SunshineFish
Guest
Blackbeard's Bahamas Cruise (www.blackbeard-cruises.com)
Memorial Day Weekend
May 24-28, 2002
Click here for photos
After my last dive vacation in Curacao, I decided that my next dive trip would have to be a liveaboard so that I could dive dive dive all day and not have to worry about the other things associated with land-based operations.
So this cruise was my first liveaboard experience - I had such a blast!! While Blackbeard's isn't for everyone, it was exactly what I was looking for: value, fun people, great diving. Many have labeled this operation as "camping at sea" and it truly is in many ways as much is communal and space is limited.
Getting there: I missed my flight (again...but at least I made it to the right airport this time!) due to one hour lines for security check. Was able to be whisked to the front of the ticketing line to be booked on stand-by for next flight. I checked one bag with clothing and most of my dive gear but carried regs, wetsuit, mask, snorkel, and toiletries on board. My carry-on underwent extra scrutiny because of the regs - security guy just looked at the hoses, asked if I was a scuba diver, cloth-swiped my Tevas for radioactivity and then I was on my way to board the plane.
I was told that boarding time at Blackbeard's was 6pm for a 9pm sailing but there were plenty of crew and a few passengers aboard at 3pm when I arrived at the dock. I was assigned to the Morning Star, shown to my bunk, unpacked, stored my large suitcase in their dockside trailer, popped a Dramamine, and then just sat back and relaxed as the rest of the passengers trickled in. We sailed three people short as one spot was unbooked, and a couple cancelled b/c coast guard was predicting 12 foot seas (which meant nothing to me at the time). The captain gave us a choice of sailing that night or the next morning - we all voted for leaving that night. So I donned my rain gear, popped another Dramamine, and got ready for what I was told would be a bumpy ride. Watching the sun set over Miami was beautiful and the cruising out of port was relatively peaceful. But we soon hit choppy seas and then it was hold-on-for-your-life kind of ride.
Woke up the next morning to overcast Bahamian skies. Turned out we had only 6-foot seas on the crossing (I'd hate to see what 12-foot would be like!) As soon as we cleared customs, we set sail to the first dive site.
(The crossing back to Miami was pretty rough as well but not as bad as the crossing to Bimini. This time around , I decided to be smart and go to bed early so I could just sleep through the rough seas.)
Cruise op:
Staff very friendly and helpful. Three heads, one shower with unlimited saltwater and freshwater limited to 30 secs, there is a freshwater hose on deck for that post-dive rinse-off but it is not suitable for drinking, sleeping area divided into 3 compartments with singles and doubles available, food was always excellent and hit the spot each time. There was a good variety every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snacks, fruit, soda, water, liquor and beer were always available. But the crew warned us that once we start drinking, that would mark the end our diving for the day.
I had forgotten to bring clothespins but there were plenty on board left over from previous passengers.
Our first night, we docked at Bimini and bar hopped...between the same 2 bars. The rest of the trip, we anchored at sea. Between dives, we would sunbathe, read, chat, eat, sleep. You can also fish or spearfish if you want.
My Dive Gear: Genesis Athena BC, Oceanic Delta 3/Piston Reg, 3 mil Henderson Hyperstretch full suit. BC and Reg set-up stayed on the same tank thru-out the trip.
The Diving: We dove around Bimini. Water temp was 79 - 81 degrees Fahrenheit (26 - 27 Celsius), viz ranged from 50 - 100 feet. Having only reef dived in Curacao, I thought that the fish life in the Bahamas was on steroids. Everything was huge (except for the trumpetfish and parrotfish)! Trunkfish, angelfishes, squirrel fishes - I couldn't believe how much bigger everything seemed to be. I stopped using my slate after the first couple of dives so I apologize that the details become progressively sparse. Also, I'm still learning names of fish and haven't quite ventured to corals and reef creatures yet. My dive buddies were Ted (first dive only) and Kayla (raviepoo on the Scubaboard). Here are some highlights of my dives:
Dive #1 - Moray Alley
48 min / 52 ft
Viz 50-60 ft
Stingray, huge squirrel fish, blue-headed wrasse, 4-eye butterflyfish, parrot fish, grunt (tomate), lizard fish, spotted goatfish, blue tang, coney bicolor, banded butterflyfish, pair of great amberjack, lots of small jellyfish (~1" diameter) by surface.
Dive #2 - Rainbow Reef
55 min / 21 ft
Viz 45-50 ft
Black durgon, Atlantic spadefish, 2 sedentary nurse sharks, baracuda, smooth trunkfish (hugest I've ever seen - like 1 feet!), porgy, blackbar soldierfish, lots of black long-spined sea urchins.
Dive #3 - Green Meanie
50 min / 35 ft
Viz 40-50 ft
Pair of needlefish swimming by surface, free swimming goldentail eel, yellowhead jarfish, more black long-spined urchins, porcupinefish.
Dive #4 - Bimini Barge
33 min / 88 ft
Viz 100 ft
Wreck Dive of a barge probably 80-100 feet long. Huge swimthroughs. Spotted a stingray by anchor line (would eventually free swim during my safety stop), beautiful queen and french angelfishes.
Dive #5 - Rainbow Valley
59 min / 70 ft
Viz 100 ft
Some swim throughs. More black (and white) long-spined urchins, great amberjack, chromis, yellowtail snapper, rock beauty, trumpetfish, cute little remora at end of dive that was very friendly to another diver.
Dive #6 - Lunk Head
49 min / 53 ft
Viz 50-60 ft
Patchy reefs with Orangespotted filefish, barjacks, french angelfish, large conch walking on sand, rock beauty, nassau grouper. A loggerhead turtle spotted by other divers (but not me
)
Dive #7 - Blue Chromis
31 min / 41 feet
NIGHT DIVE
Not so slight current. All I remember seeing is a large lobster and giant crab. Unfortunately, my eyes developed some sort of irritation to salt water and stung from the onset of the dive. Had to abort which was extremely dissapointing to me as I love night diving. But I did enjoy the short time that I was in the water.
Dive #8 - South Peak
31 min / 110 ft
Viz 60 ft
Wonderful wall dive that started at 85 ft. Huge Nassau grouper ~8 feet. Current picked up progressively into dive. Saw the usual fishies and coral life.
Dive #9 - Bull Run
50 min / 58 ft
Viz 60-70 ft
This was my first Shark Dive! It was quite mesmerizing and exciting. There were about 12-15 sharks that included nurse sharks, reef sharks, and possibly a black-tip shark. I added 2 pounds to my weight belt to overweight myself so that I would stay still on the ocean bottom during the feeding. The sharks circled as close as 4 feet from us as we waited. As soon as the bait was released, the calm quiet waters around us turned into a big cloudy, churning, feeding frenzy. All I heard was whooshing water all around me and in front of me I had a fantastic view of sharks attacking the bait. Afterwards, explored the patch reefs around the site for a bit. Saw a pair of what I believe are sharpnose puffers. (I love puffers!) Huge Nassau grouper again.
Dive #10 - 777
55 min / 59 ft
Viz 100 ft
A nice and relaxing last dive of the trip around a coral head. Nurse Shark, French angels, pair of Atlantic spadefish, remora, those cute sharpose puffers again, small trumpetfish.
FINAL COMMENTS:
This trip was so wonderful that I can't even begin to describe how much fun I had. The crew (Captain Mike, DM Grayson, Nate, Adam, Chris and Cook Kelli) were great people and always had our well-being at hand. They pulled a few stunts themselves that had all of us laughing in stiches. My fellow sail-mates were quite the fun-loving crowd and we had fun laughing at everything and at each other throughout the weekend. Everyone was always willing to lend a helping hand or give advice to improve my diving.
I would definately do another Blackbeard's trip again but would stick with the long weekend sailing as I'm not sure if I could camp at sea for a week.
(Top-side photos will be up as soon as they are developed and scanned; UW photos will hopefully be emailed to me by other divers)
Memorial Day Weekend
May 24-28, 2002
Click here for photos
After my last dive vacation in Curacao, I decided that my next dive trip would have to be a liveaboard so that I could dive dive dive all day and not have to worry about the other things associated with land-based operations.
So this cruise was my first liveaboard experience - I had such a blast!! While Blackbeard's isn't for everyone, it was exactly what I was looking for: value, fun people, great diving. Many have labeled this operation as "camping at sea" and it truly is in many ways as much is communal and space is limited.
Getting there: I missed my flight (again...but at least I made it to the right airport this time!) due to one hour lines for security check. Was able to be whisked to the front of the ticketing line to be booked on stand-by for next flight. I checked one bag with clothing and most of my dive gear but carried regs, wetsuit, mask, snorkel, and toiletries on board. My carry-on underwent extra scrutiny because of the regs - security guy just looked at the hoses, asked if I was a scuba diver, cloth-swiped my Tevas for radioactivity and then I was on my way to board the plane.
I was told that boarding time at Blackbeard's was 6pm for a 9pm sailing but there were plenty of crew and a few passengers aboard at 3pm when I arrived at the dock. I was assigned to the Morning Star, shown to my bunk, unpacked, stored my large suitcase in their dockside trailer, popped a Dramamine, and then just sat back and relaxed as the rest of the passengers trickled in. We sailed three people short as one spot was unbooked, and a couple cancelled b/c coast guard was predicting 12 foot seas (which meant nothing to me at the time). The captain gave us a choice of sailing that night or the next morning - we all voted for leaving that night. So I donned my rain gear, popped another Dramamine, and got ready for what I was told would be a bumpy ride. Watching the sun set over Miami was beautiful and the cruising out of port was relatively peaceful. But we soon hit choppy seas and then it was hold-on-for-your-life kind of ride.
Woke up the next morning to overcast Bahamian skies. Turned out we had only 6-foot seas on the crossing (I'd hate to see what 12-foot would be like!) As soon as we cleared customs, we set sail to the first dive site.
(The crossing back to Miami was pretty rough as well but not as bad as the crossing to Bimini. This time around , I decided to be smart and go to bed early so I could just sleep through the rough seas.)
Cruise op:
Staff very friendly and helpful. Three heads, one shower with unlimited saltwater and freshwater limited to 30 secs, there is a freshwater hose on deck for that post-dive rinse-off but it is not suitable for drinking, sleeping area divided into 3 compartments with singles and doubles available, food was always excellent and hit the spot each time. There was a good variety every day for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snacks, fruit, soda, water, liquor and beer were always available. But the crew warned us that once we start drinking, that would mark the end our diving for the day.
I had forgotten to bring clothespins but there were plenty on board left over from previous passengers.
Our first night, we docked at Bimini and bar hopped...between the same 2 bars. The rest of the trip, we anchored at sea. Between dives, we would sunbathe, read, chat, eat, sleep. You can also fish or spearfish if you want.
My Dive Gear: Genesis Athena BC, Oceanic Delta 3/Piston Reg, 3 mil Henderson Hyperstretch full suit. BC and Reg set-up stayed on the same tank thru-out the trip.
The Diving: We dove around Bimini. Water temp was 79 - 81 degrees Fahrenheit (26 - 27 Celsius), viz ranged from 50 - 100 feet. Having only reef dived in Curacao, I thought that the fish life in the Bahamas was on steroids. Everything was huge (except for the trumpetfish and parrotfish)! Trunkfish, angelfishes, squirrel fishes - I couldn't believe how much bigger everything seemed to be. I stopped using my slate after the first couple of dives so I apologize that the details become progressively sparse. Also, I'm still learning names of fish and haven't quite ventured to corals and reef creatures yet. My dive buddies were Ted (first dive only) and Kayla (raviepoo on the Scubaboard). Here are some highlights of my dives:
Dive #1 - Moray Alley
48 min / 52 ft
Viz 50-60 ft
Stingray, huge squirrel fish, blue-headed wrasse, 4-eye butterflyfish, parrot fish, grunt (tomate), lizard fish, spotted goatfish, blue tang, coney bicolor, banded butterflyfish, pair of great amberjack, lots of small jellyfish (~1" diameter) by surface.
Dive #2 - Rainbow Reef
55 min / 21 ft
Viz 45-50 ft
Black durgon, Atlantic spadefish, 2 sedentary nurse sharks, baracuda, smooth trunkfish (hugest I've ever seen - like 1 feet!), porgy, blackbar soldierfish, lots of black long-spined sea urchins.
Dive #3 - Green Meanie
50 min / 35 ft
Viz 40-50 ft
Pair of needlefish swimming by surface, free swimming goldentail eel, yellowhead jarfish, more black long-spined urchins, porcupinefish.
Dive #4 - Bimini Barge
33 min / 88 ft
Viz 100 ft
Wreck Dive of a barge probably 80-100 feet long. Huge swimthroughs. Spotted a stingray by anchor line (would eventually free swim during my safety stop), beautiful queen and french angelfishes.
Dive #5 - Rainbow Valley
59 min / 70 ft
Viz 100 ft
Some swim throughs. More black (and white) long-spined urchins, great amberjack, chromis, yellowtail snapper, rock beauty, trumpetfish, cute little remora at end of dive that was very friendly to another diver.
Dive #6 - Lunk Head
49 min / 53 ft
Viz 50-60 ft
Patchy reefs with Orangespotted filefish, barjacks, french angelfish, large conch walking on sand, rock beauty, nassau grouper. A loggerhead turtle spotted by other divers (but not me
)Dive #7 - Blue Chromis
31 min / 41 feet
NIGHT DIVE
Not so slight current. All I remember seeing is a large lobster and giant crab. Unfortunately, my eyes developed some sort of irritation to salt water and stung from the onset of the dive. Had to abort which was extremely dissapointing to me as I love night diving. But I did enjoy the short time that I was in the water.
Dive #8 - South Peak
31 min / 110 ft
Viz 60 ft
Wonderful wall dive that started at 85 ft. Huge Nassau grouper ~8 feet. Current picked up progressively into dive. Saw the usual fishies and coral life.
Dive #9 - Bull Run
50 min / 58 ft
Viz 60-70 ft
This was my first Shark Dive! It was quite mesmerizing and exciting. There were about 12-15 sharks that included nurse sharks, reef sharks, and possibly a black-tip shark. I added 2 pounds to my weight belt to overweight myself so that I would stay still on the ocean bottom during the feeding. The sharks circled as close as 4 feet from us as we waited. As soon as the bait was released, the calm quiet waters around us turned into a big cloudy, churning, feeding frenzy. All I heard was whooshing water all around me and in front of me I had a fantastic view of sharks attacking the bait. Afterwards, explored the patch reefs around the site for a bit. Saw a pair of what I believe are sharpnose puffers. (I love puffers!) Huge Nassau grouper again.
Dive #10 - 777
55 min / 59 ft
Viz 100 ft
A nice and relaxing last dive of the trip around a coral head. Nurse Shark, French angels, pair of Atlantic spadefish, remora, those cute sharpose puffers again, small trumpetfish.
FINAL COMMENTS:
This trip was so wonderful that I can't even begin to describe how much fun I had. The crew (Captain Mike, DM Grayson, Nate, Adam, Chris and Cook Kelli) were great people and always had our well-being at hand. They pulled a few stunts themselves that had all of us laughing in stiches. My fellow sail-mates were quite the fun-loving crowd and we had fun laughing at everything and at each other throughout the weekend. Everyone was always willing to lend a helping hand or give advice to improve my diving.
I would definately do another Blackbeard's trip again but would stick with the long weekend sailing as I'm not sure if I could camp at sea for a week.
(Top-side photos will be up as soon as they are developed and scanned; UW photos will hopefully be emailed to me by other divers)
