Dive Report 28 November

Fabulous vis at the bridge! We had thirty feet plus at the big bridge for an 8:26 high tide. The air was a bit chilly, but the water was seventy-five. It was so easy to see the wrecks and see well out into the boat channel. The polkadotted batfish was there as well as several flying gurnards. My students and I finished our bridge outting with coffee and bagels with cream cheese and jelly. What a beautiful way to start the day! I will be there Sunday 30 November for a 9:42 high tide. It should be absolutely fantastic. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 19 November

This is not my dive buddy and I after the dive, but it sort of felt like it. Winter came quickly after a gorgeously warm Saturday. Today we had an air temperature of sixty degrees in a consistent north wind, and a water temperature of seventy-two! What a drop from the weekend. Our vis was only between three and four feet. It was a challenge to keep track of each other. Mother Nature was telling us to look at the little stuff today as that was pretty much all we could see. I was reintroducing myself to my drysuit after a fairly long layoff and today I was very glad for it. Showering off in the north wind didn't appeal to me at all. Conditions will return to being easier than today; I'll keep you posted. I am hopeful that is before June. (My hat is off to my dive buddy who must be nuts to have to dive, even in the conditions we experienced today. My kind of person.) Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 15 November Bridge Brunch

What a fabulous day for a bridge dive! Conditions could not have been better. We had twenty to thirty feet of vis, seventy-nine to eighty degree water, and a warm sunny day. My dive buddy and I started by visiting the newest wreck, which if you go off the beach closest to the seawall, is 190 degrees almost straight out. It's about one hundred feet off the beach. There were NINETEEN lobsters in the wreck! My buddy took video to which she is going to create a link. NINETEEN lobsters sitting in ROWS. I've never seen anything like it. I am still amazed that my dive buddy, an avid and very capable hunter to say the least, could hold the camera so steadily with such treasure right there. Many of them were "shorts", but there were a few larger ones. Nineteen sitting in rows of three and four. Always something amazing at the bridge! A bandtail searobin, a flying gurnard, and an octopus from which my dive buddy removed a fishhook, were all frosting on the cake. A group of us shared bagels, cream cheese, jelly, cider, and coffee in the beautiful Saturday morning sun. What a great day! I love diving at the bridge. Hope you all can make it next time. Get in the water, Ham

  

Dive Report 14 November

A student and I had a fabulous day at the bridge in twenty-feet plus vis and seventy-nine degree water. We entered the water at 8:18 for an 8:45 high tide and got a nice, one hour and fourteen-minutes dive. The two little spotted eagle rays that have been sighted fairly frequently for the last several days were between the second and third set of pilings, and toward the end of the dive out by the off-beach wrecks. No way of knowing if they are the same ones. Who cares? From about thirty feet away we could see the outlines or shadows of all four pilings in a given set. Lots of fish! Tomorrow, Saturday, November 15, the high tide is at 9:36 so try to be there by 8:30 so you can be in the water by 9:10 or so. I will have bagels, cream cheese, jelly, apple cider, and some coffee for after the dive. It should be a warm day compared to what is being forecast for Sunday. Take advantage of the warm day and warm water; winter is coming! Hope to see you at the bridge, Ham (Squirt, our cat sez, "Get in the water.")

World Class Diving 12 November

I have to share an offshore dive experience! The whale shark pictured with this report was not seen under the Blue Heron Blvd. Bridge. We saw it yesterday a short distance east of Scarface close to the Captain Don's dive site. After our dive on Scarface as Capt. Mike drove the Republic IV down sea, he spotted a fin out of the water and a BIG shadow underneath it. He immediately called the divers' attention to it and told us to get suited up quickly. Driving the boat close to the unidentified shadow Capt. Mike soon discovered that it was a whale shark and positioned the boat to get us in the water. We jumped in and saw a twenty-one or twenty-two feet-long whale shark just casually cruising. With little effort it soon swam out of sight, but Capt. Mike maneuvered the boat to corral the whale shark to pass right underneath us! What a sight to behold! RIGHT UNDERNEATH US! WITHIN TOUCHING DISTANCE! Diving off Jupiter is truly world-class diving. Thanks, Capt. Mike for such incredible skill! I've never seen a group of happier,or more stunned divers.

Announcements: Saturday is the bridge brunch. We have bagels, cream cheese, jelly, etc. I will be there at 8:00 for a 9:36 high tide. We plan on entering the water at 9:10. It should be a warm, gorgeous day. There is a two-tank night dive Saturday, too. I'm on it. Water temperature yesterday offshore was seventy-nine on the bottom and eighty-one at the safety stop. Also, the shop has high-quality rental gear for sale, and a fabulous year's end deal on new,top-of-the-line, 2008 model wetsuits. We hope to see you Saturday. Get in the water (who knows what you will see!), Ham

Dive Report 8 November

A five WOW dive for me! A striated frogfish! We have seen them before, but it has been quite a while for me. It was right off the beach under the big bridge in the sand. At first it appeared to be a ball of sea grass, but a more careful look paid off. Spotted eagle rays yesterday (a fellow instructor saw them again today) and a frogfish and the big octopus in his usual lair today. I love diving the bridge! The vis was between eight and ten feet. There is still much green water especially after slack. The water temperature was seventy-nine. Remember that next Saturday we have a bridge brunch. I'll be at the bridge at 8:15 for the 9:36 high tide. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 7 November

A little improvement from yesterday - eight feet of vis. It's remarkable how much difference two or three feet of vis makes at the bridge. We had a nice dive. Many fish. Water temperature was seventy-seven. We were the only divers there. On the way back from the channel I thought to myself that it had been a while since I had seen any eagle rays and how nice it would be for my student from Maryland to see one, even in short vis. By the little off-beach wrecks we were given two beautiful spotted eagle ray intermediates or young adults. Gorgeous! Figure that one out! Get into the water, Ham

Dive Report 6 November

It wasn't as thick as split pea soup; it was more like chicken noodle. We could see four or five feet. Yesterday we tried to do a dive, but one to two feet of vis just isn't worth it. Today the vis was twice as far as it was yesterday! Our open water students were confident and comfortable enough in the short vis so we did the dive in almost physical contact with each other to maintain the buddy team. The students did very well staying close by and actually saw some of the local critters (up close of course). The real kicker though was the water temperature - seventy-five! I saw on the morning weather report yesterday that the water temperature at the Fort Pierce buoy was seventy-two. In anticipation of colder water (hoping it wasn't), I brought my 5mm wetsuit and a 3mm hooded vest. I was toasty warm. I don't pretend to understand Mother Nature, but it seems this persistent north wind has given us short vis and cold water. Wow, it can change quickly. We have some east wind coming the next few days so maybe it will bring us some warmer water and longer vis. I'm at the bridge on Saturday for a 3:50 high tide. I'll let you know what we find. I suppose winter is inevitable. Get in the water (with your thicker wetsuit), Ham

Dive Report 2 November

FINALLY!! We had wonderful vis today. What a long wait it has been. With a bright, sunny sky we had twenty-five to thirty feet of vis before slack high tide. The water temperature was eighty degrees for our bottom time of one hour, nine minutes. The critters of the bridge did not disappoint us as we saw two spotted batfish, a gorgeous bandtail searobin, and an intermediate bluespotted cornetfish about eighteen inches long. We frequently see the adult bluespotted cornetfish offshore, usually in pairs, but to see junior right off the beach was a special treat.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: First, the next bridge brunch is Saturday, November 15 for a 9:36 high tide. I'll be at the bridge by 8:15. We'll have bagels, cream cheese and jelly, and hot chocolate for after the dive. For those who want a full day of diving, you will have plenty of time to make the afternoon boat, or do the night dives scheduled for that evening (I'm on that boat). Second, in December we are planning a bridge picnic for Sunday, December 7 for a 3:01 high tide. Again, we'll be there about an hour before the high tide and have hamburgers, hotdogs, and other goodies for a post-dive picnic. Finally, the Jupiter Dive Center is bringing in new rental gear so the rental gear that is being rotated out is for sale at bargain prices. The regulators are fully reconditioned and warranteed for one year. BCDs of various sizes ranging from XXS to XXL are available. This equipment is only months old. (I still have and use my ORIGINAL Scubapro BCD). If you are on a tight budget and want a great value in dive gear, take advantage of being able to puchase this Scubapro gear. This opportunity makes the fantastic diving in our area very affordable. We hope to see you at the brunch and the picnic! Get in the water, Ham