Tuesday 23 July 2019 Martha and I dive the Fish Camp Rocks

Martha and I drove to our spot behind Tower 17 and geared up. We wound around some fishermen to get in the water without tangling ourselves in their fishing line. We swam out looking for the blocks and found them. I tried to establish an intersecting line but failed to take a picture, so I'm not sure that I will be able to find it again. Still, we started our dive at the blocks. Went up the gun sight to Irish thighs then the Cigar Rock and finally to the Gray Mid-Way Rock.


Got some pictures of a small school of Atlantic Spadefish, a number of grunts, Snappers and other common fish. We swam to the Big Coral Knoll, but there were no turtles there and not a lot of fish, either.








a French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)

 A Caesar Grunt (Haemulon carbonarium);












A Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus);












A Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus)












A Spanish Grunt (Haemulon macrostomum);









 A Schoolmaster (Lutjanus apodus);

 and a Small School of Ballyhoo (Hemiramphius brasiliensis).

We went looking for the smaller knoll to the NE, but I turned back without finding it. We headed back to the Fish Camp Rocks and then headed West to the beach.

Bottom time was 130 minutes, our maximum depth was 19.2 ft. My SAC was 14.41 psi/minute and an RMV of 0.37 cubic feet per minute.

Tuesday, 23 July 2019 4th Open Water Dive on the Fish Camp Rocks

During our surface interval, Johnny got lunch and we discussed the 6 table problems. He took and passed the table quiz and the table final. This was his 4th open water dive. We geared up using the same tanks we used on our first dive. Johnny had used my air on the alternate air source ascent, so we both had 1600 psi left. We swam on the surface past the buoy line and descended.

Schoolmaster (Lutjanus apodus) 

I headed due East hoping to catch sight of the Big Coral Knoll, which I did.  Not much life on the knoll, however, so we headed South to the Fish Camp Rocks, where we saw lots of French, Smallmouth, Bluestriped and Spanish Grunts as well as various parrotfish and Some Schoolmasters.

French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)

Spanish Grunt (Haemulon macrostomum) 

Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) 

Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) 

Initial Phase Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum) 

Johnny signaled that he was down to 800 psi, so I turned the dive and we headed for the beach. Johnny carried 8 pounds but was light. He had to swim to stay down and was blowing through a lot of air.

Spotted Goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus) 

 I signaled that he should use my alternate air source, which he did. He hung on my BCD and I picked up a rock to assist with our buoyancy. He was high and to my right, so we could each kick unimpeded. I watched my gas pressure fall to less than 200 psi as we got to the buoy line.

Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) 

I signaled that we should surface and we did. We then swam to the beach on the surface.


Bottom time was  42 minutes with a maximum depth of 210.2 feet. My SAC was 23.34 psi/min and my RMV was 0.6 ft3/min, though those numbers were inflated by Johnny breathing on my tank for the last 5 - 10 minutes of the dive.

Tuesday, 23 July 2019 3rd Open Water Dive Off Tower 17

Johnny met me on A1A behind Tower 17 at 7:00 am. It did not take long to gear up, but we had a 25-minute surface swim to get to the Eastern Ledge of the First Reef line. When we got to the Ledge, I went down to secure the flag line, which I did by wrapping the line across a flat bit of rock and catching it under a rock lip at the ends. Johnny came down slowly and kept his ears equalized.

On the bottom, I indicated that he should signal that he was out of air and needed to share air, that he should hold the strap on my BCD, and that he should use his breathing to control his buoyancy. He signaled as he should and took my alternate air source. He also grabbed onto my BCD strap. Unfortunately, we went nowhere for the first 2 minutes then we swam to the surface. He simply could not use his breathing to become positively buoyant. The total time for the ascent was almost three minutes.

At the surface, I let him know that we needed to increase our ascent speed for the CESA. I signaled that he should watch me as I took 2 deep breaths in and out then took a deep breath in and dropped my regulator's second stage. He did fine except that he thought we were going up and I needed to settle him back on the sand. When we did swim up, we did so in under 35 seconds from 32 feet, which was perfect. I went back down and freed the flag line and Johnny met me at about 20 feet and we swam back to the beach.

Bottom time was 44 minutes, including the ascents; maximum depth was 31.9 feet; my SAC was 19.02 psi/min and my RMV was 0.49 ft3/min somewhat distorted by Johnny's breathing with me on the alternate air source ascent.

Monday, 22 July 2019 Solo Dive on the Yankee Clipper Jacks

Took Mia for a walk at 5:00 am this morning and the weather was good. Light wind. Warm air. I decided to go diving. Martha has not been cleared by her doctor to dive yet, so she stayed on the beach. I took the camera and the flag. Decided to go to the Jacks and to swim underwater to them.




I descended in about 8 feet of water and tried to hold a 100-degree bearing. I thought I was adjusting for the current, but when I got on the reef I surfaced to find I was almost to the Bahia Mar. I swam South over some larger rocks that seemed familiar to me and ended up on the Jacks just past the reef and in 25 feet of water.

Rainbow Parrotfish (Scarus guacamaia)

I took too many pictures of Rainbow Parrotfish and a Hogfish who paid little attention to me and allowed me to get close.

Hogfish (Lachnolaimus maximus) 

Intermediate French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru)

Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) 

Spotted Goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus) 

Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio) 

Southern Atlantic Stingray (Dasyatis americana) 

Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus)

I think this Bluestriped Grunt is looking for one of the smaller fish to clean the parasites from it's mouth. Looks funny.

Bottom time was 128 minutes at a maximum depth of 24.7 feet. My SAC was 14.98 psi/minute and the RMV was 0.39 cubic foot.

Sunday, 16 July 2019, 2nd OW Dive on the Swiss Cheese Reef

During our 99-minute surface interval, Johnny took the final exam and we went over the dive tables but he did not take those tests. We geared up and got in the water. We swam out to the buoy and descended at 10:13 am. We swam to the Wrap Around Ledge, swam across the rubble and settled in on the sand flat to perform the skills. We did the removal and recovery of the regulator and the mask. We performed a stationary alternate air source, a cramp release and weight removal and replacement. We performed a fin pivot and then we hovered. We spent 20 minutes on the skills listed on the OW slates. Johnny had trouble performing only one:  the hover.

Graysbys (Cephalopholis cruentatus)

After the skills, we swam East to the Rockline, to the tire and then to the Crescent Moon Rock. We turned ENE and swam to the Giant Barrel Sponges and then to the Staghorn Coral where we saw Graysbys (Cephalopholis cruentatus)

Spotted Scorpionfish (Scorpaena plumieri)

and Spotted Scorpionfish (Scorpaena plumieri).

Giant Anemone (Condylactis gigantea)

We went East to the Sectioned Rock and I photographed the Giant Anemone (Condylactis gigantea) that grew there.

Bar Jack (Caranx ruber) 

At the Sectioned Rock we turned North and followed the Reef. I got a nice picture of a Bar Jack (Caranx ruber).

Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) 

a Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus),

White Grunt (Haemulon plumierii) 

a White Grunt (Haemulon plumierii) , 

Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus) 

a Gray Snapper (Lutjanus griseus),

Porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix) 

and a Porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix)

Porcupinefish (Diodon hystrix) 

Our bottom time was 49 minutes at a maximum depth of 20.0 feet. My SAC was 20.47 psi/minute and my RMV was 0.53 cubic foot/minute.

Tuesday, 16 July 2019, 1st OW Dive on the Swiss Cheese Reef

Johnny met me in the Fort Lauderdale Beach Parking Lot just a little after 7:00 am. We geared up and got in the water, but Johnny complained that his BCD was leaking. Indeed it was, but we went back to shore and I tightened the inflator's connection to the BCD, which stopped the leak. We got geared up again and this time Johnny complained that a different air vent was leaking slowly but I told him to ignore it and we got back in the water.

We walked/swam over the sand bar and descended in about 7 feet of water at 7:45 am. We swam along the bottom to the buoy so that Johnny might avoid any problems equalizing. At the buoy we swam East to the Wrap Around Ledge and over the rubble to the Rock Line. Johnny was carrying 6 pounds of weight after he declared that 4 pounds were too heavy in the pool. He used his arms a lot and was often vertical in the water, but he got better during the dive.

We went North along the Rock line to the tire and then East to the Crescent Moon Rock. Along the way I demonstrated the removal and recovery skills and Johnny successfully demonstrated each skill.  He also removed and replaced his mask. I tried to get him to hover, but he seemed unable to do so, even when he used his legs to push himself off the sand.

From the Crescent Moon Rock We swam NE to the Staghorn Coral with hundreds of small grunts and snappers. Went East to the Sectioned Rock and spotted a Giant anemone on the West side of the rock. At about that point, Johnny let me know that he was down to 1500 psi so we turned the dive and swam back over the Staghorn Coral and across the rubble to the sand flat. I stopped on the sand flat to get Johnny to hover and this time he was successful. Then I demonstrated taking the gear off under water and he demonstrated the same skill, except that he did not completely remove the gear but left his right arm inside the shoulder strap.

Once he was back in his kit, we swam for the Rockline, over the rubble and over the Wrap Around Ledge. We swam past the buoy line then surfaced. He added air to his BCD to stay afloat and we swam to the beach. He took the flag and walked out of the surf. I came along more cautiously and striving to keep my balance. Eventually, I made my way out of the surf and we walked over the warming sand to the truck.

Our Bottom time was 49 minutes and the maximum depth was 20.0 feet. My SAC rate was 20.47 psi/minute. My RMV as .41 cubic feet per minute while my own computation reflects an RMV of 0.53 cubic feet per minute. 

Tuesday, 2 July 2019, 4th OW Dive on the Fish Camp Rocks

During our 45-minute surface interval, we again discussed Stefano's buoyancy and his use of his breathing to control that buoyancy. I am concerned that at the end of a dive when he should be 4 to 5 pounds lighter than he was at the beginning of the dive, he has difficulty hovering at depth and floating at the surface. Having beaten that particular horse again, we geared up and got in the water.

Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus) 

We swam out to the blocks then due East to the gun sight, to the Cigar Rock and to the Gray Mid-Way Rock, except we got set to the North by overcompensating for a mild South current. We skirted the Big Coral Knoll then headed South to the Fish Camp Rocks.

Lesser Electric Ray (Narcine brasiliensis)

On the way to the Rocks, I spotted and photographed a Lesser Electric Ray (Narcine brasiliensis). This is only the third time I have seen this animal and the first time I have seen it off Tower 17. Before I have seen it off Tower 4.

Lesser Electric Ray (Narcine brasiliensis)

Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus) 

 At the Rocks I spotted this Christmas Tree Worm and the following common reef fish.

Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus) 

Spotted Goatfish (Pseudupeneus maculatus)

 White Grunt (Haemulon plumierii) 

Caesar Grunt (Haemulon carbonarium) 

Schoolmaster (Lutjanus apodus) 

Juvenile Yellowtail Damselfish (Micropathodon chrysurus) 

Spanish Grunt (Haemulon macrostomum) 

Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum)  

The Bottom time on our dive was 75 minutes and the maximum depth was 19.8 feet. My SAC was 17.64 psi//minute and the RMV was 0.46 cubic foot per minute. 

Tuesday, 2 July 2019 3rd OW dive to the Ledge off Tower 17

Martha and I drove to the Point of Americas to pick up Stefano. I had called him and asked him to let the guards know we were coming. He did and we got right in. Drove to the building, picked up Stefano and drove up to Tower 17. Geared up and got in the water at 7:25 am.









Swam out to the Ledge and I descended to tie off the flag line. Signaled Martha and Stefano descended. I had spoken earlier with Stefano and suggested that we breathe up the water column during the alternate air source ascent.  We tried, but he simply wouldn't rise, so we swam up.

Went down again and made a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. Stefano swam right along and we took a full minute to surface.









We went back down. I untied the flag line. We signaled Martha and we all swam North along the edge of the reef until I found the narrow ravine that should have led us to the Big Coral Knoll. We went up that ravine looking for the Big Coral Knoll but did not find it. We swam West to the beach.

The dive time was 56 minutes and the maximum depth was 34.5 feet. My SAC was 19.29 psi/minute and the RVM was 0.50 cubic feet/minute.