IDF - Dive Log 2011

Gary, Brenda and crew (Conch Republic Divers)... What can I say...

I am always Wow'ed by the service we receive when we dive with Conch Republic. This trip was no exception to that feeling.

Thanks to Gary, Brenda and crew for keeping up with us and putting up with us for the trip...

• Gary, the pork and wings.... YUM!
• Brenda, you need to see the sunlight a little more often than you currently get to see
• Crew, Great dives, great service... thanks!

When is next month's IDF?

Without further ado, here's what happened last weekend or, what I can remember once the rum kicked in...
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We arrived at IDF Friday evening and caught up with friends enjoying dinner together. From there, we caught up with the night divers back at Conch Republic offering beer to all the good little boys and girls

Saturday Morning aboard: Aquatic Diver - Daniel (Guide/DM/Instigator)

We set out with a group of divers on board who know each other and dive together often. Add Daniel to the mix and everyone knew it was going to be a great trip!

Destination: Davie Crocker
Looking back into my dive log tells me that I have never had a fantastic dive on this reef, but the normal sea life is usually there and in schools, so it is a good reef to tune the camera (This dive lived up to expectation and I was able to tune the camera for the weekend)


11-05-21-grunts-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-basketstar-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-yellowray-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr

I think they're turning Japanese!

11-05-21-parrotfish-03 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-parrotfish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-parrotfish-02 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr



Once back on board the AD and Daniel finally out of Beth's skirt, it was onward to Davis Reef (Buddha's a plenty)...

Destination: Davis Reef
Davis is always a decent reef dive. With eels, Nurse sharks, Buddhas and numerous other sea life, it is hard to have a bad dive on Davis Reef. Even if you don't find all of the specimens listed, the reef has ever changing life so it makes for a different dive every time you dive there.


11-05-21-buddah-04 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr



11-05-21-buddah-05 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr



11-05-21-neongoby-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr



11-05-21-frenchangelfish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr



11-05-21-assortedreeffish-03 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr



11-05-21-lobster-04 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr



11-05-21-assortedreeffish-04 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-tritoniahamnerorum-05 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr
Look close, you can see the Tritoniahamnerorum on both sides of this fan


11-05-21-tritoniahamnerorum-04 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-Grouper-11 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-Grouper-12 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-assortedreeffish-05 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-assortedreeffish-07 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-assortedreeffish-08 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-flamingotongue-02 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr
Click on any of the images above and go to my flickr page. Choose the "Davis Reef" set.

We complete this dive in time to head back to CRD for tank and body fills (and evacuations) before the afternoon dives

Destination: Republic Diver - Eagle

Saturday afternoon aboard: Republic Diver - Jason (Guide/DM/Hardest working man in show business!)

All aboard the RD for our afternoon trip to the Eagle (Overall, one of my favorite dives when the conditions are right).

I need to preface this properly for the dive log. This is the first trip I made with the new camera and I haven't figured out the best way to travel all the equipment, so the entire weekend I used the same 35mm lens and +2 diopter for all dives (in simple terms, this is a macro lens that shouldn't focus past 10' or so). It is easy to say that shooting macro on a wreck is not going to give anyone the grand perspective of the wreck... lol

We teamed with "Sage" for this dive. She was new to the wreck and it was a pleasure to show her around. I only made one trip to the sand. I hope the diver who lost his weights was happy to get them back!



11-05-21-eagle_dive-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-02 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-04 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-05 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-06 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-07 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-08 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-10 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-eagle_dive-11 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


Back on board and headed for Hens & Chickens!

Destination: Hens & Chickens

If you ever get a chance to make this dive, you will forever want to return here. I believe I could spend 10 years diving this site every day, and I would only put a small dent into the sea life and topography of this site.

One giant circular reef with cuts through the reef sections, under ledges and eel grass along the outside of the reef! I spent a lot of time going through the eel grass looking for macro shots and found a small hermit crab on this trip. You can be sure there are nudibranchs, pipefish, blennies and a slew of things people haven't seen in a while.



11-05-21-southernstingray-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-12 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr

Nice Hog Snapper (Also known as the Hogfish) - A member of the wrasse family

11-05-21-reeffish-02 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-04 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-05 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-06 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-07 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-08 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-10 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-the_els-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-hermitcrab-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-14 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-19 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-20 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-21-reeffish-23 by Jammin' Beach,


11-05-21-southernstingray-02 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr

on FlickrBack on board and a day of diving is complete! Now it's time to party like it's 1693! (That's Pirate stylin')

Sunday, May 22nd... Dragged myself out of bed with a hangover the size of... We were up and packed for the ride home before 7:30 PM. I guess the old party days are going to remain the "old party days" to be talked about with reverence over iced tea and corn bread, lol.

Destination: Duane aboard the AD

Even though we were all fairly gentle at the party on Saturday night, it was obvious on the boat ride out to the Duane that we could all have used another hour or two in bed before going out to dive, with people wedging themselves into place to duck their head and close their eyes

The Duane: Current at the start was fairly mild and manageable with the camera. I had a steel tank filled to 3000 psi.

We hit the Duane and stopped to set the camera. I got a tap on the shoulder and another diver pointed out a nice loggerhead swimming past



11-05-22-loggerhead-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-loggerhead-03 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-flag-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-flag-02 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr
This is still the macro lens with diopter, but this is the Daune and it would be considered rude not to take the crow's nest shot... So, I had to "artsy-fartsy" it up to get something artful enough to post... lol



11-05-22-crowsnest-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-crowsnest-03 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-ladder-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


For Marvel:

11-05-22-spadefish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr
Back on board and ready for the next (and final) dive

Destination: Molasses Reef

Destination: Molasses Reef (Final dive of the weekend)

Molasses can be hit or miss with the dives I have made there. This area was a section I had not seen before. Lots of sea life and proof that the ocean is a very small place.

We were in the water less than 10 minutes when I am tapped from behind. I turned around and was greeted by a diver who wasn't even on our boat. Elena (mselenaous) recognized me underwater and swam up to say hi! It happened once again on the dive when we ran into fisheye (who was on the other CRD boat) toward the end of our dive... Yup! The ocean is a small small place when you bump into people you know, but are not diving with at the time



11-05-22-bicolordamselfish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-winch-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-seargentmajor-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-tarpon-03 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-wrasse-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


Notice the growth on the tail area. Does anyone know what that is?

11-05-22-dogsnapper-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-dogsnappergrowth-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-porkfish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-snapper-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-damselfish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-bluechromis-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-goldspottedmoray-02 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-goldspottedmoray-03 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


11-05-22-reeffish-01 by Jammin' Beach, on Flickr


End of IDF for KBeck and me. Back to shore, clean up, over to Hobos for lunch and home to clean the gear and get ready for Monday!

I stated my thank you's to everyone earlier, so I won't be redundant here.

We had a great time and I can't wait to do it again. Krista and I think we won't be able to wait until next year and we might start doing this every few months just to get away from everything!

There's my log, and I'm sticking to it!