20200615_Tower 15 Shore Dive

A bright and calm morning. Martha and I left for the beach at 6:45 am, geared up and got in the water at 7:15 then descended at 7:26 am.  First thing I saw was this small Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas). 

I swam with the turtle and got some nice pictures. I wanted to get some photos with Martha and the turtle together, but she was no where to be found.

I surfaced and spotted the flag. I swam to her and she showed me that she was missing one of her weight packets, so we began searching for it.

I went back to where I started and worked my way into the beach swimming a 100-foot North-South swath as I traveled East. Martha searched closer to shore. 

I got about half way to the beach, then conferred with Martha who insisted she lost the packet not far from where I had started my search. I turned had swam my swath back to the reef and found her weight packet about 5 minutes later. 

I surfaced at 8:05 am and swam back to the beach to give her the weight packet. She did not want to dive, so we called it.  

Our dive time was 36 minutes at a maximum depth of 19.5 feet. My actual consumption rate was 9.64 psi/minute; my SAC was 6.77 psi/minute and my Residual minute volume was .17 cubic feet/minute. 

Martha immediately showed me that she was missing one of her weight packets, so we began searching for it. I worked my way into the beach swimming a 100 foot North-South swath. Martha searched closer to shore. I got about half way to the beach, conferred with Martha then turned had swam my swath back to the reef. I found her weight packet and surfaced at 8:05 am and swam back to the beach to give her the weight packet. She did not want to dive, so we called it. 

20200613_Swiss Cheese Reef

As often happens, the evening forecast calling for thunderstorms was replaced early the next morning by one calling for cloudy skies with no mention of thunderstorms. Martha and I agreed to meet Leo and Luis
in the parking lot behind Tower 4 to dive the Swiss Cheese Reef this morning. The sea was relatively calm but visibility was only about 8 feet. We geared up and got in the water about 8:15 am and descended descended at 8:30 am somewhere near the beginning of the first reef and East of the first berm. 

We swam East to the Wrap Around Ledge then continued over the Rubble where I spotted a Bandtail SeaRobin (Prionotus ophryas).

This French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum) was on the Eastern edge of the Wrap Around Ledge.

From the Wrap Around Ledge, we swam East to the Rock Line then North to the Tire and from there we headed East again across a large sand flat to the Cresent Moon Rock. These Spotted Goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus) were encountered as we crossed that sand flat. 

After the sand flat, we swam Northeast over a rubble covered area and looked for some Barrel Sponges which would indicate we were close to the Staghorn Coral Reef.  

We swam North along the Swiss Cheese Reef and found a few bright green Rock Hind (Epinephelus adscensionis) among the rocks near the end of the Reef. We turned the dive when Martha hit 1500 psi and swam South along the reef line. Somewhere we lost Leo, who later explained that he had interacted with some 7 foot, 200 pound dolphin while we were otherwise engaged.

We continued South along the reef line to the Sectioned Rock, where we turned West and enjoyed the Grunts on the Staghorn Coral. We had about 800 psi when we got to the buoy line so we killed some time exploring before heading in.

We surfaced at 10:22 am for a dive time of 113 minutes at a maximum depth of 19.0 feet. My Actual consumption rate was 22.15 psi/minute; my Surface Air Consumption was 15.23 psi/minute and my Respiratory Minute Volume was 0.39 ft3/minute. We each got out of the water without incident.  

20200610_Tower 4 Sand Flat

Today's dive was a repeat of yesterday. We got up around 5:00 am. I worked on the dive pictures from yesterday and took Mia for a short walk. Martha and I left the apartment a little after 7:00  am. We geared up and walked to the beach about 7:40 am, got in the surf and swam East from the first berm to the vessel exclusion line where we descended at 7:53 am. Again, we were right on the buoy pin and chain, as a friendly Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio) would confirm.

The water was clearer but also a little cooler than yesterday.  Like our dive yesterday, we headed East over the blocks to the Lip of the Wrap Around Ledge; East over the rubble to the Rock Line and North on the Rock Line to the tire. We then headed East again to the Crescent Moon Rock and over the Rubble. Martha found a rather large Gaudy Nautica in the sand before the rubble. 

Unlike yesterday, though, when we headed NE we actually came to the tip of the staghorn coral. I got several photographs of  Graysbys (Cephalopholis cruentatus) above and to the right

and a few shots of the Juvenile Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus) below. 

From the Staghorn Coral, we headed due East over the Swiss Cheese Reef and onto the sand flat.

At 1500 psi we turned the dive and came WSW towards the beach. Martha spotted a Peacock Flounder (Bothus lunatus) well camouflaged on the sand. She pointed it out to me and I follow it then lost it then followed it again to get some photographs. 

She also spotted a small Purplemouth Moray Eel (Gymnothorax vicinus) on the rubble begore the Wrap Around Ledge. 

Finally, Martha spotted a Lionfish (Pterois volitans) on the Eastern edge of the Wrap Around Ledge. After photographing the Lionfish, we swam West and surfaced at 9:41 am. Our dive time was 108 minutes with a maximum depth of 23.8 feet. My Actual Consumption rate was 24.04 psi/minute; the Surface Air Consumption rate was 15.86  psi/minute and the Residual Minute Volume was 0.41 cubic feet/minute. We exited the water without incident but I did manage to put my dive vest on the roof of the Jeep and to lose it as we drove off.   

20200609_Sand Flat off Tower 4

I woke up a little after 5:00 am. I packed my dive bag and got the camera ready. We left the apartment a little after 7:00 and parked behind Tower 4. We geared up and walked to the water. There was no step this morning and the water was fairly calm. We got in easily and swam East off the first berm. At 7:49 am we descended a little shy of the vessel exclusion buoy to the South, but it was right on the empty pin for the buoy that should have been in front of the Life Guard Tower. 

We swam over the blocks to the Wrap Around Ledge, then over the rubble and East tot the Rock Line. From there we went North tot the tire and then East to the Crescent Moon Rock. We headed ENE on the next reef line and came upon this Balloonfish (Diodon holocanthus) in a Barrel Sponge. We were hoping to get to the Staghorn Coral, but I saw nothing familiar so we went East to the Swiss Cheese Reef and the large sand flat on top. Martha hunted for shells while I took pictures.  

We just kept heading East until Martha hit 1500 psi. Then, we headed WSW and ended up at the Sectioned Rock where I took some pictures of a Giant Anemone (Condylactis gigantea) and then swam over the Staghorn coral taking pictures of the many fish on that reef. From there we swam SE to the sand flat and back to the Rock Line.

Ran into an Atlantic Spadefish (Chaetodipterus faber) who took a liking to my black and silver fins. He followed me down to the vessel exclusion line rubbing his body along the tip of my fins. 

As we were coming in to the beach, a group of 6 or 7 Tarpon swam past us, slowing down to see what we might be doing. Unfortunately they were moving faster than I was. I got no shots as they swam past us. 

It was a good dive. Both Martha and I walked out of the water without incident. Dive time was 103 minutes at a maximum depth of 23.9 feet. Actual consumption was 25.3 psi/minute and the SAC was 16.7 psi/minute. Suunto computed the RMV as 0.46 ft3/minute and I calculated it at 0.43 ft3/minute on my form.

 

20200608_Fish Camp Rocks by way of the Big Coral Knoll

I got up early to take Mia for a walk then I packed up my dive gear, charged an extra camera battery and double checked that I had packed everything we would need. I loaded the jeep and Martha and I got to the beach at Tower 17 around 7:15 am. We geared up and were in the water by 7:30 am. There was a mild North current on the surface but we easily swam 30 yards past the buoy line to our usual starting point. We descended at 8:01 am, but I saw no landmarks that I recognized. We swim slowly to the South and East, hoping to correct for the current as we continued. 

We spotted a small Green Sea Turtle (Chelonia mydas) as we sank to the bottom and I got some nice pictures though I did not bring my Strobe.

The turtle may have been sleeping. In any event, it got up and swam slowly away as if we had awakened it

At about the 20 minute mark I spotted a pointed coral head I recognized by its caved in South side. We apparently had not gotten set by the North current, but had instead had over-compensated for the current and found ourselves North of our landmark. We swam to the Northeast  hoping to find  the Gray Mid-Way rock and its two sisters, but we did not find them. 

Instead, we ended up near this Smooth Trunkfish (Lactophrys triqueter) on the Perpendicular Rocks just South of the Big Coral Knoll, which has taken a beating during the past eight months while we have been in Laurel. Much of the coral has bleached and there are not as many fish as I remember. It is familiar, but different.  

As we crossed the top of the Knoll, a small boat or maybe a ski-do passed directly overhead. Scary. We got closer to the bottom which was only 8 feet deep.

This Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) seemed well settled on the Knoll, but I am much more accustomed to seeing  schools of French, Spanish, White, and Small-Mouth Grunts together with Bluestriped Grunts on the Knoll.

We swam around the perimeter of the Knoll then headed South past the Swept Rock and the Perpendicular Rocks and quickly found the Mid-Way Rock, where I spotted several lobster like this Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus).

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At the Mid-Way Rock, we turned East and swam to the Fish Camp Rocks, which is a collection of small and large coral heads. Like the Knoll, we usually find lots of fish and other marine life on and under the Rocks, like this Spanish Grunt (Haemulon macrostomum) on the right and this Black Margate (Anisotremus surinamensis) below.

We explored the Fish Camp Rocks until we were getting low on air, then turned West to the Gray Mid-way Rock and continued West to the beach. 

We came up well inside the vessel exclusion zone at 9:50 am. We swam in until we could stand on the bottom.

I exited the water, dropped my fins and camera on dry sand, then went back for Martha's fins and the flag, which I placed next to my fins and camera.

Martha fell over the step where the water was shallow. She began struggling to get her gear off. I took her tank and BCD, but I fell down, too, going over the step and ended up crawling out while she walked out of the water. Bill, the Lifeguard, offered to help me, but I was content to crawl out rather than attempt to stand a second time.  

Our dive time was 109 minutes at a maximum depth of 20.6 feet. My actual gas consumption was 25.17 psi/minute; my surface air consumption rate was 16.95 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was 0.44 cubic feet/ minute. 

20200606_Catamaran Beach

We geared up and got in the water by 8:44 am. Luis went first, walking through the rather large waves on the beach and struggling to maintain his balance in the shallow water. Leo went next and then Martha and I followed. There was a fairly strong North current against which we each struggled to maintain an Easterly bearing. Once we got past the sand bar and into deeper water, things got a little easier. We could duck under the breaking waves without fear of being knocked off our feet. 

As I crossed the sand bar, I saw Luis heading back onto the beach so I swam back to ask if he needed any help. He signaled that he was fine, but unwilling to continue the dive. I headed East again and caught up to Martha and Leo. We agreed to proceed with the dive and descend at 8:49 am. Martha had some difficulty equalizing her ears and descended slowly to the bottom to meet Leo and I. The current and poor visibility separated us, however. Leo and I were deciding whether to go to the surface to find Martha when I spotted her swimming past only a few feet away. She was focused on her compass bearing and did not see me. It took me a while to get Leo's attention then to swim after Martha. By the time we were together again, the current had drifted us past the Hotel Maren, which is about 800 feet North of the buoy pin and the blocks marking our usual path to the Swiss Cheese Reef. 

We swam ESE and caught an edge of the Swiss Cheese Reef. We continued South over some intermittent reef. Martha found a large Gaudy Nautica which unfortunately had been damaged. We also came upon a young Green Sea Turtle hunkered down between some rocks. We tried to follow the turtle but he soon lost us in the poor visibility. 

Martha signaled that she was down to 1500 psi, so we turned the dive. I surfaced to find that we were just off the first burm South of Tower 4, which is where we had wanted to have entered the water. We headed West to the beach and quickly got into shallow water where Luis was waiting for us to exit. He met me as I stood up and I gave him my fins and the flag then managed to walk out slowly without any additional help. Martha got knocked down in the shallow water just off the beach, but Luis went to help her exit the water. Leo walked out under his own power and carrying his own fins.

Our dive time was 70 minutes and our maximum depth was 24 feet. My actual consumption rate was 32.67 psi/minute; my surface air consumption was 21.14 psi/minute and my residual minute volume was .55 cubic feet. 

20200601_Swiss Cheese Reef Parts One and Two

I spent some time early yesterday getting my tanks inspected and filled. I checked one of Martha's 65 cubic foot tanks and it had not been filled. I got it filled. Unfortunately, I did not check her second tank.  Since my Suunto computer had died the night before and Martha's computer was also not working, we did not check the tank before Martha geared up.

We walked to the beach and entered the water off Tower 4. We walked in and swam out to the buoy line where we descended at 7:32 am. about 10 minutes later, Martha discovered that the tank was empty. We surfaced at 7:44 and swam back to the beach. We exited the water and walked back to the Jeep where we swapped tanks for her. 

After changing Martha's tank we got back in the water and swam out towards the reef. We descended at 8:20 am over the edge of the sand and I spotted the tie-down and pin for the buoy that used to mark the vessel exclusion zone. The water was clear and we could easily see what was left of the blocks from the pin. 

We swam East to the blocks East to the Wrap Around Ledge. We swam over the Ledge and out to the Rock Line, then we went North along the Rock Line to the tire and swam due East from the tire across the sand flat, past the Crescent Moon Rock and NE towards the Staghorn Coral. This time we found the Staghorn Coral and swam with the various Grunts and other brightly colored fish. 

We swam East to the Sectioned Rock and then turned North to follow the Swiss Cheese Reef for about 250 yards, where it ended. We then swam East again then turned South to follow the Swiss Cheese Reef back to the Sectioned Rock and then West to the beach where we surfaced at 10:15 am. 

Winds were calm and the water was, too, so getting out was much easier than it had been earlier in the week. The dive was 114 minutes. My actual consumption rate was 20.24 psi/minute. The Surface Air Consumption rate was 13.91 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .36 cubic feet per minute.

20200530_Yankee Clipper Jacks

Martha and I had been looking forward to diving the Yankee Clipper Jacks since before we left Laurel. I called Leo and we agreed to off Tower 2 at 8:00 am this morning to make that dive. 

Martha and got to the beach early, which was good since I discovered that the tank I had planned to dive was a short fill at 2300 psi. I drove back to the apartment to get a full tank and left Martha and Leo to gear up while discussing what they each had been doing over the winter. 

I got back and quickly got my gear on. We entered the water at 9:23 am and tried to swim along an 89 degree bearing keeping the black lamppost in the parking lot positioned in front of the narrow red brick chimney on the South side of the Fire Station on A1A. Things worked fine until we were maybe 200 yards out when the lamppost went behind a tree and was not seen again. We continued swimming on an 89 degree bearing.

Once we spotted the Three Tiered Reef, I decided to head NE and hoped to run into the jacks, which we did about 25 minutes later. Some of that time was spent recovering the flag which I had been carrying, but which escaped the line I was holding. Leo was behind me and quickly recovered the flag in the five or so minutes it took me to realize what had happened. Only a few minutes later, we came upon the Jacks about 50 feet East of where they started. 

We had a pleasant tour of the area. Martha got to explore to the area South of the Jacks and I just drifted along. We spent the better part of an hour then headed back to the beach. The wind was 7 mph which created some nasty waves hitting Martha and I from behind. The Life Guard drove her four wheel vehicle down to help us exit the water, but by the time she arrived, we had all emerged from the sea despite a fall or two. Martha later confided that she was nauseous by the end of the dive. 

Our dive time was 94 minutes with a maximum depth of 24.0 feet. My actual consumption rate was 24.28 psi/minute; my surface air consumption rate was 16.02 psi/minute and my Residual Minute Volume was .41 cubic feet/minute. 

  

29 May 2020_ Swiss Cheese Reef (T 4)

This morning we decided to visit the Swiss Cheese Reef off Tower 4. We did better at remembering to bring everything we needed, including the weight bucket with some extra weights and the dish soap to use as anti-fog on our masks. We parked by 7:00 am and got geared up and headed for the water when I noticed that there were no buoys at the opening to the Wrap Around Reef. Indeed, there was only one buoy that Martha spotted to the South.

We got in the water and swam out towards what I hoped would be the opening to the reef. There was a moderate to strong current to the North and we got set to the North. We descended at 7:39 am as we came off the sand and onto the reef. Nothing looked familiar, so I headed South hoping to find some formations I recognized. Soon I recognized the SW corner of the wrap around ledge and confirmed our location by following the reef South to the lower ledge and spotting the larger rock to the Southwest. So we swam around the reef, over the rubble and East towards the rock line. 

Visibility was not great, probably 10 feet or less, but we found the rock line and then traveled North to the tire before heading East across the sand flat. Missed the Crescent Moon Rock but found some barrel coral that might have been the marker to the Staghorn Coral, but wasn't. We continued to swim East and found the Swiss Cheese Reef running North and South. Headed North and found lots of landmarks I recognized. 

We went past the Coral Head on the edge of the shelf and turned the dive at the next set of coral heads. As we headed south along the reef line, I spotted the Sectioned Rock and we turned West and swam right to the Staghorn Coral where we saw a number of tropical fish: including French Grunts, Smallmouth Grunts, Pork Fish and Angelfish. 

Coming West to the beach I spotted a small Green Sea Turtle who seemed quite willing to swim along with me. Martha did not see the turtle. I lost it when I went back to get Martha. Wish I had brought my camera.   

We continued swimming West to the beach and exited slowly to avoid being toppled by the waves hitting us from behind. Total dive time was 103; maximum depth was 18.6 feet; actual consumption was 25.31 psi/minute; Surface Air Consumption was 17.40 psi/minute; and my residual minute volume was .45 cubic feet per minute. 

28 May 2020_Fish Camp Rocks by way of the Big Coral Knoll

I got up early this morning around 5:00 am to walk Mia, load the Jeep and head to the beach. After the drive from Laurel back to Fort Lauderdale, it seemed strange to pack an empty Jeep. Hard to remember wetsuits, soap, towels, and the flag, but we fixed what we had to and made do with the rest.

We got to the beach at 8:24 am, geared up and entered the water in front of Tower 17 at 7:55 am. We walked out to the sand bar and swam East to the reef then descended at 8:33 am. 

There were no buoys off the beach to alert us to a current, but once I was in the water I could feel that we had a South current. I tried to compensate for the current but overcompensated and ended up just 10-15 feet South of the Big Coral Knoll. The Knoll has taken a beating during the past eight months while we have been in Laurel.  

We headed to the Eastern edge and then turned South to the Fish Camp Rocks. This area looked much more like I remembered, but it, too, has changed. We made a quick sweep of the Rocks then continued South to the Columnar Coral. When I first saw this coral it was covered with 3 inch coat of  that looked like sheets of grain waving in a breeze. Now it is just a bare rock and has been for several years. 

We returned to the Fish Camp Rocks and spent some time exploring each of the several larger rocks. We were looking for more turtles or maybe some nurse sharks, but there were none to be seen. We swam West the Rocks towards the beach. We surfaced at 10:24 am, but it took a while to get out of the water and on the beach. I fell a few times and had to work my way into deeper water to get my legs under me so I could stand up and try again. Once out of the water, I took the gear off and walked back in to help Martha climb out. I held out my hand for her fins but she took my hand for balance and walked out on her own. She later confided that she had vomited during the dive and that she felt nauseous at the end of the dive.

Our dive time was 111 minutes and the maximum depth was 20.4 feet. My actual consumption rate was 25.03 psi/minute; my surface air consumption rate was 16.85 psi/minute and my residual minute volume was .43 cubic feet.