kjunheart
Contributor
Walter, Joanne (JoanneR), Krista (KBeck) & I dove in Boca Raton on Saturday afternoon with Captain Tony of the boat Diversity. This was my second time diving with Captain Tony and he is definitely worth the trip. It is always fun to find another person who has just as devious of a mind as I do! :devious: LOL We will just say that he is a character and makes the boat ride out to the sites fun and interesting!
The first dive was a wreck, United Caribbean. The more I dive wrecks, the more I love them. Joanne advised us not to kick to get down the rope. Instead, because of the current, just use our arms to pull ourselves down. Awesome advice given the current conditions. The great thing that I am finding when diving a wreck for the first time is that you never know what to expect. As we descended the line, visibility wasnt that great and I didnt see much as we were going down. But then all of a sudden, the ship decided it would come out of hiding and allow us to see it. It was as though the boat commanded respect from those coming to take a peek. I dont care what they say about the boat not being haunted despite its history, approaching it was a bit ominous. It was a wonderful site to me.
We explored the hull and then swam through the wheelhouse. As we were coming out Joanne (who was in the lead) just stopped and then slowly crept out. Once I was able to exit, I saw what was in her sight. It was a nice size (4ft?) barracuda just hanging out near the doorway where were exiting. But what made him so cool to watch is that he had a hook and leader line hanging out of his mouth and the line actually had growth on it! Finally he decided to move out of our way and we watched him join the rest of the cuda pack. They were all just hanging out above the boat, in the middle of tons of swirling bait fish! We were kind of hoping we would see the cuda in action but they were just content to hang there. After a couple more passes around and through the boat, we started our ascent.
As we began our ascent, it became clear that either I just hadnt noticed the current on the way down or it had picked up considerably near the surface. Although both Joanne & Walter said the current wasnt bad, when I am holding on to the line with both hands and watching the water take my feet, it is a decent current. Their idea (as I am sure most of you have the same opinion) of a good current is when you turn your head and the current takes your mask. Thankfully it wasnt that bad. It was an experience trying to hold on to the rope on the surface, take fins off & hand them up while trying to not get swept away! All in a days fun, right?
After a nice SI, Cpt. Tony dropped us on a reef, Boca Artificial, which had a really nice ledge. The current wasnt quite as bad there so we were able use it to our advantage by letting it pull us along the reef. I love this reef! Floating along the side of ledge you get to see so many things that are absolutely beautiful too many things to name! The most impressive for me was seeing two green morays in holes right next to each other, come out and greet us with their menacing mouths wide open! But, some of my trepidation went away when I saw Walter put his face right up in the face of the smaller one. Yes, he is nuts but it gave us something that much more interesting to watch.
The only negative about the dive is that I had a little regulator issue, which made me nervous. Of course, being nervous, my thinking turned into I wasnt getting enough air so I started to consume even more air blah blah blah. Finally, I felt it was time to say enough & we called the dive. Once we were on the surface, Joanne, who services regs, told me that my reg was breathing properly and that the sound I was hearing probably meant that I need to have it serviced. I hate it when I am the reason to cut a dive short. I get so concerned that I am ruining someone elses dive. At least we got 40 minutes in before cutting the dive short. Everyone was really great about it.
After the dive, the four of us were joined by Joannes other half (MB) and we had a great dinner. All-in-all a great day .how can you go wrong? Warm South Florida weather, wonderful company, great conversations, and excellent diving followed by food & drinks! Life is good!
The first dive was a wreck, United Caribbean. The more I dive wrecks, the more I love them. Joanne advised us not to kick to get down the rope. Instead, because of the current, just use our arms to pull ourselves down. Awesome advice given the current conditions. The great thing that I am finding when diving a wreck for the first time is that you never know what to expect. As we descended the line, visibility wasnt that great and I didnt see much as we were going down. But then all of a sudden, the ship decided it would come out of hiding and allow us to see it. It was as though the boat commanded respect from those coming to take a peek. I dont care what they say about the boat not being haunted despite its history, approaching it was a bit ominous. It was a wonderful site to me.
We explored the hull and then swam through the wheelhouse. As we were coming out Joanne (who was in the lead) just stopped and then slowly crept out. Once I was able to exit, I saw what was in her sight. It was a nice size (4ft?) barracuda just hanging out near the doorway where were exiting. But what made him so cool to watch is that he had a hook and leader line hanging out of his mouth and the line actually had growth on it! Finally he decided to move out of our way and we watched him join the rest of the cuda pack. They were all just hanging out above the boat, in the middle of tons of swirling bait fish! We were kind of hoping we would see the cuda in action but they were just content to hang there. After a couple more passes around and through the boat, we started our ascent.
As we began our ascent, it became clear that either I just hadnt noticed the current on the way down or it had picked up considerably near the surface. Although both Joanne & Walter said the current wasnt bad, when I am holding on to the line with both hands and watching the water take my feet, it is a decent current. Their idea (as I am sure most of you have the same opinion) of a good current is when you turn your head and the current takes your mask. Thankfully it wasnt that bad. It was an experience trying to hold on to the rope on the surface, take fins off & hand them up while trying to not get swept away! All in a days fun, right?
After a nice SI, Cpt. Tony dropped us on a reef, Boca Artificial, which had a really nice ledge. The current wasnt quite as bad there so we were able use it to our advantage by letting it pull us along the reef. I love this reef! Floating along the side of ledge you get to see so many things that are absolutely beautiful too many things to name! The most impressive for me was seeing two green morays in holes right next to each other, come out and greet us with their menacing mouths wide open! But, some of my trepidation went away when I saw Walter put his face right up in the face of the smaller one. Yes, he is nuts but it gave us something that much more interesting to watch.
The only negative about the dive is that I had a little regulator issue, which made me nervous. Of course, being nervous, my thinking turned into I wasnt getting enough air so I started to consume even more air blah blah blah. Finally, I felt it was time to say enough & we called the dive. Once we were on the surface, Joanne, who services regs, told me that my reg was breathing properly and that the sound I was hearing probably meant that I need to have it serviced. I hate it when I am the reason to cut a dive short. I get so concerned that I am ruining someone elses dive. At least we got 40 minutes in before cutting the dive short. Everyone was really great about it.
After the dive, the four of us were joined by Joannes other half (MB) and we had a great dinner. All-in-all a great day .how can you go wrong? Warm South Florida weather, wonderful company, great conversations, and excellent diving followed by food & drinks! Life is good!
