....it ain't diving, but...David starts snorkeling

 I haven't been able to get back into the water for a couple of years. I'm really hoping this will be the year I return to Jersey Wreck diving but for now, snorkeling with my Grandson is good enough. David has become quite a swimmer. When you combine that with a deep interest of sea life and marine animals you end up with a natural snorkeler. 

The first time we went snorkeling in June of 2022 at Discovery Cove. Their snorkeling lagoon is large. The bottom is full of features and can get deep in some areas. There are lots and lots of fish and in the back there is a glass wall between the snorkeling lagoon and shark tank.

Although David did the dolphin encounter he preferred to be in the snorkeling lagoon. He put on the gear and took off, never missing a beat. It was amazing seeing him interacting with the fish, especially the rays. There were so many rays. 

The next real opportunity for us to go snorkeling was in January of 2023 on Tortola. We visited two sites. At the first site we were required to enter the water from a drop down ladder. His transition from enclosed lagoon to open sea was seamless. He was swimming here and there, pointing out all of the fish. 

We went into a sea cave which wasn't too dark and we saw lots of fish. After that we went here and there again looking at the Parrot Fish chomping on coral and the multitude of other fish darting around.

After David settled down a bit we went back into the sea cave. This time he slowed down and relaxed. I showed him Glassy Sweepers, Fairy Basslets, Squirrel Fish and even a juvenile Spotted Drum with its sweeping top and bottom fins.

On the way back to the boat I was able to show David some Yellow Headed Jaw Fish. I went down and showed him how they back into their holes.

At the second site in Tortola we tied up at a dock and walked down the beach for a walk in entrance. Right away David saw two green sea turtles, one of which stayed around eating while we all watched. David also spotted a small brittle star which we stopped and played with. We changed locations and saw another turtle and some squid.

The next day we on an excursion to Trunk Beach on St. John's for a beach snorkeling experience. It was actually a National Park and had information about fish and underwater features on underwater plaques. Although there weren't as many fish Barbara spotted a Spotted Moray Eel. David loved that. It was just swimming around the small coral and sponges, out in the open. 

Trunk Beach, St. Johns

There were a few areas we could have explored but David became more interested in playing in the sand and mini-surf, which was just fine.

A Little Thing...Getting Back On The Newtons

It used to be quite a challenge and lots of fun getting back onto a Newton dive boat in heavy seas. The stern of the boat would be going up and down, sometime so far out of the water that you could see the props. The ladders would be swinging in and out, up and down, banging away.

Being an experienced divemaster and instructor, you would be the last one to get back on board. The reasons for this were many. Divers would drop gear while on the tag line, ladder or stern step...weight belts, fins, masks or even just fall back in. You would have to retrieve these items or assist the divers. 

The trick was to be prepared and ready to make your move when the time was right. After all of the other divers were safely on board you would get on the tag line, a little bit back from the ladder. Here you would wrap your arm over the line and take off your fins, placing the straps over each wrist. 

Now you're ready to approach the ladder. You never approached the ladder while there was still another diver on the ladder or on the deck area between the ladder rails. With things rockin' and rollin' it wasn't uncommon for a diver to fall off of the ladder or step, back into the water.

You would pull yourself up the tag line, close enough to the ladder to be able to grab the handrails but not so close that it could hit you. The trick was to get into that position, and then just when the ladder drops down in front of you and hits its lowest point,  you would grab on and step onto the ladder and just ride it up. 

Once you were on the ladder you just climb up and step onto the deck, always having at least one hand firmly grasping something solid, and never refusing a helping hand. 

Top down view of the ladder.

I always enjoyed being on Captain Carol's boat because she would stand on the stern, supervising and assisting with the whole procedure. It was always reassuring and almost welcoming to see her looking down at me, with 'that look' from behind her sunglasses.  I somehow got the feeling that she never felt the need to be ready to help me because I never needed it and she knew it, assumed it, counted on it. Then again, she might have just been waiting to see what dumb ass thing I was going to do.

View of the back of a Newton

with Captain Carol and Alex

Gear...lots of it

This is a post I wrote in March of 2019.

Over the years we have amassed quite a collection of dive gear. Because we are a diving family with two instructors and a divemaster we have more gear than most.

I really have to go through all of it, separate by who owns what and decide what can be tossed. I have several BCD's with bad pocket zippers. I don't see a need for these in the future.

All of our regulators are the same...Aqualung Microns...main and octos. I am certified to work on them so as part of the 'purge' I'm going to clean and rebuild them. Luckily I can test everything in Chris's pool.

I have 5 - 80's (tanks) and three? Pony Bottles. They all need VIP and hydro. I may just have one of each done for now until I find out if we're doing more diving. I would also like fresh air for testing the regs.

The computers are a mix. I don't know if I'll put new batteries in them or not. Probably just to test them then remove the batteries for storage.

Wetsuits may be an issue. We have all kinds of wetsuits. I have a 7mm which I may or may not fit into right now...but...if my triathlon activity continues that won't be an issue. Same for the shorty. The 3mm fulls should fix but I don't know where I would wear them. All the diving I would do up here would definitely require a 7mm.

Chris has expressed some interest in going to Dutch Springs for a weekend. We could camp there and get in maybe 6 dives. Maybe even a night dive.

Back In The Water...Grand Cayman

   I finally was able to get back in the water and go diving during our recent cruise vacation aboard the Disney Fantasy. We booked a dive excursion for Grand Cayman that included two dives. I was diving with my son Chris and daughter Heather. Both had not been in the water for quite some time but I was confident that all of their extensive experience as divemaster and instructor would come right back to them. As for me, it felt like I never left the water. With over 1000 dives under my belt it's all a matter of automatic muscle memory. The hands knew where to go and what to do when.

   The weather couldn't have been better. We were tendered in to the port and were immediately met by the excursion representatives. We waited for the whole group to arrive then walked a few blocks to the dive boat. The boat was up on a beach where we climbed aboard on the bow. While boarding I asked about the water temperature. We were told it was 81 degrees, which meant the wet suits we reserved certainly wouldn't be needed.

Port tender ship

   The boat backed off of the beach and we were off. As we motored out we were issued our gear. It seemed everyone had to switch their fins for the correct size. I hadn't used slip-on fins in a long, long time. I was hoping I wouldn't regret the fact that I didn't have socks. All the other gear seem fine and it only took a bit of button pushing to get used to the computer.

   We did two dives. The first was at a  site called Round Top. The second dive was at a site called Oro Verde (green gold).  Both dives were marked by balls. Apparently the whole perimeter of the island is covered with dive sites with over 360 balls marking sites.

Dive One - Round Top. This was a 100' dive on the top part of 'the wall'. This was a led dive. There were lots of swim-throughs and great relief. There really weren't a lot of fish but we did see one moray eel. I did not take my camera on the first dive, regretfully, because Chris said the enclosure might not be rated for over 60 feet. Better safe than sorry.

A rather friendly Orange Spotted Filefish

Dive Two - Oro Verde (green gold). This was a 46' dive which started on a wreck and then toured around the surrounding reef. The 'wreck' was a ship that was pretty broken up but had been rumored to have a hidden cargo of marijuana on board before it was scuttled by the crew...or something like that. An interesting feature was the number of bicycles at the bottom. Apparently it was a custom to ride them off the dive boat tied to the ball to celebrate having passed the instructors, or divemaster exam. The reef had many more fish than the first dive. It also had great relief with a swim through which we didn't venture into.

Wreck Oro Verde

Bicycles next to the pin

Chris next to the bicycles

Heather next to the bicycles

Lots of fish on the second dive

   All in all it was a good day of diving. As Captain Steve always said, no one died and I didn't poop my pants. It wasn't spectacular but it was nice...especially the visibility. I might be a bit jaded because of all of the diving I've done in the Keys.

   After we left the boat we walked around shopping at Harley-Davidson, Margaritaville and the Hard Rock Cafe. Everything else was souvenir shops, restaurants, bars and jewelry stores. The trip back to the ship on the tender was nice as we got a great view of the Disney Fantasy. The Disney ships really are the nicest looking ships in the port.

Disney Magic

Happy New Year - 2019

60 days until I'm diving again...in Grand Cayman!!!

April 7th, 2016 - Three years and counting

On April 20th it will have been three years since I've been in the water. That's a long time considering the diving pace I had been going at for the previous 9 years. But, there's a break on the horizon. On May 1st we leave on a cruise to Bermuda. On that cruise we have booked a two tank dive. It's on the third day of our time there, after two days of riding our motorcycles. I've never been diving in Bermuda but the pictures I have of the water there are fantastic.

I have no worries about jumping back in.I bet I can still assemble a scuba unit with my eyes closed. Because of the nature sport and my love for it I had ingrained it in my memory. I may not remember all of the fine technical planning and theory details but the mechanical portion is second nature.

There, at least one person gives me credit for my expertise at something.

I really miss diving and the arena I was in.Working aboard a live-aboard dive boat with Scouts was amazing and fantastic. Trying at times and challenging, it was great. I sometimes have trouble believing that I was actually responsible for the well being of twelve divers at a time, most being youth. There were very few times when I had to take action and I like to think it was because of good preparation, education and execution on my, and the boat crews, part.

High and Dry!

I was going through some SCUBA stuff and realized that it's been almost two years since I've been in the water. I really, really miss diving. I especially miss spending time living on a dive boat for weeks at a time with two of the greatest people I've ever known.

Granted, I've been sidetracked by a greater responsibility...raising my Grandson David. Because of this I do not regret leaving diving...it's worth it.

I don't know if I'll ever return to diving, in any capacity...as an instructor or just as a recreational diver. I hope to get in some ocean boat dives this summer (and maybe some quarry dives, brrrrr).

I also miss messing with the gear. There's something about checking and double checking equipment on which your life depends...and knowing what you're doing. I plan on getting out my gear and going over everything for old times sake, and just in case I do go diving this year.

Long absence....

It's been a long time since I've posted anything here. It's been a long time since I've been in the water. I came home from Florida back in April - May (?), shelved my gear and haven't looked back. I've wanted to pull the stuff out just to play with it...more out of habit. SCUBA has been a big part of my life over the past ten years. I'm hoping to get back to the Conch Pearl for a few weeks this March but that's up in the air. If not March, maybe August.
I don't have much interest in recreational diving anymore. I've pretty much done all the diving I'm going to get to do. I don't see any influx of money that will allow me to travel and dive in any new places.
I still need to enter the last few dives from my computer. That should be fun. I can usually figure out the sites from the information in the computer and pattern of previous dives. I think it's only three dives, but every dive counts.

SLSU040713A – Friday April 12th, 2013

Day 6 – a day of good stuff

 

I was up early, like always, but this time I had a new purpose. I was listening to the weather radio to see if the winds had dropped and changed direction so that we could get in some diving at a new location. Yes! With news that the weather had changed in our favor the crew was awakened early. This time less gently. I usually play ‘quiet’ music to wake everyone. Today it was my ‘motorcycle’ mix, rock n’ roll played loud. The crew was up and moving. We had a quick breakfast and it was off the ball, out of the harbor and out to sea. We were headed east to Looe Key, a great dive spot. It takes about three hours to get there so time and weather had to be in our favor.

We arrived at Looe Key to find great conditions; at least great in comparison to our previous dives. There was no current, little surge and visibility was about 50 feet. We did three dives with a lunch break between dives two and three. The dives were great…the crew saw lots of animals; sharks, rays, etc. There were even three Golioth Groupers that had started hanging under the boat at the end of dive three…very cool. We’re lucky if we see one but to see three at once is really special. Other things happened during dive three. When Jenna jumped in to do the conditions check she found a Sony underwater digital camcorder. Sweet…pirate treasure! I also had a great encounter with a very large, old loggerhead turtle. I was out in the sandy area of the reef, face down poking around in the sand looking at shells and stuff when I felt someone pushing down on my leg. I thought it was a diver but when I turned I saw this large turtle holding down my leg! It was freaky!!! I startled the turtle at first but then we swam around in circles together, the turtle pushing against my outstretched hand. Again…very cool.

Since conditions were just right we stayed out on the ball for dinner and a night dive. For the night dive we enter the water at sunset so that it isn’t quite dark underwater to start and then it gets dark during the dive. Another bonus was that the three Golioth Groupers were still under the boat. We split into two groups for the night dive. Jenna took one group, I took the other. It started as a led dive but about a third of the way into the dive we give the divers the opportunity to go off into the dark on their own. About half did. The others stayed with us.

At the end of the dive most of the divers blocked their lights so that it was totally dark so that they could see the bioluminescence in the water…glowing organisms. I was the last one out which has advantages. Once I turn my light off it’s dark. After you let your eyes adjust for a few minutes you can see a whole new world of glowing critters, blobs and strings floating through the water.

We dropped the ball and headed for the anchorage behind Key Lois…Monkey Key. Most of the crew stayed on the deck for the ride in.

SLSU040713A – Friday April 12th, 2013

Day 6 – a day of good stuff

 

I was up early, like always, but this time I had a new purpose. I was listening to the weather radio to see if the winds had dropped and changed direction so that we could get in some diving at a new location. Yes! With news that the weather had changed in our favor the crew was awakened early. This time less gently. I usually play ‘quiet’ music to wake everyone. Today it was my ‘motorcycle’ mix, rock n’ roll played loud. The crew was up and moving. We had a quick breakfast and it was off the ball, out of the harbor and out to sea. We were headed east to Looe Key, a great dive spot. It takes about three hours to get there so time and weather had to be in our favor.

We arrived at Looe Key to find great conditions; at least great in comparison to our previous dives. There was no current, little surge and visibility was about 50 feet. We did three dives with a lunch break between dives two and three. The dives were great…the crew saw lots of animals; sharks, rays, etc. There were even three Golioth Groupers that had started hanging under the boat at the end of dive three…very cool. We’re lucky if we see one but to see three at once is really special. Other things happened during dive three. When Jenna jumped in to do the conditions check she found a Sony underwater digital camcorder. Sweet…pirate treasure! I also had a great encounter with a very large, old loggerhead turtle. I was out in the sandy area of the reef, face down poking around in the sand looking at shells and stuff when I felt someone pushing down on my leg. I thought it was a diver but when I turned I saw this large turtle holding down my leg! It was freaky!!! I startled the turtle at first but then we swam around in circles together, the turtle pushing against my outstretched hand. Again…very cool.

Since conditions were just right we stayed out on the ball for dinner and a night dive. For the night dive we enter the water at sunset so that it isn’t quite dark underwater to start and then it gets dark during the dive. Another bonus was that the three Golioth Groupers were still under the boat. We split into two groups for the night dive. Jenna took one group, I took the other. It started as a led dive but about a third of the way into the dive we give the divers the opportunity to go off into the dark on their own. About half did. The others stayed with us.

At the end of the dive most of the divers blocked their lights so that it was totally dark so that they could see the bioluminescence in the water…glowing organisms. I was the last one out which has advantages. Once I turn my light off it’s dark. After you let your eyes adjust for a few minutes you can see a whole new world of glowing critters, blobs and strings floating through the water.

We dropped the ball and headed for the anchorage behind Key Lois…Monkey Key. Most of the crew stayed on the deck for the ride in.

SLSU040713A – Thursday April 11th, 2013

Day 5 – the wind’s a blowin’

The crew had a slow wake up, still on the dock for their mid-week break. Half of the crew slept on deck rather than below decks where the air conditioner was cranking away. It was chilly down there. It was a slow morning; we had a full, cooked breakfast for the mid-week break, we were in no hurry because we knew it was very windy out on the ocean and we also had to drop Ken and Mitch off at the military hotel in town.

Breakfast was great; pancakes, sausage and eggs all served on dry land…no motion of the ocean. While clean-up was going on Jenna and I ran Ken and Mitch into KW and stopped at the grocery store for a few items. When we returned the crew was ready to go. Regardless of the impending ocean conditions, they wanted to go out and at least take a look.

We left the dock, put up the sails and headed out. As promised it was quite ‘sporty’ out on the ocean. The water had a milky color to it which indicated that we were in for bad visibility. We made our way out to Wreckers Reef, took a mooring ball and discussed the situation. From the surface our assessment was maybe a little surface current, lots of surge and maybe 10-15 ft. of visibility. It was decided that I would hop in and take a closer look so I got into my gear and in I went. Our surface assessment was spot on. Now the decision had to be made…should we let them dive or not? It’s not just the diving conditions; if they got disorientated (lost) and were far from the boat at the end of the dive a surface swim would be extremely difficult in these conditions. Also, if any sort of assist or rescue needed to be done it would also be treacherous. After some discussion it was decided to let the crew dive. Only seven divers wanted to go, so in they went. For the most part everyone stayed close to the boat and the dive went well. On the surface the Conch Pearl was rockin’ and rollin’. I think we got the better deal being under water.

After the dive we headed in to Key West Harbor, past a large Royal Caribbean cruise ship, to get fuel, then further into the harbor, to anchor near the mangrove shore so that the  crew could go snorkeling and swimming. It wears me out watching these young men go, go, go. I can dive all day long but when it comes to jumping, swimming and ‘fender rodeo’ I get worn out just watching. When all the fun was over the crew started ‘yo yo’ fishing. Tonight’s contest turned into seeing who could catch the most pin fish. The fishing was interrupted by a great spaghetti dinner then it was back to fishing. The crew finally settled down when the sun was gone and then suddenly everyone was gone and in bed.

Out of Order

Because of events and limited bandwith the next few posts will be out of order and there will be not pics. I will try to post a page of pics later today when we're back on base.

SLSU040713A – Sunday April 7th, 2013

Day 1 – Arrival Day

 

Hello readers…I’m diverDave and I’ll be the crew’s on board PADI Scuba Instructor for their adventure aboard the Conch Pearl. I will be joined by PADI Divemaster Jenna Burton. (see previous post)

I met the crew on the Quarterdeck after being awakened by Alex Bergstedt. I guess I was out cold because I hadn’t heard my phone. I introduced myself and asked if they had seen a little, blonde haired girl. Not yet. We had to wait on one of the leaders who was checking in so we talked about their trip in, etc. Jenna soon appeared along with the missing leader. The crew presented Jenna and myself with crew t-shirts which we put on immediately. Nice touch. Jenna collected all of the diver certification cards and ran off to make copies. With everyone together we went over the ‘Rules of Engagement’ with the Crew Leader, Jason, then had the crew’s photo taken. Since there were no questions the crew grabbed all of their gear and it was off to the Scuba Dorms.

The crew was checked into one of the larger dorm rooms. They would only be there overnight so I asked them to please not make a mess. Jason is a pretty good crew leader so I think he’ll keep them in line. I had everyone change into bathing suits and it was off to the swim area for the swim review; three lengths of the swim area in the lagoon and a float. Everyone passed easily. Surprisingly, that isn’t always the case. From the swim area we went to gear issue where we signed out BCDs and regulators for just about everyone. From gear issue it was back to the dorm for any dive gear they had with them; fins, masks, etc. We next met at the Scuba Area.

The Scuba Area has two pools; a shallow pool and a deep pool. We would only be using the deep pool. We completed the equipment assembly and briefing then headed up to the deep pool for a scuba skills review. The review refreshes everyone’s skills and gives us a chance to look the divers over for any issues. After we finished the skills review, which went quite well, we packed up the scuba gear and headed to flags.

Flags was crowded with lots of crews…business is good at FSB. After flags we had dinner then headed over to the classroom for the first of many orientations. There is this first orientation which is an overview of the week, the boat and diving in the Keys. There will be an orientation when they arrive at the boat, another before diving, another for sailing and another for the night dive. If you include the pre-dive information that I send out then they hear just about everything at least three times which is what it takes to ‘stick’. After orientation the crew was turned loose for the evening. I went back to the room to do paperwork and pass out.

SLSU033113A – Sunday April 7th, 2013

Day 8 – Departure Day

 

Time to say goodbye. It’s always hard to say goodbye to a good crew. I try to avoid it but it’s something that has to be done. We met for an early breakfast. At breakfast we chatted about the trip and plans for going home. Later the crew went to the Chapel for a service and there I bid them farewell. I get another crew in five hours….

 

SLSU033113A – Saturday April 6th, 2013

Day 7 – Last Day On The Boat

 

Saturday was the last day on the boat. We had to get out to the reef early if they wanted to get in a dive and go sailing. Everyone had to be up at 06:30, which was hard for this group. It was quite cool up on deck. The coldest morning so far…a balmy 65. A bit cool when there’s a good breeze blowing. We had a quick cold breakfast then headed out. The deck crew got the sails up in the channel and we headed out into the ocean under sail. We sailed around while Captain Denny filled tanks for our dive. We ended up at the Haystacks of Western Sambo. The difference this time was the fair visibility; about 20 ft compared to the 50-60 ft. before. The crew got in and they all met me on the bottom where I awarded them with their High Adventure Patches. Jenna was snorkeling with Patrick and later he dove down to meet me to receive his patch.

On the ride back in from the dive the crew busied themselves with packing their personal and dive gear. Usually crew slow down at this point because they’re going home but this bunch stayed on task. We docked the boat and immediately began unloading everything; personal gear, scuba gear, tanks, ice chests…just about anything that wasn’t tied down, and even some things that were. Captain Denny likes the Conch Pearl to get a thorough cleaning after each trip. The same thing was happening below decks with Captain Holley. The van and trailer arrived to take us back to FSB so as soon as the boat was clean the crew busied themselves with loading the trailer. When everything was packed the crew took a few photos, said their final goodbyes to the boat and crew and loaded the vans for the 1 ½ hour trip back to FSB. On the way back we once again made a required stop at Baby’s Coffee.

As soon as the trailer made it back to FSB Jenna had the crew start unloading. There was still a lot to do. The scuba was cleaned and hung up to dry and then the crew was turned loose for a few hours. Right before flags we met at the scuba area to gather up all of the gear to be checked back in.

Flags was very crowded. It was the busiest week of the Spring season. After flags the departing crews played Luau games then had Luau dinner. After dinner the crews all presented a skit, except for our crew. I’ll let the leaders of the crew tell that story.

SLSU033113A – Friday April 5th, 2013

Day 6 – Key West

 

Weather…our master when it comes to diving. It was predicted that a strong storm front would hit us overnight with continuing bands of rain and storms throughout the day. With a forecast like that nobody wants to go diving. Luckily the crew had another activity on their to-do list; the crew wanted to visit Key West (KW). With the weather the way it was we decided that it wouldn’t be a bad idea so we packed them a lunch and off to KW they went.

First it was they went to the Eco-Center, an environmental educational facility. It’s really nice, very well done and it’s free. That’s rare in Key West.  Jenna and I met them for lunch in the small park outside the Eco-Center. Luckily we were between rain bands and the sky looked like it was lightening up. During lunch we gave them a few ideas on what to do in KW; Mel Fischers, the Aquarium, the Wrecker Museum, t-shirt shops and the Duvall Crawl (people watching and shopping, not drinking). They put lunch away and against Jenna’s and my better judgment they also put their jackets away in the van. The sky was getting very light but this is the Keys and they had predicted strong rain bands all day.

Jenna and I (wearing our raincoats) led the crew up to Duvall Street and turned them loose. We were to meet them in front of Sloppy Joe’s at 17:00 to go to dinner then to the sunset festival. Jenna and I set off to run our errands in KW. We ran into the crew in various places but didn’t see them after the Harley-Davidson Store. Besides the H-D store we had stops to make at the Hard Rock Café, the Rum Barrel, Diver’s Direct, Walgreens and of course the absolutely required stop at the Key West Ice Cream Factory where we got a locals discount because we work on a boat here in the Keys. We have to take of advantage of opportunities to run errands because on the live-aboard program the staff doesn’t really get a day off.

During our errands the rain fell on and off, sometime pretty hard. We kept wondering what the crew was doing to stay dry until we ran into them huddled in the doorway of a shop trying to stay dry. They hadn’t been very successful at that. Jenna and I continued on until the sky started to open up. We ducked into Irish Kevins with a lot of other folks trying to get out of the rain. There was a performer on stage working the crowd, zeroing in on a young lady that wouldn’t stop talking on her cell phone during his song. Poor girl.

It poured. During a short break in the rain we ran down to the meeting place in front of Sloppy Joe’s. In the mean time it started pouring again. When it pours in KW you can’t see across the street, the streets flood and everyone turns it into a party. Hey, it’s KW. We found out how the crew stayed dry…they didn’t. They came from across the street, wading through the ‘flood’ waters.

The rain had finally started to slow so we headed out to Turtle Krawls for dinner. Tom wanted to go there because he had been there years before and I hadn’t heard anything bad about the place; it’s very popular. They pushed a few tables and seated us together. The food was pretty good, they did a fair job getting the orders right but overall the service was sub-par. I won’t be recommending that place again. The crew covered Jenna’s and my dinner…thank you very much! We sincerely appreciate it.

After the bill was finally settled we headed out for the Sunset Festival at Mallory Square. On the way we stopped at the Gellato shop for dessert. Yummy! We finally made it to the Sunset Festival area to find that all of the acts had either packed up or didn’t bother showing up. The weather was bad and there was a cold wind coming from the water…not great conditions for ‘Flying Cats’. We called Captain Denny to meet us at the Eco-Center and headed there for the ride back to the boat, stopping at the mile marker zero sign for pictures.

Back at the boat the crew bedded down inside. It’s a bit tight but there’s twelve bunks (well two are hammocks).

SLSU033113A – Thursday April 4th, 2013

Day 5 – Some New Sites

 

The crew went diving on some new sites today…new for Divemaster Jenna and the crew. Since we were on the dock we had a big cooked breakfast of pancakes and sausage. After breakfast the crew cleaned up and readied for another day of diving.

We headed out from the marina, put up the sails and hit the ocean. It was a bit ‘sporty’ but everyone handled it well. Motion Sickness Medicine, regardless of brand, works miracles. We put out fishing lines but had no luck so far. It was looking like a repeat of last week. We hit our first dive site, Toppino’s Buoy. The conditions were great despite the surface being rough. The dive went well. Our second dive was at a site called Nine Foot Stake. Apparently at one time there was a big stake marking the nine foot depth over the reef. Just about everyone saw a large nurse shark here. While on the tag line, after everyone was back on the boat (first in, last out) I was surrounded by lots of clumps of Sargasso Grass. In the clumps were tiny fish called Pygmy File Fish. Then a clump came along with a seahorse in it. We never see seahorses; especially out in the open ocean. Everyone grabbed their snorkel gear and jumped in to check out the seahorse. Jenna was especially excited. After everyone was back on board we headed for Eastern Dry Rocks. On the way we put out the fishing rods only this time a tuna hit. Jenna and Adam brought the fish in. The fish was filleted and but in the fridge until dinner. The last dive was great. We saw lots of animals including two turtles.

After the dive we headed back into the marina. We were going to spend the night on the mooring ball but the weather predicted a bad squall line sometime overnight. In the marina we had a great dinner of bratwurst and tuna. Yummy!

After dinner the crew took another walk to the ‘Stop and Rob’ for more ice cream. This time Jenna and I went along for the walk.  When we returned everyone pretty much went to bed. Because of the impending storm, everyone slept below decks.

SLSU033113A – Wednesday April 3rd, 2013

Day 4 – Another Beautiful Day

 

I’m really having trouble keeping track of days and time this week.

We had spent the night on Conch Pearl’s mooring in Key West Harbor. It had been a beautiful night and the crew seemed to have gotten a little rest. We had a cold breakfast so we could get up and get going. As soon as we had breakfast cleaned up we dropped the ball (left the mooring), put up the sails and headed out to the dive site. Captain Denny still had a few tanks to fill so we spent some time sailing around. We were heading to the Western Sambo Reef complex again as it offered protection from the waves that had developed overnight. The tanks still weren’t all filled to we opened the gate and allowed everyone the opportunity to go swimming and to play ‘fender rodeo’. I’ll let the crew explain that when they get home but let’s just say everyone was having a blast.

The tanks were finally filled so we changed tanks and went diving again, this time at a site we call Wrecker’s Reef, named for the wrecking activity that used to take place during Key West’s past. At that time the residents had the highest per capita wealth in the US. After the dive we had a late lunch and readied for a second dive.

The Captain’s moved the boat to the far end of the reef where we did our second dive. The reef structure here is really great and with the bright sun and great visibility we had a great dive. I took Duane and Chris (with camera) on a tour of the area where we saw lots of large lobsters,  a green moray eel, plenty of colorful fish and even a very large nurse shark. Hopefully Chris got plenty of good pictures.

For dinner we had steak night. It’s usually the last night of the trip but because of the weather predictions we were changing the schedule up a bit. Steak night is great because we have steak (duh), mashed potatoes, green beans, salad and dessert, all served on real plates, eaten while sitting at real tables. 

After the dinner the crew took a walk to the ‘Stop N’ Rob’, the name we give to the little convenience mart a few blocks from the Conch Pearl. It gave the crew a chance to stretch their legs and get some ice cream or other snacks. Of course the ice cream there can’t match the quality and deliciousness of the ice cream from the Key West Ice Cream Factory. I was asleep before they returned but I assume they enjoyed their little adventure.

SLSU033113A – Tuesday April 2nd, 2013

Day 3 – “Are you sure it’s Tuesday?”

 

As I said before, I’m never sure what day of the week or what date it is. They say it’s Tuesday, I have to believe them. I’m an extremely early riser. I get up during the night and check on the anchor watch and to write this blog. I haven’t caught the anchor watch sleeping in  a long time. I guess Denny’s orientation speech does a good job of getting through to them.

The crew woke up to an absolutely gorgeous morning. It was looking like a great day for diving. It was a comfy, slow wake-up; not like the old days where we came down and did the “wake up, we’re going diving today!” thing. We finished breakfast, dropped the ball, put up the sails and headed for Sand Key. On the way out of the hardor we passed two cruise ships moored at the Key West piers. It would be a long ride to Sand Key giving Captain Denny the opportunity to fill tanks while the crew fished.

Sand Key is a key (island) that is almost completely washed away. It is marked by a large, Civil War era light house.  We switched tanks, geared up and got ready to splash. The ball we usually tie up to was gone so we took the next ball. This is significant because the missing ball is over a huge cluster of coral heads with a nice deep channel running through the middle. The next dive was also at Sand Key, but at a different ball. Different ball, different reef.

For the next dive we moved to a reef called Western Dry Rocks, not to be confused with Rock Key or Eastern Dry Rocks. They weren’t real creative when naming these keys. The visibility was holding and it was another nice dive; lots of structure here. The day was getting on so we finished the day dives and went about planning for a night dive. Night Dive! Woo Hoo!!!We moved back to Sand Key. You always do night dives at a site which you had seen during the day.

We did on orientation, fitted everyone out with lights and got in. It was just after sunset and still a little light underwater. We enter at dusk and dive as the night settles in and makes everything dark.

The night dive went well, without a catch. We went in, went on a tour and made it back to the boat without surfacing for direction.

After the dive we had a long ride back. A lot of the crew started on the deck, watching the stars, but that didn’t last long as one by one everyone ended up in bed.

SLSU033113A – Monday April 1st, 2013

Day 2 – April Fool’s Day

 

Down here in the Keys you lose track of time, day of the week, dates…it’s the Keys Disease creeping in. We didn’t celebrate April fool’s Day here; actually it’s odd that I missed it as I’m known as a bit of a joker around here. We did however go diving, and that’s no joke…but first we had to take care of business.

This is going to be a long post…they get shorter as the week goes along.

It was the crew’s first full day at FSB (Florida Sea Base). Everyone was up and at flags on time at 07:45. Unfortunately Aaron was sick and throwing up…not good. Flags went on, we sang ‘Froggy’ and then it was off to breakfast. At breakfast Aaron was still feeling sick so we started considering our options with him.

After breakfast the crew joined Jenna and me in the scuba classroom for a thorough (and often boring) orientation about the trip and the Conch Pearl. Most of the crews receive my 5 page ‘diverDave’s Unofficial Leader’s Guide’ at least two months before arrival at FSB. (I sent it to this crew but somehow it ended up in the wrong hands and never got distributed). That’s their first barrage of information from us. The second is this orientation and the third is the Captain’s orientation when the crew arrives at the boat. Captain Denny and I believe that the crews have to hear things three times before the information sinks in. During the orientation I received a call from a very concerned Captain Denny regarding Aaron’s current state. Seems that during the first trip of the season a scout was sick before boarding the boat, then during the week proceeded to pass a stomach bug around to the whole crew, including the staff. It wasn’t pretty as there is only one tiny bathroom for 14 people. In the mean time, given the option, Aaron had decided that he would rather not be out on a boat in his current state. Tom ran around, in what I found out to be his usual, efficient manner, and arranged for a ‘swap’ to replace Aaron, giving another scout the opportunity to join us out on the Live Aboard. So ends the saga of Aaron as far as the Conch Pearl goes, we thought.

After the orientation the crew met at the Commissary to inventory and load a week’s worth of food and ice. It takes a lot of food and a ton (well almost a ton) of ice to support 16 people for a week of diving. That went very well. The crew set about the task with great efficiency…a good sign for the week to come. Everything was loaded into the trailer then we moved over to the scuba area. Here we loaded the scuba gear and personal gear into the trailer. We had a set a target of 11:00 for ‘wheels up’ to depart for the boat and we were right on time…until…Tom had become tied up in the process of switching Robert for Aaron. I took the opportunity to take the van I would be driving to get fuel. The rest of the crew waited. Finally, at about 11:15 everything was done, ready and we were loaded to go. We waved goodbye to Divemaster Paul as he saw us off (he had been on the Conch Pearl with me the week before) and we hit the highway. Whew!

At this point everything changes. We throttle back and begin to relax. We have an almost two hour drive to Stock Island (right next to Key West) where the Conch Pearl lives. The drive is mostly on a two lane road where being in a hurry is useless. In the Keys you realize that being in a hurry is usually just frustrating so it’s best to enjoy the view and take your time. We made some stops along the way. First it was Publix Grocery story for some avocados then Baby’s Coffee for some ‘Southernmost Coffee’. Baby’s Coffee is the best around so it is a regular stop for me.

We finally arrived at the marina to be greeted by Captains Denny and Holley. The boat was ready, the Captains were ready and the crew was ready…it’s a wonderful thing. The crew set about transferring all of the gear, food and ice to the boat and stowed it all in proper manner in accordance with instructions from myself and the Captains. Because this was Jenna’s first trip on the Conch Pearl she mainly stepped back and watched…for awhile. It wasn’t long before she jumped right in and picked up on the operation.

Now that everything was stowed we were ready for the Captain’s orientation. The Captain’s go into great detail on matters concerning the boat, including a show and tell on the operation of the marine toilet. With that out of the way we had lunch and headed out to sea. What a beautiful day; warm and sunny. At the same time last week we were dreading the thought of bouncing about on the ocean while being bundled up to stay warm.

We headed out to Toppino’s Buoy, the first dive site. When we got there Denny observed that there could be some current and that the visibility was not the best so we moved on to our next site, Western Sambo. We moored in the Western Sambo reef complex at an area called ‘the Haystacks’, named after the large, haystack like, formations of coral. It was going to be the first real dive so Denny did another thorough orientation, this time on how we gear up and get into and out of the water.  Next I gave a dive briefing on the site and how the dive was going to go. The first dive is always a led dive. It gives us a chance to look the divers over again and to address any issues that may arise. Jenna and I got in first then all of the divers followed. We did a buoyancy check, adjusted some weights and down we went. Two of the divers had trouble clearing their ears so they went back to the boat. We’ll work with them later.

The dive went as expected…divers were all over the place, running into each other, running into us, floating up, dropping down…as expected. The first dive is always a little rough. We circled a few coral heads, went up into one of the fingers between rows of coral and then returned to the boat; about a half hour dive. Overall the dive went well. There were no real issues that we couldn’t correct and everyone made it back on the boat ‘without incident’. That’s always a good feeling…being responsible for 11 divers, some of them OPKs (other people’s kids) can weigh heavily on you sometimes.

We said goodbye to Western Sambo and headed for Key West Harbor to moor for the night. We sailed in past Mallory Square where they hold the nightly Sunset Festival, having our picture taken by lots of tourists. The Conch Pearl is a very pretty boat, especially under sail. By the time we reached the mooring ball we had taken down the sails and were ready to eat. Diving makes people hungry and this crew was a prime example of that.

Dinner was crazy dream burgers and mac  n’ cheese. After that I don’t know what happened…I was asleep in seconds.