Better than I thought it would be! With all the rain and a strong southwest wind creating a light chop I thought the vis would be very short. The water was green; my guess is that the rain water had much to do with that. Nevertheless, a student and I had ten feet of vis in eighty-one degree water for our one hour, ten minute dive. We were practicing in double steel tanks so we elected to go underwater around the swim area to the east bridge. (We certainly had plenty of gas!) On the way over I spotted the tail of a stargazer. I was hoping to gently brush away some of the sand so we could see its face, but it took off and kept on going. No picture. The rest of our session was spent blowing surface marker bouys and making very controlled ascents so I didn't really notice any critters other than the usual gang of suspects. There might have been six other divers at Phil Foster. I saw at least four. The weekdays are so sweet, especially with light rain showers. We owned the place! Get in the water, Ham
Dive Report 15 October
I haven't forsaken the Bridge for the beautiful Catskill Mountains, but that is where I was last week picking apples surrounded by the spectacular fall foliage. It's nice to be back in the water which is why I'm in Florida in the first place (it certainly isn't because I enjoy driving here!) Anyway, the conditions at the Bridge were fabulous. My advanced open water student and I enjoyed twenty feet of vis in eighty-two degree water. With the wind freshening out of the east northeast we were protected from any chop by Singer Island. I didn't feel the least bit green. On top of that, after a closing of the swimming area because of a high bacterial count earlier in the week (a nice way of saying what we all know is not so nice), Phil Foster had a clean bill of health today, no warnings. My student and I navigated around the swim area to the east bridge to practice search and recovery skills. It was simply a nice day to be there. The morning high tide made the parking easy; that is always a plus. In a three millimeter wetsuit I was very comfortable for our one hour, thirty-five minute dive. Get in the water, Ham
