thebes11
Contributor
As John Lennon said, "Life is what happens while you're making other plans."
A wonderful plan of diving the Blue Heron Bridge on Friday, and looking for lemon sharks on Saturday got blown away by the wind. So, when life won't hand you lemon sharks, eat lemon shark cookies (which a member of our group made).
The dive on Friday was rather eventful. I had never dove in my 7mm semi-dry suit with an aluminum tank in only 15 feet of water before, so wound up underweighted. As everyone else was already underwater, they failed to notice I was gone. I figured, no big deal, I'll just run up to the table, add a few pounds and catch them before they even make the turn.
Well, my failed memory, and lack of familiarity with the site, caused me to miss the group a second time. I thought our fearless leader said go east and then south (it was actually go south and then east). I didn't take an initial bearing, figuring I'll go to the buoy and head south. Which I did. Which brought me right back to where I started, the beach. The life guard saw me, and wouldn't let me back in the water, he wouldn't even let me walk to the other side of the swim zone and meet up with my flag (which was only about 20 feet off the beach). I guess with all the attention down there to dive flag safety lately, I can't really blame him. Luckily, Force-E is very close, so my wife went over there and bought me a flag. She was back in 20 minutes, and I hit the water.
I saw a flying gunard, sea robin and a yellow stingray. Along some of the anchor lines, I saw crabs, a baby barracuda, a juvenile drum, and a juvenile angel fish. Along the sand, there were several bristle worms, and they were moving faster than any I've ever seen. Perhaps they were late for a party.
The dive only lasted 35 minutes, as I started to feel the tide and figured it was time to make my exit. Water was a chilly 72 degrees, but my 7mm kept me warm (a bit too warm actually...). I met up with SB'er Glock Diver, and he dove with our group. It was a pleasure, and I hope we can dive again some day.
Back Row from left: Glock Diver, me, my nephew
Saturday's ocean dives were canceled due to waves, so we again hit the bridge. I had my weight dialed in this time, and my own, brand spanking new dive flag!
I enjoyed a 1:10 minute dive. We went a bit further south, and then headed east underneath the sail boats. Again I saw a yellow stingray and several bristle worms. We continued east until we reached the marina. Once at the marina we saw two octopi, a sea robin, three flying gunards, some of the largest arrow crabs I've ever seen, a baby lobster, a juvi angel fish, a school of spade fish, and a sharp tailed eel. I did see on fish I'd never seen before, and I don't have my id book here (I'll update this when I get it), but it looked just like a puffer, but instead of body colored spikes, they were yellow. It almost got kicked by the diver in front of me, so it had the spikes up (although it was not "inflated").
I'm not a photog, so I hope my words paint a good enough picture of how enjoyable these dives were. And getting to see all that for the price of an air fill is quite a bargain. If you're in the area, and haven't done this dive yet, give it a try!
A wonderful plan of diving the Blue Heron Bridge on Friday, and looking for lemon sharks on Saturday got blown away by the wind. So, when life won't hand you lemon sharks, eat lemon shark cookies (which a member of our group made).
The dive on Friday was rather eventful. I had never dove in my 7mm semi-dry suit with an aluminum tank in only 15 feet of water before, so wound up underweighted. As everyone else was already underwater, they failed to notice I was gone. I figured, no big deal, I'll just run up to the table, add a few pounds and catch them before they even make the turn.
Well, my failed memory, and lack of familiarity with the site, caused me to miss the group a second time. I thought our fearless leader said go east and then south (it was actually go south and then east). I didn't take an initial bearing, figuring I'll go to the buoy and head south. Which I did. Which brought me right back to where I started, the beach. The life guard saw me, and wouldn't let me back in the water, he wouldn't even let me walk to the other side of the swim zone and meet up with my flag (which was only about 20 feet off the beach). I guess with all the attention down there to dive flag safety lately, I can't really blame him. Luckily, Force-E is very close, so my wife went over there and bought me a flag. She was back in 20 minutes, and I hit the water.
I saw a flying gunard, sea robin and a yellow stingray. Along some of the anchor lines, I saw crabs, a baby barracuda, a juvenile drum, and a juvenile angel fish. Along the sand, there were several bristle worms, and they were moving faster than any I've ever seen. Perhaps they were late for a party.
The dive only lasted 35 minutes, as I started to feel the tide and figured it was time to make my exit. Water was a chilly 72 degrees, but my 7mm kept me warm (a bit too warm actually...). I met up with SB'er Glock Diver, and he dove with our group. It was a pleasure, and I hope we can dive again some day.
Back Row from left: Glock Diver, me, my nephew
Saturday's ocean dives were canceled due to waves, so we again hit the bridge. I had my weight dialed in this time, and my own, brand spanking new dive flag!
I enjoyed a 1:10 minute dive. We went a bit further south, and then headed east underneath the sail boats. Again I saw a yellow stingray and several bristle worms. We continued east until we reached the marina. Once at the marina we saw two octopi, a sea robin, three flying gunards, some of the largest arrow crabs I've ever seen, a baby lobster, a juvi angel fish, a school of spade fish, and a sharp tailed eel. I did see on fish I'd never seen before, and I don't have my id book here (I'll update this when I get it), but it looked just like a puffer, but instead of body colored spikes, they were yellow. It almost got kicked by the diver in front of me, so it had the spikes up (although it was not "inflated").
I'm not a photog, so I hope my words paint a good enough picture of how enjoyable these dives were. And getting to see all that for the price of an air fill is quite a bargain. If you're in the area, and haven't done this dive yet, give it a try!
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