SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
I had wanted to get on a boat and dive before the year ended and my original trip on the 4th was cancelled so we ended up going to Destin(which is where UnderWaterWorks is going to be running there boat trips until marina conditions are better locally) on the 12th. Waking up before 6AM and letting the car run with the defroster on high for 10min wasn't enough to melt the ice off the windows Sunday morning so I found another use for my C-card(ice-scraper). Josh Lambeth and I met up with Darcy(SBer), Bill, Sharkey, Matt, Chas and a bunch of his newest OW class students. The water was as flat as can be and the boat ride was nice, even though a bit chilly.
Our first dive was on the Main Bridge Span, visibility was 10-15' at best and alot of the dive had us in quite a bit lower vis'. The water had lots and lots of particle suspended in it and the bottom was covered in silt. I borrowed a friends SeaLife camera to take pictures, but very few came out(link to be included later) due to the water conditions. Temperatures were in the mid-high 60s and it seemed like everyone had enough neoprene to keep them warm while in the water. We saw several snapper, amberjack, spadefish, sheepshead, angels, soapfish, damsels, starfish, and other schooling fish around the dive site. I also spotted an octopus and nabbed a picture of it, I didn't recognize it as an octopus until looking over my pictures
Matt speared a nice sized flounder(pic in the link) and Bill speared his first flounder as well - no luck for the rest of us(I'll use my camera as an excuse!).
After a chilly trip to our next destination, where most of the divers on board hovered around a heater in the cabin of the boat, we were in the water again. The 2nd dive site was on the Miss Louise Tug Boat. Visibility wasn't any better(possibly worse) and silt still covered everything and there was still alot of particles suspended in the water. Darcy took the camera hoping that the visibility would clear up and we'd have pics to prove it!.. of course it didn't I just brought the spear along and managed to spear two flounder in one jab, but one(the larger one of course) ripped away. Josh speared his first flounder in 8 years on the tug as well. Other than the flounder, we saw large schools of spadefish and other schooling fish. There was also a palm tree on the East-side of the wreck now, I'm sure compliments to Ivan.
On the way back to the marina the captain(or maybe 1st mate - not sure, I was changing into dry clothes) spotted a Mola Mola(Sunfish) swimming on the surface. We slowed down and the sunfish let everyone on deck get a nice look at it for a few minutes before it submerged into the deep. I saw it and decided I would throw some snorkel gear on and get the camera for some quick pics, but it took off before I finished gearing up. The Mola Mola was a first for me, hopefully not the last!
Despite the visibility, I think everyone had a good time and I didn't hear any real complaints. The crew of the SeaCobra was great and helped everyone in and out their gear and did an excellent job making sure everyone was happy. Everyone on the dive was great and it was nice meeting another ScubaBoarder - dive with us again Darcy!
Here are some pictures http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album39 these were the best of the pics taken - conditions weren't at there best though!
Our first dive was on the Main Bridge Span, visibility was 10-15' at best and alot of the dive had us in quite a bit lower vis'. The water had lots and lots of particle suspended in it and the bottom was covered in silt. I borrowed a friends SeaLife camera to take pictures, but very few came out(link to be included later) due to the water conditions. Temperatures were in the mid-high 60s and it seemed like everyone had enough neoprene to keep them warm while in the water. We saw several snapper, amberjack, spadefish, sheepshead, angels, soapfish, damsels, starfish, and other schooling fish around the dive site. I also spotted an octopus and nabbed a picture of it, I didn't recognize it as an octopus until looking over my pictures
Matt speared a nice sized flounder(pic in the link) and Bill speared his first flounder as well - no luck for the rest of us(I'll use my camera as an excuse!).After a chilly trip to our next destination, where most of the divers on board hovered around a heater in the cabin of the boat, we were in the water again. The 2nd dive site was on the Miss Louise Tug Boat. Visibility wasn't any better(possibly worse) and silt still covered everything and there was still alot of particles suspended in the water. Darcy took the camera hoping that the visibility would clear up and we'd have pics to prove it!.. of course it didn't
I just brought the spear along and managed to spear two flounder in one jab, but one(the larger one of course) ripped away. Josh speared his first flounder in 8 years on the tug as well. Other than the flounder, we saw large schools of spadefish and other schooling fish. There was also a palm tree on the East-side of the wreck now, I'm sure compliments to Ivan. On the way back to the marina the captain(or maybe 1st mate - not sure, I was changing into dry clothes) spotted a Mola Mola(Sunfish) swimming on the surface. We slowed down and the sunfish let everyone on deck get a nice look at it for a few minutes before it submerged into the deep. I saw it and decided I would throw some snorkel gear on and get the camera for some quick pics, but it took off before I finished gearing up. The Mola Mola was a first for me, hopefully not the last!
Despite the visibility, I think everyone had a good time and I didn't hear any real complaints. The crew of the SeaCobra was great and helped everyone in and out their gear and did an excellent job making sure everyone was happy. Everyone on the dive was great and it was nice meeting another ScubaBoarder - dive with us again Darcy!
Here are some pictures http://www.suprbugman.com/gallery/album39 these were the best of the pics taken - conditions weren't at there best though!
