My PCB dive trip report...

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JKSteger

D/M Wannabee ! ! !
Messages
1,132
Reaction score
2
Location
Griffin, GA
# of dives
50 - 99
We got a late start because my brother had to work later than planned. We didn't leave the house until around 6:00pm. I thought that with clear roads and good weather we should make it to DeFuniak Springs, FL by 10:00 or so. No problem!
We make great time until we merged onto I-10. About a mile or so later I heard what sounded like a flat tire. Jesse pulled over to the shoulder and sure enough the rear passenger side tire had picked up a nail.

It took us about an hour and a half before we were back on the road. We checked into the motel and since we were carrying all of our dive gear in the back of the truck we had to haul all of it to the room (upstairs) before we could go to sleep. By then it was midnight and we had our wake up call at 5:00am so we could be at PCB and board the boat.

At 6:45am we checked in with PCDC and paid for our trip. Jesse had to rent 2 tanks because they said they didn't have time to fill his tanks. So we picked up the 2 tanks and head over to Capt. Anderson's marina to board our boat the Reef Runner.

Conditions at sea were very choppy. The captain said the seas had 6' waves and it was a very bumpy ride out with gear being thrown every were. At last we arrived at one of about 4 places you will dive if doing a "cattle boat" in PCB. We arrived at Bridge Span #14. Suiting up was a major challenge with the big waves rolling in and watching 2 waterspouts in the distance didn't build up my confidence that this would probably be the last dive of the day due to poor weather building up.

Me and Jesse hit the water to find a pretty strong current at the surface. We grabbed the guideline and was greeted with about 50+ feet vis. From the 15' marker on the tie in line I could see the roadbed of the old bridge! Bait fish were everywhere and catfish was all over the bottom. There were about 3 big 'cudas just keeping a "watchful eye" on us.

We hit a max depth of 74' and a bottom time of 42min. We surfaced primarily because we were board at that point. There is only so much bridge you could look at!

After pulling anchor we headed the quarter mile to the Black Bart. Here we were greeted with about 50' vis. at the surface down to 70' where the vis dropped to about 30' vis. We went up and down and around the Black Bart. We hit a max depth of 85' and a dive time of 42min again.

I was diving EAN32 and my brother was diving AIR. I told him to keep a close eye on his NDL's since his would be the limiting factor. Several times he checked his computer (air integrated) and flashed the OK sign. Then I thought that since I was getting close to the top of the "green" area I had better look at Jesse's computer. Sure enough it was in DECO and flashing "6min at 10feet". We ascended to 30' and we stopped there for 5min, after that his computer flashed "3min at 10feet". We ascended to our 3min safety stop at 15' but hung out for 5 minutes and after that was complete his computer had cleared out of DECO mode. We both made a VERY...make that EXTREMELY slow ascent through our last 15' and boarded the boat where the Capt. made some remark about finally found the last 2 divers or something I mentioned that Jesse's computer went into DECO and I thought that the crew were going to flip out...oh well.

The diver setting to my right asked about us being down so long and I said there were no problems. I was well within my NDL, PPO and O2 exposure. I should have been speaking Greek to this guy. He said that they had a 20min dive. I thought that if I only had a 20min dive on these sites it wouldn't be worth it but after reviewing my log book I see were when we first started diving, our first post cert. dives were only 25 min dives.

I don't understand all these report of experienced divers diving inshore at PCB with a dive time of 20min or 25min. It just doesn't make sense to me.

Anywho,
We dove in our shorts and underarmour shirts. The water temp was 86F on the bottom. I did my first dive with my new x-series 119 and surfaced with 1900psi remaining. I didn't wear any weights either and wow was it a feeling of freedom.

I'm looking forward to going back next month.

Jeremy
 
:D

the K
 
Great report. Six foot seas on the Reef Runner would definitely qualify as an e-ticket ride. I'm sorry you got bored on Bridge Span 14. These spans have the best variety of marine life of any structure in the Gulf beside maybe Stage I. Every time that I go to the Bart I see something different.

But anyway - you got wet in salt water. What a wonderful feeling.
 
Tom Smedley:
Great report. Six foot seas on the Reef Runner would definitely qualify as an e-ticket ride. I'm sorry you got bored on Bridge Span 14. These spans have the best variety of marine life of any structure in the Gulf beside maybe Stage I. Every time that I go to the Bart I see something different.

But anyway - you got wet in salt water. What a wonderful feeling.

You know Tom, your right. Thinking about it there was a lot more life and activity on the bridge span that the Black Bart. I think what really gets me excited is the exploration. Finding out what is down there, in the boat, etc. I get bored looking at fish and stuff really quick.

I like to explore to see what is there. After this dive I'm really thinking seriously about progressing into wreck diving. I'm not a big fan of caves and such but I know I would love to penetrate wrecks and such. I'm going to need a lot of training and build up of experience. I'm planning on riding on this planet for a long time so I have plenty of time to pace myself, get the training and experience then one day I can do those kinds of dives. Until then swimming around the wreck and shining a light into them will satisfy me.

Jeremy
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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