Thursday, 28 February 2019

Third Open Water Dive on the Eastern Ledge off Tower 17 with Megan Gauthier



Megan came to the apartment about 6:50 and we got underway about ten minutes later. I parked one space before my usual parking spot behind Tower 17. We geared up and got in the water about 7:35 am, then we spent the next 30 minutes swimming out to the ledge where we would make her Alternate Air Source and Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascents.

Megan on the surface

We descended at 8:19 am. I had overshot the ledge so we had to swim back to find a place to tie off the flag. That was a little more difficult than I had expected, but we got it done.  Then we prepared for our alternate air source ascent.









Megan and I kneeled on the sand across from each other. I indicated that she should signal that she was out of air and needed to hare air. She did, and we started the ascent by taking a deep breath of air. I wanted to demonstrate for her that we could use our breathing to ascend. Took about a minute to get to the surface, which was fine as we could both breath out of my tank, but was a little slow for an ascent from 33 feet.





Once we made the surface, we immediately descended. This time we were on our knees across from each other and made one breath, a second breath and on the third breath we dropped the regulators from our mouths and headed for the surface demonstrating a Controlled Emergency Swimming Ascent. This ascent took less than a minute even though we started out quite slowly.




After the CESA, we descended to retrieve the flag and headed back to the beach, this time swimming underwater. Martha got only one good shot of a fish, and that was the shot of a Blue Tang below.

We came to the Lion sitting just East of the Lost Knoll and it took a moment for me to recognize it. Could not remember where it was relative to the Big Coral Knoll, so I slowly headed West and a little North. Did not see anything I recognized, but we swam in to about 4 ft of water to surface and were right in front of the Life Guard Tower.

Dive time was 44 minutes, maximum depth was 32.4 ft, bottom temperature was 77 degrees. My SAC rate was 18.46 psi/minute and my RMV was 0.48 cubic feet per minute. Martha's pictures of the dive are posted at the following link:
28 February 2019_Easter Ledge off Tower 17

Saturday, 16 February 2019

Open Water Dive 2 with Megan Gauthier

Got up about 6:00 am. Walked Mia and loaded the truck. Failed to convince Martha to use the 5D Mark iii to take pictures but she did agree to carry the flag. Megan came at 7:00 am and we got to the beach at about 7:20 am. Took a while to gear up and discuss the dive and how we would handle the skills demonstrations. We got in the water and swam out to the buoy line to descend at 9:00 am.

Visibility was poor at the buoy line. Milky and maybe 5 ft. We met at the bottom then swam East to the Wrap Around Ledge, around the Ledge and up on top toward the Rockline, but we never found the Rockline. Must have gotten set to the North. Since we were on the sand flat, I signaled for Megan to watch as I took the regulator out of my mouth and turned the mouthpiece upside down before putting it back, clearing it and breathing again. I motioned for Megan to demonstrate the skill and she did. One by one we went through the various skills. She performed satisfactorily and we soon headed East across the sand flat. 

We did not find the Swiss Cheese Reef. I thought we might be too far North, and headed South, but did not encounter any landmarks I recognized. I slowed and demonstrated the mask removal and replacement skill. I motioned Megan to demonstrate the skill and she did. We went through several of the skills while horizontal in the water rather than kneeling on the sand. Again, she performed well. I spotted a telephone cable but stayed North, then found the large rock to the South of the Wrap Around Ledge and headed to the beach. Ended up right where we started, just as if I knew where we were all the time.

I was cold by the end of the dive. Megan was below 500 psi we swam into 5 ft of water to walk out. Everyone made it standing up, but Megan helped Martha and might have given me a push, too.

Dive time was 67 minutes, maximum depth was 19.8 feet, bottom temperature was 73.4 degrees, my SAC was 18.78 psi/minute and my RMV was 0.48 cubic feet per minute.

Sunday, 3 February 2019

Martha and I dive the Fish Camp Rocks

Triggerfish

Juvenile Gray Angelfish

Martha and I decided to go diving this morning but had trouble finding our respective neoprene garments. When we finally got sorted, we loaded the truck and I turned the key but the engine fired then stopped. I shifted gears trying to clear whatever sensor it is that is creating problems, but it took time to finally get the truck started.






Although I had formatted my compact card early this morning, I forgot to set up my camera and consequently forgot to load the camera in the truck. I thought of it just as we turned on 17th Street, so we went back to the house to set up the camera and load it in the truck. Then we drove to the beach.

Redband Parrotfish (Sparisoma aurofrenatum)

Traffic was heavy and someone had taken my favorite spot off Tower 17. Fortunately, he left shortly after we got there, so I backed up and took his space.



 We geared up and got in the water. We walked out to a sand bar where Martha finned up.  I waited until we reached the far side of the sand bar before I finned up.

Bluestriped Grunt (Haemulon sciurus)

We swam out on a 100-degree bearing. We descended just past the buoy line. I had taken 2 pounds off Martha so she was carrying 14 pounds. She had some trouble coming down but seemed to swim fine once she got down.




We headed East. We did not spot the blocks or anything else I recognized until we came to the Furry Rock, or at least the Rock formerly called Furry. It is now a bare rock with no coral on it at all.

Juvenile Creole Wrasse (Clepticus parrae)

We headed North from there but
apparently traveled East of the Fish Camp Rocks and ended up at the Big Coral Knoll, instead. We turned and swam Southwest until I located the Fish Camp Rocks in the 8 feet of visibility we had.

Juvenile Porkfish (Anisotremus virginicus)  cleaning
a French Grunt (Haemulon flavolineatum)

 I had trouble with my camera and strobe. The strobe flashed at odd times and there was a black bar on the bottom of several pictures. Other pictures were completely burned out. I turned the dive at about 1800 psi and we headed West towards the beach. I spotted the Gray Mid-way rock, the Cigar Rock and Irish

Thighs. Saw nothing else that I recognized, but surfaced very near the beach in 5 feet of water.

French Angelfish (Pomacanthus paru)

 As we were getting out of the water there were a few larger waves hitting us from behind and difficult step to climb. We met a Kiwi (Phil) and his wife (Helen), who were kind enough to lend Martha a hand she was getting out of the water and then gave me a hand, as well.

The dive was 69 minutes long. Our maximum depth was20.3 feet. Bottom temperature was 71.8 degrees. My SAC rate was 19.42 psi/minute and the RMV was 0.50 cubic feet per minute. My pictures from this dive are posted at the following link:  3 February 2019_Fish Camp Rocks

Wednesday, 30 January 2019

Martha and I make a short tank dive on the Swiss Cheese Reef

Martha and I left the apartment about 8:30 am and drove to the beach. I had gotten five tanks from a friend and wanted to see if there were any problems with the tanks. Martha's tank had 2100 psi and mine had 1820 psi. The air had no oder and tasted fine, so we decided to dive them.

We swam out to the buoy off Tower 4 and descended at 9:22 am. We headed for the Swiss Cheese Reef.

I set up the camera and immediately took some pictures. The shutter has been failing to trip underwater with the 50 mm lens but seemed to work just fine on the surface. During this dive, the camera worked underwater, as well, but I had replaced the 50 mm lens with the 100 mm macro lens. At the dive shop, Matt Stout suggested that the 50 mm lens could not focus through the Dome Port underwater since the curvature of the port corrected for refraction. The 100 mm macro lens brought the images closer and allowed the autofocus to work.

 As we went from the buoy to the Wrap Around Ledge, I got several shots, including the Porkfish above and the Yellow Sand Ray to the right. These shots turned out well.
 

 As we went over the Wrap Around Ledge and to the Staghorn Coral, I got more shots, including the Juvenile Porkfish to the left.

 I found and photographed the Sand Diver on the right as we left the Staghorn Coral and headed for the Sectioned Rock that marked the beginning of the Swiss Cheese Reef.









I got a shot of the Giant Anemone on the West side of the Sectioned Rock.












Got this shot of a Caribbean Spiney Lobster under the shelf that was the West Wall of the Swiss Cheese Reef.

On the way back, I photographed the Spotted Scorpionfish on the left.

Below is a shot of some Smallmouth and French Grunts over the staghorn coral. Took that shot on the way back.

What little wind there was came from the SW, so there was little surf on the beach. Nonetheless, the step was formidable with very soft sand. I went to my knees and slowly crawled onto dry sand. A helpful beach goer was pulling her up the step when I got to them.


With our less than fully filled tanks, our dive took 56 minutes.  The bottom temperature was 68 degrees. The maximum depth was 19.2 feet. My SAC was 18.15 and the RMV for my aluminum 80 was 0.47 cubic feet per minute.
My pictures from this dive are posted at the following link: 30 January 2019_Fish Camp Rocks

Friday, 25 January 2019

Megan Gauthier's First Dive on the Swiss Cheese Reef


Megan started her Open Water class on 1/12/2019 and completed her academic work and her pool session on1/1/2019. This would be her first dive in the ocean and she was at the apartment precisely at 8:00 am. We loaded up the truck and headed for the beach. Took a little while to gear up and get into the neoprene. Put 8 pounds on Megan, which was enough to sink her in waist deep water.

We swam out to the buoy off Tower 4 to descend. Visibility was poor, but we decided to dive anyway. Megan had trouble descending. I think she was holding her breath. I got her to exhale and helped her descend.


We swam East to the Wrap Around Ledge, then out to the Rock Line. We swam North along the Rock line to the Tire Rock, where we turned East. Somehow we missed the Crescent Moon Rock and the Staghorn Coral. It took me several minutes to recognize any landmarks in the poor visibility, but I finally spotted the Sectioned Rock. We swam North along the reef until Megan signaled she was at 1500 psi.

We turned the dive and swam to the tall coral head from the North. Found the Sectioned Rock again and went West over the Staghorn coral and towards the beach. By this time, Megan was vertical in the water with her head down and swimming to stay down. Could be her breathing made her light, but at this point, it was more likely that she needed more weight. Made a mental note to try 10 pounds on her next dive.

Spotted the wooden block just East of the Large Rock past the Wrap Around Ledge. Corrected our bearing and hit the blocks just East of the buoy. Surfaced with Megan down to 350 psi but also with a big smile.

The Maximum depth was 19.8 feet, bottom temperature was 73.4 degrees, and the dive time was 67 minutes. My RMV was 0.50 cubic feet per minute. Check out all of my pictures from this dive by clicking the following link: 25 January 2019_Swiss Cheese Reef

Thursday, 17 January 2019

A Second Dive on the Swiss Cheese Reef with David Bennet

Martha and I first dove with David Bennet on the 8th of January, when we dove on the Fish Camp Rocks off Tower 17. This time, we decided to take David onto the Swiss Cheese Reef off Tower 4.  We typically leave for the beach at 7:00 am because traffic is light and the trip can be made in 10 minutes or less. We picked David up at the Hotel and got to the beach shortly after 7:00 am. We geared up and discovered that Martha had forgotten her paddle jacket. We left David on the beach with the gear and drove home to get her jacket.

 There was no discernible wind this morning. The water was incredibly calm and warm at 73.4 degrees. Visibility was only 15 ft or so, however. We geared up and got in the water. Swam to the buoy and descended. We swam East from the buoy over the blocks and to the Wrap Around Ledge, where I got photographs of a Terminal Blue Tang as well as a shot of a Juvenile Blue Tang, which is colored a bright yellow.




We headed South along the Ledge to a large coral head. I checked for Octopus, as they have frequently been found under this coral head. No octopus this morning.

We turned North and went back to the South end of the Ledge and I got a good shot of a Yellow Sand Ray who was headed across the sand flat to the Staghorn Coral and the Sectioned Rock, same as we were.



After we crossed the sand flat and reached the Sectioned Rock, we turned North to swim along the Swiss Cheese Reef. I was shooting into the sun. Should have stayed East of the reef line so the sun would be behind me. Nevertheless, many of the shots turned out just fine.

I like the bright blue and yellow coloring of the Juvenile Queen Angelfish which was peeking at us from under a coral head.

This Scampa came racing by and I was fortunate to get the shot. He was gone seconds later.

 The Red Groupers remind me of Golden Retrievers.  They are so calm and still but they see everything that happens.

The Sand Divers are like bullets when they swim. This guy came screaming by me as we reached the North end of the reef.

Hogfish change color when they are hunting and are this quiet white when they are not.

As I was taking the photograph of the Schoolmaster, below, David came by and signaled that he was down to 1,000 psi. We turned the dive and made a beeline for the sand flat. David ran out of air just as we crossed the sand flat. Martha and I surfaced just before the buoy line. It was a nice dive.



The depth was 19.5 feet. Bottom temperature was 73.4 degrees. Dive time was 92 minutes. My RMV was 0.50 cubic feet per minute. Check out all of my pictures from this dive by clicking the following link: 17 February 2019_Fish Camp Rocks

Tuesday, 8 January 2019

Martha and I dive with David Bennet on the Fish Camp Rocks off Tower 17

David Bennet is a guest at our Hotel Cordova and Hostel, a new boat owner and a certified scuba diver. Martha and I invited him to come diving with us and we agreed to pick him up at 7:00 am. We were 10 minutes early and he was still getting ready but he came out at exactly 7:00 am.  We loaded up the truck and headed to the beach, where I found my favorite parking spot behind Tower 17.  We geared up and got in the water at 7:30 to swim out and descend at 7:57 am. We descended on top of the blocks I use to mark the start of this dive.

 Visibility was good. From the blocks we went East to the waist high coral head, then up to Irish Thighs, the Cigar Rock and the Gray Mid-way Rock. Continued East to the Fish Camp Rocks, where I got the shot of an Intermediate French Angelfish.

We explored the various coral heads at the Rocks. Martha found a Nurse Shark under one, but I could not get a picture because there were too many fish in the way.

From the Rocks, we headed North to the Big Coral Knoll. Good visibility on the Knoll, but not a lot of life. Maybe too cold. We made one pass, then headed back to the Fish Camp Rocks.

 The above shot of a French Grunt was taken on one of the several coral heads the make up the Fish Camp Rocks. I also got the picture of a Coca Damselfish over some more traditionally colored coral.

 Got this shot of a Blue Tang near the Southern edge of the Rocks. Spent some time looking for sea turtles which we often find, but no such luck this morning.

A Balloonfish like the one on the left is usually very shy and it is difficult to get a photograph of their face. This little fellow followed me as if he were interested in what I was doing.

The French Grunt on the right might be considered the subject of the shot, but I have included that photograph to illustrate the large monstrous coral heads that make up the Fish Camp Rocks. 

 David indicated that he was down to about 1000 psi, so we headed West to the beach. We came out over the blocks and then surfaced just inside the vessel exclusion buoys. 

Had some trouble getting out. Once I got on solid sand, I dropped the camera and my fins just beyond the wave line and headed back to help Martha, but David had already gone back to help her and she was all but out of  the water by the time I got there. 

Bottom temperature was 70 degrees. Depth was 20.4 feet. Dive time was 77 minutes.   RMV was 52 cubic feet per minute.

Check out all of my pictures from this dive at the following link:  8 January 2019_Fish Camp Rocks