Blue Heron Bridge Trolls

[mntlblok]

I looked that shell up--Amber Penshell on page 255 of my older edition Reef Creature ID book. The book sez rare in Florida, but they are always at BHB.

So *that's* what those things are called.

---------- Post Merged at 12:54 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:26 PM ----------

3pm Saturday, and be paddling by 3:30....be at south jetty by 4, and start east of the no wake signs on the way out of the inlet, and let the tide pull us back in to well west of Annies Dock.....
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http://www.palmbeachbiketours.com/murray-horowitz-at-the-palm-beach-inlet/ Trying to get a mental picture of where Annie's Dock is. . .

 

[danvolker]

Who is the Murray Horowitz whose Plaque is on a Bench at the Palm Beach Inlet? « Palm Beach Bike Tours Trying to get a mental picture of where Annie's Dock is. . .

See the only road that goes to the inlet on the Island of Palm Beach? The road runs into annies dock....This was a bait concession owned by a little old lady named Annie through the 70's to 80's..and probably way before. In the old days, you could even park a car there on the Island by annies, there was a circle you could park in....today, the Palm Beachers won't have that







I drew the route in here in red...since we go in way early against the tide as we paddle out the inlet, we go far enough out, then get in the water and get a nice ride. It is easy enough top paddle against the current, but not so easy for most snorkelers to snorkel against it. There is shallow water along the sides of the jetty, and plenty of easy places to gear up.....Once you head in and go west of annies dock, there is lots of very shallow macro, ( 2 to 3 feet deep), and plenty in 6 to 12.
The channel to Peanut Island is crossed by the paddle boards here in about one to 2 minutes...it is close. Cool to stop there and have a snack, or you can do this on the board. Or, you could tie the board off on annies dock, and snack on the dock

 

[guyharrisonphoto]

Dan, you always come up with the greatest ideas! I would be interested in this, but I think we need to be aware of the NOAA marine forecast:

.THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO
20 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 8 FEET
ALONG THE COAST AND UP TO 5 TO 7 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO
9 FEET IN THE GULF STREAM. NORTH SWELL 3 FEET. INTRACOASTAL
WATERS CHOPPY IN EXPOSED AREAS.

Going from BHB to Peanut Island would be a breeze. But, at the inlet we would be paddling against the tide, the wind, and the chop. Also against the wind paddling back to BHB. Also, looks like not so good for vis. We are just not getting a break! This past six days have been some of the best weather of the year but Sandy killed the vis. Now, looks like another blow.

 

[danvolker]

Dan, you always come up with the greatest ideas! I would be interested in this, but I think we need to be aware of the NOAA marine forecast:

.THURSDAY NIGHT THROUGH SATURDAY...EAST NORTHEAST WINDS 15 TO
20 KNOTS. SEAS 3 TO 5 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO 8 FEET
ALONG THE COAST AND UP TO 5 TO 7 FEET WITH OCCASIONAL SEAS UP TO
9 FEET IN THE GULF STREAM. NORTH SWELL 3 FEET. INTRACOASTAL
WATERS CHOPPY IN EXPOSED AREAS.

Going from BHB to Peanut Island would be a breeze. But, at the inlet we would be paddling against the tide, the wind, and the chop. Also against the wind paddling back to BHB. Also, looks like not so good for vis. We are just not getting a break! This past six days have been some of the best weather of the year but Sandy killed the vis. Now, looks like another blow.

Let's stay tuned to the weather. I have actually dived this area when the ocean was far too rough to dive on the reefs, and had good vis...not 100% of the time, but often the vis will stil be good, and the waves have largely dissappeared by the time you get near the no wake signs and Annies Dock....there is a very large area west of this, where we would be well out of the waves also. Wind.....Maybe this would cause some more work getting back.....but if so, then the way out would be nice
In any event, I agree we need to see what the weather does.....tell your friends....if we can get some kind of a group wanting to do this kind of dive, we can get support from the shops to make this easy. I also think we have so many divers now at the BHB, it is time to start getting them spread out into some of the much cooler, higher adventure areas they can access off the beach at BHB

 

[TheWallDiver]

Walldiver,

Nice to meet you and your partner! divediva,aka Carol sez she and Helen are going again today. btw, I looked that shell up--Amber Penshell on page 255 of my older edition Reef Creature ID book. The book sez rare in Florida, but they are always at BHB.

Hi Jim,

It was very nice meeting you and the "chicks" at BHB on Monday. We especially want to thank you for all of your advice on how we should do our first dive on the bridge.

We had a great dive and can't wait to do it again. Unfortunately we can't do it again until at least this weekend, or next week as we will be visiting with friends, but we'll get there within the week weather permitting.

Thanks also for the info on the shell. Nancy is the shell nut and she spent a lot of time last night trying to figure out what it was, while I was looking through the fish ID book trying to put names to the fish we saw. We figured out most of them, but we still have more learning to do!

I'll let her know that one was called the Amber Penshell. I'm not sure if she ID'd it last night or not.

I hope to see you all at the bridge again soon.

Wally

---------- Post Merged at 04:50 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:28 PM ----------

Sunday I borrowed a standup paddleboard ( my first time using one), and put in at the beach at BHB, and paddled to the inlet for Freedive/snorkeling. This is so easy, and fun, we need to get more BHB divers trying this....

The easy way, is we have Pura Vida drop off a bunch of Paddle Boards( my guess is I can get them to offer a free demo day),
and a good group ( of never before paddleboarders) will just kneel or sit on them, and paddle first to Peanut Island....take a break if needed, then skirt along the beach, and then cross the nav channel to Palm Beach and we snorkel the Annies Dock area of the South Jetty. There is about a half a mile of awesome snorkeling/freediving/scuba in that area, and it is easy to get there now. Depth can be 4 feet along the jetty, or 12 feet along the top of the wall like channel reef, or as deep as 35 feet if you go to the bottom of the wall/reef.
The paddle is easy, and when I say we can rest at Peanut, that is only to keep it fun and easy and not worrysome for anyone. After you have been paddling on your knees for 15 minutes or so, your nervous system figures out the motions of the board without your brain required, and when you try to stand, it is pretty easy....I did standing paddle my whole way back.
We strap the fins and flag to the paddleboard, and we bring Sports Drink/water, and any snacks you might want. We should leave the beach about 2 hours prior to high tide, to allow huge amounts of time to get there...and an hour early is actually a good time to get in over by Annies dock.

So who would like to try this new adventure ?

Hi Dan,

I'll email you also, but my wife and I are interested - weather and time permitting.

Wally

 

[jimw]

Wall,

They did go and report excellent viz, up to 35 ft or so on the east side. A friend dove the west and said viz was generally less over there today, and down to almost nothing at times. Maybe it will last until the weekend, don't count on it though!! I wondered if there were some big rays feeding over on the west--they can do some serious damage to the viz sometimes.

Eagle Rays and seahorses spotted again today.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I've been thinking about diving further away from the bridge, but mostly I've been exploring the docks on the East Span and south. Never down to the inlet.

I'd definitely love to explore more, but I'm not very interested in having to take a kayak or such out there to dive regularly.

 

[danvolker]

I've been thinking about diving further away from the bridge, but mostly I've been exploring the docks on the East Span and south. Never down to the inlet.

I'd definitely love to explore more, but I'm not very interested in having to take a kayak or such out there to dive regularly.

It is actually a short paddle and both fun and easy as an additional "thing to do" on a weekend.

 

[Scuba_Jenny]

I've been thinking about diving further away from the bridge, but mostly I've been exploring the docks on the East Span and south. Never down to the inlet.

I'd definitely love to explore more, but I'm not very interested in having to take a kayak or such out there to dive regularly.

why cause you need a kayak?

 

[purepursuit]

Good vis on the east side today. Eagle rays and cuda. Found a small crab had made a home inside of a glass bottle, was a cool little window into his day to day. Couple lobster, horseshoe crab, and an arrow crab on the north side of the east bridge.