Solo Dive on the Tower 2 Algae Patch

Got down to the beach about 8:00 am.  No lifeguards in sight.  Geared up.  Added 2 more pounds to my weights and got in the water. Swam on the surface out past the swim buoys, then descended. Had 3141 psi in the tank as I went down, but the water was warmer than the air. Made over 7 minutes to 3000 psi and 20 psi/minute for the first 1,000 psi.  Move slowly to the East looking for shells. Got into deeper water and I got lighter. I couldn't maintain 20 psi/minute and drifted back up to 25 psi/minute. Turned the dive at about 1400 psi and got to the sand at 650 psi.  Hung around until I got to 130 minutes and 350 psi and then headed in. Dive time was 135 minutes;  consumption was 21.83 psi/minute at an average depth of 17 feet; SAC rate was 14.41 psi/minute and the RMV wa 0.37 ft3/minute.  Not bad for as long as I've been out of the water.

Navigation Dive on the Tower 2 Algae Patch

Milton came to my apartment at 7:30 am and we headed for the beach at about 8:00 am.  There was a race or some event for which the police closed FLL Beach Blvd, so we got to the South Beach parking lot about 8:25 am.  We waited for Daryn, who left his boat at 8:30 am and had to negotiate the same heavy traffic that we had.

We briefly discussed the compass and how to use it, then walked through the out 'n back and the square patterns the students were required to navigate. Then we geared up and got in the water. We swam on the surface out past the swim buoys and descended. The two students buddied up and I sent them out at 100 degrees, with Luis tagging along with a flag. Daryn was in charge of the bearing and Milton was supposed to count kick cycles, but obviously had some problems. I expected them back in 5 or 10 minutes and surfaced after 9 minutes, but I could not see the flag. Fifteen minutes after they left I surfaced again and spotted them on the surface about 30 yards NE, so I swam to them. We discussed the problem, shortened the distance and descended again. This time, Milton was on the bearing, but he headed off to the NE, not SE, as I had asked. They came back in about 6 minutes, this time, though, which certainly counts for something. Daryn ran a second Out 'n Back and executed it well. Then Milton ran a square pattern and finally, Daryn did, as well. Then we went diving.

We headed East and spotted several single jacks, then finally, the beginning of the Wall of Jacks.  About that same time, Milton was down to 1100 psi, so we turned the dive and headed West. Daryn was disappointed, but he came with us. As we left the tiered reef, Milton was down to about 500 psi, so I gave him my alternate and we swam together over the sand to the algae patch and then across the algae to the sand, where I indicated to him that he should get back on his own tank, which he did.  I had lots of air, but the flag and flag line were getting to be a problem. We weren't well paired. The alternate hose was pressing into my head and I couldn't feel Milton, so I kept having to contort myself to look back and see him without winding the flag line around my legs. Need to work on that.  

Dive Time was 79 minutes; Consumption rate at an average 15 ft of depth was 29.57 psi/minute; SAC rate was 20.33 psi/minute.  Water temperature was 78 degrees.

Diving the Big Coral Knoll with Ryan O'Connor

Tim Rice, a PADI instructor who works part time for Matt at Underseas Sports, introduced me to Ryan O'Connor and suggested we might like to dive together since Ryan lives just across the road from Tower 17. I was supposed to meet Ryan at 8:00 am, but got there at 7:30 am. Just a little eager to dive the Knoll again. Ryan was eager, too, but he wanted to hunt lobsters.

We geared up and walked across the street. He had so much lobster gear to carry that putting on fins in the water would be difficult, so he put his fins on at the shoreline and then walked backwards into the water and over the sand bar, just like the PADI video demonstrates. I've never found that to be very efficient. I walked in to chest high water and put mine on. Then we swam out to the blocks. Difficult to see them from the surface, but I got close enough to see them once we went down.

Headed up the gunsight up to Irish Thighs, which looks much smaller than I remember; then past the sponge and up to the Cigar Rock, though I was a little South of the mark but still spotted it. Headed East from there but ended up just below the Bubble Rocks. Corrected course and headed for the Perpendicular Rocks, the Swept Rock and, finally, the Big Coral Knoll. Lots of French Grunts, some of whom were going mouth to mouth. Went around the Knoll. Spotted the green Rock Hind on the tipped over coral head on the North side of the Knoll. No turtles. I wonder if the construction hasn't scared them off to the second reef line, or at least North to LBTS. Made a second lap and then headed over to the English Garden then back and headed to the Fish Camp Rocks.

Ryan chased some Lobster there and caught one. Saw some Sweepers and a couple of Midnight Parrotfish. Really missing my camera on this dive. Ryan was getting low on air, so we headed back to the beach. Had to go South to find the Big Gray Rock, but we did and went from there to the Cigar Rock, the Irish Thighs, over the blocks and back on the beach. Bill Evans was on the Tower and we chatted from a bit. Not a bad dive but a little chilly for my taste and we spent too much time swimming. Should have slowed everything down and ambled up the reef instead of swimming purposefully.


Dive time was 93 minutes; consumption rate was 30.55 psi/minute; SAC rate was 19.77 psi/minute; and my RMV was 0.51 ft3/minute.

Found out later that after our dive, Ryan went to the Emergency Room suspecting that he had developed subcutaneous emphysema:  he heard the bubbles crinkling in his neck. We discussed it and I think it is likely that because he has only had a handful of dives, he would hold his breath as he tried to capture a lobster and, of course, holding his breath would make him positively buoyant so he would float up. He may well have sustained an air gas embolism and ruptured some alveoli.  

Luis and I make a Night Dive across the Tower 2 Algae Patch

Met Luis in the South Beach parking lot a little before 6:00 pm.  We got in the water pretty quickly as it was getting dark. I could barely make out the swim buoys by 6:25 pm and there was no chance we could track our bearing to the Jacks. We descended and made our way more or less to the East across the algae field. Got into 22 ft of water then came to the tiered ledge, but we weren't where we usually are to get on the Jacks. Luis spotted a young green turtle who hung around us for a bit. Also spotted a large crab. Kind of a nice dive there, but we could have skipped the 600 yard swim to get there. The effective closure of the beaches North of Sunrise and recent high winds have caused me to severely cut back on my diving.  I now lay around and, bored, eat too much. I've put on some weight, maybe 20 pound. I was not well weighted at 10 pounds and my gas usage suffered:  RMV of 0.47 ft3/minute.  Dive Time was just a little over 90 minutes; actual consumption was 27.46 psi/minute at an average depth of 17 feet; SAC rate of 18.13 psi/minute.  

Diving the Ledge of Turtles with Leo Paez

I got to the beach at 6:00 am and found a spot behind Tower 20. About 6:40 am, the front spot opened up and I took it. Leo got to the beach after 8:00 am, but still found just barely enough room to park along A1A. We got in the water shortly after he got there. My last dive was six days ago. My gear was dry. Really dry. Between the wind and the disruption of the construction, it just doesn't seem worth the trouble.

We swam on the surface out to where the Rock Pile should have been and descended. Visibility was 2-3 ft at most and I couldn't find the Rock Pile, so we just headed off at 120 degrees. Never saw anything I recognized until we came back from the Eastern Ledge and I spotted Shark's Rock. Must have gone right over Sharks' Rocks East, but I didn't see them. Went south to the Nipple Rock and then West, but never did find the Ledge. I didn't miss my camera at all. Saw the comfortable Rock, but nothing else. We decided not to make a second dive. Dive time was 82 minutes; actual consumption was 25.74 psi/minute at an average depth of 20 feet; SAC rate was 16.03 psi/minute; RMV was 0.41 ft3/minute.

Final Two Open Water Dives off Tower 20

I got to the beach just before 5:00 am and I was the first car there.  I parked in the former handicap zone.  Luis arrived at 7:30 am and found a place to park two cars from me.  The guys came at around 8:00 am and there were no spaces available.  They parked over by the Pelican and walked back.

First dive was their third open water dive, which means we had a long surface swim to the Eastern Ledge to make those ascents. It took us awhile to gear up, but we finally got in the water. Took probably 20 minutes to make the Ledge, but I think of this as time well spent.  I get to see that they really can keep themselves afloat should there be a problem and I don't have to worry about DCS since they really have no nitrogen load to speak of when we make the ascents. We all descended. Luis held the flag line while I led the guys through the two ascents: an alternative air source ascent and the Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. Both of them did fine. I got concerned because my Suunto was giving me ascent rate warnings, but once I saw the profile graph, I realized what I knew but had not remembered: that Suunto uses a 30 ft/minute ascent rate while PADI's is a much quicker 60 ft/minute. Then we swam back. Luis took pictures and the guys and I just looked on. Dive Time was 80 minutes; actual consumption was 25.16 psi/minute at an average depth of 17 feet; SAC rate was 16.61 psi/minute; and the RVM was 0.43 ft3/minute.

We were supposed to go over the problems during the surface interval, but the student who did not bring his problems yesterday failed to bring them today, as well. We worked through the first 4 problems, including finding the appropriate surface intervals in two dives on problem 3 and one dive on problem 4, then they advised me that I had not given them a formula for determining the appropriate surface interval. I lost it. So we gave up on the tables and made their fourth open water dive on the Ledge of Turtles. Swam right to the Rock Pile and descended, then headed up the reef at 120 degrees. Spotted the 3 little green mountainous coral heads just before the Big Rock and swam from there to the Ledge of Turtles. Luis took pictures. The guys and I just hung around looking. We spent about 50 minutes on the Ledge then swam to Shark's Rock and Sharks Rocks East, then we returned to the Ledge of Turtles just to touch base before heading to the beach.  Swam right to the Rock Pile and then to the beach.  Nice dive.  Dive Time was 97 minutes; Actual consumption was 23.24 psi/minute at an average depth of 15 feet; SAC rate was 15.98 psi/minute; RMV was 0.41 ft3/minute.

First two Open Water Dives off Tower 2

One of my two students had a bad cold when he showed up at the apartment, so we stopped at Walgreen's to buy some decongestant, then drove down to the South Beach Lot and parked next to Luis and Leo's cars, where we geared up. The thinner student carried two 2 pound weights and heavier student carried four 2 pound weights. I would carry two 2's and two 3's so I could trade. Ended up trading with the thinner student, who couldn't get down with only 4 pounds, but did well with 6. Go figure. The heavier student had trouble with his BCD. He kept filling it with the pressure inflator and complained when the emergency release valve would activate and he heard the air hissing. He thought there was a leak, so he would press the inflator button again. He had problems getting down, as well. His ears were a bit of a problem, but the real problem is that he can't control his breathing. He's all over the place and when he tries to adjust his BCD, you never know what he is going to do. When he grabbed the inflator and tried to take air out, he pressed the inflator button and filled the thing up. We swam out past the algae patch and the heavier student was getting low on air, so we turned the dive and came in. We came up just past the swim buoys because he was really low and I didn't want any problems. Thought I was breathing well, but ended up blowing through 1200 psi.  Dive Time was 43 minutes; my air consumption rate was 28.49 psi/minute at 20 feet; SAC rate was 19.59 psi/minute; and my RMV was 0.51 ft3/minute. Really poor control.  

I had hoped to work through the table problems during our surface interval, but one student did not bring his problems. Maybe he didn't do them. In any event, they re-took the quizzes they had not passed and each of them failed this second time.

The thinner student stuck with six pounds and we brought heavier student down to 6 pounds for the second dive. He looks to me like he has more body fat than I do, but he is apparently more muscle. Once he learns to breath correctly, he could probably lose another 2 pounds. We swam out past the swim buoys and went down. The heavier student started down then swam frantically to the surface and thrashed about. He had forgotten to turn his air on after Luis helped him with his regulator. He could have orally inflated his BCD then either reached back to turn on the air or even taken the BCD off to turn on the air, but he was too busy pressing the inflator button and treading water in a panic to solve his own problem. When he calmed down, we descended again. This time, he could not get the air out of his BCD.  He was horizontal in the water and not holding the deflator hose up so he could not deflate his BCD.  He may have been pressing the inflator button, as well.  I just couldn't see well enough. Finally got him down and he joined us and we set off to the East.  Saw a Loggerhead Turtle, at least I think it was a Loggerhead.  Its face looked vaguely like a Green turtle, but the shell was large and smooth like a Loggerhead.  I don't take pictures any more, since I flooded my camera.  Luis may have gotten the shot but hasn't downloaded, edited or posted his photos. We were a little South of where we should have been and maybe a bit West, still.  Never saw the Jacks but we were on the tiered reef.  Maybe too far South for the Jacks.  When the heavier student signalled that he had only 1200 psi, both students and I turned the dive and headed for the beach.  Leo and Luis stayed to finish their dive.  This time I did better with my breathing.  RMV was 0.41 ft3/mintue and the dive was 77 minutes.  Not bad for their second dive.  

Another Solo Dive on the Algae Patch off Tower 2

Up early, but didn't make it to the beach until about 8:45 am. Went to the South Beach lot. It's just easier than fighting for one of the five spots available on A1A. Geared up and got in the water. Air was cooler than it has been; the water, too, but it was warmer than the air: 80.6 degrees. My tank pressure increased when I got in. Descended to about 14 ft just at the swim buoys and moved slowly across the algae to the sand and then onto the reef. Didn't see anything familiar. Probably got set to the South. Saw a Goldspotted Eel, though I had to look it up when I got home. Really do miss my camera. I liked having photos of the fish I spotted and I enjoyed reliving and reexamining the dive as I edited pictures after the dive. I miss that. Air Consumption rate was 21.64 psi/minute at a maximum depth of 23 feet.  My SAC rate was 14.57 psi/minute and the RMV was 0.38 ft3/minute.

Solo Diving off Tower 2

Took Monday off.  Just stayed in bed and and enjoyed my own little pity party. Between the stress of finding parking and the fact that I can't get to Tower 17 and the Big Coral Knoll, I just don't feel the same need to dive. I got to the South Beach parking lot around 8:00 am, but took my time gearing up and getting in the water. The beach was windy with odd cross-currents. Still, I got out okay and descended over the algae patch. Visibility was terrible:  less than 2 ft over the sand and not much better until I got into 18 feet of water. Visibility never got good. Maybe 5-8 feet at best. Swam due East not really looking for the jacks, but wouldn't mind knowing where I was. I never found the Jacks, think I was too far North because of the current. Once I got to the reef, I found some fish and things got a little more interesting, but there really isn't that much life there, at least not compared to the Big Coral Knoll.

Luis and I make two dives on the Ledge of Turtles

Like yesterday, I got to the beach a little after 5:00 am to get a parking spot behind Tower 20.  Luis came later and, again, got a spot just South of mine. We swam on the surface to the Rock Pile, then descended and headed out at 120 degrees to the Ledge of Turtles.  Came about 10 feet from Turtle Rock, corrected and swam to the Ledge. Luis had forgotten to charge his camera batteries, so neither of us was shooting.  We headed off to Shark's Rock, just like yesterday, except I missed it.  I don't know where or how, but suspect we got set to the North by the current again. Went to the Eastern Ledge and then South before coming West to the beach. Didn't see anything I recognized. Dive time was 102 minutes, but the RMV was .30 ft3/minute which is a record low. SAC was about 15 psi/minute  at 20 ft.

Annoyed that we had missed Shark's Rock, I wanted to go back to the Ledge of Turtles and try again. We swam on the surface to the Rock Pile, then descended and headed out to the Ledge. Swam at 120 degrees and went right to the Big Rock and then swam to the Ledge. From the Ledge we headed due East to the Nipple Rock, but missed it again. We continued East to the Eastern Ledge and then went South before coming West to the beach.  On the way, I glanced at some lighter coral to my North and then slowly recognized the Ledge of Turtles.  From there we went 300 degrees to the sand the West to the beach. Dive time was 102 minutes, but the RMV was .30 ft3/minute which is a record low. SAC was about 15 psi/minute at 20 ft.