SLS022512A - Sunday...off to the boat

Sunday started very early for me, like most days, somewhere around 05:00. The wind had come up overnight and was blowing somewhere around 25 knots at the buoys. We were in the pool until about 21:00 last night so there was still a few things to get to.
The crew was up on time and flags was uneventful. After breakfast we met at the Quarterdeck for the 'fast track' version of the orientation. We usually do a powerpoint orientation in the Chart Room that takes about 45 minutes but because of time constraints it was a quick read through that took about 20 minutes. It's not the same without the pictures and videos.
Next it was off to the Commisary to load 5 large coolers with ice and inventory the small mountain of food we would be taking with us. The inventory was a bit difficult as no one was there from the Commisary and some of the portions seemed a little large. Oh well, extra is good...too little is bad.
We managed to get all of the food into the trailer and headed over to the scuba area to load the remaining gear. We somehow managed to add 15 scuba tanks, all of the dive gear and some of the personal gear. The rest of the personal gear was loaded into the back of the vans. That was one heavily loaded little trailer. AQll of the tasks went very well. It's nice having a crew that listens and gets down to business.
With the trailer loaded we loaded the crew into the vans and headed for Stock Island, right outside of Key West; Conch Pearl's home. It was almost 2 hours, with Sunday traffic slowing us down. When we arrived at the boat the crew unloaded the trailer with the same efficiency as they loaded it. Like I said, a pleasure. The crew had everything to the boat and loaded in the same amount of time that most crews take just to unload the trailer and move the gear. We had lunch, untied the boat and headed out. Because of the high winds, and the LDS's crew desire not to dive on Sunday, we went out sailing. With the stiff 25 knot wind the Conch Pearl moves quite well under full sail, something we don't do very often. We made into Key West harbor around 17:30, took down the sails, and headed for our mooring for the night. The Conch Pearl has it's own permanent mooring in the harbor.
While we waited for dinner to cook most of the crew went about fishing with Cuban Yo-yo's, catching plenty of Pinfish to use as bait later on. Dinner was spaghetti, cooked below. Fighting the wind on the grill would have been impossible.
After dinner we put out a 'shark line' with one of the Pinfish as bait. It wasn't too long before we were suprised with a rather large Tarpon, which Tim brought up to the boat. We don't bring a large fish like that on board. After that it was off to bed. Early morning tomorrow. Maybe we'll get to dive.

Preparing...already

I am returning to the 'Keys' in four weeks for another two month stint of scuba diving at the Florida Sea Base aboard the Schooner Conch Pearl. I only have four week long trips scheduled on the Conch Pearl but there is plenty of work to do otherwise. I think this is my eighth year there. My first season was the Spring of 2005 and I have been going back to volunteer every year since; sometimes for Spring and sometimes for part of the Summer seasons.
I keep returning for many reasons. First is because they let me. It's an oasis for me...not so much because it's in the beautiful Florida Keys (although that's a big part of it) but because of the people. Some of the best people I have met throughout my life are the people I have met at the Florida Sea Base. I enjoy their company and friendship and have learned much from them. Another reason I return is because it keeps me from getting older or at least it is slowing the process. I went from an active, dynamic, stimulating job to being at home with the dog, disabled. I need the interaction and activity.
I have spent alot of time preparing a detailed packing list for this year's trip. I usually prepare a list but often manage to forget a few items (CRS). This time I'm even putting packing lists in the different containers in hopes that I can keep track of everything. You would be suprised how many little things you need to take along.
Alot of people wonder how I can accomplish this while being disabled with Narcolepsy. I am fortunate that they know about my Narcolepsy at FSB and they allow me to nap pretty much whenever I need to.
So I'm already preparing to go in hopes that an early start will help me to make sure I take everything I need.

Working on the Conch Pearl

The Conch Pearl is the dive boat that I do my live-aboard diving on. It is a 57 foot, steel hulled, gaff rigged schooner. http://www.schoonerconchpearl.com/ I love the boat and the people that live on it. I have been on the boat for over six years. I love to work on the boat as I feel I'm contributing to the boat and its life.


Over the last two days I removed all of the rope lifelines and stripped and sanded the pin rails and belaying pins. They're ready for varnish but unfortunately I won't be able to get away to help today. We also went over the emergency procedures for the upcoming COI...big Coast Guard inspection. It should go very well as the CP is a tight ship...very ship shape. Denny is always repairing or improving things and Holley is in a never ending wrestling match with rust.

SLS041611A Good Friday, Earth Day, Last Day

Yesterday was Good Friday and Earth Day. I hope everyone remembered the meanings of the day.

The crew had a good last full day with Florida Sea Base. It was an early start leaving the mooring off of Key West in hopes of getting in one last dive. We started out as always, putting up the sails and heading out to the ocean. We started the compressor and began filling tanks. As we turned the corner in front of Fort Zachary Taylor the wind hit us hard. It wasn't long after we got into the wind that we decided that we would have to 'call' the dive. It was just too rough. The spray was coming over the bow so we had to slow down and take our time motoring back to the dock at Stock Island. Most of the crew used the time to pack their gear.
We arrived back at the dock and it was time to get to work. The crew off-loaded all of their gear then started a completed cleaning of the boat inside and out. The boat needed to be scrubbed down to remove all of the salt from the spray. After the boat was cleaned it was time for lunch. All of the leftovers from the week were brought out along with the usual lunch.
The Sea Base vans arrived on time to pick up the crew. We loaded up the trailer, said goodbye to the Conch Pearl and headed back to base.
On the way back we stopped at Baby's Coffee, the 'southern most' roaster of coffee in the Keys. Everyone went in and got something; coffee, soda and snacks. For the rest of the ride everone slept...at least I did.
Back at base we emptied the trailer, washed all of our gear and then the crew was free until 17:45 for flags. After a quick flags ceremony the crew went to Luau where they did the Raisin Bran song. A few other crews did skits then they all played Hawaiian Tug-O-War. It was brother against brother, son against father. After the games we had a Luau dinner.
After the dinner we retrieved all of the gear that we had washed and returned it to the scuba storage room. Now all of the work was done.
We sat down at the quarterdeck and did a Thorns and Roses to review the high points and low points of the trip. It seems there was a common theme of anchor watch as a low point. As each crew member went I handed them their Florida Sea Base Patch.
A few hours later, 1AM, we met again for breakfast and to load their transportation home.
I hope you all enjoyed your time in 'the Keeeeeeeeeeys'.

SLS041611A nice dive day

Yesterday was an average, nice dive day. We woke up to have a relaxed, cooked breakfast. We usually have a quick, cold breakfast so that we can get up and go quickly but we had a little extra time. After breakfast we weighed anchor and headed off for Looe Key. The winds were up and it was a bit 'sporty' but it was a nice day. We filled all of the scuba tanks, changed out the empties and napped. We fill the scuba tanks on the back deck of the Conch Pearl using a diesel powered compressor. It's a bit noisy but a necessary evil as it it the life blood of the dive program. The water was beautiful on the way which gave us hopes of great dive conditions. When we arrived at Looe Key we weren't disappointed; the water looked the best it had all week. I jumped in to do a conditions check. The conditions check is when the Divemaster jumps in to check the dive conditions; depth, surge, current and visibility. I was very happy to report visibility of about 50-60 feet!

The dive was great. The crew saw all kinds of animals. We saw rays, sharks and lots of Golioth Groupers, which are very large fish, turtles and lionfish. We moved the boat to a different mooring ball and did our second dive. It was more of the same, a great dive. After the dives we headed back to Stock Island, the dock where we started. We were going in for our mid-week break.

Both the legs from Boot Key to Looe Key and Looe Key to Stock Island take several hours. On the way we fish, eat and nap. The napping is a necessity as everyone gets tired from diving, being on a boat, being in the sun and anchor watch and because we can. We fished along the way and several fish were caught. Some of the boys also took the opportunity to jump into the pilot house to drive the boat for awhile.

We arrived at the dock at Stock Island (sometimes called Stock Rock) ready to get off of the boat. The crews enjoy being on the boat but they also enjoy getting off the boat during the mid-week break. The big deal with the mid-week break is they get to use real

toilets, take real showers, they have A/C in the cabin and there's no anchor watch. They also take a walk to the local convenience store for ice cream and sodas. In addition it's steak night! This high adventure stuff is really tough.

We had a visitor for dinner too. Kyle Moran, a Florida Sea Base staffer dropped by to say hi. Kyle works as a sea exploring mate; another job that keeps the staffer out at sea during the week,like me.

SLS041611A Photo Day

Yesterday was the big day. We had the PADI photo team on board with us doing a photo shoot of the boys in action, on the boat and underwater. We're not quite sure what the photos are for. We woke up early and started the compressor immediately to fill the scuba tanks we would need for the day. The boat crew refills the scuba tanks using a diesel compressor that is on the back deck of the boat. We spent the night 'on the hook' (anchored) outside of Marathon at Boot Key so it was going to be a short trip in to Poncho's Fuel Dock to pick up the photo crew. We had a quick cold breakfast and off we went.

When we arrived at the dock the four folks from the photo crew were already waiting for us along with a member of BSA National staff. We loaded up with people and fuel and headed out to Sombrero Reef. http://www.divespots.com/scuba/spotID-36/view.divespot We put out the fishing rods on the way out and it didn't take long before Caleb caught a mackeral.

It took us about 45 minutes to get out to the reef. The winds had increased during the night so conditions on the surface were a bit 'sporty'. On the way out the photographer was busy snapping pics of the boys. The conditions looked great. We did our briefing, along with directions from the photographer, then 'a diving we did go!' The surface was a little 'sporty' but below the water was fairly clear and there was no current. We went on a lead dive with the photographer and two assistants with another snorkeling above. The boys seemed to be naturals at being photographed. They loved it as well as the photographer. After the first dive we had lunch, watched the BSA National representative get sick then prepared for the next dive. It was immediately obvious that the visibility wasn't as good on the second dive. We followed the same routine this dive except something was different. On this dive the boys were hamming it up! They lost their innocent edge in front of the camera and were posing and behaving to get the photographer's attention.

After the dive we returned to the boat for the trip back to Ponchos. On the way back in the photographer stayed busy shooting more pics of the boys. When we reached the dock we off-loaded the photo team and then everyone got off to go into the store for ice cream and sodas. We had to wait for the tide to come in as the channel was quite shallow and were scraping bottom on the way in.

Once the tide came in a little we headed back out to the anchor spot.

We dropped the anchor and the crew began fishing immediately. To fish while anchored we use Cuban Yo-Yos and chicken for bait. http://www.palmbaybaitandtackle.com/products/cubanyoyo.htm

Richard was the first boy to catch a fish...a real monster. After that everyone that was fishing seem to catch a fish or two. We use one of the fish as bait on a shark line that we put out at night. Some nights we're lucky and catch a small shark. Not last night.

Everyone will be getting up in an hour or two and I'm out of material. I hope you're enjoying the blog. If you are, please leave a comment.

SLS041611A First day of diving free

Yesterday was a great day for diving. The sun was out, the winds were down and the seas were fairly flat. After a quick cold breakfast we headed out to the ocean. The boys put up the main (on a schooner that's the back most sail) and away we went. Our first stop was Toppino's Buoy or 'Red 32'. The visibility was not great but we felt confident enough to turn the crew loose for their first 'buddy dive'. A buddy dive is where they can go diving as soon as they are together with their buddy in the water. The dive went well, everyone found the boat and we only had a few bumps regarding buddy teams. The next stop was Looe Key; named for the HMS Looe which floundered there on it's way for repair after fighting pirates. Looe Key had a little better visibility. We saw a shark, a Golioth Grouper and a lionfish (see prior post). Again, we had a few bumps regarding buddy teams.

After the dive we headed for Sombrero Reef. It's about a two hour ride to Sombrero. Sombrero is my favorite site to dive anywhere. On the way we ate lunch , filled and changed tanks and napped. Naps are an important part of diving as being on a boat can be tiring. We also fish between dive sites. Ryan hooked into a good size tuna but it got off of the lure at the end of the fight. The fish here really fight and Ryan worked very hard to bring in the fish...How big was it? It was that big! Always have to have a good fish story.

As we got closer to Sombrero we were able to see the bottom clearly in 45' of water. That's a good thing. We tied onto a mooring ball and got ready to dive. Mooring balls are large balls with ropes that are attached to the bottom. We use these reather than anchoring to avoid killing coral.

The dive went well. The visibility was much better than at Looe Key. Although they didn't see alot of animals they still enjoyed the dive...and the buddy system worked very well. Sombrero is where we did our first night dive. We picked Sombrero because we like to do night dives there. It is a good practice to dive a site during the day that you will dive at night. We had a quick second lunch or first dinner while getting ready for the night dive. We had to change tanks again and do a night dive briefing. While we were preparing for the dive we were treated to a spectacular sunset. We entered the water at dusk while the water is still a little light. The underwater world turns dark soon after we enter the water. There was a little current but not enough to 'call' the dive. The first part of the night dive is lead. With my large slingshot fins I was able to swim through the current easily. The divers had a little more trouble. I took the divers out to the end of a finger of coral and turned them loose.

The night dive went great. I think they really enjoyed it. One thing you see on a night dive is bioluminescence . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/bioluminescence . After the dive we headed in to the anchor spot while enjoying a full moon. Once the anchor was dropped we had second dinner, bratwurst. After that I have no idea what happened as I fell asleep.

SLS041611A On the boat...first dive

The following page is a description of what the crew went through on their first full day, which is pretty much what all crews go through.

The crew had a very, very busy morning. They got up and packed most of their gear for the boat before breakfast. After breakfast it was off to the pool. Every crew has to get into the pool, in full scuba gear, to do a complete scuba review. There are about 20 skills that are reviewed. Everyone did ok which means we take them diving without any remedial training. They packed up their scuba gear and off to the commisary we went. At the commisary we loaded ice (5 LARGE coolers), and all of our food for the week. After that it was back to the scuba area to load all of the scuba gear and personal gear. Now we're ready to depart for the Conch Pearl; about a two hour drive. We stopped at Walgreens on the way to pick up a few necessary items.

We arrived at the Conch Pearl and it was time to unload the trailer and move everything about 50 yards to the boat. This crew did it very quickly; not an easy task. With everything on the dock we loaded all of the food and set up the scuba gear on the boat. Next Captain Denny sat everyone down for a thorough orientation. (see photo) The orientation covers alot of information, including some of what was covered the night before. Captain Denny believes that info. doesn't stick until it has been heard three times. After the orientation the crew loaded their personal gear and picked out their bunks. Finally, lunch time.

We departed the dock and headed out into the ocean. We were on our way to the first dive site, Western Sambo, for the first dive. I did my dive briefing then an in-water conditions check. Unfortunately the visibility was only 10-15 feet which is marginal. The first dive is a lead dive where the divers follow me around the reef. It gives me a chance to look the crew over in the open water. They did fine. We didn't lose anybody and we made it back to the boat. They saw a few animals which is rare on the lead dive because they are focused on staying with the group. They saw an eel, a ray and sea urchins. Tommorow I'll turn them loose to dive on their own.

After the dive we headed back to our mooring right off of Key West. We immediately set up for dinner...'crazy dream burgers'. I don't know what took place after dinner as I fell asleep, something I do quite often. Napping is a big part of the trip.

For those that are concerned, Squirt made it on-board.

diverDave

Tomorrow there will be more pics.

SLS041611A Arrives

My new crew arrived today. They seem to be quite the motivated bunch. They arrived from NC after traveling since 2AM. We checked them in, finished their swim test and did all of the prep. work to get into the pool tomorrow morning for a skills check. We also have the PADI photo team following us around snapping alot of pictures of the crew. They photographers are going to come out in a boat to meet our boat on Tuesday to take more pictures. We're gonna be famous (or at least get a picture or two published). In the evening we had an orientation meeting then had the crew photo taken (see photo). The weather looks good for the upcoming week; but still, don't forget the sea sickness medicine.

For all the folks at home following along...let me know what you want to see and I'll do my best to post it.

diverDave

New day...private charter

Saturday,our scout crew is gone and now it's a private trip on the Conch Pearl out to the V (Vandenberg)...so we thought. Jess, my DM for the day, and I headed out from FSB at 05:00 (yes, 5am). We had to leave that early so that we would not be caught in the traffic at the seven mile bridge. They were having their annual bridge run and the bridge was going to be shut down from 06:30 - 09:30, stopping all of the traffic on the only road going up and down the Keys. Jess slept most of the way since she isn't quite the morning person that I am. We arrived at the CP hoping that the charter group had not spent the night on the boat, so that we could go back to sleep there. We were wrong. I went below to find all six guys sleeping so Jess and I quietly went below. Jess went back to sleep, I went to work on my computer. The charter group started waking up one at a time. They had spent the previous night partying in KW. Eventually they all made it up on deck and we were able to start discussing the plans for the day. It was previously decided that we would be going to the V; so far so good. Next they decided that some of them wanted to dive nitrox; hmmm. Then they discovered that some of them needed equipment. I love great planning. So they called a taxi and it was off to Dive Key West, a local dive shop to rent gear and nitrox tanks. There were a few snags, Jess couldn't dive nitrox as she didn't have her nitrox card yet and they wouldn't rent more than two tanks per person, even to instructors. Two hours later they returned with all of their stuff. Finally, everyone was on board with all of their gear and it was off to the V. The weather was great. Jess, Denny, Holly and I put up the Main and Jib. It sure is different working a private charter. On a scout trip the scouts pitch in to do everything. On a private charter the divers are 'guests'. There were no other boats on the V; good luck or a bad sign. When we got to the balls the reason was obvious. The current was running so hard that the mooring balls were being pulled under by the water but the water was so clear that we could make out the V below us. Denny got on the radio and found that two other dive boats had been on the CSM (Cayman Salvage Master) earlier and that the current wasn't supposed to be as bad. We went over to the CSM and found that ball being pulled under, but not as bad so we tied on and gave it a look. By now, although it was nice, the previous night's partying started getting to the guests and a couple of them were 'ralphing' over the side. One of the guests jumped in to check the current for himself and was quickly convinced that it was too strong to dive. He and I probably could have made it. We were both Jersey Wreck divers, having been on some of the same boats and wrecks at home. Ok, so the wrecks were out. We moved over to Toppino's Buoy so that everyone could at least get in a dive. There was even current running here; no too much to dive, just enough to be annoying. Luckily Toppino's is a reef with alot of structure so divers can get out of the current. It wasn't a bad dive. One of the guys brought a spear gun so Jess took it along to try her luck. What a sight. Once this dive was over it was time to go in. The few divers that weren't feeling well were done for the day and the others just wanted to go in. They had plans for more partying since they had rented the MTV house for the night and had big plans. Back on the dock the guests gathered their gear and headed off in a taxi. I washed gear, Denny hooked up power, Jess and Holley cleaned up below. Nap Time! After a much needed nap we headed over to the Hogfish. I had the usual, their 'Killer Hogfish Sandwich'. Next we dropped Jess off at the bus then headed to Publix for the next day's supplies. I don't even remember going to bed.

Back to the Blog

I haven't been paying much attention to this blog so I plan to start posting scuba news now that I'm back in the Florida Keys.
I come to the Florida Keys to volunteer at the Boy Scouts of America National High Adventure Sea Base. It's one of three national high adventure bases. We focus on sailing and scuba programs. I pretty much exclusively work out on the scuba live-aboard boat, the Conch Pearl.
The scuba live-aboard program consists of taking 12 divers out for a week where we live on the boat, together, for the week and dive, sleep, eat, sleep, fish, sleep and sleep.
I can do these things with my disability because I can pretty much sleep as much as I need to whenever I need to. Not a bad accomadation.
Right now I'm stuck on base until the next live-aboard trip that starts on March 12th. Until then I will be inspecting and assembling scuba tanks; a necessary but boring and tiring job. I'm working with Laura Kuras, the new scuba commisioner.
More tomorrow.