Mandy,
Congratulations on your first Gulf dive. The water has stayed real cold in spite of the air temp warming up to 80 degrees. It'll be quickly shooting up within the next couple of weeks. I dove last weekend and made the mistake of grabbing the 5 mil, but could have still used my 7.
I have to ask, where in the world did you find a ledge that is 40 at the top and 57 at the bottom of the break. You have discovered a spot that is one of a kind for a non-Middle Grounds spot. Out in the Grounds, you can get a 40' break, but most ledges closer to shore are around 2' breaks. I have a couple of spots that are considered big ledges that make it to 8'. A 17' break inshore, never seen or even heard of anything close to that. I doubt you saw much fish on it. Big breaks are easy for passing fishermen to spot on their recorder, so they get heavily fished. I won't even dive on a big inshore break. My best spots for fish are little 1 - 2' areas of relief that don't attract a lot of attention.
By the way, look out for those kingfishermen. They scare me, as they are known to drag downriggers through the water column. Imagine getting clocked upside the head by a round 8 pound downrigger weight? For you guys that like to dive public wrecks around the St. Pete-Clearwater-Pasco area, get used to it. The kings have just made their way back through for their annual spring migration north. They are just tricking in now with the water still cold, but let it rise a few more degrees and it'll be a zoo. I won't even dive public wrecks during kingfish season. For spearfishermen, keep those eyes open during your safety stop, and you may have a chance to get a kingfish up in the water column .
One other thing....don't mean to preach, but swimming through a wreck, no matter how open it looked, is not a wise move, especially for someone doing one of their first dives. There could have been a lot of mono or flourocarbon, or other leader material that were entanglement hazards. I'm usually not one to preach given my aggressive style of diving, but that's my .02 for what it's worth.
