editmojo
Contributor
Thanks to Capt. Ty, Scott5644, Johnny Bravo and Dan for baby-sitting a newb and showing me a great time. (and reattaching all the pieces that fell off)
The Boat: Capt. Ty's custom "Barbara Lee". Named after the many women in his life. (or at least the ones that let him have a boat) It looks like he could rig for scuba or fishing or camping or any kind of aqua fun you could imagine. If you are anywhere near St Pete this is the boat to play in.
The Day: Beautiful, sunny and calm.
The Newb: This would be dives 18 and 19 for me. I was eager to earn the respect of more experienced buddies. (As it turned out, I was just glad they weren't pointing and laughing)
Dive 1: After a 90 ride Ty puts us right on the Sheridan. My first wreck. Suit up and into the water. My BC feels a little loose so I'm fidgeting with the waist buckle and I feel something slip. I mange to grab my weight belt before Davy Jones gets it. Everyone tells me descend and fix it on the bottom. I'm a bit nervous at this point but follow orders. I follow the anchor line down and someone puts my weight belt on for me. (not sure who to thank as all scuba divers look alike to me) I start to go get control of my self and check gages. 4 minutes into the dive I'm at 2000 psi. Way to impress the buddies. Anyway, I mange to enjoy the next 15 minutes- make 2 nice loops around the wreck. Anywhere I turned one of the other guys was there flashing me the OK?. These guys sacrificed their bottom time to baby sit me. I can't thank them enough.
Vis was around 20 ft, so not bad. 66 degrees on the bottom. The wreck was very cool. Kind of erie. Saw plenty of fish but nothing huge. (Johnny B told me Goliath, the resident monster grouper, showed up after I ascended. That's what I get for Hoovering) It was the best 26 minute dive I've ever had.
Dive 2: A short ride to the south, I believe, and we arrive at a little reef Ty calls "Blacks and Go's". Into the water. Nothing important falls off and down we go. We drop right onto a sleeping loggerhead turtle wedged under a ledge. This guy was maybe 4-41/2 feet long. Very cool. ( did I mention I forgot my camera) Vis is better, maybe 30ft, same bottom temp. Lots of cool little stuff to see. This time I manage a little more respectable 31min. at 70 ft.
After we surface Ty and Dan go in to spear fish. They come back with a mess of snapper, hogfish and triggerfish. I'm going to have to try spear fishing.
Summary: Gracious hosts. Great day. Great boat. What an amazing dive community. (And St Pete is a fun place to hang out for a few days even if you're not diving.)
Thanks so much guys. I'll be back.
The Boat: Capt. Ty's custom "Barbara Lee". Named after the many women in his life. (or at least the ones that let him have a boat) It looks like he could rig for scuba or fishing or camping or any kind of aqua fun you could imagine. If you are anywhere near St Pete this is the boat to play in.
The Day: Beautiful, sunny and calm.
The Newb: This would be dives 18 and 19 for me. I was eager to earn the respect of more experienced buddies. (As it turned out, I was just glad they weren't pointing and laughing)
Dive 1: After a 90 ride Ty puts us right on the Sheridan. My first wreck. Suit up and into the water. My BC feels a little loose so I'm fidgeting with the waist buckle and I feel something slip. I mange to grab my weight belt before Davy Jones gets it. Everyone tells me descend and fix it on the bottom. I'm a bit nervous at this point but follow orders. I follow the anchor line down and someone puts my weight belt on for me. (not sure who to thank as all scuba divers look alike to me) I start to go get control of my self and check gages. 4 minutes into the dive I'm at 2000 psi. Way to impress the buddies. Anyway, I mange to enjoy the next 15 minutes- make 2 nice loops around the wreck. Anywhere I turned one of the other guys was there flashing me the OK?. These guys sacrificed their bottom time to baby sit me. I can't thank them enough.
Vis was around 20 ft, so not bad. 66 degrees on the bottom. The wreck was very cool. Kind of erie. Saw plenty of fish but nothing huge. (Johnny B told me Goliath, the resident monster grouper, showed up after I ascended. That's what I get for Hoovering) It was the best 26 minute dive I've ever had.
Dive 2: A short ride to the south, I believe, and we arrive at a little reef Ty calls "Blacks and Go's". Into the water. Nothing important falls off and down we go. We drop right onto a sleeping loggerhead turtle wedged under a ledge. This guy was maybe 4-41/2 feet long. Very cool. ( did I mention I forgot my camera) Vis is better, maybe 30ft, same bottom temp. Lots of cool little stuff to see. This time I manage a little more respectable 31min. at 70 ft.
After we surface Ty and Dan go in to spear fish. They come back with a mess of snapper, hogfish and triggerfish. I'm going to have to try spear fishing.
Summary: Gracious hosts. Great day. Great boat. What an amazing dive community. (And St Pete is a fun place to hang out for a few days even if you're not diving.)
Thanks so much guys. I'll be back.
