SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
5-12-7: Part One
Destin Jetties
80% of the time I make dive plans, it seems like I'm late. Not by much, usually just 5-10 minutes, but it just seems that I can't get it right regardless of proper planning and time scheduling. I was up early Saturday morning and out the door by 7AM, plenty enough time to make a meet time of 9AM at the parking lot to dive the Destin Jetties. Around the AL/FL line, I run across alcrmsntde on the side of the road, broke down. I pull over and luckily its just a flat and he's in already getting his little truck jacked up. Its a one man job, so I'm no use, but I BS with him for a couple of minutes(enough to make my standard late time). He's good, heading for Vortex to DM an OW class. I wish him luck and call GLENFWB to let him know I'm running late. Traffic was light and I made it to the parking lot only 10 minutes after 9AM. Its been hot lately and the water is warming up, around 73-74F, so I go without a wetsuit making my gearup time considerably shorter. Glen is at the water with his family waiting for me. We're diving a neap high tide, so not expecting tremendous amount of visibility, nor current. We enjoyed blue skies and a sun rising quickly above us. The pass and Gulf look like a lake. There is already quite a bit of traffic on the water, but not much on the beach just yet.
Visibility ended up being 20-25' I'd guess and current was constant, but slight and very managable. We didn't get the incredibly random currents that the jetties have thrown us on our last several visits. There were fish everywhere, tons of them, a decent variety as well. Tropicals are showing up, damsels and butterflyfish, razorfish, doctorfish, ect. Toadfish are getting bigger, and so are the stonecrab. Pigfish and pinfish everywhere and bluefish and bluerunners school midwater, litterally hundreds of them in a variety of sizes. There were several grouper and even an vermillion snapper on the backside of the jetties. We had alot to look at in any direction. We made the typical dive, following the rocks down and back up the other side, turnaround and round the point again making our way back to our original entry point and simply wasting time/air near our entry. Glen took some pictures, surely he'll post them. I hit 56' for a dive lasting 55 minutes.
Okaloosa Island Unidentified Sailboat
We hit ScubaTech for a fill and then drove just West of Destin to Okaloosa Island to dive a sailboat on the bayside of the Gulf Island Nat'nl Seashore Park. I've been wanting to check this little boat out for quite some time. Its located just off the beach(bayside), just outside of the dropoff from knee-deep, to overhead. The mast is poking a good 15' out of the water. I figured it'd be worth a look, once...
1:10 after getting out the water in Destin, we were wet again, this time in the Bay. Visibility on the surface wasn't bad, but you hit a thermocline/halocline around 15' or that brings the temp down as well as visibility. It was a very noticable change, visually, and by feel - the colder layer looked like another lake, already below the surface. The sailboat ended up being alot of fun. Its entire 20-25' of length was completely covered in seasquirts, barnacles, and even some oysters, so we weren't able to read a name off it anywhere. I'm pretty sure this boat is a victim of Ivan, so its had 2 years + to grow its own ecosystem, and its down well. Holds alot of juvenille fish as well, mostly mangroves and pinfish. We came across some filefish, spadefish, and even some really big sheepshead. There were also some bluecrab humping towards the back of the boat. The cabin area was empty and silty. It was a fun little dive and I'm likely to kill the back remenants off a tank off on it again - not worth a full tank by any means. I hit a max depth of 19' for 20 whole minutes!
Morrison Springs
Dive debriefing was quick at Chick-Fillet and we were on our way to Morrison to meet up with cmufieldhockey8. Morrison was crowded, as crowded as I've seen it this year. Lots of classes and lots of people ljust looking to enjoy a clean, clear waterhole. MBT has a class out there and we talk with them for a bit. This is the biggest reason I like arriving here early, however today I'm doing lots of dives and Morrison wasn't first on the list. The water looks clear and we can see the platform from the surface, but we know the bottom will likely be kicked up from the traffic. We gear up and hit the water a bit over 3 hours after exitting the sailboat dive. cmufieldhockey and GLENFWB practice an airshare on the platform then we head into the lower cavern to blow off the first third of our tanks. The water is its normal 68F and the normal cave inhabitants are all accounted for... eels, catfish, rockbass, ect. We tool around as long as our third allows and then head for open water where we goof around a bit near the log before swimming around the outskirts of the basin and a bit up the run. Visibility is 20-30', due to the traffic. There are panfish, bass, and a couple turtles to watch and hogchoakers to harrass. I hit a max depth of 91' in the cavern for a dive lasting 56 minutes.
Our SI is long and we're hoping more an more people will call it a day and move onto something different. It works, for the most part. Jviehe is onsite with a class, as always. He's leaving as we're getting in the water for our second dive. Our second dive was alot less crowded, by about half, and visibility cleared to 40-60'. We were in the water again a bit over an hour after our first dive, while following the same dive plan. The dive was similar to the previous one, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I hit a max depth of 89' for 43 minutes. Glen headed home for some home cooked spagetti and meatballs and cmufieldhockey and I headed to Sally's for some country cooking.
We had hopes of checking out Hightower Springs on the way out, but had run out of light. No idea of its potential for diving.
We hit up Vortex for some airfills. It took us maybe 20 minutes to get 4 tanks filled and leave. Despite the short amount of time, cmufieldhockey and I were still treated to some redneck entertainment in the form of a couple of drunks cussing and screaming at everyone they passed. Connie was on Danny's radio getting him to get a description and tag so they could be banned from Vortex. They cussed us on the way towards the exit, stopping the van, seemingly going to get out and confront us, but I guess they realized they weren't up for much walking and left. Connie got back to the diveshop with a great big cattleprod in hand - ready for some action! Don't mess with this woman.
Destin Jetties
80% of the time I make dive plans, it seems like I'm late. Not by much, usually just 5-10 minutes, but it just seems that I can't get it right regardless of proper planning and time scheduling. I was up early Saturday morning and out the door by 7AM, plenty enough time to make a meet time of 9AM at the parking lot to dive the Destin Jetties. Around the AL/FL line, I run across alcrmsntde on the side of the road, broke down. I pull over and luckily its just a flat and he's in already getting his little truck jacked up. Its a one man job, so I'm no use, but I BS with him for a couple of minutes(enough to make my standard late time). He's good, heading for Vortex to DM an OW class. I wish him luck and call GLENFWB to let him know I'm running late. Traffic was light and I made it to the parking lot only 10 minutes after 9AM. Its been hot lately and the water is warming up, around 73-74F, so I go without a wetsuit making my gearup time considerably shorter. Glen is at the water with his family waiting for me. We're diving a neap high tide, so not expecting tremendous amount of visibility, nor current. We enjoyed blue skies and a sun rising quickly above us. The pass and Gulf look like a lake. There is already quite a bit of traffic on the water, but not much on the beach just yet.
Visibility ended up being 20-25' I'd guess and current was constant, but slight and very managable. We didn't get the incredibly random currents that the jetties have thrown us on our last several visits. There were fish everywhere, tons of them, a decent variety as well. Tropicals are showing up, damsels and butterflyfish, razorfish, doctorfish, ect. Toadfish are getting bigger, and so are the stonecrab. Pigfish and pinfish everywhere and bluefish and bluerunners school midwater, litterally hundreds of them in a variety of sizes. There were several grouper and even an vermillion snapper on the backside of the jetties. We had alot to look at in any direction. We made the typical dive, following the rocks down and back up the other side, turnaround and round the point again making our way back to our original entry point and simply wasting time/air near our entry. Glen took some pictures, surely he'll post them. I hit 56' for a dive lasting 55 minutes.
Okaloosa Island Unidentified Sailboat
We hit ScubaTech for a fill and then drove just West of Destin to Okaloosa Island to dive a sailboat on the bayside of the Gulf Island Nat'nl Seashore Park. I've been wanting to check this little boat out for quite some time. Its located just off the beach(bayside), just outside of the dropoff from knee-deep, to overhead. The mast is poking a good 15' out of the water. I figured it'd be worth a look, once...
1:10 after getting out the water in Destin, we were wet again, this time in the Bay. Visibility on the surface wasn't bad, but you hit a thermocline/halocline around 15' or that brings the temp down as well as visibility. It was a very noticable change, visually, and by feel - the colder layer looked like another lake, already below the surface. The sailboat ended up being alot of fun. Its entire 20-25' of length was completely covered in seasquirts, barnacles, and even some oysters, so we weren't able to read a name off it anywhere. I'm pretty sure this boat is a victim of Ivan, so its had 2 years + to grow its own ecosystem, and its down well. Holds alot of juvenille fish as well, mostly mangroves and pinfish. We came across some filefish, spadefish, and even some really big sheepshead. There were also some bluecrab humping towards the back of the boat. The cabin area was empty and silty. It was a fun little dive and I'm likely to kill the back remenants off a tank off on it again - not worth a full tank by any means. I hit a max depth of 19' for 20 whole minutes!
Morrison Springs
Dive debriefing was quick at Chick-Fillet and we were on our way to Morrison to meet up with cmufieldhockey8. Morrison was crowded, as crowded as I've seen it this year. Lots of classes and lots of people ljust looking to enjoy a clean, clear waterhole. MBT has a class out there and we talk with them for a bit. This is the biggest reason I like arriving here early, however today I'm doing lots of dives and Morrison wasn't first on the list. The water looks clear and we can see the platform from the surface, but we know the bottom will likely be kicked up from the traffic. We gear up and hit the water a bit over 3 hours after exitting the sailboat dive. cmufieldhockey and GLENFWB practice an airshare on the platform then we head into the lower cavern to blow off the first third of our tanks. The water is its normal 68F and the normal cave inhabitants are all accounted for... eels, catfish, rockbass, ect. We tool around as long as our third allows and then head for open water where we goof around a bit near the log before swimming around the outskirts of the basin and a bit up the run. Visibility is 20-30', due to the traffic. There are panfish, bass, and a couple turtles to watch and hogchoakers to harrass. I hit a max depth of 91' in the cavern for a dive lasting 56 minutes.
Our SI is long and we're hoping more an more people will call it a day and move onto something different. It works, for the most part. Jviehe is onsite with a class, as always. He's leaving as we're getting in the water for our second dive. Our second dive was alot less crowded, by about half, and visibility cleared to 40-60'. We were in the water again a bit over an hour after our first dive, while following the same dive plan. The dive was similar to the previous one, and everyone seemed to enjoy it. I hit a max depth of 89' for 43 minutes. Glen headed home for some home cooked spagetti and meatballs and cmufieldhockey and I headed to Sally's for some country cooking.
We had hopes of checking out Hightower Springs on the way out, but had run out of light. No idea of its potential for diving.
We hit up Vortex for some airfills. It took us maybe 20 minutes to get 4 tanks filled and leave. Despite the short amount of time, cmufieldhockey and I were still treated to some redneck entertainment in the form of a couple of drunks cussing and screaming at everyone they passed. Connie was on Danny's radio getting him to get a description and tag so they could be banned from Vortex. They cussed us on the way towards the exit, stopping the van, seemingly going to get out and confront us, but I guess they realized they weren't up for much walking and left. Connie got back to the diveshop with a great big cattleprod in hand - ready for some action! Don't mess with this woman.
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