wjefferis
Contributor
Well I can't say that conditions were all that great for diving this weekend. Friday started out with sunny skies and once we got down to Ft. Pickens Jetties it appeared that we would have a nice dive. The water looked really clear at the shore, but once down to 10 fsw there was a heavy particulate layer that got worse the deeper you went. I made it down to just before the organ and the viz just dropped to zero. We went back up and decided on making the best out of it and stayed shallow for dive number two. I was able to find the golf cart which is about 3/4 buried at the moment as well as find the jeep frame. The highlight of the dive was finding a mac daddy anchor (pictured below). Once done with the dives we headed back to the campsite and enjoyed Denise's crock pot stew and Jason's freaking awesome camp fire peach cobbler (please PM me the receipe). Even though the diving wasn't great, the camaraderie and BS'ing at the campsite made it well worth the trip.
On Saturday we decided to head out to Destin to check out the jetties there. The weather had turned to overcast and the wind was whipping the waves up a bit which stirred things up. The water had a blue hue to it and without the wave action I think conditions would have been much better. unfortunately, visibility was maybe eight feet near shore and five feet at depth. I was content and made my way down to the metal box and tied my dive flag. From there we stayed right on the line where the rocks end and the sand begins for a good reference point. A few fin kicks from the box and we ran into a huge pile of sand dollars. Just then I cursed through my reg as I remembered that I left my shell bag at home
. I scooped up a couple for the kids and we continued on. Glen and I made it out to about 47 feet when I noticed Glen switch over to his pony bottle. When I asked if he was ok he showed me that his swivel on his primary reg was leaking a bit and switched over to his pony to be safe. We decided to turn the dive at this point and start heading back to the shore. Glen signaled that he was ok with taking our time, so we putzed around on our way back. After making our safety stop we made it back to shore and met back up with DocCarl and his fiance'. Barry and Jason surfaced about three minutes after we did and Paul and his nephew soon followed. Barry had found some great shells during the dive and we all enjoyed checking them out. Once returning from the long march we quickly changed back into our clothes and made it over to McGuire's for some great grub and good conversation. I ended up having a good time even though the diving wasn't the best. Getting together with the folks from Deep Dixie always proves to be a good time regardless of the diving conditions.
Now for the true prize of this weekends dive trip:
Don't be jealous of my anchor Behatch!!!!!
On Saturday we decided to head out to Destin to check out the jetties there. The weather had turned to overcast and the wind was whipping the waves up a bit which stirred things up. The water had a blue hue to it and without the wave action I think conditions would have been much better. unfortunately, visibility was maybe eight feet near shore and five feet at depth. I was content and made my way down to the metal box and tied my dive flag. From there we stayed right on the line where the rocks end and the sand begins for a good reference point. A few fin kicks from the box and we ran into a huge pile of sand dollars. Just then I cursed through my reg as I remembered that I left my shell bag at home
. I scooped up a couple for the kids and we continued on. Glen and I made it out to about 47 feet when I noticed Glen switch over to his pony bottle. When I asked if he was ok he showed me that his swivel on his primary reg was leaking a bit and switched over to his pony to be safe. We decided to turn the dive at this point and start heading back to the shore. Glen signaled that he was ok with taking our time, so we putzed around on our way back. After making our safety stop we made it back to shore and met back up with DocCarl and his fiance'. Barry and Jason surfaced about three minutes after we did and Paul and his nephew soon followed. Barry had found some great shells during the dive and we all enjoyed checking them out. Once returning from the long march we quickly changed back into our clothes and made it over to McGuire's for some great grub and good conversation. I ended up having a good time even though the diving wasn't the best. Getting together with the folks from Deep Dixie always proves to be a good time regardless of the diving conditions.Now for the true prize of this weekends dive trip:
Don't be jealous of my anchor Behatch!!!!!
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