What a difference a day can make! The water temperature today was 82 degrees. Yesterday it was 72. I was overdressed for today's occasion in my 5mm fullsuit and 3mm hooded vest. I was more than warm. In 3mm fullsuits my students were comfortable. One student dived in only t-shirt and swimming suit. He was comfortable. The vis was maybe ten feet, but we weren't very far off the beach. We needed to spend some serious skill development time so we never made it out to the channel. I have to admit that I'm not a fan of being at the bridge for afternoon high tides on weekends. Parking was at a premium. I arrived several hours early with my lunch, a lawn chair, and a good book to make sure I could get a parking space reasonably close to the entry point. I prefer the weekday diving without all the cars and the boats. Nevertheless, in ninety degree weather, being in the water sure felt good. Get in the water, Ham
Dive Report 5 June
Cold water! An open water student and I entered 72 degree water from a ninety degree land temperature. Quite a change. I had been offshore earlier in the day and experienced 61 degrees on the top of the North Juno Ledge. Thanks to a warning from my friends, I was in my drysuit for that one. The seven divers with me on the boat were in 3mm suits and although they were diving nitrox, the 61 degrees kicked them out of the water after 23 minutes. My hat is off to them, though; I wouldn't have lasted five minutes in a 3mm suit. Anyway, back to the bridge. With the torrential downpours we have been experiencing for the last several days, the water at the bridge is green. Fresh water runoff does that to the lagoon. The vis was still fifteen feet and we had no trouble navigating our way out to the channel to run through the skill set. My student in a 3mm fullsuit was quite chilled at the end of our fifty minute dive. I was in my 5mm fullsuit with a 3mm hooded vest. I was pretty comfortable; glad I wasn't in a 3mm. Get in the water (but bring your winter suit), Ham
Dive Report 3 June
Mother Nature seems to always have a surprise; today it was not subtle. The water temperature was between 77 and 79 degrees. That is quite a change from the eighty-two we were enjoying. (Offshore they reported 67 degrees!) Nevertheless, I was comfortable in my 3mm fullsuit with 3mm hooded vest. Tobin said he was fine in his .5mm skin for our seventy minutes plus dive. The vis was better than twenty feet in some places. Out by the channel it dropped off once in a while in shimmering water. Still, throughout the dive the vis was quite good. The octopuses are still everywhere. Carrie was able to point out some of the resident critters to her Discover Scuba student until the woman's ears wouldn't cooperate. It was just a great day to be in the water. So....Get in the water, Ham
Dive Report 1 June
Never expected it! What a surprise! A middle-sized MANATEE swam right by three students and me in five feet of water right off the beach. It appeared to be in now hurry and we were able to watch it for probably thirty seconds. I was so surprised it never occurred to me to use my video camera. I'm new at that and would probably have just turned it on by the time the manatee swam beyond the twenty to twenty-five feet of visibility we had today. That was the vis off the beach. By the channel it was pretty good, but a little cloudy. The water was eighty-two degrees. In 3mm wetsuits we were comfortable for our one hour, twenty-three minute in-water time. We saw a very cooperative batfish (that didn't mind the turmoil of new students!) and many octopuses. But to see a manatee this time of year! What a wonderful surprise! "You gotta love the bridge!" Get in the water, Ham
