WOW Kate,
That sounds like an incredible experience with the octopus and champagne.
As many of you know I frequent this board and the Diverlink board. The following was also posted on Diverlink and refers to divers who are found there. Dennis is also on this board.
After what was arguably the worst day in the history of bad days at work, I hit the road for the east coast shortly before 6 PM. The roads were wet from the all day rain, but traffic was light and I made surprisingly good time. I had been concerned with missing the 9 PM departure time, but MB assured me they'd hold the boat (at least a minute or two) for me. By the time I reached the Miccosukee reservation, I knew that was unlikely to be a problem. I arrived at the dock at about 8:15, met the captain and DM and began loading my equipment. They graciously offered to help, but believed me when I told them I preferred to handle it myself. Captain Rob glanced at my equipment and said this was probably my first dive. We then launched into a discussion of old Scubapro gear as well as Scubapro reps & former reps. Shortly after 8:30 Moo arrived followed in close order by the rest of the group, Dennis & Donna, MB, Augie, Marla, Ryan, Kendall and Barbara (one of MB's students and coworkers, along for the ride and the joy of meeting a group of Diverlinkers). Donna & Barbara sat the dive out and enjoyed the boat ride while everyone else readied their gear for the dive. We had an enjoyable ride to the reef near the Copenhagen Wreck. After tying up to a mooring buoy, Captain Rob tod us we had a south current (currents are opposite of winds) so he tied us slightly north of the wreck. We had decided to dive as a group of 8 keeping all the Diverlinkers together. Usually with this group, everyone tries to avoid carrying the float, but tonight MB volunteered right away to (he says) avoid that scenerio. Hitting the water, I waited for the entire group to get in then headed under at 10:01 PM.
As we decended, we got together and followed MB north. Ryan and I immediately asked each other what in the heck MB was up to since the wreck was south. What is it with MB and navigation? OTOH, we've seen the wreck and the reef near the Copenhagen is a nice dive. For those of you who made the night dive at DL 2001 Pompano, this is the same reef, but we were traveling in the opposite direction. We tended for most of the dive to stay in two groups of 4. MB, Moo, Dennis and I were one group while Marla, Augie, Kendall and Ryan were always in sight.
The pixie dust was above average for Florida, but far from magical as it had been last New Year's Eve. We kept our lights off for most of the dive and enjoyed the swim (while we planned to drift with the current there was none). Watching Dennis, MB, and Moo I once again reflected on how much a joy it is to dive with really competent divers. Buoyancy control, trim and the normal details are second nature to them all and I'm able to relax.
Eventually, we were beginning to get chilled, so we came up together and boarded the boat. Most everyone wanted to watch the fireworks at midnight, so we headed back toward the inlet.
I broke out my W1K flask for a small sip to warm everyone in our group.
Moo and I tossed our tanks back on for our midnight dive, hitting the water at 11:56. We were not on the prettiest reef in the neighborhood, but there were fish, several varieties of soft coral and lots of sponges. We had fun. Moo took a picture of my watch as it turned to midnight. On reaching the surface, we saw fireworks to the north. They were almost as beautiful as being underwater.
Dive 1: 34 ft for 1 hour 7 minutes at 73 degrees F Fun index 8.7
Dive 2: 31 ft for 10 minutes 73 degrees F Fun index 8.9
After the dive we all toasted the New Year and our good friends.
DSSW,
WWW
