Divers!
It's winter (I can hear the comments) at the bridge! The morning breeze wasn't directly out of the north, but it might just as well have been. Wow, we're getting soft here in south Florida.
Anyway, it was a beautiful, bright, sunny day (and yes, chilly) and the vis was pretty good considering the rough seas offshore. The tidal flows both ways were strong as I believe we have just had a new moon, and strong west winds are pushing the water.
Seven crazy people braved the conditions to dive the east bridge and it was fabulous. I was fortunate enough to get to follow Mike Phelan around and get a private fish ID tutorial. Thank you, Mike! I was trying to stay close enough to have him show me fish and still stay out of his way. We did fine. I didn't kick his mask or regulator once. The most interesting critter to me was what we believe was a sea hare. It was about twelve inches long and a very dark purple. I've looked in Paul Humann's book, but I don't see the one we saw.
The water was sixty-eight degrees so it was finally time to break out the dry suit. I had a wet suit with me, but sixty-eight degrees puts me in the dry suit. Mike and I did a seventy-three minute bottom with a nice tidal ride to the bridge and a nice tidal flow away from the bridge at the end.
A small group stayed after the dive to enjoy donuts, sweet pastries I can't name, bagels with cream cheese and jellies, and hot chocolate. The day had warmed up substantially by then and it was quite pleasant sitting at a picnic table in the sun.
Again, a special thanks to George McGuire for correcting the high tide time!
Thank you to Michele and Franck for setting up this blog space!
On Saturday, 12 April there is a 2:28 high tide at the bridge. On Sunday, 13 April there is a 3:39 high tide. Either one could easily be followed by a picnic.
Any preferences? Please let me know.
As Heather says, "Sometimes it pays to be a troll."
Ham
It's winter (I can hear the comments) at the bridge! The morning breeze wasn't directly out of the north, but it might just as well have been. Wow, we're getting soft here in south Florida.
Anyway, it was a beautiful, bright, sunny day (and yes, chilly) and the vis was pretty good considering the rough seas offshore. The tidal flows both ways were strong as I believe we have just had a new moon, and strong west winds are pushing the water.
Seven crazy people braved the conditions to dive the east bridge and it was fabulous. I was fortunate enough to get to follow Mike Phelan around and get a private fish ID tutorial. Thank you, Mike! I was trying to stay close enough to have him show me fish and still stay out of his way. We did fine. I didn't kick his mask or regulator once. The most interesting critter to me was what we believe was a sea hare. It was about twelve inches long and a very dark purple. I've looked in Paul Humann's book, but I don't see the one we saw.
The water was sixty-eight degrees so it was finally time to break out the dry suit. I had a wet suit with me, but sixty-eight degrees puts me in the dry suit. Mike and I did a seventy-three minute bottom with a nice tidal ride to the bridge and a nice tidal flow away from the bridge at the end.
A small group stayed after the dive to enjoy donuts, sweet pastries I can't name, bagels with cream cheese and jellies, and hot chocolate. The day had warmed up substantially by then and it was quite pleasant sitting at a picnic table in the sun.
Again, a special thanks to George McGuire for correcting the high tide time!
Thank you to Michele and Franck for setting up this blog space!
On Saturday, 12 April there is a 2:28 high tide at the bridge. On Sunday, 13 April there is a 3:39 high tide. Either one could easily be followed by a picnic.
Any preferences? Please let me know.
As Heather says, "Sometimes it pays to be a troll."
Ham
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