Dive Report 30 August

Hurricane Isaac's rainfall dumped plenty of fresh water on south Florida and that runoff reduced vis at the bridge to eight feet. Four divers doing a refresher were on a schedule so we did the dive more to get comfortable in the water again rather than look at fish and critters. From time to time the vis was less than eight feet. The water temperature was eighty-two, a little cooler than the eighty-four to eighty-six that it has been. I wore a rash guard and a thin hooded vest for our fifty-four minute dive and was quite comfortable. We saw a southern ray, a yellow stingray, french, gray, blue, and queen angelfish. For conditions that I thought would be marginal, we actually had a successful dive.
Get in the water (even if it's a little green), Ham

Dive Report 19 August

The barge and tug were removed from the site where rocks are being placed to create habitat. I don't know if that is for the weekend only or the work is finished. There are several rock piles that will, we hope, be habitat for fish and critters as the little wrecks that were removed used to be. We will see. Vis was better than twenty feet and the water temperature was eighty-four. I was comfortable in a rash guard for our one hour, forty-one minute dive. The high tide was at 10:11 so because it was a Sunday morning, I arrived at 7:30 with a cup of coffee only to meet friends who were thinking the same thing. We sat at a picnic table enjoying our coffee welcoming the morning with our cars parked in the premium spaces close to the beach. On the weekends parking is the challenge so an early arrival is a strategy shared by bridge regulars. Usually I avoid the bridge if the weekend high tide is later in the day, but Sunday's 10:11 high tide was early enough to beat the picnickers. My advanced open water student and I practiced skills to the south of the east bridge. On our way to it we saw yellow garden eels which are labeled as uncommon in Florida. After our bag and reel practice we saw an octopus, a batfish, and a small flying gurnard. It was another great day at the bridge; being there with friends made it all the sweeter. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 15 August

Two advanced open water students and I did a "sunrise" dive today as their schedule allowed few options. The slack high tide almost coincided with the sunrise. We waited for light, but we could have a done a night dive specialty. Anyway, there was definitely an advantage to the very early high tide; the work being done to build habitat off of the beach had not started and killed the vis. We enjoyed twenty feet of vis in eighty-two degree water. I thought it would be warmer so I wore only a rash guard and a thin hooded vest. At the end of our one hour, seventeen minute dive I was actually starting to feel a chill. As we returned from our dive under the big bridge the starting of the engines of the tug attached to the barge was quite loud. I surfaced to see what was happening to be sure that we were well clear of the tug and barge. They are just off the beach putting large stones on the bottom to create the new habitat. We moved east in shallow water to the little center console wreck to do skill work, but the activity on the barge reduced the vis to very short very quickly. I assume the work will go on for several days or longer during normal working hours so that anyone considering a dive under the big bridge might run into the short vis problem. Obviously, being anywhere near the barge and tug is extremely dangerous. Options are to dive under the east bridge for a while or dive on the weekends when the work might not be happening. In any case, be aware that the habitat-building operation is going on and it is definitely something to avoid. Get in the water (probably under the little bridge), Ham

Dive Report 7 August

It's been a month since I last dived the bridge. It was a beautiful, sunny WEEKday (with parking spaces) to get back into the water under the big bridge. A Discover Scuba student, her aunt, and I enjoyed eighty-eight degree water and twenty feet of vis (before we went through). By the end of the dive my student was actually keeping her feet up pretty well; it just took a while for her to get the hang of buoyancy and trim. For her first time in SCUBA gear she did really well. I was wearing a rash guard and a hooded vest (to protect my head from the sun). With the water as warm as it is I'm glad I wasn't wearing a wetsuit. For a weekday, there were quite a few divers enjoying the great conditions. You can't blame them. I'm glad I was there! Get in the water, Ham