SINGLES: Trip Report – October 17-21, 2003 – Deerfield Beach, Florida

[sapphire]

Well, someone has to get this started – a trip report from the first Singles Dive extravaganza! I thought this was a great trip – 16 divers in all attended, 9 guys and 7 women (we had room for 14 on the boat, but some could not make it all of the days). About half of the people were from Florida, others hailed from California, Texas, Louisiana, Michigan, Ohio, Maryland and Virginia.

We stayed at the Rettger Resort, a 16-room inn on Deerfield Beach. The resort had a pool and nice BBQ facilities that we utilized for a fun Saturday night BBQ/Get Together. To the east we had the ocean and beautiful sunrises. A variety of restaurants were within walking distance as well.

We were whisked to our dive destinations on the boat Diversity, manned by Captain Tony and a different (lovely blonde) Crew Member each day. The diving was arranged as 2-tank AM boat trips for Saturday, Sunday and Monday. The sites included some nice wrecks, the Sea Empress and Noula Express. We explored the third reef line in the Boca Raton/Deerfield Beach area. Water temps averaged a toasty 82, visibility ranged from approximately 30 – 80 feet, and conditions were optimal – no apparent sea-sickness! Tame rays and morays, and large schools of fish, were a highlight on the wreck of the Sea Empress.


Fun things: Some of us got to try out underwater communications devices, courtesy of one diver who works ‘in the industry’. That was a blast! Even chores such as shopping for and preparing the BBQ were entertaining due to the enthusiastic participation of all. We even got to celebrate a birthday (no names or ages mentioned here).

Not so fun: Saying goodbye to a bunch of new friends!

The Top Ten Things I Learned from this trip were:

10. Do not give a pen to Christopher after he has had a drink
9. Do not get between Christopher and the pool at any time, as you may end up in it!
8. Captain Tony is a huge SpongeBob fan!
7. Jenny brings good weather
6. Leon is a gourmet chef
5. Robert dives in the Lotus position
4. Don’t point out a legal lobster to Walter unless you want it for dinner (it tasted so good)
3. Women are better seen and not heard under water (according to SOMEone!)
2. Don’t leave your camera housing in your room on the first day
AND…
1. A diverse group of divers CAN come together and have a great time!

OK – I started this trip report, but I am relying on the other ‘attendees’ to add more details. For example, what happened on Friday when I wasn’t there? And when are we doing it again?

peace and great diving,

sapphire :D

[Walter]

I enjoyed meeting everyone and made some friends with who I'm looking forward to diving again.

Sapphire,

I thought you passed on the lobster.

The Noula Express was an especially cool dive, I enjoyed watching the Yellowhead Jawfish.

Airport runs can be interesting when you are discussing the difference between mass and weight.

Next?

[drbill]

Well, I guess I didn't miss much since I favor dark hair! Seriously, sounds like it was a fun trip. Thanks Sapphire for posting the pix on Ofoto.

Dr. Bill

[Scuba_Jenny]

drbill once bubbled...
Well, I guess I didn't miss much since I favor dark hair! <snip> Dr. Bill

DrBill: That was the DM and DM in training... There were plenty of single female brunettes diving....

OTOH, the lobster tasted really yummy... I had a great time and look so forward to diving with ya'll again...

[diverbrian]

Get back on the boat on the Boca Artifical Reef. I tried to fight it and stay in the water, but NO, I had to get out of the water....

That was about as funny as watching a certain dive buddy with bird lungs give me her best "spoiled brat, I don't want to come up" act when the dive computer said it was time to come up. But, like me, she came up!

BTW, if anyone finds an MX-10 with YS-40 strobe on the reef, please let me know, LOL. I found out that the springs barrel clips do rust the hard way.

And the lobster was great! I just suggest that you don't wear good clothes around Christopher and water (and especially not dry clean only).

[Scuba_Jenny]

I arrived on Friday afternoon after a morning beach dive in Hollywood with Brian. Surf was a bit rough, and vis poor, but we made it out to the Yellow Brick Road and saw some critters.

As Brian and I were checking into our respective rooms, Daryl and Skye who also had just checked in to their rooms met us. The resort was as close as you can get in that area to being on the beach without actually being on the beach. Just a narrow one-way street divided the sand and us. Friday was spent getting to know who was who, who was rooming with who, confirming wake up times, and a cocktail or two. We went out to dinner as a group to a Mexican restaurant just a short distance away.

Saturday morning saw us all ready to be at the boat nice and early. We set out with Captain Tony to the third reef line and the reef, Moray Bend, vis was about 70ft. All of our reef dives were on the third line and bottomed out at maybe 65fsw. The prettiest part of the reef is the ledges on the western side. No current as we drifted north meandering along looking for the big green morays. We saw spotted drums, hogfish, butterfly fish, angels, rock beauties, harlequin bass… and a couple of my buddies saw a white shark….

The second dive of the day was on Honeycomb reef. Again, lots of fish and sealife, but the vis had dropped a bit. As I was slowly ascending, I saw a remora in the sand. This fish greeted two of my buddies as it tried to attach itself. Quite comical seeing the scenario played out from 10ft above the action.

Sunday. Bright and early we made our way out to the Sea Empress. The stingrays were very friendly. The huge moray eel named Elroy allowed his picture to be taken. There was also a goliath grouper under the barge.

Sunday Dive 2. I am not used to diving with a computer, mainly because there really isn’t a need for one when doing beach diving (which I do almost exclusively) and only going as deep as 23ft. Dive is over when you are down to a few hundred pounds of air. So on this dive when the computer was alerting me that I needed to ascend, it just didn’t make any sense! After all I had a lot of air left in the tank. So, grudgingly, I ascended, looking down on the reef wishing there was someway to safely get back down…

Monday: Noula Express. Nice wreck again, new buddies. Sorry guys, no harm intended on switching buddies, I just wanted to a chance to dive with everybody! A stingray buried itself in the sand allowing a petting or two. Barracuda stealthy kept a watchful eye as we swam around checking out all the inhabitants.

Dive 2. Chalfonte Reef. Again a nice reef with a western ledge.

For me, the best part of course was the diving. Meeting some really wonderful folks only enhanced the experience. I had a great time getting to know everybody and my only regret was that the weekend was too short. We had good weather, good food, good diving, and good company. What else could one ask for? Well, it was a singles trip……

Lessons I learned on the trip:
· Get a nitrox cert if doing repetitive diving…
· Keep away from Christopher, especially if a pool is nearby
· Make sure you have enough film with you on the boat so you don’t have to borrow some.. or better yet go digital!
· Let the guys cook
· Brownies are a good choice for dessert
· When using a computer, if you don’t like what you are seeing, ascend anyways.
· Some buddies are better than others
· Go into the vacation with no expectations other than having a good time diving
· Remember ALL the steps in short sheeting a bed

[Kosh]

That's all I have to say about that! No, I'll elaborate a little. The weather cooperated nicely, the resort was in a great location, and my fellow divers were a pleasure to be around. Best trip I've been on yet.


Airport runs can be interesting when you are discussing the difference between mass and weight.
Yes, you can discuss some interesting topics to and from the airport. You can also call up Jenny on her cell phone and try and hold a conversation while she is yelling at other drivers! Ah, reminded me of home. ;)


We stayed at the Rettger Resort, a 16-room inn on Deerfield Beach. The resort had a pool and nice BBQ facilities that we utilized for a fun Saturday night BBQ/Get Together. To the east we had the ocean and beautiful sunrises. A variety of restaurants were within walking distance as well.
It was a quaint little place. We even had free reign over the music played by the pool. The sunrises were a nice touch. The Saturday night BBQ/Get Together was great. Oh except the part about not cooking all the food to begin with. Of course, people had leftovers later on in the week. Brian, didn't I see you and Christopher eating steak Tuesday morning for breakfast?


Keep away from Christopher, especially if a pool is nearby
Especially if you are a woman with dry clothes.


Do not give a pen to Christopher after he has had a drink
I think he wrote on everyone that he could get close enough to. I think I see a pattern here. Stay away from Christopher. Just kidding dude! :D


Brownies are a good choice for dessert
Yes, I think everyone enjoyed the brownies. Ahh, brownies! Actually that trail mix was pretty good as well.


A diverse group of divers CAN come together and have a great time!
I will second that. Amazingly nice people I met on this trip. I'm not the most outgoing individual so I appreciated how friendly people were to me. Those of you I did get to dive with - I must say you guys are really good divers. Those of you that I didn't get to dive with, guess that means we need to get together again sometime now doesn't it?

Unfortunately, I don't have my log book with me, so I can't provide more dive information/thoughts right now. I'll post again later with more details of the dives (from my perspective) later. Jenny, nice descriptions of the dive sites.

It was great to meet everyone. I hope we can get together again soon!

Daryl

[Walter]

Jenny, Jenny, Jenny, no one saw a White Shark. If anyone had seen a White Shark, it is doubtful anyone would have gotten back in the water for the second dive and everyone would have heard about it. It's likely folks saw a Nurse Shark, not unusual if they saw a Caribbean Reef Shark and believable they saw a Bull, but no one saw a White that weekend.

Are you testing to see who read your report?

[diverbrian]

For the most prevalent kind of shark on the trip, listen to a certain Jimmy Buffet song. Just kidding everybody!

Yes that was me with B-Day cake and steak on Tues. morning along with Christopher. The left-overs were a great way to "top off tanks" for the long drive back to Michigan with ten scuba tanks and three sets of dive gear in my Mustang.

Walter, if there had been a White shark, I would probably have been fool enough to at least take a look.

My offer stands for anyone who wants to dive well preserved wrecks out of this group. I want to know if anyone from that I dove with that weekend dives up here so that I can play host as well as the people did from South Florida.

I have to agree that this is the best trip that I have been involved with.

[diverbrian]

I have been corrected. I remember that cute baby white shark now. He showed up at more than one dive site.

And he was a cute one at that!

[Walter]

Apparently, there was a toy shark making the rounds.

[OHDiver]

Hey.... I remember seeing that white shark on more than one of the dives too.... I will back you on that on Jenny..... It's for real.... really it is....

I will say that I had a wonderful time..... I thoroughly enjoyed meeting all you fun and fun loving people from scuba board and beyond.... It seemed as if we had all already known each other prior to arriving.....

What a great group of people it was! Can't wait to plan the next trip with them all.....

Oh..... and speaking of that dang remora..... It didn't think it was EVER going to leave me alone.... sooooo I just took it up a bit and introduced it to my buddy.... It really liked my buddy..... LOL My dive was much more peacefull after that.... hee-hee

I was quite impressed with all the dives.... So much to see and lots of fun marine life to play with too....

And yes.... we must keep pens away from Christopher...

Thanks to all for making it such a great trip..... I greatly look forward to more fun times and great diving with all of you.....

:Birthday: Oh and just how the heck many birthdays are we celebrating here??? Happy Birthday to all.... and this list seems to continue each day....

Miss you all.....
Karen :croctears

[KBeck]

Well, I guess there's little to add in the way of the dive reports.

I too missed the shark, though I hear he did scare a few people along the way, Walter.
I do wish we'd had the energy for a night dive along the way....but it seemed like a better idea at the time to eat ...and eat....and eat....(or was that just me?)

Other options to consider for future reference as well:

--Always have a can of air freshener handy. You never know when it might come in handy to freshen up that dead animal odor in random automobiles.

--These guys really mean it when they say they will happily carry tanks. I didn't have to carry tanks for 4 whole days....: :D

--Stay away from Christopher

--Talk Jenny intoa Nitrox cert. sooooooon.

--Leave your Speedos at home....or at least put some pants on when entering a place of commerce, if you'd prefer to avoid being brought in for indecent exposure....

--Stay away from Christopher......

________________________________


As far as the dives, even though all my diving as yet is pretty much here in So. FL, that was the first time I've seen sting rays like that. I could have spent the entire dive on the Noula Express petting the ray in the sand--he was like a little puppy, but I think my buddy Daryl was ready to whack me after my third trip back to visit it......

Tony's a great captain, and I'm still so excited how well our weather turned out.....the wind hasn't stopped blowing here since.

Thanks to all for a great weekend, the invite stands to come down anytime!!!

And Happy Halloween everyone!!! Miss ya'll already!

[Natasha]

Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun.
Did you know I found that place for Wreckmania I?

[sapphire]

I think that's where Walter got the idea to suggest it, Natasha. BTW, they are under new management now and are making a lot of improvements and upgrades to the property in case you are considering it for future events...

And we did have a lot of fun! :)

sapphire


Natasha once bubbled...
Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun.
Did you know I found that place for Wreckmania I?

[Natasha]

Cool. Thanks for letting me know.
Are you planning on posting some group pictures?

[diverbrian]

Actually, we have photos posted with a downloadable movie.


http://www.palmerenterprises.net/video

Enjoy the start and keep looking over the next few weeks as everybody has pictures still coming in (I have to get the ambition to scan the ones that I just got back, LOL).