The Boynton Dive Chronicles (new and improved)

[ONESPEED]

Dude, awesome pics.

 

[SmittyA2Diver]

Hey everyone ... I'm trying to line up a 3 tank dive on Friday, Nov 7. Right now I'm on my own. Anyone want to join me???

Come on, help this Michigander get into some warm water!

Matt

 

[BIGSAGE136]

ALEX!!! You smash He head!

 

[Scubakevdm]

Sorry about neglecting the thread! I'll try to bring it up to speed toninght, we've been swamped.

In a nutshell, 30-60 foot viz and the current just started picking up today. Water temps 85º.
Lobsters here and there.

 

[joystershell]

And everywhere? Save us a good spot for Sunday, please!

 

[Scubakevdm]

And everywhere? Save us a good spot for Sunday, please!

I saved you my spot, which means, that we're all counting on you to do the report for today. In the meantime, I'll catch things up.

I'm home, while they're out having fun (I hope) on the reef. I had an old knee injury flair up the day before yesterday, and I'm sure that it's choppy enough out there right now that being hobbled up would cause some problems, so Alex is running the trip solo... but the people are all regulars and very good. I bet they don't even notice I'm gone.

Anyway, we had crappy water for a while there, then last week it would fade in and out, being nice and clear, then turning green. We had a strong north current blast in fo ra couple of days and it seems like it cleared things up for a while. We'll find out more when they get back, but yesterday, we had vis ranging from 50-80' depending on where we were.



We've been doing the Castor alot lately too, because people want to check out it's new state of repair. I'm afraid I have some disturbing news on that front. I'll paste it in as an excerpt from an email I sent to a biologist that I kinda know at the FWC:

Hi Erin,
Kevin here from Underwater Explorers… I don’t know if you remember me or not, but we did some A. cervis diving from my boat last year, and you helped my girlfriend with her meandrites study.
I’m sorry to bother you, but I’m looking for some information. I saw this suspicious looking wound on the largest Goliath grouper that I know of in our area. I’m hoping that someone who knows about these guys may recognize it as a cookie cutter bite or something, but I’m afraid that after finding one of these fish a few months ago on the same wreck, stuffed in a hole with it’s head blown off and a spent .357 magnum cartridge on the deck a few feet away, I’m not too optimistic.

Anyway, the mark is about the size of a fifty-cent piece, and there was no corresponding wound on the opposite side of the fish. I will try to get better pictures, but he’s not too keen on hanging out. These photos were taken on October 8th, 2008 on the MV Castor artificial reef.

Best Regards,
Kevin Metz
Underwater Explorers, Inc.
(561) 577-3326

The above email was copied to Palm Beach Reef Rescue as well, and then circulated by Ed Tichenor. As a result, I have been copied on some of the replies to Ed. One of the replies suggested that the mark was from a dud powerhead load, and also stated that most of the Goliaths on the wrecks in Pompano have already been killed. This is very sad news. We are hoping to work with the FWC to help get to the bottom of this, and above all, protect the fish.

 

[tiggrr]

That is just awful. Sometimes people just suck.

 

[Scubakevdm]

That is just awful. Sometimes people just suck.

I know.



Sorry to take so long, but I went to doctor to get a little knee help. It's much better now. Naprocin or something. Whatever it is it works great.

I have some stuff from yesterday and a couple of the trips from last week. I found another one of those stretchy gum things from a few months ago, and took better pictures of it. I'll be updating the cross-post I made in the what the hell is this forum as well.

Seas were flat yesterday, vis ranged from 50-80 feet or so, depending on where we were. Water temps were still 85º, and we had a gentle north current on all dives.

Here's an honest shot of the vis on Clubhouse... I called it about 80'.

The thing. It seems to have a hinged cap that opened up to let the slime strand down. I've seen these with varying lengths of slime. I'm pretty sure this is the same one I found before. It looks like there's a smaller one getting started next to it.

This guy tricked me! When I saw him, I was sure he was a Nassau grouper, but now that I'm home, and have had a closer look at the pics, I think that he's actually a red masquerading as a Nassau.

He just sat there.

This little guy wasn't allowed into the hiding spot by the bruisers, so he tried to blend in like a wall flower.

 

[fisheyeview]

I am doing the Sunday update as Kevin was out of commission for the day.

The forecast was calling for 2’ – 4’ building to 3’ – 5’ in the afternoon. Well, the 3’ – 5’ started coming in a bit early. There were 4 of us on the boat. There were two of Kev’s regulars, Joystershell & myself.

Despite the sea conditions Captain Alex made the day a great one.

We did the first dive on Club House. We weren’t sure which way the current was running, so Alex put us in where we could go either North or South. As it turned out there was a very light North current.

Visibility was really bad when we got in. The water was a pea soup green, and I couldn’t see more than 10’. Once we dropped below 20’ we discovered that it was a layer of bad water at the top. The water below the layer was blue, and vis was 50’ – 60’. Water temps were very comfortable in the mid 80s.

I was shooting a new lens on the dives, so I was glad to see the clearer water below. Joystershell was hunting lobsters; one of the others was also shooting pictures, while the fourth diver was shooting video.

Saw lots of the usual fish. Butterflies, Angels, and Triggers galore. Joyster spotted a Nurse Shark cruising the top of the reef. We spotted a couple of lobsters, but both were shorts. There was also a very curious Green Moray out for a swim.

Dive two started out on Lynn’s, and then jumped over to Castle Ledge. A few minutes into the dive I spotted a cooperative Coronet fish. He let me photograph him for a while. He even let me change some settings to get better shots. Hopefully at least one of them comes out.

There was a nice section of the ledge that was teaming with Copper Sweepers. They are tough to shoot, but I think I managed a few decent pics.

The visibility started out the same as on the first dive. About half way through the dive we heard the rain overhead. After the shower passed the sun came out, and the visibility picked up. So did the current. What started out as a gentle North bound current shifted to a West bound current. We made the shift along the ledge and followed it with the current. As we went West we soon felt the current shift again. It was nearing the end of the dive so we decided to drift with it back to the South.

All in all it was a good day under water. I will hopefully have some pictures to post after I have a chance to go through them.

 

[Scubakevdm]

You rule man! Thanks for helping out!