Two Solo Dives on the Yankee Clipper Jacks

     I had filled tanks on Sunday and gotten some very good fills.  I was surprised then on Wednesday when I had geared up to see a psi of 2868.  I was expecting about 3200.  Undaunted, I swam out on the surface for 20 minutes from the rocks and descended.  I headed South for several minutes and then spotted the Jacks. I swam along the length of the Jacks and then back, continuing West to the beach.  Despite the short fill, I logged a two hour and three minute dive.  Warm water.  Okay visibility.  Nice dive time, considering, but just not the same without a camera.

     On Thursday, I slept in and did not get to the beach until about 8:30 am.  I raced to get gear on and get in the water.  I was afraid that the lifeguards might take the towers a little earlier at South Beach, but they didn't.  I had plenty of time and swam on the surface for about 20 minutes before I descended.

     I could not see the Jacks from the surface, but decided I was probably too far North.  I descended and searched and, as I suspected, I found them to the South.  I followed the Jacks East, then heard a boat close by.  I disconnected the flag line and stayed low.  This boat was close.  The noise stopped, so I forgot about it, then swam right under the boat, which had anchored to the North of the Jacks, but was just to the South of them when I encountered it.

     No Nurse Sharks today.  Water seemed colder, though calmer.  Killed time getting off the reef, but forgot about the algae section and barely had enough air to get to the beach.  The dive was two hours and thirty-one minutes.

Diving the Yankee Clipper with Luis and still without a camera

I met Luis in the South Beach parking lot.  We geared up and hiked across the sand to the beach.  We walked in a bit North of the Life Guard Tower, but well South of the volley ball court.

We descended shortly after getting in, and we swam due East over algae.  for quite a while.  I was watching a school of Porkfish and then saw a small octopus fly by me.  The algae eventually gave way to sand and then some shale and reef.  We kept heading East. but I think we drifted North, too.  Along the way I picked up a small shark sucker who spooked me when he tried to fasten onto my neck.

We found a couple of Euro Jacks by themselves on the shale reef.  Then we found a few more.  Then we found a small pile.  Just as we came to the pile, I came face to face with a small Nurse Shark who came through a Sea Plume just as I approached.  I went down and the nurse shark went over me, but I think both of us were quite startled by the encounter.

Luis and I kept swimming East and found a long stretch of Euro Jacks about 10 feet high.   We swam until we were low on air, but we never did find the end of this wall of Jacks.  I went up and decided we were due East of the fire house, so maybe we can find this again.

Would have been really nice to have a camera.  Lots of nurse sharks.  Lots of fish.  Visibility was not great, but there were pictures there, and I didn't get them.