MRXRAY
Contributor
Got a great deal through Bay Breeze Aquatics to do a two tank dive at the Three Barges, kind of last minute for me but those kind of deals are hard to pass up. Went out on the Charter Boat "Y-Knot?". We made it to the dock behind the Fish House in Pensacola at 12:00 and after some intros and gear load we were off to the site by 12:30ish. The water in the Bay was just about flat and the Pass was about the same, after we hit the Gulf we hit a few rollers, but nothing terrible, definately less than 2 feet. Capt. Dave Mucci put us to the sight in a very short 30 minutes and we were in the water shortly after. I haven't downloaded my dive computer yet so I can't tell you the exact splash time but I'd guess 1:15-1:30. The water was a bit cooler than I was hoping probably due to the site being closer to shore......Dave called 66* on Sonar and my computer was about the same......YIKES!!!! Made the descent down the rope and Capt. Dave had put us right in the middle of the Barges.......Nice Job! We made our first diveTo the SouthEast and saw a Ton of Nice flounder, Some SpotFin ButterflyFish, Angels, Damsels, Some real big Grouper, Snapper, Cowfish, Spades, Octopus, a ton of Toadfish, schols of Baitfish, a very curious Remorrah, Doctorfish.......I'm sure I'm missing a few, sorry fish. The dive had great viz for an inshore dive at probably close to 50 feet, at one point I could see the bottom of the boat from the sand.......Nice! Took a bunch of photos and videos, which I'll post a few here, the rest are in my PhotoBucket under 3 Barges 11-19-2008. We hit the boat and did a quick U-Turn aftera tank swap, the cool air really sucked the temp out of your core so the fast turn around was a must. We headed back down on dive two and went NorthWest this time first saw much of the same and some massive Gags hiding under an overhang. We then made our way back to one of the other barges and my buddy grabbed me and pointed to a massive Turtle. This guy made my old buddy Chunk at Navarre Pier look like a Juvenile. Wow, what a sight. I took a few minutes of video but got the feeling he was irratated by my chase so I let him swim away out of camera view. Man I love those Turtles, I can't say enough of how they make my entire trip watching them:shocked2:, they are so fluid in the water yet so, so massive, it is an awseome sight to behold. Hopefully you feel the same from my video below.
I think we were at about 45 minutes for each dive and I'm sad to report that the temp was around 66*.
I think we were at about 45 minutes for each dive and I'm sad to report that the temp was around 66*.
