Destin Jetties dive report 5/23/07

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SeaYoda

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Mike_S and I had planned to dive the Navarre beach pier today but the waves were up enough to make that a low priority option. We looked out at the water behind his condo in Crystal Beach and the water was dirty from a combination of dredging to the East and June-Grass. We decided to go fill my tanks at ScubaTech and ride across the Destin bridge to check out the pass. High tide was not due until almost 3 pm and it was only around 9 am. The water at Crab Island was blue so we headed back to Gulf Shore drive. When we got to the parking area there was one vehicle there and the fisherman who owned it returned before we could get out of the Jeep. We loaded the Sand-Yacht with gear and set sail across the dunes. I let Mike drive the yacht some - he did a good job :D. We got to the water and, when Mike's calves finally loosened from the wagon pull, we geared up. The waves were up through the pass - looked a little intimidating since they were larger on the protected side of the finger jetty than I'm used to. I had decided to leave the camera and pony off this dive and that gave me confidence that, no matter what the current was like, I would be in good shape. The water had snotty spots along the beach and when we got under the waves the water was full of June-Grass. The current was surprisingly low until almost out at the first anchor. There seemed to be less life out than on Saturday. We played at the anchor for a while and then up along the South side of the finger jetty. Just about the time I felt the surging motion of the waves, a school of big Jack Crevalle came out of the gloom from the shore line and startled me. We turned back away from the rocky beach and back toward the point. We got on the North side of the finger jetty and were treated to low viz snot. I stayed a few feet off the rocks and poked around looking at sponges, urchins, blennies, sandfish, damsels,crabs, and the like. We ended the dive at an hour. It was not the best of dives but for it being "off tide" and full of June-Grass it was great.
 
It was still a great dive, though the vis was way down.

I was surprised to see the June Grass this bad during this part of the year. It was almost as bad as our 'snot dive' there last year.

The current was there, but no where near as bad as it was at the scheduled high tide this past saturday. Seeing how we were 5-6 hours before the high tide, it was actually pretty good.

That cart Yoda has is pretty nice. It wasn't that hard to pull two divers gear in it the 1/4 mile across the soft sand, but my calves did tighten up pulling it as I don't get the chance to walk in sand near as much as I want to... (that and I'm not an olympic runner either...) We were discussing it should be pretty easy to add one or two small electric motors to the wheels to 'cruise' across the sand...


BTW... since Yoda mentioned the "Dredge", They are doing beach restoration in the area of James Lee Park right now. (Where the Crab Trap restuarant is.). It appears they are working west towards Henderson state park. FYI to anyone who might be staying in Crystal Beach in the upcoming weeks.


oh... my computer read water temps around 75f to 76f at depth.
 
Thanks for the report, I got wet today too. It was pouring in Louisiana :(
 
https://xf2.scubaboard.com/community/forums/cave-diving.45/

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