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.