Luis and Dean join me on two dives on the Big Coral Knoll

I got to the beach early and Dean pulled up behind me shortly afterwards.  We geared up, discussed the direction of travel for the lightning storms and then got in the water. We descended at the Sea Rod and swam to the blocks. Saw the Sailfin Blenny, but didn't get any photos worth keeping. We moved on. up the gun sight to the Cigar Rock.  We were getting set some and ended up at the coral with the crown blown off, turned North and headed to the Knoll.

 We found some Green Turtles.

Waiting to be cleaned by the small fish on the Knoll

Also got some shots of this Juvenile Creole Wrasse.  













We toured the Knoll some, then went to the Fish Camp Rocks where I found a White Speckled Hermit Crab in a little shell.










We went out to the Columnar Coral, but it is really chewed  up.  Dean was impressed with the Giant Anemone in the cavern in the rock.




Then we headed back.  Ran into Luis and he came back with us to make our second dive. Dive time was 131 minutes; my RMV was 0.42 ft3/minute.





On our second dive, Dean, Luis and I swam out to the blocks and went down.  Swam up the gun sight to the Gray Mid Way Rock and then over to the Perpendicular Rock, the Swept Rock and the Knoll.  We simply toured around the Knoll for most of the dive.



Found a little Octopus cleverly disguised as part of a yellow coral.  

 I tried to get him to play and he went to all black and ducked under the coral.  Too bad.












Also got a shot of an Initial Phase Puddingwife.




We headed back the same way we came. As we got to Irish Thighs, I started spewing air.  I thought it was the first stage, but I couldn't see or feel any problem.  I think now that it was my alternate air source, which I had tucked up under my back.  Lost about 300 psi in a very short time.  Still made a 125 minute dive.   My RMV was 0.39 ft3/minute.

Three Open Water Dives with Brandon and Ivan

Luis swam out to join me for the last part of my first dive, but we got out around 8:35 am.  The boys came a little after 9:00 am.  They parked their motorcycles across the street, set up their gear and we got in the water to get them better weighted.  Luis went back to get some more weight for Ivan and one of the condo board members from across the street asked us to get the guys to move their cycles at the end of our dive.  We agreed, but didn't mention it to the boys until we got back.  Brandon went out with 8 pounds while Ivan had 6.  We went down in 8 ft of water and went out on the sand.  Spotted a Sea Robin walking along the sand. Found the blocks and headed up the gun sight to the Gray Mid-Way Rock.  Swam with a Hawksbill Sea Turtle for several minutes and then headed North to the Perpendicular Rocks and the Knoll.  As we got on the Knoll, a little Green Sea Turtle raced over to see us and then followed us for a little bit.  Wish I could have taken a camera.  Ivan got low on air, so we turned and headed back the way we came.  He was also struggling to stay down as his tank got lighter.  I tried to get him to hang on to a rock for some additional negative buoyancy, but he just looked at it then dropped it. Eventually, he got the idea.  Brandon got to the beach with 500 psi while Ivan had a little over 1000 psi. Dive time was 57 minutes.

We got in the water and swam out to the swim buoy to make a 5-point descent, then swam to the SE before we worked through the other skills.  The boys had new tanks, but I ended our first OW dive with 1711 psi and opted to use the balance in that tank for this second dive.  We surfaced to do the tired diver's tow and to take the gear off and replace it at the surface, which took some time.  My computer timed out and ended this dive, so when we went back down, it started a fourth dive.  Dive time was 22 minutes.

After we completed the tired diver's tow and replacing gear at the surface, we swam over to the flag and joined Luis on the bottom.  We headed East and came to the Gray Mid-way Rock, then continued East to the Fish Camp Rocks.  We weren't there very long, but it was interesting.  Brandon was getting low on air, so we headed back. We got to the beach with plenty of air for everyone.  Dive time was 41 minutes.

Solo Dive to Photograph the Sailfin Blenny dancing at dawn

I got to the beach right at 6:00 am.  I was geared up  and in the water shortly after that.  I descended in about 8 ft of water and swam slowly out towards the Sea Rod.  Never found it, but must have been close since I was only a few kicks North of the rock where I found the Peppermint Shrimp before.  I got to the concrete blocks and found my Sailfin Blenny buddy and just waited for him to do his dance as dawn crept across the reef.  I shot 185 pictures of this blenny and only a dozen have him up with his dorsal fin unfurled.  Some of those are in focus,  but some are not.  Disappointing, really, but try again tomorrow.

Took a few other photos, but just on the way off the reef and to the beach.

This Stoplight Parrotfish being cleaned by a couple of Neon Gobys.

This Post-Larval Porkfish.

and this Seaweed Blenny.







The dive time was 130 minutes and my RMV was 0.42 ft3/minute, which, too, is disappointing.  You'd think I would do really well on my breathing if I just stayed in one place and shot the same shot over and over.  

Two Dives on the Big Coral Knoll

Got to the beach early, geared up and got in the water.  Went down at the Sea Rod and then moved slowly East to the blocks.  Went up the gun sight and to the Gray Mid-way Rock.

 Found a Hawksbill turtle along the way and got some pictures.

Turned North to the Perpendicular Rocks and the Big Coral Knoll.










Spotted the Glasseye Snapper but couldn't get a photo.  Also spotted the Rock Hind and got this shot of her.


 
Also saw the dark fish I have not been able to identify. Didn't get a picture of it either.





Good breathing.  Got 141 minutes of dive time and a RMV of 0.38 ft3/minute.  Not bad.

Patrick brought his father, Bob, along for my second dive. We geared up and got in the water. Bob wanted 14 pounds of weight, which seemed like a lot to me, but he is an AOW Diver.  We headed out towards the blocks and Bob was having trouble keeping his head above water while we were swimming.  Got to checking things and noticed that his BCD was punctured and leaking near the inflater valve.  At first I thought it was the valve, but it was the BCD, itself.  So I called the dive but suggested we swim in under water.  Underwater, Bob did just fine.

We shifted direction and spotted a Green Sea Turtle and I got Patrick's picture with the turtle.  Bob wasn't fast, but he was keeping up and looked more in control.



















We headed to the blocks and then up the gun sight to the Cigar Rock where we saw a small Southern Atlantic Stingray getting cleaned.










Then we went to the Gray Mid-way Rock and over to the Big Coral Knoll, where we saw some more turtles.











 Took a turn around the Knoll and saw the Rock Hind out sunning itself.



By this point, Bob was down to 1800 psi, so we turned back and re-traced our steps back to the beach.  Turned out to be a lovely dive with a number of interesting creatures.

Two Solo Dives on the Ledge of Turtles

Storm clouds along the horizon kept the day dark well after dawn.  I geared up and went down in about 10 feet of water and swam to the reef.  Had to surface to find that I was well North of where I thought I was, but I found the Rock Pile and headed up the reef at 120 degrees.  I was not able to find the octopus that I had played with last Tuesday.  No sigh of him. Too bad.

 I spotted Turtle Rock and swam on to the Ledge, where I found a small Green Turtle.  Got some pictures of him, then just hung out and took photos of other fish.

Like this Bicolor Damselfish,

this Juvenile Striped Parrotfish,

This Striped Parrotfish,

and this Rock Hind.








I stayed on the Ledge until I got down to 1000 psi, then I headed down the reef to the Rock Pile and West to the beach.  Dive time was 141 minutes with an RMV of 0.37.






I needed some extra surface interval before making a second dive, but also needed to get in the water before the evil lifeguards came, so I swam out to the reef and just floated for another 10-15 minutes.  Still ended up with the "tissue level warming," but it was manageable.  I descended as soon as I saw the life guard and quickly found the Rock Pile.  Headed up the reef at 120 degrees, again, but this time I ended up getting set South and found the Round Brain Coral to the SW of Turtle Rock.  Still swam right to the ledge.

Found another of the leafy gobys.  This looked like the one I photographed at the Little Knoll on Sunday, except it was whiter.  Still can't identify them.

 This, on the other hand, is a Townsend Angelfish, which is a cross between a Queen Angelfish and a Blue Angelfish.

 This little Yellowtail Damselfish looks like he's really giving me a piece of his mind.

And this is a Yellowhead Wrasse.



I stretched my air some and got 151 minutes of dive time.. My RMV was .36 ft3/min.  

Two Dives with Leo on the Little Coral Knoll

Met Leo on the beach shortly after 8:00 am.  We caught up and discussed the mapping project.  Decided to measure to the tipped coral on the NW corner of the Knoll and then from the NW corner back to the Big Rock. Agreed to do so in 50 ft segments so we could pull the line tight and maybe do better at holding the bearing. Seemed to work out.  We overshot the outbound measure.  We went 130 from the little rock and probably should have been at 115 to 120 degrees, instead.  On the way back, we went at 130 and came out right in from of the big Rock. Perfect.


Our second dive was just a dive.  We both had our cameras and swam out to the swim buoy.  Descended onto the Big Rock and took pictures, then went to the small rock.
.
I spotted a Blackbar Soldierfish on the small rock and got this shot, which came out much better than I thought it would.

Got this shot of a Spotted Scorpionfish.

 This shot of a Blue Tang

This shot of what I think is a Graysby Grouper, though its coloring is a little off and it is missing some white spots along the dorsal fin.

This shot of a Juvenile Porkfish.

This shot of a Spanish Hogfish.

This  shot of a Sailors Choice.

And finally this shot of a Red Hind.  We just drifted over the knoll and taking photos.



It got to be noon and we headed back.  Pleasant dive. The Dive time was 122 minutes and my RVM was 0.39 ft3/minute.

Getting Certified as an SDI Solo Diver

I had to give up using the Zuma and the Pony Bottle.  The Zuma is a light weight, easy BCD made for recreational diving. I needed the Oceanic Excursion I used 3 or 4 years ago.  That was a fairly heavy BCD with D-rings to inspire your run-of-the-mill gear baron.  I set it up Friday night, then got to the beach early Saturday morning to make a short test dive to check the system and my weights.  I was heavy.  So I took 2 pounds off, being the recreational diver that I am.  I may have had 2 pound of extra weight just in the redundant knives, slates, whistles and what-not the course required.

I got to Pompano about 7:00 am, and Enzo did not have us on the manifest because I apparently didn't read my email carefully enough to see that Sean had switched from ScubaTyme to Pompano Dive Center.  We were diving on the Sea Siren.  Things started getting busy around 8:30 am, and we got loaded and under way.  Sean checked everyone's gear to be certain we had all of the necessary redundancy the course required.  The boat tied off on the bow section of the United Caribbean.  I got my gear on, but was having doubts about my buoyancy. I'm used to filling my lungs and floating without putting any air the the "inner tube."   I swam to the line and went down, letting go of the line early in the dive to make a delightful free fall descent.

Forest was acting a divemaster, but apparently also taking the course.  Sean had flash cards with various commands or situations that required a skill to handle.  It was a good idea but might have used a larger font. The gear was unwieldy in the water, but manageable.  I hung onto the pony bottle the whole dive so it wouldn't bump against me.  I was heavy and bouncing on the bottom from time to time, but things got better about 2000 psi. I blew through my air, which was not unexpected considering the new/different equipment and, of course, the stress of being evaluated.  We didn't get much done on this first dive.

During the surface interval, a pod of 10-12 dolphins surfed the boat's bow wake.  They spent easily 5 minutes with us as we cruised down to the South of Grouper Bend.  I decided to drop 2 pounds and went back in the water with 4 pounds. Would have been okay if I had dropped 2 more, to 2 pounds.  Surprising how much extra weight I carried.  We got in the water and Sean used the flash cards to put us through our paces.  At the end, we sent up our sausages and reeled them in as we went up. Everyone did fine and we all got certified.

I can understand the need for the redundant and independent air source if you dive deeper than 20-30 feet, though I am a bit ambivalent about any depth more shallow than the depth of your deepest recent controlled emergency swimming ascent. Nonetheless, I'm not sure that I will change the way that I dive of the Fort Lauderdale beach. It's 20 feet deep for 600 yards out and I think that it continues to be reasonable for me to rely on the CESA instead of carrying a pony bottle.  

Two Solo Dives on the Big Coral Knoll with dancing Blennys and Turtles galore

I really like my Zuma BCD, so I used two luggage straps and some webbing to fashion a harness that would allow me to hang the pony bottle off this harness, which I could wear on top of the Zuma.  Worked just fine in my living room.  I took my harness to the beach this morning, though, and discovered that without the constant pull of gravity the pony bottle got in my way.  A lot.  I benched the pony bottle and took the camera instead.

I swam out to the sea rod and descended, then worked my way slowly East to the rock just North of the blocks. I haven't seen the Peppermint Shrimp since Tuesday and I couldn't find them today.  I went to the blocks to check on the insect, but I didn't find it.  Maybe it wasn't up yet.

I did spot a Sailfin Blenny who was busy celebrating the sunrise and got this picture of him.  Usually they dance for other blennys, but I couldn't see any others around.

I headed East up the gun sight, Irish Thighs, the Cigar Rock but missed the Gray Mid-way Rock and ended up at the Green Mountainous Coral SW of the Perpendicular Rocks.  From there I went by the Swept Rock and onto the Knoll.





Two small Green Turtles and one older Green turtle were hanging out on the Knoll getting cleaned and maybe looking for food.

They were a little timid, but allowed me to get pretty close for some of these shots.

I love the stooped shoulders look this turtle adopts while he waits for a cleaning.











Also found my friend the Rock Hind.  It still runs from me, but the allowable distance is shrinking.






Got back to the beach at 142 minutes sucking the last bit of air from my tank. My RMV was 0.39 ft3/min.




I saw Sue as I was getting out from the first dive.  She wanted to go out, but wasn't eager to race the life guard, so we went in for my second dive together, but went our own ways once we got out of the swimming area.  I went down at the Sea Rod and basically repeated my first dive.


This time I found the insect at the blocks and got some pictures, but they aren't that good.











Watched a Hogfish pick up a small hermit crab, shell and all, and race off to enjoy his spoils. He would stop and shake his head violently, trying to dislodge the crab from the shell, but he was out of sight before that issue got resolved.







Made several circles of the Knoll.  Tried to play with a little turtle, but he was confused and took off.












On the way back to the beach, I spotted a Southern Atlantic Stingray and got several going away shots. Still, it was exciting.




Took way too many photos. Ended up a 132 minute dive and a 0.35 ft3/min RMV.

Two Solo Dives on the Big Coral Knoll: Baby Squid!

I have been flirting with the idea of getting Solo certified.  PADI calls it a self-reliant distinctive specialty, kind of like when they pretend that recreational divers don't decompress during their ascent or say that a mandatory safety stop isn't a decompression stop. Problem is that no one has been offering the PADI course, not even Pavon.  Some question about whether you can avoid liability since PADI has made the buddy system the foundation of its open water course.  The reality is, of course, that the buddy system is broken. Even when I dive with others, I tend to wander off with my camera and few buddies have the patience to hang around.  Many wouldn't know when I was in trouble or what to do if they did recognize I was having a problem.  Seems like I'm often solo diving, even in a group. Of course most weekdays I don't have buddies except for students and DAN's accident statistics demonstrate that diving with students is considerably more dangerous than diving alone. All of which is to say I signed up to take an SDI Solo Diving certification course from Sean Meadows out of World of Scuba in Boca Raton.

Tuesday night I was attending a class in Boca Raton in connection with that course. I  picked up a pony bottle I'm borrowing from a friend and want to spend some time with it before we have our dives Saturday morning.  I was up late and couldn't get up Wednesday morning to dive. Spent some time trying to hook the pony up to my Zuma, but there just isn't enough Zuma there. I didn't have much time to fuss with the gear when I got to the beach, so I decided to take the camera and just enjoy the first dive and deal with the gear issue during my surface interval.

I swam out to the sea rod and descended.  I was setting up my gear and noticed two little quarter inch specs in the water that weren't moving with the rest of the sea weed.  I looked closer and they were baby squid.









I was shooting macro, but could have used a +6 diopter and a supermacro set up. There were four babies all together. They couldn't move very fast, but it was easy to lose sight of them.

I stayed with them for quite a while and quite a few photographs.

When I left them, I made my way slowly to the rock just North of the blocks.

Found this Yellowline Arrow Crab there and go this shot.

From the blocks, I went up the gun sight and up to the Gray Mid-Way Rock, then North to the Perpendicular Rocks, where I got this shot of a Bluestriped Grunt.

 When I got to the Knoll, I spotted these two French Grunts fighting over something.



I did take my finger spool and new $26 SMB.  I played with the SMB and sent it up a few times to gauge how much air I could put in it, but I can't say that I earned any new respect for the device.

Total dive time was 141 minutes; RMV was .39 ft3/min.


My surface interval was 50 minutes, but I needed to get in the water and outside the swim buoys before the Life Guard got to the Tower.  I had brought a suitcase strap and tried to hook the pony bottle up to the Zuma using that strap, but it was beyond me. Probably have to go with the Oceanic BCD, that's a gear barons delight with D-rings everywhere. I hadn't brought that, however, so I just took the camera and shot pictures on the second dive, too. Lots of pictures.  Too many pictures.  Gotta set limits.

Got this picture of a Juvenile Cottonwick at the rectangular Rock just North of the Blocks.




 

 This Rock Hind loves to sit on top of the larger rock and sun itself while keeping watch.

 This Yellow Jack came bombing through just inches off the coral on top of the Knoll

This White Speckled Hermit Crab had a perfect little home just off the Knoll.










Spotted this Gulf Flounder on the sand on the way back to the beach.  Could easily have missed it.


Nice dive.  Dive time was 160 minutes with an RMV of .35 ft3/min.

Still need to work out a harness for the pony bottle and should make one or two dives before Saturday morning. Hate to embarrass myself in front of the class.