Dive Trip Report to: West Palm Beach Reefs
Purpose: To Dive the Reefs in Florida for Lobster
Well, with the end of the normal dive season (holiday over with), it was time to start back to the uncrowded dive boats of West Palm Beach. Really, it was time to get back to diving with Capt Bob on Rampage!
Before the dive, one diver of my group spotted another diver from an adjacent boat cleaning lobsters. One bug was very bright red on the bottom. It was loaded with eggs!!! I don't remember the comment I was told he made, but it was not a very bright comment. Great Job Capt and Mates of that un-named dive boat!
Dive #1: Sunday, 01-Oct-2000, Early Afternoon Dive. My Dive #342
A. Dive Boat / Location:
The Rampage
, Bath & Tennis
Due to the ground swell near the inlet giving poor vis, Capt Bob decided to go south past the Breakers Reef to get better vis and some bugs!! Yea the bugs are back in to this south reef!!!
B. Conditions:
Visibility: 40 ft - pretty good!
Seas: 2 ft with a slight chop.
Water Temp: 82 deg, Switched to a Full Farmer John! It was a little warm for the full suit, but the arms offered protection for the bug hunting!
Skies: Sunny, Clear Blue Skies
Air Temp: 80 - 90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 56 ft for 37 min. Our group consisted of three divers. As the other two did not have a lot of ocean diving, we agreed on the first diver down to 800 pounds ment the group came up! Were a group that discusses our dive and sticks to the profle. Were here to help all the divers have fun!
Air consumption:
Me: 3200 lb to 800 lb (80 cu ft)
Current: Zilch (translated = none)
Description: Well with no current, we had to kick! A few minutes into the dive, I spotted two 10 ft dia brain coral with a 6 inch opening around it. I got three bugs, there were more, but unfortunately, the rest of the dive group was out of site, so I had to leave the at-least 6 more bugs!!!! One more was found in a small hole. These bugs were on the order of 1 1/2 - 2 pounds! The vis was great, there was plenty of relief from time-to time. But - those two brain coral would have been enough to spend the entire dive on! There may have even been a spotted moray under one to add excitement to your life! While decompressing at 15 feet, I had asked one diver that was going to carry 20 pounds of lead to hand me 2 pounds. Then see if they could stay at 15 feet! Well that worked, so I asked for another 2 pounds. Again, the diver stayed at 15 ft with no problems. So, with a little before-the-dive discussion, we found a way to kill the 3 minute safety stop and to rid one diver of 4 pounds of unneeded weight! Back on the boat, my bag only had two bugs in it instead of the four caught! This bag is a roll up velcrow seal. It's great on saving space, but when your putting in one bug, another can sneak out sometimes without being seen! I've got a new bag waiting for me in Stuart!
Dive #2: Sunday, 01-Oct-2000, Early Afternoon Dive. My Dive #342
A. Dive Boat / Location:
The Rampage
, Paul's Reef
B. Conditions:
Visibility: 20 ft! Vis went way way down. There was a big ground swell, the boat's depth gauge showed at least a 10 ft top-to-bottom ride, These ground swell waves were big!!! It lead to a big surge underwater which kicked up a lot of crap which lowered the vis and made for an uncomfortable dive!
Seas: It was interesting! There was about a 2 ft chop with at least a 5 ft ground swell. This swell lead to an at least 10 ft distance between the top and bottom of the waves. It was very difficult to setup and tear down the dive equipment. One diver fed-the-fish!
Water Temp: 82 deg with the same comment as above.
Skies: Sunny, Clear Blue Skies
Air Temp: 80 - 90's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 60 ft for 28 min (same comments as above)
Air consumption:
Me: 3200 lbs to 800 lbs (80 cu ft)
Current: Zilch (translated = none)
Description: Well, this dive was a wasted hunt for bugs. One bug was found inside a small hole. When approached, the bug backed in. Well, I poked some and found the hole wasn't very deep. So, in went the hand and entire arm! After seveal minutes, the bug came out. It was a lot of work!! Damm - female with eggs - so away she went! Two more bugs were spotted by my dive partners, but they were undersize and way back in the reef line!
Half way into the dive, our divemaster found two 6 ft nurse sharks under a ledge. All watched as the sharks came out and swam away. They were spotted several times during the dive. There were lots and lots of fish - one diver from Gainsville wondered if there were Trillions or Ga Zillions? All the fish were also going and coming with the surge. You would move 10 feet in one direction then 10 feet in the other. It was very hard to hold one location to look under ledges and hard to swim along the dive profile due to the surge. This would have been a good dive just to look at the fish - instead of wasting a lot of air looking for bugs!