Cordova Dive Blog

Wednesday, 22 May 2019

Martha and I swim to the Eastern Ledge off Tower 15



What wind there was this morning was out of the ESE. The ocean was relatively flat and calm.

We left the apartment at 6:50 am but took time to stop at Speedway to fill the truck with gas before crossing the Causeway Bridge. We got in a rather long but fast-moving line for the Bridge at 7:15 am. We were at the beach by 7:30 am.

Caribbean Spiny Lobster (Panulirus argus)

I had wanted to go to Tower 15 this morning and try to find the Little Coral Knoll, but first, we needed to find a parking space. There was one available on A1A and I did an adequate job of parking. Then two people left, so I pulled up and did an excellent job of parking two spaces closer to the entry. I was right on the line at the front of the space with several feet to set up the tanks.

Gray Angelfish (Pomacanthus arcuatus)

We geared up and headed for the water, but there was a lot of seaweed to deal with, both on the beach and ten feet out into the water. We carefully picked our way across the seaweed on the sand and slogged through the seaweed in the water before we could swim out to the buoy and descend at 7:57 am.

Intermediate French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru)

I looked for and finally found the large rock by the buoy that Leo had used as is entry-point. I shot some pictures and decided against looking for the Little Coral Knoll. Visibility was quite poor so we just went East to see what was between us and the open ocean.

Christmas Tree Worm (Spirobranchus giganteus)

We found some Christmas Tree Worms on a coral head



Found a number of larger rocks with some fish, but no really large concentrations. We got to the Eastern edge of the reef in about 45 minutes and with 2000 psi still in my tank. Turned the dive and headed West for 35 minutes.

Young Yellow Sand Ray (Urolophus jamaicensis)

On the way back Martha found this young Yellow Sand Ray who was very calm while I took his picture. I stuck my hand in the sand and he remained calm as I rubbed his belly with my fingers.

Cocoa Damselfish (Stegastes variabilis)

I also got some pictures of a Juvenile Cocoa Damselfish (left)

Harlequin Bass (Serranus tigrinus)

 and a very calm Harlequin Bass (right) who hardly moved as I took several pictures.

Red Grouper (Epinephelus morio)

The Red Grouper (below) followed us for about 20 feet as we headed back to the beach.




I went up to the surface to see where we were, which was about 30 ft from the initial buoy at which we descended and with Tower 15 just behind the buoy. Not bad for a braille dive.

We swam South to empty our tanks and kill some time before surfacing. We turned and swam back to the North and to the same buoy. We surfaced when we crossed the buoy line into the vessel exclusion area.





The exit was steep and tricky. Lots of seaweed in the water and on the beach. Both Martha and I managed to climb out without falling.

We hiked back to our truck to find some shiny red monster truck with an Ocean Rescue sticker in the window had parked 3 feet over his line and there was barely enough room to slide by with our tanks on let alone get out of the gear.  I accidentally bashed the front of his truck while removing my tank. Martha left him a note.






Dive time was exactly two hours with 400 psi left in my tank. The maximum depth was 30 feet and the bottom temperature was 80.6 degrees. I calculated my SAC at 15.12 psi/minute and the RMV at 0.39 cubic feet per minute. My Suunto dive computer calculated my RMV at 0.34 cubic feet per minute, which was even better.


My pictures of this dive are posted at the following link:  22 May 2019_The Eastern Ledge off Tower 15