Dive Report 21 March




This is a dive report by proxy because I actually didn't get in the water. I discussed doing a dive with my two open water students and we opted to wait for warmer water and calmer, clearer conditions. They live locally so we did not have to do a "git 'r done" dive as the vacationers here for a week often have to do. With the wind howling out of the southeast (at least it was a warm wind) and a water temperature of sixty-nine, I wasn't anxious to get in the water in what appeared to me to be limited visibility. Michele and Norman braved the elements for about fifty minutes and reported vis between ten feet (after students) to twenty feet (before students). Norman felt comfortable in his 5mm suit, but Michele was cold after the dive in her 5mm suit. There was a big payoff for their effort though, a stargazer completely out of the sand. That is a rare occurance and definitely one to experience. The surface temperature was about eighty degrees. We found an out-of-the-wind pavillion and enjoyed a relaxing picnic on the intracoastal. It's been quite some time since we've picnicked at Phil Foster and it felt good to be getting back into really enjoying the place. What a great way to enjoy the day even if I didn't "get into the water", Ham

Dive Report 19 March

Yes, it sucked an egg. (I have no idea where that phrase comes from, but it seems an appropriate description for the conditions today.) If you were doing something other than diving at the bridge today, you made the right decision. I saw bridge devotee and photographer extraordinaire, Marv Caples (check out his photos on the Jupiter Dive Center website) enter the water and then turn around and get out of the water; I knew my open water student and I were in for a "git'r done" dive as my student is here on holiday and does not have the luxury of waiting for better conditions. We had about four feet of vis in sixty-eight degree water. A couple of yellow stingrays were buried in the sand probably trying to stay warm. I was toasty in my drysuit for our fifty-one minute dive, but my Canadian student was becoming a bit chilled even with two three millimeter wetsuits. He did much better than I could have, but he's Canadian! My experience is that our Canadian cousins have a cold tolerance gene that is a great advantage in conditions as we have had this winter. In the short vis we obviously have to look at the stuff that is very close. That's the only reason I saw a decorator crab that was moving, probably in an attempt like the stingrays, to stay WARM. East winds this weekend might bring some clearer water. The persistent swell from the northeast has really stirred up the bottom. I'm back at the bridge on Sunday. I know the picnic will be good; I hope the diving conditions will be good, too. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 11 March


This post is a little late; I've been in the water both at the bridge and offshore. This (Saturday) is the first time I've had to sit down and think about all the excitement of the last couple of days. The high tide for Thursday, March 11 was at 5:29 pm. I had been divemaster earlier in the day in 6' to 8' seas. Yes, 6' to 8'! I haven't done that in a long time. Before my "instructor days" when enjoying the excitement of being a divemaster in all conditions was a several-times-a-week experience, high seas were just part of the job. Being an instructor, I don't get to experience those conditions very often as it is not advised to take students out in that stuff if we ever want to see them again. Anyway, not only was it very rough offshore, it was rough at the bridge! The wind out of the south was howling! Carrie and I had four very motivated male college students who wanted very much to have the Discover Scuba experience even though the conditions were lousy. The vis was about eight to ten feet; it was amazingly good considering the rough water. Carrie and I explained that this wasn't a particularly good time to do the introduction to diving, but three of the four wanted to go ahead anyway. They had only that afternoon and then they had to return to their colleges. The fourth confided, finally at the bridge, that he didn't know how to swim and was not going to get into the water! (I have fully read the PADI Discover Scuba Diving brochure; it does not ask if the participant can swim.) How true is the old adage about assumptions! It has never occurred to me to ask a participant if he/she knows how to swim. Guess what our first question to potential participants will be from now on! Anyway, the three students who did enter the water actually caught on to the essential skills quite readily, especially the one about breathing. We built up some comfort in chest-deep water for some time and then ventured carefully out to the little wreck between the Sumar and Boondoggle, two boats moored just off the beach. We saw a medium-sized southern ray. I directed the group back to the beach and in shallow water asked if they wanted more. They had been in sixty-nine degree water in 3mm wetsuits for about thirty minutes at this point, but they wanted to continue. I was in my drysuit which I've been wearing for the last two months. We went west, parallel to the beach at a depth of about six or seven feet. For the first time at the bridge I saw a little loggerhead turtle! It was about two feet long. I have never seen a turtle at the bridge before this dive. We also came across a decorator crab that hadn't done a very good job of hiding itself. With my eyesight things have to be pretty obvious. That is why I love to have Carrie along; she can see. We returned to the beach and walked up to the picnic tables in strong winds. It was like being sand-blasted. I hope the blowing sand didn't remove too much paint from my van. The guys had done very well and I encouraged them to seek open water certification. It was then that one of three who had just completed this experience said that he couldn't swim very well! I don't know if that meant that he doesn't know how to swim at all or that it is difficult for him. Nevertheless, a weak or non-swimmer had just completed the Discover Scuba course! He was very comfortable in the water. I couldn't believe what I was hearing. This job holds so many surprises! Carrie and I learned a great deal today! That is what experience is.

A quick side-note: Yesterday, Friday March 12, Captain Mike from the Jupiter Dive Center while on the Republic IV not far from the dive site, Area 29, received a radio message that six divers were missing from the dive boat, Emerald. Captain Mike, having all his divers aboard (I was one of them) inquired about the location of the site where the divers had been dropped and the amount of time they had been in the water. They were dropped at the Hole-in-the-Wall and had been in the water one hour, fifty-two minutes. Captain Mike did some quick calculations involving time, current speed, and wind drift. He drove the boat north several miles right to the spot where the six divers were huddled. They had signal sausages deployed, but what Tony, deckhand on the Republic IV, saw first was a light probably from a camera. It stood out clearly at quite some distance before we could see the signal sausages. I always carry my strobe light offshore! Great rescue, Captain Mike. You have my sincerest admiration and respect. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 4 March


The picture pretty well sums it. The air temperature was in the fifties somewhere. There was a significant breeze from the northwest. The water temperature was sixty-eight. The vis was about as long as I am tall. But, we did it. My open water student was in two three millimeter wetsuits with a beanie. We were at the channel to do our ascents in twenty minutes from the beach; she was a popsicle. Some people tolerate the cold; she isn't one of them (neither am I). In my drysuit (which I've been living in for the past several weeks) I was very comfortable, but blue lips on my student and shivering indicated that it was a "git 'r done" dive, and that is what we did. Rather than poking around and exploring all the wonderful critters residing at the bridge, we ran through the skill set in our forty minute dive. The bridge always has something though, and a medium-sized spotted eagle ray gave us a spectacular show right up close; it HAD to be real close, otherwise we wouldn't have seen it! If you have the tolerance for cold water, or if you have the exposure suit that works for you in cold water.....Get in the water, Ham