....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.