Hetland
Contributor
Gulf Coast Diving Society's first event in 2008 took place Saturday, October 18th at St. Andrews Park in Panama City Beach, Florida. I arrived late (per usual) and found between 20 and 30 people returning from their first dives, and having a snack. Malcolm cooked us up some delicious hot dogs and hamburgers to enjoy, and the weather could not have been more perfect. While shooting the breeze with a few folks, I learned that current and visibility were both negative factors in the dive, so I took my time getting kitted up, and let tides work a little more while I checked my gear, and traded a few war stories with XRay, and some society members.
Once I finally got around to getting wet, I found that current was still strong in certain areas, but for the most part it was short lived. Vis was around 10-15, with lots of sediment, making for poor photography conditions. I did not let that bother me, and marveled instead at all of the colorful corals and sponges that I found. I saw more than a few critters that were new to me, and got some closer looks at ones I had seen before. I was saddened, but not surprised to find some hard corals that had bleach spots. I ended up with a bottom time of one hour, and spent most of that between 25 and 35 feet, which is where the majority of the life I saw was located.
I returned with my dive chums to our tables, and scarfed down a hot dog and hamburger. Most folks were getting ready to head back, so we worked on a plan to skip our second day dive, and come back after dark. Sadly, the 60 degree air temp and 10-15kt winds ended our thoughts of night-diving the jetties :depressed:
Glen, Jan and I returned to the Jetties early (for us) the next day. The sun was out, there was less wind, and the water looked great! We kitted up, and hit the water for what was a dive that lasted about an hour. Current was almost non-existent, and there were far fewer particles in the water, making for a brighter dive than the day before. Plenty of cool critters were still out, but there seemed to be many more fish about. They did not seem skittish at all, and one sheepshead followed me around while I took photos, and scraped a few barnacles off the rocks. I think he felt safer with me there, but he was pretty stout, so I worried that whatever wanted to eat him, might want to eat me too.
(I believe this guy had a shell between his "wings". Can anyone identify for me?)
All in all a GREAT TRIP. Special thanks to Malcolm and his minions for putting together a nice event. I look forward to our next meeting, and hope to make it a little earlier
Best Regards,
ap
PS: To my knowledge, we still do not have a director for our November event(s). Please let us know if you want to plan something for us.
Once I finally got around to getting wet, I found that current was still strong in certain areas, but for the most part it was short lived. Vis was around 10-15, with lots of sediment, making for poor photography conditions. I did not let that bother me, and marveled instead at all of the colorful corals and sponges that I found. I saw more than a few critters that were new to me, and got some closer looks at ones I had seen before. I was saddened, but not surprised to find some hard corals that had bleach spots. I ended up with a bottom time of one hour, and spent most of that between 25 and 35 feet, which is where the majority of the life I saw was located.
I returned with my dive chums to our tables, and scarfed down a hot dog and hamburger. Most folks were getting ready to head back, so we worked on a plan to skip our second day dive, and come back after dark. Sadly, the 60 degree air temp and 10-15kt winds ended our thoughts of night-diving the jetties :depressed:
Glen, Jan and I returned to the Jetties early (for us) the next day. The sun was out, there was less wind, and the water looked great! We kitted up, and hit the water for what was a dive that lasted about an hour. Current was almost non-existent, and there were far fewer particles in the water, making for a brighter dive than the day before. Plenty of cool critters were still out, but there seemed to be many more fish about. They did not seem skittish at all, and one sheepshead followed me around while I took photos, and scraped a few barnacles off the rocks. I think he felt safer with me there, but he was pretty stout, so I worried that whatever wanted to eat him, might want to eat me too.
(I believe this guy had a shell between his "wings". Can anyone identify for me?)
All in all a GREAT TRIP. Special thanks to Malcolm and his minions for putting together a nice event. I look forward to our next meeting, and hope to make it a little earlier
Best Regards,
ap
PS: To my knowledge, we still do not have a director for our November event(s). Please let us know if you want to plan something for us.