darylm74
Contributor
Wow, I think this is my first trip report. The trip was originally set up to begin Thursday March 2, however I had a final exam scheduled for March 3rd or 4th (online classes). On March 1st I got an e-mail from my instructor saying I had an A in the class and was exempt from the final exam.....oh well. We dove with Divers City in Key Largo. Barb and Bob are a riot and excellent crew. I will most likely dive with them again next time I head to Key Largo. Most of the people on the dive were AOW students along with a couple DM candidates (who were also taking the wreck specialty with me). I flew in March 4th and my first dives were on March 5th. We had beautiful weather and relatively calm seas all week. We did a few drift dives, several reef dives along with wreck dives on the Duane, Eagle, Spiegel Grove and Benwood. We hit the Benwood on my first dive on 3/5 and I was placed with a buddy that was not exactly desirable. He had only a few dives and I am sure my trip leader/instructor (my best friend) put me with him so that someone would keep an eye on him. Ive done this a lot in the past and I know my friend is just trying to prep me for being a DM and/or instructor. I burned a lot of air keeping my buddy on track and I was plagued with low return PSIs (at least to the boat, as I made it to the surface with 500, but forgot about waiting on the line in the waves since I dont wear a snorkel). Our other 3 dives for the day were Molasses, Hens and Chickens and Davis reefs. The next day we did two back-to-back dives on the Spiegel Grove. There was only a whisper of current and we could not have asked for better conditions. We did a few short penetrations but our plans to do a full penetration with line for our wreck specialty class was not performed because of the number of students in the AOW class that was along for their wreck/deep dives. I guess that new Salvo reel will have to be used later. Instead we were to look into places to penetrate the wreck and had to give full details when we got back. We ended the day, diving the Christ of the Abyss at the Key Largo Dry Rocks, and the French Reef. The third day started off on the Duane. It is an amazing wreck and I wished we could have done back to back on this wreck as well. I only took pictures on the Spiegel Grove the second dive and hoped to take the camera down on this one. Unfortunately the current was up and for some reason, everyone but me got a narced on the wreck. I am one of those people that need a shower in the morning, every morning but didnt get it that morning. Oddly, I was the only one that seemed to be totally comfortable on the Duane. We dropped down to around 100 feet and I was totally clear headed. I think that was my wake up shower. We did a drift dive off Molasses reef and then headed to the Eagle. The Eagle was cold, around 66 degrees and much colder than our 72+ degree dives wed had on earlier dives. I as beginning to wish I had a heavier suit than my 2-piece 3-mil. We ended the day on Aquarium 1 where I got several pictures. Our last day started with a 90-foot dive on Conch Ledge, reef dive on Conch, another drift dive on Flemings Run and a warm dive on Snappers Ledge. All and all it was a great dive. I learned a lot about boat diving, currents and dealing with some medium sized waves. Most of my dives have been in quarries or Grand Cayman where I experienced no current and minor waves. It does make me a bit concerned when I start doing the NJ wreck dives this year however I believe this is a continued learning experience.
Will try to post some pics later.
Will try to post some pics later.
