OceanFest 98 ! This is an interesting dive show. It is well organized , parking and transportation is well organized. The parking for your car is safe (I've got a classic car). It is not very expensive. About 3/4 of the show is promotion for out-of-us diving. There were several dive shops and manufacturer's present. We did meet the owner of the Force-E franchise (were not very happy with the WPB dive shop). We met Jean - Micheal Costeau and purchased a really great Baracutta Poster!! There was lot's of dive equipment and lots of vacation packages available.
Dive Trip Report to:
West Palm Beach
Dive Reports:
Purpose:
TO DIVE
This was my Dive Partner's Tryout of a new Sherwood Caymon BC!! It worked out great - recommend this BC.
Dive #1:
RAMPAGE, Nun's Reef (1st time there) My Dive # 150
A. Dive Location:
Nun's Reef
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
40'
Seas:
2' - 3', there was a slight chop!
Water Temp:
71-72 at the bottom - it's starting to get cold!
Skies:
Clouds, Dark Sky, Looking like T-boomers and rain!
Air Temp:
80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 91' for 31 min, Me: Analog - 92', Dive
Partner: Cochran Dive Computer (Unreliable) - 89' for 31 min, Dive Partner:
Analog - 84' (?). This was a very interesting dive, we ran out of computer
time real fast!! We had plenty of air, but at 90' or bottom time was not very
long - computers to the rescue!!!
Air consumption:
Me: 3600 lbs - 1200 (120 cu ft)., Dive Partner: 3200 - 1000 lbs (80 cu ft).
Current:
Medium strength
Description:
This was the first time dive on this reef!! The reef is flat, not much rock
as you would find in the Breakers. It was a fun dive. We saw lots of
jellyfish at 15' - 30' on the way down. These were the 1' dia and kind of
short - not the 10' trailing tenticles! But, we did watch out for them!!
There was one big green Turtle (est 300 lbs) that went about a foot under my
dive partner before my dive partner saw the turtle!!! There were lot's and
lot's of schools of fish - lots of small groupers 8"" - 1 1/2'. (Hmmmm Grouper
Sandwhich!!!).
This was the trip where another diver had their tanks filled by Force-E in WPB. They had put in over 4000 lbs in an aluminum tank. When the diver connected their equipment and fired it up - it blew out a hose. Luckly - no one was hurt. They also put less than 3000 lbs in a hgih pressure steel tank!! They've done that to me several times! We no longer recommend any dive shops in WPB for getting tanks filled!!
Dive #2:
Breakers My Dive # 151
A. Dive Location:
Long Drift Dive of the Breakers Reef
B. Conditions:
Visibility:
40'
Seas:
3' seas, with real dark thunder boomers and lot's of rain!
Water Temp:
81 deg on the bottom
Skies:
Dark Clouds, T-Boomers, Lightening, Rain - but no snow!!
Air Temp:
80's
C. Dive Information:
Depth & Time:
Me: Genesis Nitrox Dive Computer - 63' for 39 min, Me: Analog - 64', Dive
Partner: Cochran Dive Computer (Unreliable) - 60' for 39 min, Dive Partner:
Analog - 60'
Air consumption:
Me: 3200 - 600 (80 cu ft), Dive Partner: 3050 - 600 lbs.
Current:
Medium strength
Description:
Again, there were lot's of schools of fish, and a 3-4' ray. Towards the end
of the drift (towards the north) we went past lots of deep canyons - reall
beautiful - would have like to check out under the many ledges. During the 15'
decompression, there was lot's of rain on the surface - kind of pretty - until
you remembered ya gotta drive home throught it all! We had left our dive
master (Eric) due to low air - Eric had seen an 8' nurse shark!! There were no
eels or bugs!!
After the dive - it was RAINING - the parking lot behind the rest-rooms - that kind of paved road where everybody parks on the grass was under at least 1' of water. Recommend using the standard parking lot!!
Last Updated: 10-July-2002