chris_b
Contributor
My wife and I decided to make her second dive after her multi-year hiatus from diving; she dove the first just about 10 days ago at Ft. Pickens. We geared up and were in the water by a bit after 9:00, hoping to hit it right at high tide (supposedly at 10:00am). It may have peaked a little earlier as there was quite a bit of current throughout the dive. Visibility I would estimate at 20 feet on average--much better than her first visit but not as good as the conditions described by those who were here yesterday.
She had a much smoother descent this time--she was using a Zeagle BC that I've had for ages and have only dove a few times. I had never noticed that it had a shoulder pull-dump but after I showed her how it worked it seemed to be a big help! Thanks to decent viz we quickly found the jeep frame and tied our float flag off to it. There was a dinner-plate sized ray hanging out but it didn't seem to care for us and scooted off as soon as I moved towards the little T to tie off. I noticed the line wjefferis had run and made a mental note to check it out later.
We did several "circuits" from the jeep frame to the (upright) toilet and back, drifting down and then finning back. There was lots of holding of hands, flapping of arms, and a bit of kneeling in the sand. I remember thinking "she's going to breathe that tank dry quickly if she keeps finning with her hands all the time" but of course as the husband I would turn out to be very wrong. Lots of sea life, though no octopus in sight (I can usually find a few during the daytime in the nooks and crannies). A cute pair of Butterflyfish (one big, one little) reminded us of the father-and-annoying-son from Finding Nemo. Two very nice size flounder that looked delicious (I'm guessing it's illegal to gig flounder there? If not I will bring a gig or a pole spear next time!). I figured it was a good idea to leave the camera at home until she's more comfortable in the water, so unfortunately no pics.
We did have a little buoyancy control issue. Mrs B. hasn't yet re-learned how to vent her wing gradually as she ascends and at one point we went from 40 ft to 25-30ft and she started taking off for the surface. She started to get it under control and slowed but probably rose 15 ft a bit too rapidly. I don't think she's overweighted but next time out we may experiment a bit in the shallows--she's diving 8lbs. of lead in a two-piece 3mm and a steel 72 so might be able to shed a pound or two of lead.
After a couple of circuits we decided to follow wjefferis' line to the "structure." The line was already covered with clumps of green "fuzz," both small and large. There was a very large grouper hanging out, not swallow-your-head large but might-eat-small-cats-or-large-rutabagas size; he left nearly as soon as we arrived. A group of rather large fish (likely jacks of some sort) were just on the periphery of my visual but took off as soon as we arrived. Basically, we scared off all the wildlife! I have no idea what the structure is, but it looks like mostly random junk. Some small and large diameter pipe, a 5 gallon bucket (maybe full of concrete, used as an anchoring device at some time?). Very fun to explore though--if your're reading, thanks for running the line wjefferis! It sort of felt like being invited on a scavenger hunt.
On our way back to the jeep frame we came across some sheepshead nibbling at the fuzz on the line, as well as a large angelfish cruising by. We actually had enough air left to do a few more of our "circuits" and then surfaced. We were under for about 58 minutes, and I breathed my 72 down to about 250psi by the time we hit shore. Hers was still nearly 1000psi! I guess lots of arm flapping doesn't mean much when you're her size. She did express interest in a lighter tank, but short of an Al40 I'm not sure what to do! An HP65 would only save about 1 pound off the LP72...
As we came out I noticed another dive float just moving out from the shore; I think I saw doccarl's car parked nearby so that may be who was towing the flag.
All said it was an excellent morning. On the way home we remarked on how lucky we are to have a dive spot like this so close to home and so convenient to use--parking, steps, showers all make this such an easy and comfortable site. We stopped at Joe Patti's for a Fish ID session (they actually had triggerfish and sheepshead, two species I don't remember them having frequently) and for some sushi fixings--our kids love ikura (salmon eggs) so we splurged and got some in addition to some snapper. Big temaki-zushi feast tonight!
She had a much smoother descent this time--she was using a Zeagle BC that I've had for ages and have only dove a few times. I had never noticed that it had a shoulder pull-dump but after I showed her how it worked it seemed to be a big help! Thanks to decent viz we quickly found the jeep frame and tied our float flag off to it. There was a dinner-plate sized ray hanging out but it didn't seem to care for us and scooted off as soon as I moved towards the little T to tie off. I noticed the line wjefferis had run and made a mental note to check it out later.
We did several "circuits" from the jeep frame to the (upright) toilet and back, drifting down and then finning back. There was lots of holding of hands, flapping of arms, and a bit of kneeling in the sand. I remember thinking "she's going to breathe that tank dry quickly if she keeps finning with her hands all the time" but of course as the husband I would turn out to be very wrong. Lots of sea life, though no octopus in sight (I can usually find a few during the daytime in the nooks and crannies). A cute pair of Butterflyfish (one big, one little) reminded us of the father-and-annoying-son from Finding Nemo. Two very nice size flounder that looked delicious (I'm guessing it's illegal to gig flounder there? If not I will bring a gig or a pole spear next time!). I figured it was a good idea to leave the camera at home until she's more comfortable in the water, so unfortunately no pics.
We did have a little buoyancy control issue. Mrs B. hasn't yet re-learned how to vent her wing gradually as she ascends and at one point we went from 40 ft to 25-30ft and she started taking off for the surface. She started to get it under control and slowed but probably rose 15 ft a bit too rapidly. I don't think she's overweighted but next time out we may experiment a bit in the shallows--she's diving 8lbs. of lead in a two-piece 3mm and a steel 72 so might be able to shed a pound or two of lead.
After a couple of circuits we decided to follow wjefferis' line to the "structure." The line was already covered with clumps of green "fuzz," both small and large. There was a very large grouper hanging out, not swallow-your-head large but might-eat-small-cats-or-large-rutabagas size; he left nearly as soon as we arrived. A group of rather large fish (likely jacks of some sort) were just on the periphery of my visual but took off as soon as we arrived. Basically, we scared off all the wildlife! I have no idea what the structure is, but it looks like mostly random junk. Some small and large diameter pipe, a 5 gallon bucket (maybe full of concrete, used as an anchoring device at some time?). Very fun to explore though--if your're reading, thanks for running the line wjefferis! It sort of felt like being invited on a scavenger hunt.
On our way back to the jeep frame we came across some sheepshead nibbling at the fuzz on the line, as well as a large angelfish cruising by. We actually had enough air left to do a few more of our "circuits" and then surfaced. We were under for about 58 minutes, and I breathed my 72 down to about 250psi by the time we hit shore. Hers was still nearly 1000psi! I guess lots of arm flapping doesn't mean much when you're her size. She did express interest in a lighter tank, but short of an Al40 I'm not sure what to do! An HP65 would only save about 1 pound off the LP72...
As we came out I noticed another dive float just moving out from the shore; I think I saw doccarl's car parked nearby so that may be who was towing the flag.
All said it was an excellent morning. On the way home we remarked on how lucky we are to have a dive spot like this so close to home and so convenient to use--parking, steps, showers all make this such an easy and comfortable site. We stopped at Joe Patti's for a Fish ID session (they actually had triggerfish and sheepshead, two species I don't remember them having frequently) and for some sushi fixings--our kids love ikura (salmon eggs) so we splurged and got some in addition to some snapper. Big temaki-zushi feast tonight!
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