Dive Trip Report to: West Palm Beach
Purpose: Full Moon Dive and a Sunday Morning Dive
Note: This trip report is the opinion of the author. It may not reflect the opinion of the sponsoring dive club or other divers!
The boat does have an air-conditioned cabin available, but unfortunately, my dive partner is susceptible to sea sickness and cannot remain in a cabin when the boat is rocking. We were in 1-4' seas with some boat rocking. It was a very unfriendly situation. One divemaster found a bug bag and tried to hid it behind his tank when the person that owned it asked around to see if anyone had found the bag. We told the person that the divemaster had the bag. Several divers were late coming up from the second dive - or at least the Capt. thought they were late. Actually they had come back up right after going into the water helping a young dive that had panicked on the bottom when he lost his dive partner. The Capt. had seen this situation. The divers did keep to their dive profile! Our dives should have been for 40 minutes if you had dive computers rather then cutting us off at 30 minutes!!
The only good comments about the boat are the dive was inexpensive - $30 for two dives (we supply all equipment), there is an air-conditioned center cabin, there is free cans of soda and a lot of munches. In the future, this diver and dive partners will pay the extra $5 and dive on the Diver Friendly RAMPAGE .
As one fellow diver commented on this report: I agree about Rampage and double on Dairy Solutions...or is it Diving Pollutions...Cows are Us?
Divers Supply on US 1 just across from the marina entrance has irked us for a while. Several months ago when getting my tanks filled, they didn't even put the tanks in water to cool them off - that was the last time I would have them fill my steel or any other tank. Several times while purchasing dive items, there would be 5 persons (Limies) behind the counter - it would take 10 minutes to get someone to wait on you. On one occasion, when one person came over to cash us out, the counter person didn't even know how to work the register. After 10 minutes of playing with the cash register, they over charged us $10. It took another 10 minutes to clear it out. Although this store is close to the marina and their prices are reasonable, they will not get any of my future business.
Force-E
dive shop which is around the cornet on Blue Herring also
has problems
. There price for a tank refill is $3.50 for one fill, or $2.50 if you
purchase a 10 card fill. Hatts in Melbourne charges $15 for a 10 card fill. I
guess when your near the boat docks you can charge whatever you want. The
first time I had my 120 cu ft steel tank filled, they put in less than 3000 lbs
for a tank rated at over 3500! I didn't realize it until I was putting my tank
together on the boat, but I did call them and they did give me a free fill when
I got off the boat. Last weekend, the tank filler person was going to attach
his wet filler line to my steel tank without blowing out the valve. Luckily, I
caught him, had him take the filler line off and blow out the valve. This tank
cost over $400 new
and will rust if water is put in the tank. I also needed a new strap for my
knife, it was $5.00 at Force-E, Hatts' in Melbourne has it for $2.50. Force-E
wanted $2.50 for one small cylone's night glow stick, Hatt's has them for
$1.70. There usually free on a decent dive boat (at least they are on the
Rampage).
Dive Reports:
Dive #1:
Saturday Night Full Moon Dive, 08-Aug-98, Diving Solutions, My Dive # 144
A. Dive Location:
Paul's Reef
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
30'
Seas:
1' with occasional 3'
Water Temp:
82 F / Covering: Used a 3 mm shortie with a lycra suite under it!
Skies:
CS - Clear Skies, no wind, Full moon, good surface visibility
Air Temp:
80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 68' for 34 min, Me: Analog - 67', Dive
Partner: Cochran Dive Computer (Unreliable) - 67' for 34 min, Dive Partner:
Analog - 65'
Air consumption:
Me: 3700 lbs - ??, (Lots left) (120 cu ft)., Dive Partner: 3200 - 1500 lbs (80
cu ft) - Plenty of air for a 40 minute dive.
Current:
Medium strength
Description:
We all saw a big, 3-400 lb 5', 3 legged turtle, and also a small 1' turtle. I
lost bug stick in the beginning of the dive. I had the loop around my arm,
when all of a sudden it was gone. I've got to connect this stick to my BC.
Luckily Hugh found it for me - saved me $40!!! There were lots of colors. My
dive partner saw an octopus. There were two big bat fish , Flying Gurnard
(from the Portuguese gourgna, or grunt) in a sandy area. These fish were 2-3
feet in length and probably 4' from wing tip to wing tip. They were a very
unusual fish to watch - they looked like a real big flying fish laying on the
sand.
Dive #2:
Saturday Night Full Moon Dive, 08-Aug-98, Diving Solutions, My Dive # 145
A. Dive Location:
North End of Bath and Tennis - Kirk's Cove
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
30'
Seas:
2' with occasional 4' seas
Water Temp:
85 F / Covering: Used a 3 mm shortie with a lycra suite under it!
Skies:
CS - Clear Skies, no wind, Full moon, good surface visibility
Air Temp:
80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 55' for 41 min, Me: Analog - 55', Dive
Partner: Cochran Dive Computer (Unreliable) - 53', Dive Partner: Analog - 53'
Air consumption:
Me: 3300 - 700 (80 cu ft), Dive Partner: 3200 - 900 - We did stay on the
bottom for 35 minutes for this dive!!!
Current:
Medium strength
Description:
There were lots of bugs, most were out in the open and could be picked up with
a gloved hand. Some were in small holes and were easy to prod out in the open
to pick up. We also spotted a big spotted eel that was slithering across the
coral - we kept our distance from it. Again, there were lot's of colors and
lots of fish. I did not actively go after the bugs due to the strong currrent.
By the time you'd get the bug in you bag, the rest of the dive group would be
out of sight.
Dive #4:
, Dive # 147
A. Dive Location:
Bath and Tennis
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
30'
Seas:
2 - 4', big occasional swell's
Water Temp:
85 F / Covering: Used a 3 mm shortie with a lycra suite under it!
Skies:
SCBS - Sunny Clear Blue Skies, no wind
Air Temp:
90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 49'
for 42 min, Me: Analog - 53', Dive Partner: Cochran Dive Computer
(Unreliable) - 48' for 42 min, Dive Partner: Analog - 57'
Air consumption:
Me: 3000 - 600 (80cu ft), Dive Partner: 3200 - 1000
Current:
Medium to Strong Current
Description:
Lots of colors, lots of fish, a pretty drift dive. Again, there were some bugs
in holes.
Last Updated: 10-July-2002