Gulf Dive Report 3/18 YDT-15 & PC Barge

I'll give you a short report and let HETLAND give the full debrief. I am too lazy to type very much.


Exit Pass at @ 1130am water cleared up beautifully, seas calm,very mild current, some jellies.....headed to one of two #'s we had for YDT15....HETLAND dropped anchor...RECHARGE plunged to confirm location he shot SMB to confirm. Steve of USA Scuba a new shop in Mary Esther check him out, and HETLAND rolled.....

MRXRAY and I rolled 2nd for about 50-60ft vis 64 degrees top to bottom.....one Black Snapper and two Spades rejoined us on board.
BTW: HETLAND dropped the anchor perfectly mid ship - hooked to a railing!

Dive 2: seas 1-2 similar vis,same temp w/very mild current...same teams....this time two Amberjacks and two Sheephead.
I am not going to tell you who killed what.....but on the second dive MRXRAY and I played cat n mouse with a decent sized toothy Shark....I'll tell you that one of us had a stringer with two pretty decent sized fish.....we were banded until we hit the surface......oh yeah- thanks MRXRAY for the knifework at depth

EDIT: THE FIRST TEAM SPOTTED TWO LIONFISH I CAN CONFIRM THAT THEY ELIMINATED ONE..........

All in all a super day, with awesome friends! HETLAND took some great pics, thanks dude!

Will agree it was a great first trip to the start of the new dive season,How ever you failed to note the :mooner: ( that would be more than one ) that were on diplay at the beginning of the trip.:focus: CONGRATS to Airstream on two very nice A -Jays. Everone that gets the chance should stop by and check out U S A Scuba .Thanks to our navigator (HetLand) for putting us on the fish, AND A VERY SPECIAL THANK YOU TO MrXRAY FOR BEING A FRIEND.:zap:

Met up with Recharge, MrXRay, Airstream and Steve. Steve owns USA Scuba (850) 243-dive(3483), 2225 W. Highway 98, Mary Esther Fl. 32569 which was just relocated down here, and is roughly between Destin and Navarre. Steve's a great guy, and it was a pleasure to dive with him. Be sure to check out his shop if you're in the area.

We had originally planned to do the Russian Freighter, PC Barge, and then finish up a tank at the Mass. As it turned out, the Gulf was near flat calm, so we decided to go a little further offshore. We decided on the YDT-15, as it had been a while since we had dove it.

Viz was great, and I was comfortable in a 5mm suit and a 1mm hood. at 60ft I could see the bottom of our boat, and the YDT at the same time, always a treat in our neck of the woods. I left the gun on the boat for our first dive, but borrowed one after Steve pointed out a lionfish. I snapped a few quick photos of the lionfish and then put a shaft through it's throat. I snapped a few photos of the corpse, and then fed it to the line of eager groupers waiting nearby I puttered around the wreck a bit more just enjoying the dive and snapping a photo or two. I also saw a few chromis, spotfin butterflies, damsels, queen and blue angels, barracuda, fireworms, and the other usual suspects. I also noticed that there were a handful of black snapper hanging around near the stern, so I took mental notes to pass along to Barry and Jack before they headed down. Barry said he spotted a second lionfish on the YDT, but he couldn't get a safe shot at it, so it's likely to still be there.

Our second dive was at a barge closer in to Pensacola. The viz dropped a little as expected, but we still had 40 feet or so at depth. I splashed first and hauled-fin down to the wreck. I popped a respectable sheepie before hitting 70ft and had him strung once Steve and Larry got dialed-in at the bottom. There were a few mangrove snapper, but they were super-super spooked, so I wasn't expecting to get a shot at one unless I stalked the whole dive or got really lucky. There were plenty of reds of course, happy to give me the fish equivalent of the middle finger (swimming within 3 feet of me and turning sideways). I spotted another nice-sized sheepie, but he was spooked already, so I pretended to ignore him, and sidled my way within shooting distance. I took a shot that, in hindsight, was maybe 2 inches too long, but, at least the placement was good. I pinned him to the deck and got him strung before he could recover from my shot that wasn't through and through (hence 2" too long). There were lots of AJ's about, but I didn't feel like messing with them, as it's not my favorite. I spent the rest of my dive hoping for a lucky shot at a mangrove, or perhaps a large sheepie. I did see one other large sheepie, but it was on my way to the anchor line, and he was in structure, so I would have had to untangle him even if he was stoned, so I did my ascent, and left the last big sheepie for another day.

After our dives, we hit Fuji Steakhouse for some delicious sushi and Asian grub. We then went back to clean the boat and the fish.

I really can't think of a way for the trip to have been better. Good viz, decent water temps, fish on the boat, everyone keeping their fingers and toes, it really was a perfect day and a great set of dives with good friends.

Very nice! I am super Jealous!

jhayes75:

Very nice! I am super Jealous!

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We're scoping out the good spots for when you get down here!

I sure like how good the viz is looking this early in the year. Good job on the Lionfish. Thanks for the report. Can't wait to get back in some saltwater!

Great Report guys, makes me feel like I was with you! ......ohh wait, I was!

Great Job by all, Nice job to Airstream for a couple of nice AJ's. And a couple of monster spades. He played them well and definately took Top Gun Honors away for the start of the season. It was also nice to see a shark show up that wasn't overly aggressive, which seems to be unusual lately.

Now I can't wait to get the sidescan sonar hooked up so we can see those wrecks in 3D!!!! I better stop before I get a woody again! :banana:

I didn't get good photos and was not able to get a good shot at this lionfish as he was in the forward hold of the wreck and pinned way up inside the wreck, I didn't have the strobe for my camera so I just got a couple of crappy photos from afar.

Thanks for the pix. I've been diving with Steve for years. He's a great diver & friend. We all miss him here, in SoCal. Good Luck to USA Scuba, Steve is the best for service & repair, & instruction....

CaboJim:

Thanks for the pix. I've been diving with Steve for years. He's a great diver & friend. We all miss him here, in SoCal. Good Luck to USA Scuba, Steve is the best for service & repair, & instruction....

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Agreed! Steve was a pleasure to dive and socialize with. I look forward to hitting the water with him more often.