It didn't feel like late fall; we had a breezy, partly sunny day in the mid-seventies. The vis was about twenty feet and the water temperature was eighty-one, very nice for our one hour, ten minute dive. Actually, my dive buddy, Leyla, kept on going with her camera after I called it quits. She won the award for having come the longest distance to the dive/picnic, from Switzerland. (She is home to share Thanksgiving with her family and took advantage of the dive opportunity.) We saw a polkadot batfish, a gorgeous little butter hamlet, a neck crab for which I looked very hard with my magnifying glass, a very cooperative, displaying intermediate flying gurnard, a sharptail eel, many Atlantic spadefish, juvenile highhats, yellow stingrays, juvenile blue angelfish, juvenile french and gray angelfish, and many other critters. Other divers from the Jupiter Drift Divers club saw several spotted eagle rays. Many thanks to Veronica and Stan for setting up and cooking. Their deeply appreciated efforts make the Jupiter Drift Divers a very active and successful club. It was an absolutely pleasant late-fall afternoon with friends in south Florida! Get in the water, Ham
Dive Report 18 November
It was very nice to be back at the bridge on such a gorgeous day after having been out of the water for two weeks. What a day to come back! Parking was easy! The air temperature was about seventy-two at eight this morning as an open water student and I geared up. The vis was an exceptional sixty feet as we could see one set of pilings from another; they are one hundred feet apart. The water temperature was a very comfortable eighty-one as my student and I were wearing three milimeter wetsuits. There were more Atlantic spadefish intermediates there than I have ever seen before; there had to be close to a hundred in two or three separate schools out by the channel. We could see well out into the channel. The little blue angelfish juvenile in the "canyon" out by the channel has grown significantly. Yellow stingrays were in many places. Lobsters were in the rubble under the fishing pier. We watched a sharptail eel hunt for breakfast. The highpoint of the dive for me was a beautiful spotted eagle ray cruising between the seawall and the first set of pilings. They are so incredible to watch and with the vis today we got to see it for quite some time. The Jupiter Drift Divers are having a picnic at the bridge on Sunday, November 22 after a dive on the 11:44 high tide. We'll be there about ten o'clock or so. I'm thinking about having bagels and coffee at the bridge before the dive and then picnic after the dive. Why not? (It was so good to be back in the water.) Get in the water, Ham
Dive Report 25 October
Perfect day for a picnic! The parking was EASY! Oh, and the weather and diving conditions were superb also. It's all about being with your friends. My face is a little sore this Monday morning because I laughed so much both on the dive and at the post-dive picnic. Rob and Sharon found the elusive "frogfish" as demonstrated in the photo. We scoured the area under the west bridge, but didn't see a real frogfish. A batfish, a banded jawfish, a tiny, tiny french angelfish, and of course the ever-friendly Atlantic spadefish were all there in vis that varied from a few feet to ten to fifteen feet. Vis was better out by the channel. The water temperature was eighty-four. I was in a 3mm wetsuit and more than toasty. A dive skin would have been fine. After the dive we enjoyed gorgeous weather (no sign of the customary shower that often accompanies our picnics). Michele brought bison burgers and Norman grilled them to perfection. Arnold Palmers and iced tea with plenty of lemon (for Rob) were the beverages of the afternoon. It was a joyous afternoon with our wonderful friends. It doesn't get any better! Get in the water, Ham
BYO Picnic Sunday, October 25
A group of us are going to dive the 2:14 high tide on Sunday, October 25 and have a picnic after the dive. To keep things simple it is a "Bring Your Own" picnic. We will try to be at a table close to the intracoastal. Parking can be tricky on a Sunday so plan to come early (we'll be there around noon or before) and kick back and relax. Seas will be calming in the next several days so I expect the vis to be decent. The water temperature will probably be in the low eighties. If you have the time, come join us on what is forecast to be a hot day. It will be a great day to GET IN THE WATER, Ham
Dive Report 21 October
Wrong AGAIN (or still)! With rough seas offshore (4'-6') I thought for sure that the vis at the bridge would be worse than it was yesterday. My open water student and I were very pleasantly surprised with ten to fifteen feet of vis in water that was eighty-two degrees. We chose to dive under the east bridge and saw a sharptail eel, a juvenile bandtail sea robin, the resident intermediate spadefishes, and a school of two to three dozen sheepshead, something I've never seen before. Our dive time was ninety minutes. In three millimeter suits we were toasty. Always amazing how fast conditions can change. If we don't go, we don't know, AGAIN! Get in the water, Ham
