Dive Report 18 November

I was fooled AGAIN! Every time I think I know what Mother Nature is doing I am shown that I really don't. On my way to the Jupiter Dive Center to meet my students, I stopped by the Hobe Sound beach to see what the vis might be. There was nothing but greenish brown water for two hundred yards off the beach. My conclusion was that the water coming into the Lake Worth Lagoon would be equally greenish brown with zero vis. At the Shop I informed my two advanced open water students that I was not optimistic about the diving conditions at the Bridge. Nevertheless, since they are from Palm Beach Gardens we decided it was at least worth a look. Arriving at the Bridge about an hour before the slack high tide we found six to eight feet of vis. Those are actually great conditions for doing advanced open water navigation skills. We dived the east bridge for one hour, nineteen minutes in seventy-seven degree water. Yes, that is two degrees cooler than my last dive at the Bridge a few days ago. Winter is coming! In my 5mm wetsuit and thin hooded vest I was still toasty. My students were in 3mm suits and very comfortable, but they are both Canadians! Wonderfully, there were NO moon jellyfish (or maybe the vis was so short that we didn't see them)! It wasn't "cupcake" diving, but we were under water; that is fine with me any time. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 15 November

The Moonies are back! No, not the Moonies pictured (if you know who they are you are no spring chicken), but rather the moon jellyfish. My advanced open water student and I had ten to fifteen feet of vis in seventy-nine degree water for our one hour, twenty-four minute dive. I would have been comfortable in a 3mm suit, but knowing how fickle the conditions can be, especially after TWO WEEKS of less than ideal conditions, I wore my 5mm and was toasty. (I get more utility from my 5mm suit than any of my others). We saw a good-sized octopus on our swim over to the east bridge and a tiny seahorse on our way back. We swam around the swim area as I am not particularly keen on schlepping my gear across the beach. It takes about fifteen minutes to do that at my frog-kick speed and it is often worth an interesting critter or two. We have seen a northern stargazer on this mini-trek. I was disappointed to see the moon jellies, but we suffered no discomfort from stingies. It is an inconvenience to dodge them, but it is not difficult as long as one is diligent. Getting back in the water after two weeks of non-diving activity was very nice, even with the Moonies. Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 31 October

It wasn't much of a dive; sixteen minutes. With record October rainfall and strong winds creating rough seas offshore, I didn't expect good vis. It wasn't good vis, but eight inches was too short to make more than sixteen minutes worthwhile. I wanted my student to experience the feel of being in doubles and we did that; staying longer would have been pointless. It was all we could do to keep track of each other. We went out to a depth of six feet, turned to the west and proceeded about two hundred feet, turned around to the east retracing our route, and exited. Sixteen minutes. The water temperature was seventy-nine. I have a bridge dive scheduled for Thursday, but I am going to postpone it for a week to let the seas calm down and to let the rain water settle. When it clears...Get in the water, Ham

Dive Report 19 October

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