Ravi and Rafael Complete the Open Water Course

The wind was calm and out of the Northwest.  The sea was flat.  We entered the water in front of Tower 17 and swam to the Eastern edge of the reef.  Ravi got to practice kicking and I got to tow him much of the distance.

Once we got to the edge of the reef, we descended and went through the ascents.  Both Rafael and Ravi did fine, though Ravi did have a few problems equalizing.

 I did an alternate air source ascent with each of them, then they made a buddy breathing ascent together, which was appropriate given that Rafael's regulator did not have an octopus.  Finally, I did a controlled emergency ascent with each of them.  They each made the ascent on the first try.

Then we swam back along the bottom.  The current had set us to the South while we did the ascents.  I corrected, but not enough apparently.  We missed the Fish Camp Rocks and I increased the correction, but we got out at the dune, South of the Tower.

 We saw a small green turtle, some lobster and I got  a lot of fish portraits.  I also found and photographed a Giant Anemone with purple tipped tentacles.

 It was a nice dive, and I stayed warm, though probably because of all the swimming we did.

 Our second dive was a bit easier despite the surf being up some.  We swam just past the swim buoy to the reef and descended, then swam East to the Fish Camp Rocks.  I took the Canon 5d Mk2 with the 100 mm lens this time, so I got some really nice pictures.  We spent some time among the Rocks, then swam to the Furry Rock, which is a pillar coral with extended polyps.  

 Then we swam over to the Big Coral Knoll, where we were approached by a small Green Sea Turtle.  We got to swim with it for a bit and I got a few pictures of Rafael and the turtle.  Using the 100 mm macro lens made it difficult to get a good picture of both the diver and the turtle, but several of them turned out just fine.

 Even when Rafael swam off, the turtle stayed with me for several minutes.  Unlike most Green turtles, this one seemed curious and actually interested in us.  Most of them are fine so long as you are at least 15 feet away, but this little guy was calmer than most Green Turtles.

We made a few passes over the Big Coral Knoll then swam to the Swept Rock and the Perpendicular Rocks, where we found a small Nurse Shark with a shark sucker attached.

Got a nice picture of this little Blue Tang.

Another nice dive, but a much longer one as we were not pushing to get out to the Ledge and then back.

Diving with Bobby Witkop

I got a call from a former student, Bobby Witkop, who was in town with his college swim team.  He had earned his Open Water certification with me last April and had not been diving since his open water dives with me.  We arranged to meet and get him in the water again.  I spent the weekend in Pembroke Pines and drove over to pick him up at his motel.  Of course 595 was a mess that time of the morning and I was late getting to LBTS.  We drove back to my apartment and got him some gear.  Then we drove to

 the Fort Lauderdale beach only to realize that I had forgotten the flag.  So back we went.

Eventually, we got all of the glitches ironed out and got in the water.  We swam out to the reef and descended, then headed East to the Fish Camp Rocks.  Found some Christmas Tree Worms and some Squat Anemone Shrimp in a Giant Anemone.  Its a little difficult to see the little fellas among the tentacles, especially if the water is moving the tentacles about.

 We swam around the Fish Camp Rocks for a bit, looking for some Midnight Blue Parrotfish, then decided to swim over to the Big Coral Knoll, where we found a small Green Sea Turtle.

 Got a nice picture of a small Seaweed Blenny poking his head out of a bottle.

 Also got a nice portrait of a frond oyster.

 Took a portrait of a Spanish Grunt.

 Of course, I got some shots of the sea turtle.  Most Greens are quite timid and it is difficult to get very close to them, but this little guy swam right up to me and was not the least bit bothered by the flash of the strobe.

I like these little Sharpnose Puffers.

Open Water dives with Ravi and Rafael

Rafael and I went through his confined water dives on the 31st of December. The water was cold but bearable. Ravi, Marc and I attempted their confined water dives on the night of the 6th, but the water was unbearable. We finished up on the afternoon of the 7th, and it was just bearable. Jorge has said he will heat the pool and I for one cannot wait. That water is so cold!

On the morning of the 8th, Ravi and Rafael met at my apartment. We got Rafael set up with gear and went to the beach. Luis was late, so Ravi, Rafael and I geared up and got in. We swam out to the reef, but the guys were too light and could not get down, so we swam back just in time to meet Luis. I added weight to both Rafael and Ravi. Ravi's main problem is his breathing. He could get down with some help, but had trouble controlling his place in the water column. We struggled through the skills, then swam back in when Ravi got down to 1000 psi.

 On the way back to the beach, we spotted a purplemouth Moray Eel with a tumor.  He was an odd looking fellow.

We spent over an hour on the beach getting warm before we got in for our second dive.  My computer measured the water temperature at 67 degrees.  I quickly chilled.

 We spotted a lobster or two hiding under the coral heads and Ravi pointed out a small green turtle as we were swimming back in.  He seemed to have better control of his buoyancy on the second dive.  Rafael was fine with the extra two pounds of weight.

Ravi ran out of air first, so he and I went back to the beach while Luis and Rafael stayed on the reef a little longer.  I was cold by the time we got in.

Night Diving with Chris Coney

Chris came by the apartment about 7:15 pm.  He is working on his Advanced Open Water certification.  We got our gear and drove to the beach.  There was almost no wind and the air temperatue was warm.  The water was colder.  The moon was almost full and very bright.  It was well up in the sky and we could see fairly well without using our lights.  We swam to the reef and descended, then swam East, but somehow must have drifted South because I did not recognize any landmarks.  My camera battery worked for the test shot on the beach, but died in the water.  I got no pictures, which is just as well as we did not see anything interesting, in any event.  Chris was cold and we turned back well before 1500 psi.  We ended up just South of the dune near Tower 17.

Diving with Luis at the Fish Camp Rocks

Luis and I made a lot of dives last winter and I have sorely missed his company this winter.  It is much easier to get up and drive to the beach on these cold mornings if I know someone is counting on me tos show up and dive.  Turns out that there are not a lot of cold water divers in SE Florida.  Today Luis and I met at the beach, geared up and got in the water.  There was very little wind and almost flat seas, which was nice.  We swam to the reef and descended.  We then 

swam slowly to the North East, but apparently got set even further North than I had intended, because we  ended  up near the perpendicular rocks just South of  the Swept Rock.  We swam a bit farther and found the Big Coral Knoll.   I got a nice shot of some Smooth Flower Coral just on the overhang where the turtles used to sleep.  A little further West, I got a nice shot of a White Grunt, and then on the Northwestern edge of the Knoll I got a nice shot of a Yellowtail Damselfish.  

 We made several passes over the Knoll and then decided to head South to the Fish Camp Rocks.  Found a number of schools of fish.  I tried taking portraits, but the strobe was acting up and they were not coming out.  We next headed to the Furry Rock, then went back to the beach.

Diving the Ledge of Turtles

I woke up early, but went back to bed and did not start thinking about diving until 8:30 am. By the time I packed up and drove to the beach, the lifeguards were in their towers. The lifeguards will stop me from solo diving if they see me, so Iheaded up to the Pelican Grand where I could enter the water without being hassled. The wind was calm and the sea was flat, but the air
temperature was about 62 degrees.

I entered the water and swam out to the reef

before descending.

The top 8 feet of water was warm, but below that it was cold. My computer measured the temperature at 64 degrees, but I think the comput

er is miscalibrated. The temperature w

as likely 70 degrees. I followed the reef South to

where my mark should have been. Problem was that there was no mark there. The railing has been gone for a while and now the sponge is gone. I found the rock pile that used to hold the railing and the base of the sponge, so I focused on those

and headed out at 120 degrees. I did not find the mid-way rocks but I did swim around until in encountered the Ledge of Turtles. Some college

divers were there measuring things and had a tape strung across the staghorn corals. No turtles.

Got some pictures of fish. Swam back to the

beach but had a difficult time getting out through the loose sand. Once out of the water, I got out of my wetsuit and dried off. I warmed up in the sun.

Going Wide Angle

I got up early, geared up and headed for the beach at 7:30 am. The wind was from the NW with gusts to 30 knots. It was low tide and the seas were confused, with rollers clashing with the wind on the sand bar. The air temperature was cold: no more than 60 degrees and much less with the wind chill. The water was warmer: at least 70

degrees with pockets that were quite pleasant. I

got in easily enough, but had to swim against a moderate South current to get out to the reef. I

wanted to explore the Mk I with a wide angle lens and the dome port.

I found the fish Camp Rocks, something that has been difficult recently, and got some pictures,

then swam over to the Furry Rock. The wide

angle lens was set at 50 mm and I needed to be quite a bit away from my subject to get the

shutter to trip. Of course, that means more water between the lens and the subject and more floatsum and jetsum floating in that water. The

images were not crisp and clear. I was a little unnerved at being unable to photograph fish portraits. Everywhere I looked, I found a shot I could not take.

I swam for the Lost Knoll, but gave up and

headed North to the Big Coral Knoll, where I

found a little Green Turtle. Then I headed back to the beach, where I struggled to get out of the water. The sand was soft and it was difficult to

walk out. I would lift one foot to step forward and the foot I was standing on would sink another six inches in the sand putting me off balance and unable to step up.

Once I got back to the truck, the fun really began. I was so cold and the wind was blowing so hard! I hid behind the stars behind the Lifeguard's Tower and got out of my suit. I dried off as quickly as I

could and got into dry clothes, but it was an effort.

.

Diving the Fish Camp Rocks with Frank and Martijn

Martijn van Breukelen and Frank Schipper booked a stay at the Bridge @ Cordova and wanted to dive off the Fort Lauderdale beach. Dianne and I were happy to oblige. We met on New Years Day and got some gear for them. Frank is 6 feet tall and weighs 165 pounds while Martijn is 6 foot 3 inches and weighs all of 176 pounds. Most of my wetsuits fit a 6 foot guy who weighs 230 pounds. Fortunately Underseas Sports had some suits for tall, skinny guys and we got two, as well as some SeaQuest BCDs. So with gear bags packed, we headed for the beach at
7:30 am. My computer battery died overnight
and I have been unable to figure out how to open it and change the battery.

I now dive with an Oceanic VT 3 which is virtually identical to the Aeris Elite T3 that I have dived with

since 2007, but which somehow refuses to open in the

same manner that I recall opening the Aires. Another problem for Underseas Sports to solve.

We got to the beach well after sunrise. The winds

were calm and the seas were flat.

There is still a good deal of fine silt in the water, so it is hazy, but the visibility was around 25 feet on the reef. We swam East towards the Fish Camp Rocks, but got set by the North current and ended up at the Big Coral Knoll, where we spotted a small Green Sea Turtle. We got within 15 feet of the turtle, but that was as close as it would let us come, then someone exhaled, the

turtle went into hyperdrive and it was just gone. We continued to explore the Knoll for awhile, and saw some White Grunts going mouth to mouth,

which appears to be a dominance ritual like Big

Horn Sheep butting heads. then swam to the Disc, over the mid-way rock and to the Fish Camp Rocks where we spotted a Lionfish. Of course, I

did not have my Liontamer spear with me.

We explored the Rocks for a bit, then swam over to the Pillar Coral, which is one of my favorite dive spots. The Furry Rock is yellow and has long extended polyps that wave in the water like a

field of grain in the wind.

The bad weather we had earlier this Fall has taken its toll, but the coral remains an impressive feature.

As we left the Furry Rock and headed back towards the Fish Camp Rocks, Frank motioned to me that he was down to 1500 psi, so we headed

back to the beach. We surfaced just slightly South of the Tower and struggled through the soft sand to get up on the beach. The dive lasted 77 minutes. Frank had run out of air by the time we got back.

Getting out of the water was an effort. The air temperature was lower than the water

temperature and the sand was very soft coming up the beach, so as you lifted one foot to step

forward, the other foot sank deeper into the sand. But we did get out, dry off and warm up.

The second dive was a straight shot to the

Eastern edge of the reef. I took my Lionfish spear and we stopped at the Fish Camp Rocks to dispatch the lionfish we saw on the first dive.

He was well exposed on the side of the rocks and let me get within inches of him,

but my shot was high and only rolled him. He made a swift get away.

We were looking for a Hawksbill Turtle. Unlike the Green turtles, the Hawksbills are not intimidated by divers and are

quite happy to let you swim with them for as long as you like. They seem to like the 10-15 foot ledge on the other side of the reef, so we went there. Unfortunately, we did not find any turtles. We did find an odd looking anemone and a curious Graysby Grouper. We also found a very large corkscrew

anemone and a Pederson Shrimp. I got some nice pictures of the shrimp.

Martijn signalled that he was low on air, so we swam West towards the beach. Along the way, I spotted a very small Scrawled Cowfish who was hiding from me . I stopped and got a few pictures. I assume that the fish was a juvenile, but really do not know.

Later that afternoon, Dianne remarked on how fortunate we were to meet and dive with people from all over the world. Frank and Martijn were good dive buddies: they did not wander off on their own and they seemed genuinely interested in exploring the reef.

Nicky's Open Water Dives off of Tower 17

I got a new student from the yacht Il Sole' earlier this week. Nicolize van der Merwe is an ebulliant and athletic young woman. She overcame her habit of breathing in through her nose and was ready for her first open water dive this morning. The visibility was not great and there was a moderate South current, but she was undaunted. We swam to 8 feet of water and descended, then swam out on the sand to make sure that she could equalize. Unfortunately, that meant that our current set was important and I simply lost track of it. I did not know where we were until half an hour into the dive, when I saw the big rock West of helmut head on the Big Coral Knoll. Once I spotted that, we did fine. We explored the Big Coral Knoll and spotted a small Green Sea Turtle sleeping under some coral. We swam to the Fish Camp Rocks to check for hermit crabs and Parrotfish. We even found the Pillar Coral, which is where I took the picture of Nicky. It was a long first dive, but enjoyable.

The second dive was better, though Nicky experienced some dizziness, headache and nausea immediately upon surfacing after the first dive. We took a long surface interval and tried again. We swam on the surface to the swim buoys and descended to go over the skills. Then we headed for the Ledge on the Eastern edge of the reef, where the bottom drops to about 35 feet on the sand. We came back to the Pillar Coral and turned slightly South to swim to the Lost Knoll and then the beach. This was also a long dive, but quite enjoyable.