Dive Report 25 October

Perfect day for a picnic! The parking was EASY! Oh, and the weather and diving conditions were superb also. It's all about being with your friends. My face is a little sore this Monday morning because I laughed so much both on the dive and at the post-dive picnic. Rob and Sharon found the elusive "frogfish" as demonstrated in the photo. We scoured the area under the west bridge, but didn't see a real frogfish. A batfish, a banded jawfish, a tiny, tiny french angelfish, and of course the ever-friendly Atlantic spadefish were all there in vis that varied from a few feet to ten to fifteen feet. Vis was better out by the channel. The water temperature was eighty-four. I was in a 3mm wetsuit and more than toasty. A dive skin would have been fine. After the dive we enjoyed gorgeous weather (no sign of the customary shower that often accompanies our picnics). Michele brought bison burgers and Norman grilled them to perfection. Arnold Palmers and iced tea with plenty of lemon (for Rob) were the beverages of the afternoon. It was a joyous afternoon with our wonderful friends. It doesn't get any better! Get in the water, Ham

BYO Picnic Sunday, October 25

A group of us are going to dive the 2:14 high tide on Sunday, October 25 and have a picnic after the dive. To keep things simple it is a "Bring Your Own" picnic. We will try to be at a table close to the intracoastal. Parking can be tricky on a Sunday so plan to come early (we'll be there around noon or before) and kick back and relax. Seas will be calming in the next several days so I expect the vis to be decent. The water temperature will probably be in the low eighties. If you have the time, come join us on what is forecast to be a hot day. It will be a great day to GET IN THE WATER, Ham

Dive Report 21 October

Wrong AGAIN (or still)! With rough seas offshore (4'-6') I thought for sure that the vis at the bridge would be worse than it was yesterday. My open water student and I were very pleasantly surprised with ten to fifteen feet of vis in water that was eighty-two degrees. We chose to dive under the east bridge and saw a sharptail eel, a juvenile bandtail sea robin, the resident intermediate spadefishes, and a school of two to three dozen sheepshead, something I've never seen before. Our dive time was ninety minutes. In three millimeter suits we were toasty. Always amazing how fast conditions can change. If we don't go, we don't know, AGAIN! Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 20 October

Need I say more? The great stretch of fabulous conditions we have had at the bridge are subject to the same law of nature as everything else material in the universe, CHANGE. Our vis today was between three and four feet, five would be stretching it, a lot. The water temperature was seventy-nine and I was very glad I chose my 3mm suit rather than my dive skin for our sixty-three minute dive. My open water student has only two days to do the dives so into the soup we went. We did see a batfish very up close. It was a great day to test navigation skills, too. Not being able to see meant we really had to rely on the compass. We're at the little east bridge tomorrow. With a forecast of 5' to 7' seas tomorrow, the vis probably won't be any better. As long as I can see my compass we'll be able to do the dive. Get in the water (maybe this weekend?), Ham

Dive Report 17 October

Fabulous morning for a dive! Being a morning person (I know some of you just can not relate to that) I love early morning dives at the bridge. This morning was about as early a slack high tide we can have and still be diving in sunlight. Sunrise was at 7:20 I think and high tide was at 8:11. It was gorgeous! My two open water students Michael and his son, Noah (Michael is a certified diver taking the course with his son) were treated to a spotted eagle ray hunting for breakfast and a good-sized school of horse-eye jacks hunting for anything that moves. The jacks came by as we were doing an alternate air source ascent; I had to stop Michael and Noah mid-ascent to see the jacks swirling all around us. (An alternate air source ascent should be that slow and comfortable anyway.) The vis was exceptional for the bridge. It had to be between twenty and thirty feet. We could see way out into the boat channel from the eastern side of the pilings marking the channel. The water temperature was eighty-four. Michael and Noah wore light wetsuits and I wore a diveskin. We were all very comfortable for our one hour, seventeen minute dive. For one of the best dives in south Florida, it's worth getting up a little early on a Saturday morning! Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 9 October

Great vis today! With a bright, sunny sky we could see beyond thirty feet under the little east bridge (until the tide turned; vis falls rapidly when that happens). Five of us braved the early fall weather (90 degrees air temperature with a nice breeze from the south) to do a very relaxing fun dive. We looked for the frogfish and seahorses but didn't have any luck. We did see a beautiful polkadotted batfish and a gorgeous juvenile blue angelfish. A mantis shrimp oogled us I think; it's hard to tell where they are looking. Of course, the Atlantic spadefish came up to greet us as they always do. A few large barracuda loomed in the distance as small schools of bait fish swirled toward and away from us. After an hour of bottom time we drifted south and then west through the moored boats just south of the swim area finishing our dive at ninety minutes. In a dive skin I was very comfortable. 88 degrees! At the beach we didn't want to get out of the water to the world of gravity. What a great day of diving! Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 8 October

I think the warning about winter coming was premature. With an air temperature of ninety today and a water temperature of eighty-six, it certainly felt like the middle of summer. The bridge experience started with assisting a young couple in jump-starting their car. (I can't remember how many times I have needed that assistance. Nice to be able to return the favor.) My open water student and I followed the usual training route out to the boat channel. At the surface following our alternate air source ascent she asked me if I had seen the manatee. Apparently, the beast swam right next to me and I never saw it! Rats! My student assumed I had seen it and didn't think it any big deal. Oh well. We still had a very nice dive in surprisingly short vis of no more than ten feet. With an east wind I expected better. After one hour, twelve minutes I was no where close to feeling a chill wearing just a dive skin and a .5mm hooded vest. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 6 October

Winter is coming! The water temperature has fallen from eighty-six to eighty-four! As the photo confirms, the vis today was fabulous; it had to be over thirty feet. An open water student and I saw a batfish, a banded jawfish, a QUEEN angelfish (I do not remember having seen a queen there before), a tiny blue angelfish juvenile, and a SPOTTED EAGLE RAY! Even though I can feel the winter water coming in I was still in a dive skin and very comfortable for our fifty-nine minute dive. After having had to deal with the parking at the bridge on Saturday, I had to take a picture of the 9:15 am, Tuesday morning parking lot. What a joy! Get in the water, Ham