Tenneco Towers with the Sea Experience...

This past weekend we attended Debby Diver's retirement/farewell party as she gets ready to move to St Croix with Tom (Horsenail). It started the night before at Briny Irish Bar. That was a hoot, but the real fun was to be had on Saturday as we dove Tenneco Towers just off of Ft Lauderdale.

Mind you, I have made many dives out of Ft Lauderdale with various ops and have always enjoyed the experience. How I missed Sea Experience for so long, I have no idea, but they were a wonderful surprise. We misunderstood the arrive/departure time and ended up getting there over an hour ahead of schedule. This was great as I got to see the whole charter from prep to the final rinse at the dock. Right at 7:30 Rob, the divemaster, showed up. He was bright and cheerful, quickly rinsed his own vehicle and started right away getting the boat ready for the passengers.

Now when someone is trying to work, I try to stay out of their way and not bother them to much. Rob would have none of that and kept up a running dialog with us all the while keeping busy, busy. He was a nice guy and a real bright spot in our industry. The boat we were going out on was a 45ft Corinthian Catamaran.


I love these boats for their openness and fun. They are perfect for most reef diving and are popular in the Keys. This one was particularly well set up with ample gas tanks, lots of tank room and even a head.

When 8:00 came, Elena and I headed over to sign in for the trip. The dive shop is conveniently just across the parking lot. There I met Bill, our Capitan and owner of the Charter and Dive Shop. We had met many times before at consumer and trade shows. He's an affable guy and pays close attention to his clients. It's obvious where Rob learned his customer skills from. Elena and I might have been the only "newbies" on this boat. Most of the divers were repeats. They addressed Bill and Rob as friends and not as vendors. However, neither of us felt out of place for being new. We were treated on an equal basis. It was an incredibly congenial experience. It's no wonder that the divers keep coming back again and again.

The weather was Wonderful. Fifteen minutes to the ocean and another 45 to the Towers. We had vicious 6 inch seas with no current to speak of. We splashed and could easily make out the tower 60 below us. Here, let me allow my pictures to tell the rest of the story.

Where are the pictures from the Pub?

Cute pic of Debby & Tom! Looks like a nice dive. Sorry I couldn't make it but nice to meet you Friday at Briny Pub!

It was a fun time. Hopefully, someone with pics of that party will post them. I know that Elena has a few on her Facebook.

great dive report: I tried to go out with SE on Saturday, but the boat was completely booked with a waiting list. The op does go to Teneco Towers once or twice a month but mostly on Fridays rather than Saturday. I really look forward to diving this spot some day.

Over all an awesome weekend. I've had the priveledge and pleasure to meet many Scubaboarders but more importantly, many have become the best of friends. DebbyDiver and her new beau, Tom, (whom she met through Scubaboard) are in that category. I always have fun diving with Debby and she has opened her home to me as well. So with fun and (a teensy bit of sadness) we all gathered at Briny Pub for an awesome Retirement (yeeeehaaaaa! WOW, I'm jeaolous) and Farewell/Off to St. Croix (Even more jealous) Party. I'm only sad because she's leaving the country, however now I have an open invite to dive St. Croix. The party was a blast with friends both new and old, meeting other Scubaboarders. shocked2:: I met Letterboy.).

Despite the copious consumption :rofl2: the previous night, we were up and ready to dive early. Conditions this great could not have been ordered on command - almost no seas, no current, almost no wind, endless viz. The Tenneco Towers have been on my checklist of dive sites since I moved to SoFL in Jan 2010 and I finally got to see all the life. The crew & boat, Sea Experience, were great (call early, they have a loyal following and wait lists - when I called, we got the last 2 spots). It was fun spending more time aboard with Debby & Tom (Pete's brother from another mother) and Lewis Evans.

Best of luck to them. Truly another great Scubaboard-inspired weekend as none of us would have ever met if it weren't for :sblogo:.

It was a beautiful dive. I was in the bow and the heavy 6 inch swells really took their toll on the way out. Everything Netdoc said and more on the operation...I haven't run across a more professional or friendly crew. The only thing I noticed was with this group of divers, they needed bigger camera rinse buckets....you overflowed the one they had! Hopefully there will be lots more pictures posted.

Wow, I totally missed this thread until now because I went on vacation right after the party and dive. Thanks to all of you who celebrated with us, on land or at sea, and thank you so much, Pete, for the pics!

What a GREAT time we had, the party and the dive and, as Elena points out, ScubaBoard was largely responsible for it as I met Tom here, as well as many of the partygoers and divers, and without meeting Tom there would be no "farewell as I move to St. Croix" party.

Sea Experience is my favorite local boat and I'm really going to miss them.