entire platform is underwater and is about 18+ inches above the deck.  So that is 7 inches for each step plus the 18+ on top of the deck, that would put the total rise around 30 inches.  That is a lot of water considering the size of the quarry.

Somewhere between May and June a cloud of turbidity formed. This is not unusual there is always a layer of turbidity normally just above the thermocline and it is a few inches to foot high in the water column.  The density would vary from place to place in the quarry but never really dense.

When I was diving there in June, entering the water I notice something was different the surface water was very warm, warm like you would have in September around 70 degrees.  Once we descended I found out why. The turbidity layer started around 12 ft and went about 25 ft and it was like looking though pea soup.  Its density was such that sunlight could not penetrate that deep, it was heating up the surface water.

The end of June there was some more rain and divers I know where at the quarry they said the turbidity had seem to thin out. it was still not great but better.

Move a head to today July 13.  We had several inches of rain this week. Surface was warm, the descent had good viz down to 12 feet. Then it got ugly!  Taking my two open water students to about 20 ft holding a line I could not see them. The both grabbed my hand and pulled up, up we went.  They express their concerns about diving in this. This was if you could picture a green cloud in the water. I told there there was a good chance that if we got below it on the training platform it would be clear. I explained my past months experience. PADI standards say you can not leave a student unattended in the water. I explained that if they were willing we could go together in physical contact down line to the platform and see what the conditions looked like. If it was clear we could do the dive. They agreed.

Down we went. I have an Aeris AI dive computer, it is clipped to the chest D-ring on my BCD. It is always about 6-8 inches from my face. The digital display has reasonable size numbers and is easy to read. 16 feet was the last depth I could see. After that I could not see the computer the turbidity was so thick.  What was more disturbing as we continue down I swear the cloud turned from green to red.  That could be a problem. 

After what I thought was red, it became black and we where on the platform. Once my eyes adjusted it was clearer, 3-5 feet of viz, we where below the cloud but the only thing of note I could see was the phosphors glow of our three compasses, to read my computer I had to press the light button. 

Dive over, up we went.  I still swear the lower few feet of the cloud is red and that should not be. 

My divers where troopers, we are working on a plan  to go to Lake Rawlings.

Have to see what happens with the quarry. It may have too much water in it. Throwing off the ecosystem.  I will keep you posted. May just have to finish out the dive season at Rawlings.  It is just such a long ride.

Talking Scuba with Ship 100

My buddy Jim Chaplin and I where asked by Boatswain Kayleigh of Ship 100 out of Gainesville to talk to the Ship about Scuba Diving.

Sea Scouts are part of the Boy Scouts of America, like Venturing Crew they are co-ed, but base learning leadership and having fun around nautical skills. 

Ship 100 wanted Jim and I to talk about the programs and options available through BSA.  We covered Snorkeling BSA, Scuba BSA and Scuba Diving and what is involved with each. Then we told them about BSA's High Adventure Camp, Sea Base, in the Florida Keys as well as other options and opportunities once they become certified divers.

I want to thank their Boatswain for inviting us to speak this evening and look forward to seeing them in the water diving soon.  

Tonight was also Ship 100's first anniversary as a unit. Congratulations!  

May you have fair winds and following seas. 

Troy Springs State Park - dive history in the making.

We started out this dive trip knowing the last days dive site would by majority vote. Starting with our first dive at Blue Grotto someone ask if we had been or where planing to dive Troy Springs. When we where at Ginnie Spring we where asked the same.  As a bonus on this trip we where able to get a quick tour of Halycon, which was very cool since most of my gear was is Halycon. They even suggested Troy Springs.  Since none of us had been there it seem fate was pulling us there.

Now as many of you know Virginia Scuba as of last July has new owners Tige Pratt, Chris Mullins and Kevin Angelilli. They have taken on Hollis as a line of gear. Chris  was one of the first to be trained as an instructor on Hollis's Prism2 Rebreather.  Everyone has been awaiting the release of the Hollis Explorer  which is a Sport Diving Rebreather since it was announced two years ago at DEMA.  While there have been others that have claimed to be Sport Diving Rebreathers, this unit in my opinion is in a class all its own and I think will be a game changer for Sport Diving.  Sport Diving is recreational-open water open circut diving.  Imagine instead of diving for 20-30 minutes  with an 80 cubic feet of air in your cylinder, how about up to 2 hours on one dive with one cylinder. Imagine what you could see or explore, no pun intended. There are wrecks and reefs that are begging to be redove by me with this kit. 

It so happen that Hollis posted on facebook earlier this week a picture of John Conway Hollis's Director of Training with six Explorers getting ready for the first Instructor Trainer course. On the 24th they posted a picture of John with the Instructors he would be training. All very exciting because Virginia Scuba has a preorder in for a couple of units. So we know we are getting close.

Saturday morning rolls around we as a group commit to going to dive Troy Springs. First we have to fill our cylinders, Tige had found Cave Country Diving in High Springs. We drop our cylinders off and wander around the shop looking at all the cool stuff they have, while they teach recreational diving, these folks are a tech diving shop . They are also a Hollis dealer, Tige as he tends to do, strikes up a conversation, the woman who was filling our cylinders and ringing our sale says "Where are you going diving?" He tells her Troy Spring. She say "Oh yeah John Conway going to be out there with the Explorer this morning"   We look at each other, what are the odds!

Tige checking out the ExplorerI had mention before in other post the difference in Florida State Parks, at Manatee Spring and KP Hole you have to sign your life away, surrender your c-card and pay to get in.  The entrance to Troy Springs looks like a one lane service road that seem to randomly have a pole with mail box on it on the side of the road.  At this park it is an honor system to gain access.  We paid our fee pulled into the parking lot and sure enough there is John and his crew gearing up to do their training on the Explorer. Tige has met and knows John as well as Matt, who wrote the manual for the Prism2 we did not hesitate going over to say hello and look, gawk, drool at the Explorers.  Let me tell you it is as cool as it looks. Matt gave a quick nickel tour of the unit, then we  let them get back to their configuring and dive planning. We went off to check out the dive site and set up our gear.

The water was so low here we could not use the platform or the stairs we had to do a beach entry here that is low. We were told at the end of the spring just before it joins the Suwannee river there is the remains of a riverboat that was burned and sunk.  You could still see the ribs and the keel. We will have to save that for a return trip, the water was too shallow to dive there.

The spring flow area was very cool, a deep slanted amphitheater shape down to where the spring flows out at about 75 feet. At the base there are several flows of various sizes and a couple cravens along the walls.  

Hollis Explorer in action

To top off a great dive the Hollis IT Explorer class entered the water about the midpoint to our dive. Since we where the only ones in the deep part of the spring we all seem to move on queue to a shallower depth to allow them to have the deep water. Most of us, or at least, Tige and I just hovered and watch history in the making.

Our dive was finished long before the Hollis group was. We had set up near the ramp down to the spring. As the first group came by I asked them how did it feel to be the coolest guys in the dive industry today.  They just laughed. They knew.

Our second dive we help James finish up his lost diver scenario, the last part of his Rescue Diver course. Which he did an excellent job. Mike was not thrilled about being drugged across the rocks but as a divemater he knows it goes with the job. 

For most of the day it had been overcast toward the end of our second dive the clouds move out the sun warm are bright and turtle came out from everywhere. We started couting but there got to be too many to keep track of and fun way to end the dive. 

Sad to see our great week of diving come to an end, it was a blast.  

What's next - Roatan if I can scrap the funds together.  I need to teach more, who wants to learn to dive or continue, expand on their current dive knowledge?  Several classes we can start here then go to Roatan and finish them there.  Come on, you know you want too...

Manatee Springs State Park

DUCK WEED! My first encounter. It is like large green grits floating on the surface. Looking at it from the banks you figure it is pond scum and will be nasty. It is just gritty.  That is what we found on Catfish hotel a sink hole depression-pond at Manatee Springs State Park. 

Once below the duck weed it was clear, but you had duck weed stuck everywhere. It is called catfish hotel for a reason there supposed to be a bunch of catfish in here. I found two or three small ones but the guys told me there where many of them on back on the shelves and holes in the walls. What was nice as our expelled air rose to the suface during the dive it created a large clear spot with no duck weed when we where exiting. I should say unless you where the last one, which I was, it did not take long for the duck weed to drift back an cover the nearly the entire surface again.

 Even after a quick rinse at the shower provided by the park, the duck weed still sticks.  We walk the short distance across the park to Manatee Spring. There where no manatee this far up the spring this morning, which is good because we could not go diving if they where. Some folks who where out enjoying the park said there where several manatee hanging out where the spring joins the Suwanee River a short distance away.

All of the springs we dove this week are several feet (4-5 feet) below normal. Some locals say it is lack of rainfall, others believe too much water is being pumped and diverted out of the aquifer into the aqueduct system for drinking water. All of which are a concern as well making entery and exiting for diving an interesting challenge, if not comical, in some locations. Most of the dive sites have either a ladder, stairs or platforms to help getting in and out of the water. These aids where where build for the springs normal water level. You take away 4-5 feet of water in some cases the ladders or stairs are just about or completely out of the water. So now there is a drop into very shallow water to get in and an awkward, and as I had made them, comical, exits trying to get back out. I can tell you some of my exits where not pretty.  I hope it is lack of rainfall and the area recovers with the next rainy season. I would like to go back and dive all of these site when they are near to at there normal fill and flow.

Manatee Spring is another high flow spring with a cavern-cave. The flow was sufficient that none of us attempted to enter the cavern. The silt area in front of the spring was filled with shells of all sizes and types. We spent most of the dive sifting through them. Everyone was looking for the elusive sharks teeth that are occasionally found. We had no such luck this trip.  Beyond the silt bowl shape created by the flow of the spring there was lush grass that filled the spring bed and lots of fish. We had seen more fish here then anywhere else beside Rainbow springs. 

We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the park. Had our picnic lunch, then we wandered around checking out the boardwalk that goes out over the swampy areas that runs parallel to the spring then out over the river. Where the river and spring meet there was indeed manatee sleeping on the bottom.

It was a great day.

Ginnie Springs

Ginnie Springs since early on when I first started diving the comments where "Have you been to Ginnie Springs, you need to go."  Simply if you haven't dove Ginnie Springs you must. Even with the water as low as it is all over the Northeast District of Florida Ginnie Springs is worth the trip.

Check in at the gate, next head to their Dive Shop-Outdoor Store and Camp Grocery. Sign your releases watch a intro video that explains the dive site and dangers of the caverns and caves. Then go diving.

There are two springs Ginnie and Devil plus the Santa Fe river to dive at Ginnie Springs. We started at Devil Spring. Devil Spring is a four-foot-wide fracture at the head of the spring system. It is 50 feet long and almost as deep. You who descend to the bottom of the crack the look up a to a great view as you look skyward.

You ascend from Devil Spring and drift down the run toward the Santa Fe River. Just before the confluence there are two more spring feeds, Devil's eye and Devil's ear.

Devil's Eye is a round opening, that is about 20 feet across and all most as deep. At the bottom is the entrance to a small cavern. Shaun was my dive buddy on this dive we explored this then when Tige, James and Mike arrived we watch Tige put James through his rescue diver training with Mike acting as "the victim"

Devil's Ear is a canyon-like opening located right where Devil Spring run joins the Santa Fe River.  The ear his a high flow spring. Trying to get to peak in at the bottom of the canyon is a challenge. The flow is so strong it can take your mask off if you look the wrong way or depending on how sensitive you regular is, the force of the flow can depress your purge button on your second stage.  The water from the spring and the water for the Santa Fe on this day had a definite demarcation point. The spring was crystal clear the river brown and muddy. A row of grass seem to frame the two flows that touch but did not seem to mix, it was a very cool to see. The spring is moving but calm, the river moving about 1 knot or so was rushing by.

Topside I found that many of the springs where diver can dive, beside picnic tables and pavilions they have gear assembly benches.  A place with a waist high bench and back where you can place and secure you cylinder, assemble your gear, the slip right into it when you are ready to go.  If you have ever been boat diving it is like assembling your kit on a boat but standing. Very convenient. 

Ginnie Spring is a large-bowl like depression that is about 15 to 20 ft deep and has a short run to out to meet the Santa Fe river. Here I spent the afternoon working with my divemaster candidate on some of the skills and workshops that will assist him to achieve his divemaster certification.  It was great to do this part of the divemater course in warm clear water. Once we where done, we assisted soon to be a Rescue Diver James with more of his surface scenarios need to completed his certification.

Later in the afternoon we cooked up some burgers and dogs on one of the grills waiting for nightfall. The we geared up for our night dive of the Ginnie Cavern and "the Ballroom". You enter the cavern into what is known as the upper room, it is large room it has can hold several divers, the limestone wall are almost polished from the flow of the water. You continue to the back of the room around a small out cropping and you are in a massive space called "The Ballroom". There where six of us on this dive and we could have easily fit another 10 to 12 divers before you felt a bit crowded.  There is a high flow spring feed at the bottom of the room, depth about 50 feet, the spring opening is gated off so you can not go further. As is typical of high flow springs that I have now seen and is noticeable in this room is the sediment the comes along with the flow creates and amphitheater silt sloping up and away from the flow. Lots of cool formations of rocks and limestone. While I am told the sunlight does pentrate into the the ballroom during the day, it is very dark at night. At one point during the dive we where all together we hooded our lights. it was dark.  There is a guide rope strung along the roof of the ball room that runs into the upper room so there is no doubt which way is out. Which is a nice touch.

This is on my list to do again.