Trip Reports 2000

We met at my house at 7:00am on Saturday morning. It was a bit chilly and I was worried about the weather for the weekend. We had 3 Crew members (one getting certified and 2 old-timers :-), 4 Crew advisors, and 3 tag along non-divers who were coming just for the camping. After packing up the gear, we hit the road by 7:40.

As we drove up 95, you could see where the cold front ended and the skies behind it were clear and blue. The wind died down to nothing once we passed the backside of the front.

We arrived at Blue Grotto just outside of Williston (Ocala area) a little after 11:00am. Ann (one of our Crew advisors and dive instructor) was working with Brent (our newest crew member and newest diver) on his checkout skills. I took our other 2 crew members, Tim and Mike, into the Grotto. The water was a cool 72 degrees (which was warmer than the air). Blue Grotto is a large cavern that opens up into the rock cliff face at 30 feet. The cavern is very large and has an air bell at the top which can hold 4 to 6 divers (check out their ad in SCUBA News). At the back of the cavern is a "tunnel" which has guide ropes to the bottom at 100 feet. We went down the line and hung out in the darkness (you can see the ambient light from above if you hold your hand over your light.) We came out of the tunnel and hung around in the cavern and then surfaced after a total of 30 minutes.

We warmed up, got some up time, changed out our tanks, and headed back into the hole. Another diver asked us to keep an eye out for an integrated weight pack that he lost while in the hole. We told him that we would. We headed back into the hole, through the cavern, and down the tunnel. Guess what?!? Tim found the weight pack! We're changing his name to Mel :-) He swam it up to the surface where the fellow was extremely grateful. Tim came back and joined Mike and I in the cavern where were practicing our "walking on the ceiling" skills. We spent a total of 30 minutes in the hole on our second dive also.

After our second dive, Bob had come back with KFC chicken for lunch. He was rather depressed due to the poor performance of our Dolphins football team (maybe next year). He and our 3 non-diving friends had setup camp and all of the tents at Devil's Den. It was nice not to have to do that after a day of diving.

We built a great fire (which was wonderful in the cold night air). Outstanding camping weather - a little cold after the sun went down, but no wind and no rain. We all hit the sack around 10:00 so we could get up and dive the Den early.

Most of us got up around 7:00am. Some a little sooner - some a little later. Due to a sore back, I opted not to do the dive. As we walked up to the staging area for the den, we noticed frost on the ground and steam rising off the surrounding fields. When we got to the den we saw the most awesome site - steam pouring up out of the hole. It was soooo cool. We were the first people in the den. I followed as Bob, Tim, and Mike started down the stairs. As we descended the steps towards the water, we could feel the extreme change in temperature. 72 in the den and about 30 outside of the den. WOW!!!! The water was crystal clear! The boys did their first dive and afterwards, couldn't quit commenting on how clear the water was. Bob said that when they entered the water, they headed towards the deepest spot first which was at 55 feet. Bob said he turned and looked toward the surface. He could see the individual leaves on the ivy vines which hang down through the surface hole and are about 25 feet from the surface of the water. (check out the picture of the den in their ad in SCUBA News)

Ann took Brent into the den for his final 2 check out dives. While our group was diving, a tour bus pulled in with FIFTY divers on board. Bob and the boys were coming out just as these folks were going in. A steady procession of vehicles kept a cloud of road dust kicked up for the next 3 hours as folks came to dive!

After the first dive, the boys came back to camp for breakfast - toasted bagels with cream cheese, bananas, hot oatmeal, and hot cocoa. Then they did a second dive. With all of the divers in the hole, the vis was not near as good on the second dive, but it was still an awesome dive with the swim throughs and cave entrances.

One of our non-divers decided to take advantage of the horse back riding offered at facility and went for 2 separate 1 hour trail rides.

After the second dive and the completion of Brent's certification, we did lunch and started to tear down camp.

While tearing down, Bob took Brent into the den for an exploration dive.

We finished up around 4:00 and hit the long road home. We stopped for dinner at Pizza Hut in Rockledge and arrived home around 8:30pm.

Cost Breakdown:

Blue Grotto Dive - $30

Devil's Den Dive - $30

Transportation - $5

Air and Tanks - $5 / tank

Food - $10

Camping - $7

Pizza Hut - $6

Yep, another GREAT weekend of diving!

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Hyperbaric Chamber Tour, Melbourne - February 8, 2000

On February 8th, a group of divers attended a tour of the new hyperbaric chamber on Hibiscus Ave in Melbourne. What a neat experience.

This chamber can treat 12 people at once. It has multiple chambers. The chamber is used mostly for clinical hyperbaric treatments as opposed to dive accidents, but is all ready to take on divers, if necessary.

The chamber also supports hypobaric treatments (altitude sickness). It is planned on being used for flight simulation training, among many other things.

Classes are going to be conducted here for DMT (dive medic technician). This is a 40 hour certified class. Cost will be only about $500 and includes all instruction and certification tests.

If you are interested in taking a tour of the facility, contact PDI (254-1200) to get on a tour list. Tours are only conducted on the second Tuesday of each month and are limited to 12 people. I believe that the March tour is already full, so call PDI and get on a list.

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Boy Scouts of America 90th Anniversary Celebration - February 12, 2000

Our Crew had a booth at the BSA 90th anniversary celebration at the Melbourne Square Mall. There were a total of 6 cub scout booths and 6 boy scout booths. (We were the only Venture Crew so we were included in with the boy scout troops for judging.) Our booth tied for second place but lost out in the tie breaker so we came home with 2 ribbons - one for 3rd place and one for participation.

Our booth had all kinds of neat stuff to show what our Crew is all about. We had a 6' X 4' Picture Post Card that showed neat wild colored cartoon fish and plants with our Crew number across the top. It had a porthole in it that folks could poke their heads through. Dave had a digital camera and was taking pictures and email addresses. We also had a mannaquine, who we named Donna Diver, all decked out in dive gear. We had a television with VCR showing the PADI 'Discover Scuba' tape, a HUGE map of Florida with pins showing everywhere that we've dove with the Crew, 3 photo albums which document our dives, lots and lots of undersea pictures on the front of our booth, and bunches of handouts including our FAQ, newsletters, bumper stickers, and manatee literature.

Since we were required to fly our troop flag (and we have never been assigned a troop flag) we used the 3' X 5' PDI dive flag for our troop flag.

Mike, Brian, and Eric stopped by and manned the booth between 11am and 4pm.

It was a good day and we met a lot of folks who were very interested in what our Venture Crew is all about.

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DeLeon Springs & Blue Springs - February 20, 2000

We had 11 divers, 2 snorklers and one land lover meet at my house at 7:30am on Saturday morning for a new adventure - Dive DeLeon Springs. None of us had ever dove this site before. You can only dive this spot with an instructor with a State Park Permit. One our dive instructors have this permit.

It took us about 2 hours to get to the dive site which is located in DeLeon State Park just north of Deland.

After registration, we began setting up our gear. One of the main objectives for this dive was for Bobby and I to complete our Rescue Diver certification checkout dives. The other divers came along for the ride and to check out the spring.

We were immediatly greeted by a local dive instructor who wanted to know everything about what we were doing. He was a bit of a pain, but we worked around him.

We first checked out the spring opening which is in the center of a large water basin which is lined by a concrete sea wall. The sping hole, which is at 30 feet, is extremely small and only one person can pass through it at a time. The pressure from the spring flow was extremely strong and you have to kick hard and pull yourself hand-over-hand into the opening. As the basin sediment tries to slide into the spring opening, the flow forces it upward making the water around the opening very dirty with sediment, large snail shell, and small hunks of wood. It reminded me of Alexander Springs. Once inside, the flow did not cause a problem. However, this is the opening to a cave system and no cave or cavern diving is allowed at the site. No lights, no knives. Many divers have died trying to dive this cave. Most of us entered the hole one at a time to check it out leaving a direct vertical ascent (no overhead - no cavern dive) Others found it a bit too spooky for their liking.

Other than the hole, there isn't much to see at DeLeon Springs. After a yummy picnic lunch, Bobby and I completed our final Rescue check out dive. YEA!!!!! We then headed to Blue Springs with the group to give them a much better dive.

Blue Springs is in Orange City, just north of Orlando. When we arrived at 2:30, we found that the park was full and we would have to wait 30 minutes before they opened the gates again. We discussed this and 3 divers opted to head home (to avoid speed week traffic) The rest of us waited for the park to re-open.

Bobby and I were pretty whooped after rescueing Dave Speer 4 times so we passed on the Blue Springs dive. We enjoyed the wonderful nature trials and the warm sun while the rest of the folks enjoyed the cool waters of the spring.

Blue Springs is better known for its winter manatees. None there on Sunday. This dive starts with a rather long walk up a boardwalk to the entry spot. (about 1/4 mile from the parking lot) Then, there's another walk (or swim) up the sping run to get to the spring head.

This spring is pretty cool with lots of nooks and crannys to investigate. At 60 feet, the spring hole juts off in a 45 degree angle and becomes a cavern dive. Only cave and cavern certified divers are allowed in the hole with lights.

Our divers had about a 35 minute dive in the spring and then did a slow drift dive down the spring run to the exit point at the swim area. You can only do this drift dive AFTER 1:00pm. If you come out of the spring before 1:00, you have to exit at the entry point and walk the boardwalk back to the parking lot.

Our divers had to be back at the office by 5:00pm to pick up their C-Cards. We then headed home. At this point, everyone was hungry again so we stopped at a local CiCi's Pizza for dinner. This helped kill some time while the speed week traffic on 95 thinned out a bit.

We arrived back in Melbourne around 8:00pm. Another wonderful day of diving!

Costs (cheap):

$5.30 admission to DeLeon Springs State Park

$5.30 admission to Blue Springs State Park

$5.00 per tank rental

$3.00 lunch & drinks

$4.00 CiCi's

$2.00 transportation

Dive safe! Dive often!

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Loggerhead Dive Charters, Boynton Beach - March 18, 2000

We had 10 divers and 2 bubble watchers meet at my house at 8:00 am on Saturday. We loaded a pickup truck with gear, 2 vans with people, and were headed down I-95 by 8:30. We stopped at Ft. Pierce Cracker Barrel for breakfast. While eating, 3 more of our divers showed up so they joined us (that way they didn't have to wait for a seat like we did :-) After a yummy breakfast, we headed down the road to Boynton Beach.

We got to the SeaMist Marina around 12:15 pm. Shortly after arriving at the marina, Loggerhead (our boat) docked from its morning dive. We met John (the owner and crew) and Jim (the captain) They said the morning conditions were good with top to bottom vis and bugs everywhere!

We loaded our gear onto the boat and headed out to sea at 1:00.

The seas were a little rough - 2 to 3 foot - but Jim handled the boat like a pro. Our first dive was at a spot called Cronins Reef. We split into 3 groups with 4 divers in each group, except 1 that had 5. We dropped into the water, looked down, saw reef! Top to bottom vis! The water tempurature was around 74 degrees. My group dropped down 60 feet and immediately started spotting bugs! Many shorts were pulled. I caught 4 legals on first dive! This dive site was awesome. Not a lot of relief, but it had small drop offs on the top of the reef were the bugs were hiding. After 32 minutes, my group came up.

Note: we had to carry our own dive flags so the poor guy/gal that got stuck with the flag was at the mercy of the top currents (which were running south) and the swells (which pulled you up and dropped you back down with the swells - didn't matter how much slack you let out, the current just took it) There wasn't much of a bottom current, so the divers without the flag could go where they wanted - but they were supposed to stay with the flag. right. There's a lobster - gotta get it. Flag? What flag?

Upon surfacing, we found that the seas had kicked up. Jim handled the boat wonderfully and the ladder made it easy to get back on board. When I got on the boat, I noticed a new face - he said his name was Chuck. When I asked Chuck how he got on our boat, he said, "I was diving in Marathon yesterday. Where am I?" Then he winked.... I finally got the real story. Chuck was diving on the Pelican (another boat out of SeaMist Marina) and got separated from his group. When he surfaced, our boat was close by, so Jim picked him up. He dropped him back in the water when the Pelican came by to pick him up.

While positioning to pick up the second group, Jim noticed 2 divers out ahead of the boat who looked like they were in distress. He told group 2 to push back and then he bolted towards the 2 divers. I was impressed how quickly he got the boat to them, especially in 3 to 5 foot seas. Turns out the one diver had a BC failure (translates to large hole in the back of the BC) and the second diver was his floatation until the boat got there. They said that they were OK, but I know I wouldn't have wanted to be out there without my floatation! We got them on board and then headed back to pickup group 2.

We had an hour of up time which was spent rockin' and rollin'. These were the roughest seas I've ever dove in. Jim handled the boat wonderfully. A few of the folks got a little green, but no one fed the fish.

The second dive was on a spot called Vernes. I've never dove this spot before. It was a hunters delight! We found out later that this isn't usually a dive spot - but a fishing spot, which I kind of figured out during the dive after seeing all of the monofiliment laying about on the sea floor! I picked up 2 more legal bugs here and a bunch of shorts. I was amazed at the sea life on this dive spot. Huge green moray eels (who wanted the bugs more than we did :-), spotted morays, grouper, snapper, HUGE sponges, and on and on and on. Bobby spotted a monster African Pompano. yum This was another 60 foot dive with top to bottom vis. We spent 40 minutes on this dive. Surfacing found that the conditions hadn't improved - nor had they deteriorated - there were just big swells!

We munched on crackers, tangerines, and plums on the rocky ride back to the dock. Did I tell you that Jim did a marvelous job captaining the boat? We docked around 4:30 pm.

Once back at the dock, we unloaded the gear and packed up the vehicles. We decided to get dinner at a restaurant called Old House. Wonderful food, great company, and fun conversation about the day's diving.

We got back to Melbourne around 9:30pm.

We ended up with a total of 14 bugs, 13 exhausted divers, and 2 very tired bubble watchers!

Cost breakdown for this trip was $40 to dive (included dive, drinks, tip, tax, and transportation) and $5 a piece for tank rentals. Car pool drivers were reimbursed $10 each to help cover gas costs.

Lobster season closes March 31st and reopens for sportsman season July 26 and 27 and is closed again until August 6.

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Aqua Zoo & Ancient Mariner, Pompano Beach - April 30, 2000

We met at my house in Melbourne at 1:30pm to load up the truck with gear and the van with people. We had 5 adults and 4 crew members on this trip. We departed by 2:30pm.

We had one small mishap on the trip down. The truck threw the tread on one of the rear wheels just south of West Palm. Thank God it had 4 rear wheels and didn�t cause a real problem for the trip. The condition of the truck fender is a different story, though. We continued down 95 to the SW 10th St. exit. Just after exiting the expressway, the tire blew. We were able to make it to the Days Inn on Federal Highway (US 1) by 5:30 with little problem (just had to drive slow). John had a spare tire and proceeded to change the tire in the parking lot after we checked into our rooms.

These were the biggest motel rooms we�ve ever stayed in. In addition to the spacious accommodations, the rooms also had kitchens with a refrigerator, sink and microwave.

Once the truck was fixed, we headed out to get a bite to eat. The kids decided on Taco Bell. Yum�. After consuming large quantities of tacos, burritos, and nachos, we headed out to find the beach. We found the inlet and the lighthouse, but no way to get to the beach.

The adults were bushed so we headed back to the motel. The kids still wanted to find the beach, so I loaded them into the van and, leaving the other adults behind, we headed out on our quest. We were successful and found Deerfield Beach. It was now around 8:30pm.

There was a light west wind and the ocean was flat. We walk out onto Deerfield Beach International Fishing Pier were lots of folks were drowning bait. We didn�t see any fish caught in the � hour that we were on the pier.

We got back to the motel by 10:00pm and settled down for the night.

Up at 6:15am so we could be at the boat by 7:30. We packed up and stopped at McDonald�s for breakfast. We got to the Sand Harbor Marina by 7:20 and started to unload the vehicles. We setup our first tank with our gear on the grass and then loaded everything into the boat, the Aquanaut, which is owned by South Florida Diving Headquarters.

There were 6 other divers and 2 bubble watchers on board as well as our 9 divers. Captain Dave and DM Ingvar were very personable, informative, and just plain fun to be with. We headed out of the marina around 8:00am with beautiful blue skies and warm sunny weather.

The seas were about 1 foot with a slight wind still coming out of the west. We made our way to the first dive site - the Ancient Mariner. This wreck sits in 70 foot of water. It is a 165 foot Coast Guard Cutter that was intentionally sunk for an artificial reef. Ingvar set the down line and resurfaced to inform us that we had about 50 foot of vis with a mild current. He also told us that a large green moray eel was not too happy about him running the down line through his hole.

We entered the water with our individual buddy groups and headed down the line. Bobby and I were using our Dive-Link communication devices for the first time. It was just too cool being able to chat with my buddy during the dive. We dropped off the line about 20 feet above the ship and swam the rest of the way. We found out later that if we had stayed on the line, we would have seen the ships toilet which someone placed just outside the wheel house. Boy, I sure missed a great photo op.

The ship was teaming with live - both coral and fish. Large barracuda were hanging out around the ship. We swam to the large hole at the bottom of the ship which was made for penetration. We passed through the lower level and swam up the staircase to the second level. After exploring the second level, we swam up another set of stairs to the wheelhouse. There were exit points on every level and we were never in any danger of getting lost in the ship. We swam out of wheelhouse and onto the deck. There was another set of stairs which was filled with small orange hatchet fish. This set of stairs exited the ship. We finished our dive by swimming around the outside of the ship admiring the coral formations and marine life. After 30 minutes, we came up the line and did our safety stop. When we surfaced, we noticed that the wind had turned and was now coming out of the north. It had picked up a bit, also and the seas were about 2 foot.

We got back on the boat and changed over to our second tank. The boat headed for the next dive spot - The Sea Emperor, also known as the Aqua Zoo for reasons you�ll soon realize. This is 171 foot barge which was also intentionally sunk for an artificial reef.

After an hour up time, we started our second dive. The line from the previous boat (also operated by SFDH) was left on the Sea Emperor. We used this line for our decent. As we descended, the barge came into view. The barge lays upside down in 65 feet of water. It had been filled with culverts and set with charges intended to blow out 12 plates on the bottom of the barge so it would sink upright. Not all of the charges blew and the barge tipped on the way down spilling most of the culverts out to the east of the barge.

As we approached the wreck, we noticed 4 very large Atlantic stingrays out in the sand. We swam over by the culverts and spotted a large green moray eel hanging out between the pipes. Under the back end of the barge was an 8 foot nurse shark. Yellow snapper were everywhere. There was also an abundance of mangrove snapper nestled in around the culverts.

We entered the barge through one of the blown plates and swam under the bulkheads that separate each room (6 rooms all together, I believe) There was lots of room in each compartment and a direct ascent path through the blown plates at the top of each room. I came out of one of the plate holes and found a large green moray eel swimming over the wreck checking out the divers down below.

We swam around the barge and came back to the east side and found 2 very large Jew fish swimming about. These big guys were awesome! We are guessing around 5 feet long and close to 500 hundred pounds each. BIG fish.

We had 27 minutes on the bottom and surfaced after our safety stop to find that the winds had turned more north east and the ocean had kicked up to about 4 foot. The boat picked us up and we headed back to the inlet. We had to go south so the wind was at our backs. We hardly noticed the rough conditions because of our position to the wind and the buzz about the dive. Captain Dave told us that they were canceling their afternoon dive due to the change in the weather.

We got back to the dock around noon, unloaded the boat and loaded up the vehicles. There were showers at the marina that a couple of our divers took advantage of. We stopped at the Royal King Buffet for lunch on our way out of town.

We got back to Melbourne around 5:00pm.

What a wonderful day of diving!

Costs:

$15 Hotel

$3 Travel

$2 Tip

$40 Dive

$10 Tanks

Total: $70 + food

Next dive is May 28th at Lauderdale-by-the-Sea. This is a day trip beach dive so cost will be minimal. We dove this spot last year. It is the best beach diving I've found. The reef is extremely close to the beach and very beautiful. It is a shallow dive with lots of down time. This is also a great snorkle spot. Bring the family.

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Lauderdale-by-the-Sea Beach Dive May 28

We were graced with a wonderful day on Sunday, May 28th, for our dive trip.

Most everyone met at my house at 7:30am. We loaded all of the gear into the truck and we loaded the vans with people. We had a total of 12 adults and 12 youths. We met up with another 3 more adults and a youth at the dive site for total of 28 folks on this trip. Part of the group was a Lifeguard class, part of the group was Crew members, and the rest were family and friends along for the fun.

We left the house at 8:15am and headed down I-95. About 2.5 hours later, we exited on Commercial Blvd. and headed east until we couldn't go any farther. This put us at Anglin's Fishing Pier. We headed south to the second beach access where we met up with the rest of the group.

We expected the beach to be packed, but were pleasantly surprised to find otherwise. We unloaded the truck, claimed a large portion of the beach for our group, and started setting up for our first dive. The lifeguard class headed for the water with their masks, fins, and dive flag. We divers had 3 groups of 2 buddy teams � 4 to a flag.

We entered the water around 11:30am. The water temperature was near 80 degrees. I had 2 Crew members and one of our regular divers in my group. The entry was easy. The ocean was rolling in about 1 foot waves. We made our way through the breakers and then dropped to the bottom and headed south east due to a slight north current. About 100 feet out, we hit the first reef. This was really patchy and consisted of rocks with very small fish and some vegetation. We soon came upon the second reef which had much nicer formations, holes, and small ledges. The further east we headed, the nicer, more colorful, and diverse the scenery became. There were large Gregorian colonies and coral formations. One of the boys in our group pointed out a small nurse shark in a hole. It swam out of the hole and we estimated its size to be 3 foot. We also saw a banded coral shrimp as well as a couple of lobster. There were angle fish and schools of grunts, wrasses and tangs, small grouper and hogfish. When the first person in our group hit 1500 PSI, we turned and headed north with the current. At 1000 PSI, we headed back toward the beach.

On the beach, we heard that the lifeguard group encountered a large group of reef squid, all swimming in perfect synchronization. They counted a dozen. Another group of divers played with a large stingray for awhile and spotted a 5 foot nurse shark. One of the groups made it out to the third reef. This was quite a swim. They described the reef as being comparable to West Palm dives without current.

Folks in our group all had lunch at various places from the fishing pier lunch counter for hot dogs and hamburgers to the Aruba Caf� for lobster sandwiches and seafood salad to picnic lunches on the beach (because of all the sand which is there � sandwiches � get it? :)

After lunch, many just basked in the sun while others snorkeled. One group went back in for a second dive and to demonstrate their navigational skills for their advanced certification.

We packed up around 5:30pm and headed back to Melbourne. We got home around 8:30pm.

Total costs:

$3 Transportation

$2 Snacks & Drinks

$5 / Tank

Not a bad day for $10 plus lunch!

Drivers were subsidized for carpooling

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OceanFest, Lauderdale-by-the-Sea, Camping Trip - Hugh Taylor Birch Park June 9, 10, 11

Our trip started Friday morning with 4 adults and 1 youth heading for Ft. Lauderdale. We met at my house at 9:30am and were on the road by 10:30 after loading up the gear and the vehicles.

Three hours later, we were checking into Hugh Taylor Birch State Park for a weekend of camping. This park is beautiful. The camp grounds are for youth groups only. We got camp setup and headed to Lauderdale-by-the-Sea for the opening of OceanFest 2000.

We had dinner at Mulligan's, a local restaurant. Good food!

The weather wasn't great, but it wasn't raining. There was a strong east wind stirring up the ocean. The ocean was covered with white caps. When we got to the Festival, we found out that the night beach dive had been cancelled. bummer..

We entered the OceanFest area and walked through the tents that housed the vendor booths. There were travel agents, dive equipment vendors, SCUBA organization reps such as PADI, NAUI, and DAN, dive boat operators, jewelry vendors, and clothing vendors. There were even swimming pools set up to try out equipment.

Two more boys from our youth group came down in the afternoon and met us at the Festival. We also met up with 6 more fellow divers who were staying in local accommodations that didn't include a tent.

After checking out all of the booths, and spending bunches of money on t-shirts and other cool dive stuff, we relaxed on the beach and listened to the live band.

We headed back to camp around 9:00pm. When we turned into the entrance of the park, we were greeted by, and this is NO exaggeration, at least 100 raccoons. There are signs up discouraging people from feeding them. On Saturday night, they even had the cops there so drivers wouldn't stop in the middle of the street to see the critters.

We got back to camp and our resident pyros built a wonderful fire in the fire pit. (fires were OK since they got a bunch of rain on Wednesday and Thursday) We sat around the fire for awhile and then everyone hit the hay.

Up bright and early Saturday morning, breakfast and then off to do our beach dive. Hmmm.. Once we caught a view of the ocean, I decided I wasn't going to dive. It was just too rough. But 5 of our group decided to take the plunge and give it a shot. We met up with our hotel friends on the beach at the first access area south of Anglins Pier at 9:00. We also ran into a couple of folks from the Melbourne Descenders Dive Club as they came out of the ocean. Our guys suited up and headed out.

Getting in wasn't too bad, if you're used to beach diving at Wabasso. It was absolutely horrid for Lauderdale, though. The guys made their way through the breakers and headed out. They passed over the first reef and kicked straight away to the second reef.

They had 2 flags and we watched from the beach as the flags separated for quite a ways, and then came back together, then separated, then a head would pop up, then go down and the flags would come together again, then apart, then another head would pop up. This went on for about 45 minutes.

Two of our divers came in and told us that they got separated immediately from the group - and did their dive hoping to be close enough to the dive flag to be legal. The other 3 divers came in and reported only 10 foot of vis and a strong surge. It was really rough getting out.

After the dive, we headed to Anglins Pier restaurant for a good, cheap lunch. The waitresses there were so rude they were funny. I don't think they were trying to be funny, but we all had a good laugh. By the time we were done with our lunch, they were laughing with us. After lunch, it was back to OceanFest and more roaming around the booths and talking with people about the sport we love so much. There was food at OceanFest but it was extremely expensive so we ate outside the gate.

We met up with Dave and Ann and another Crew member at the show. They were planning on attending some of the seminars that were being offered in the air conditioned meeting hall. There were 3 different seminars each hour from 10am until 5pm. Bobby and I attended Captain Slate's "The Art of Resort Dive Mastering".

We headed back to camp around 5:00 for a group cookout. Many of our hotel friends joined us. After dinner, a couple of our group opted to go see a Jackie Chan movie while others decided to stay at camp and relax. A number of us returned to OceanFest for Jean-Michelle Cousteau's presentation. It was extremely informative. Did you know that Keiko is being set free in the ocean this month? Jean-Michelle's foundation made it all possible. They have been working with reacclimating him to the ocean and he is now ready to go.

After the presentation, we headed back to the beach for some more live music and then back to camp. The hoard of raccoons were waiting for us again at the front gate. I've never seen so many raccoons in one place in my life!

We started Sunday morning with a big breakfast and discussed the upcoming Treasure Hunt. The weather was getting worse so we decided to break camp. Then the sky opened up on us. Hey, we're divers! A little water isn't going to hurt us. We got everything loaded up and headed back to the Festival. By the time we got there, the rain had stopped and the ocean didn't look all THAT bad. We checked on the Treasure Hunt and found that it, too, was cancelled. We had already paid our $10 to participate and were told that it was going to be a great big raffle and everyone would get a prize. Prizes ranged from hats, to t-shirts, to snorkels, to fins, to wet suits, to a complete regulator set including a computer, to trips, you get the idea. The grand prize was a trip for 2 to Fiji.

One of our youth still wanted to dive, so I grabbed my gear and got ready to go out. Another boy on the beach asked if he could buddy up with us. I first made sure that he had some experience (25 dives) and we went over the buddy ground rules for low vis.

It was tough getting through the waves. The boys got out OK, but I got washed back in 3 or 4 times before I finally got passed the breakers. We headed down and the vis was really bad. I took the boys hands so I wouldn't loose them. It was tough working against the surge. Sand, sand, sand. Then it felt a little rougher and I checked my gauge. Seven feet? Huh? I surfaced and found that I was leading us BACK to the beach. My compass was lying and the ripples on the bottom went every which way. I turned us around and we headed back out. Again, I got turned around and found that I was heading us back to the beach. Geez! I told Chris to find the reef - and he did. In fact, we almost ran head first into a great big rock on the edge of the first reef!

Once we got out to the reef it was fun. Even though the vis was poor - 10 feet - there were still neat things to see. We held hands for the entire dive so we wouldn't get separated. It was cool riding the surge from one side of the reef to the other.

We headed in at about 1500 psi - after a 40 minute dive. We scuba'ed in and in about 4 foot of water, we stopped to take our fins off. Well, I was just all tangled up in the float line and the breakers were pounding me. I couldn 't stand up. The line was wrapped around my fins, my arm, my tank, it was that Sid mummy syndrome thing. So I inflated my BC and body surfed my way up to beach - mask and reg in place. Bobby came down and asked me if I was OK. I nodded - reg still in my mouth. I must have looked like a beached whale! He helped me get untangled and on my feet.

After our wonderful beach dive, we strolled through the exhibits again while we waited for the Treasure Hunt raffle. It rained off and on all day long. Finally, the drawing began. Bobby and I won a 2 tank dive trip for 2 to Captain Slate's. Too funny. As most of you know, Captain Slate presided over Bobby's and my underwater wedding 2 years ago. Included in other prizes that folks in our group won were a hat, a snorkel belt which holds weights and a pony bottle, and a scuba club membership. One of our boys missed the grand prize by 1 number!

After the raffle, we headed home. We stopped for dinner along the way and got into Melbourne around 7:30pm.

Yes, it rained. Yes, we dove. And yes, we had a great time! Calm seas and calm weather would have made the weekend nicer, but we still had a really good time, despite the weather. Normally, this spot is a calm, clear beach dive with lots to see and lots to enjoy.

Costs:

$2 / night for youths $3 / night for adults Camping

$3 / meal at camp

On your own for meals away from camp

$6 / day OceanFest Admission

$10 Raffle

$5 / Tank

Next year, Neal Watson, the organizer, has scheduled OceanFest for the 3rd weekend in May. Hopefully, it won't be raining! I'll make my prediction now that it's going to be beautiful.

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Adventure Scuba, Blowing Rocks Marina, Stuart - Night Dive, July 22, 2000

What a neat dive!

We had 10 folks meet at my house on Saturday afternoon around 3:00PM. I collected liability releases and C-card copies. We loaded up Dave's truck with tanks, Perry's 'Bigg Red' with dive gear, and our van with people. We hit the road shortly after 3:30. We picked up another 4 divers in Palm Bay and headed down 95 to Jupiter. We passed through some bad weather on the way down, but by the time we hit Stuart, the sky was blue, the clouds were puffy white, and the sun was shining.

We got to the dive shop shortly before 6:00 and while I got all of the paper work sorted out at the shop, the rest of the group hit Subway for dinner.

We then proceeded up US1 one mile to Blowing Rocks Marina and met the boat - Adventure Scuba - Captain John, and dive masters Jeff and Burton. We also met up with 2 more divers at the boat for a comfortable total of 16. (The boat holds 26, the shop likes to limit it to 22, we shot for 18 but ended up with 16) There was lots of room on the boat!

We loaded the boat with all of our gear, got our first tank setup and headed down the intercoastal towards the Jupiter inlet. As we approached the inlet, we saw that the ocean was pretty flat. We had 1 to 2 foot seas. Ahhh.... The dive masters gave us a dive briefing on the way to the dive site.

We split into 2 groups with 8 in each group. Group 1 was all experienced divers. Group 2 consisted of 4 youths from our Venture Crew and 4 advisors. The Crew was doing the night dive towards their advanced certification. Each Crew member was buddied with an advisor.

Our first dive was a twilight dive on LoggerHead Reef. We entered the water and started down. We were in 70 feet of water and the reef came into view after descending 15 feet. The vis was wonderful! And the fish - EVERYWHERE. At times, we couldn't see the reef through the fish - mostly grunts, porkfish, parrotfish, and snapper. Sea fans and gregonian colonies littered the reef. There were nice ledges along the edge of the reef as well as lots of holes and crannies to check out. A number of large loggerhead turtles were spotted on the reef. Lights weren't necessary for this first dive, but they came in handy and brought out colors that were lost at this depth. The maximum depth on my computer was 73 feet.

The current carried us lazily along the reef with little effort. It was easy to turn against the current and return to a spot to check something out that you drifted over.

My buddy ran low on air first, so we surfaced and the boat picked us up. The first group was buzzing about all of the neat things they saw - morays, turtles, LOTS of fish. The second group started popping up shortly after my buddy and I boarded. Then the buzz got even louder - spotted morays, eagle ray, giant purple parrot fish, turtles, lobster, green moray, cool ledges, and - of course - LOTS of fish!

Everyone changed their tanks over for the second dive. Cylums were cracked and tie-wrapped to first stages. The dive masters again gave us a dive briefing and reviewed some light signals. They emphasized safety signals like circling your light over your head as you ascend so the captain knows that you are near the surface. We decided to dive the night dive on the same spot that we dove the twilight dive.

After an hour of up time, group one re-entered the water. John had his underwater video camera with him on the second dive. I can't wait to see the footage! Group 2 then entered the water. The water on the second dive seemed a little cooler than the first dive. There was a temperature change at 40 feet. Not enough to be uncomfortable (water temp was around 80 degrees) but enough to make you notice.

When we got to the bottom, our group got together and we all held our lights against our chests so the advanced students could experience the total darkness (well, except of the cylums, strobes, and flashlight rings :) After a couple of seconds, your eyes adjust to the darkness and you can actually see things on the reef. My favorite part of this exercise, though, is watching the bioluminescence sparkle in the water.

After our class exercise, we started our pleasure dive. I was rather puzzled. There were hardly ANY fish on this dive. We saw some grouper and puffer fish. A barracuda was also spotted. But the abundance of fish that we saw on the first dive was no where to be found. I wonder where they all go? I briefly played with a porcupine puffer. He was too cool. He let me place my hand under him and support his weight. However, when I tickled his belly, he puffed and his spikes came sticking out. He blew up to size of a soccer ball. I bounced him on my hand a few times but decided to continue on with my dive after one of his spikes came through my glove - ouch.

There were lots of turtles spotted on the second dive - hawksbill as well as loggerhead. They were on top of the reef, under the reef in little "caves", up under ledgers, and free swimming above the reef. John said that he got a great shot of one that swam right towards his camera and up over his head! We also saw more lobster on this dive.

Again, my buddy ran low on air first, so we surfaced circling our lights over our heads. After our safety stop, we broke the surface and signaled the boat who was bringing in the flag and float from the first group. We bobbed around in the darkness with our lights shining on our heads until Captain John made his way over to pick us up. Once we were in the boat, more folks in our group were waiting on the surface to be picked up.

After getting everyone on board, we headed back to the dock. The boat was filled with dive experiences, laughter, and a sense of accomplishment. The Crew members were all psyched about their first night dive. My buddy, a 15 year old, told me that he "was hooked" on night dives. He said that this was the best dive that he had ever done! This was neat to hear since he was apprehensive about the whole dive night thing before the dive.

We got back to the dock around 10:30PM. By the time we unloaded our equipment from the boat, loaded up the vehicles, and started the ride home, it was 11:30. The 2 hour drive got us home by 1:30AM (long day) We unloaded the gear and everyone headed home.

What a wonderful night of diving!

About the boat:

Adventure Scuba is a 40 foot Coast Guard approved custom diving vessel. It is spacious with a good area for dry storage. There is a large double dive platform at the back of the boat. The first platform sits about 6 inches under the water, the second about 6 inches above the water. This made getting back on the boat extremetly easy. The captain and crew are very personable and go out of their way to make sure you have a good trip. The old dock shopping carts used for getting equipment to the boat have been replaced by nice wagon-type carts with big tires and easy steering. This made it very easy to load and unload all of the gear.

A note about parking at Blowing Rocks Marina:

You cannot park in the marina parking lot. After you unload, you must move your car out of the parking lot and park it on the street or you risk getting towed.

Cost : $45

Cost included 2 tank night dive trip, bottled water, drinks, and snacks, cylum and utility wrap (if needed), backup light (if needed), and boat tip (gave a $50 tip to the crew). Carpool drivers usually get gas money, but since I didn't fill all of the spots (I was trying for 18), I wasn't able to do this for this trip. The Crew elected to have $20 per youth member covered by the Crew treasury, reducing the cost of their dive to $25.

Dive Link Review:

Bobby and I used our Dive Link full face mask communication devices. While the full face mask is nice, I found that I had to breath much harder than with my regulator. This may be because I haven't mastered the face mask adjustments yet. I also found that if I turn my head down, the mask free flows since the exhaust is in the bottom of the mask. I also have to find a comfortable adjustment for all of the straps. I felt like the mask wasn't fitting my face properly during the dives and found myself holding it against my face the entire time. Hopefully, this is all just do to a 'learning curve' on how to use the devices.

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Picnic in the Park, Kelly Park, Orlando - September 16, 2000

Our Crew joined Crew 285 for this activity sponsored by the Boy Scout's Florida Council. Activities included tubing, games, and good food.

Another Florida Council activity is planned for February 23, 24, and 25 at LaNoChe.

Blue Spring - October 14, 2000

Well, our West Palm trip got blown out on Saturday - bummer. There were 25 knot winds out of the north/east, 8 foot seas, and 0 vis (as per our charter boat captain). So instead of just cancelling out, we opted to visit Blue Springs in Orange City. (north of Orlando) Well, some of us did. We originally had 11 scheduled for West Palm and only 6 went to Blue Springs. You guys who didn't go may be a little disappointed. Here's the scoop:

We left Melbourne at 9:45 AM (which is better than the original 5:00 AM for West Palm :). We picked up chicken in Orange City and arrived at the park at 11:45. We registered at the office and then had lunch. Blue Springs is a state park that is best known for its winter manatee population. It is very well maintained and has bathrooms, showers, concession building, and gift shop. It also has daily rental lockers. It has a swim area that opens at 1:00 PM. The water in the spring run is clear, clean, and a constent 72 degrees.

We spoke with several other dive groups in the parking lot. All had West Palm dives scheduled. All cancelled due to poor conditions. All wanted to dive so they all came to Blue Springs.

After lunch, Dave went over navigation skills with our 3 Crew members who are working on their advanced certification. We then suited and headed up the boardwalk to the water entry point. This walk feels like a mile, but its only about 1/8 of mile. We then entered the spring run and swam up to the spring head. This is another 1/8 to 1/4 mile. The water was a little chilly, but once in, it felt really good.

When we arrived at the sping head, we found it full of snorklers and divers. Dave had justed started to run through the compass skills when we were joined by a mother and baby manatee. It was too cool! At one point, I watched the baby head down the hole into the spring and momma scooted under him and smacked his belly with her head several times making it quite clear that he wasn't to go down there! Good momma.... Then I watched as momma swam one way and baby swam another around a diver who was standing watching them. (depth around the spring head varies from 3 feet to 15 feet) Momma got a bit upset over being seperated from her baby and took it out on the diver by going into a roll and pushing him away. The pair spent about 10 minutes in the spring head and then headed back down the run. We continued with the skills when the pair showed up again to lunch on the algae growing on the submerged logs. Bobby had the underwater camera and got some awesome shots. I hope they come out.

After finishing the nav skills, we headed down into the hole. All of the divers in the hole had already come out and we had the place all to ourselves.

This is a spring that goes down 60 feet and then has a shaft that descends another 60 to the bottom at a 45 degree angle. You may NOT carry lights into the hole without being cavern/cave certified. There is a $100 fine if you are caught doing so. Without a light, you really don't want to enter the shaft. The hole is pie shaped with lots of ledges on the edges and plenty of light. The shaft is small, dark and errie and is marked with a warning sign. The flow was not as strong as we are used to here. We attributed this to the high water level.

We spent about 30 minutes diving in the spring and when we came out and headed down the spring run to exit the water, momma and baby were making their way up the run again. Momma swam right under Bobby and gave him quite a surprise. It was a neat experience. Manatees don't usually come all the way up to the spring head, especially when it is full of swimmers. This was a wonderful treat.

By the time we exitted the water, it was pushing 4:00. We took our time cleaning up and gathering and packing our gear. We left the park around 5:00 and arrived back in Melbourne around 6:30.

Even though things didn't go as planned, we still had a great day of diving filled with good fun, good company, and memorable experiences. Costs:

Diving - $5.30

Lunch $25 (covered by Crew Treasury)

Transportation, tanks, air, and dive equipment donated by Crew Advisors Dave and Bobby

This is a real good spot for an alternative dive if you get blown out of West Palm!

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Veterans Day Celebration - November 11, 2000

Most of us met at the bank parking lot on the SW corner of Cypress and Eau Gallie at 8:00 AM. We had 7 youths and 8 adults. We headed down US 1 at 8:15 and stopped at Burger King for a quick breakfast. We headed on down US 1 and crossed over the Indian River at Wabasso to pick up A1A. It was A1A all the way to Pepper Park, just north of the Fort Pierce Inlet. We got there just around 10:00.

We entered the exhibit area and found seats by the demonstration area. We hooked up with another of our group, 3 boys and their father, who had come down from Palm Bay.

The program started at 11:00 and consisted of a Veterans Day Presentation from which we learned all about how the Navy Seals were trained on that very beach in Ft. Pierce to prepare for the invasion at Normandy (D-Day). Numerous outfits were awarded plaques for their participation which are displayed in the UDT (Underwater Demolition Team) Museum.

The program concluded at 11:30 and then the show began. It started with Navy Leap Frogs jumping out of a plane with smoke pouring from their feet. They opened their shoots and proceeded to 'stack up' to demonstrate how they can make 3 paratroopers look like 1. It was pretty cool. They all landed right in the middle of the field in front of us.

Next they demonstrated how they came ashore on D-Day and blew up the obstacles placed on the beaches by the enemy. A parade of frog men walked passed the audience to show the differences in gear through the years.

Then huge helicopters filled the air. Men were being 'dropped'. They came into the demo field and started shooting at snipers. The helicopters came back and the men hooked themselves up to lines and the helicopters whisked them away.

There was also a demo of land rescue with helicopter cover.

But the best of all was at the end of the show when the sniper in the gilly suit rose from the dirt in the middle of the field. He had been there the whole time, and even though we knew he was there somewhere (we have seen the show before), we didn't see him until he actually started to move about.

The demonstrations ended about 12:30 and then we wandered around the exhibits and the museum. We ran into some more friends after the show. Our final total was 22.

We all met back at the cars at 2:00 and headed home. We stopped at Miami Subs for late lunch and got back to Melbourne around 4:30.

The weather was wonderful with sunny skies and a cool breeze.

If you didn't make to the Muster this year, do try to attend next year. Its free, its educational, and its FUN!!!

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Blue Spring - October 14, 2000

What a beautiful day!

We met at the Bank of America on Eau Gallie Blvd, just west of US 1. We had 4 youths, 3 advisors, and 2 adults on this trip. Everyone was at the bank parking lot right on time at 8:00 AM.

We left the parking lot promptly at 8:20 AM after loading our gear and tanks into Dave's truck. We had to make one quick stop at my house to pick up a couple of extra tanks for folks who didn't have tanks and were on our way by 8:30 AM.

We headed north to Orange City. We made a stop at the Winn-Dixie in Orange City to pick up chicken, chips, and drinks for lunch.

We arrived at Blue Springs at 10:30 AM.

Due to the warm weather, there was a sign at the entrance "No Manatees". bummer... However, this made for a rather empty park which gave us LOTS of room.

We checked in at the office, dropped off our C-Cards, signed our waivers, paid our $5.30 per diver, and then headed to the parking lot. We unloaded our gear and setup for our first dive.

Cathy and I took our time since it was still early and we wanted to time our exit so we could drift down the spring run and exit at the swim area near the pavilions. If you leave the spring before 1:00 PM, you have to exit the water at the entry point and walk back to the pavilions. AND, the chicken smelled too good and I hadn't had breakfast. So we had a little snack and then setup our gear.

The entry point is a 10 minute walk from the pavilions. This doesn't sound like much, but it is a bit of a walk with full gear and even tougher AFTER the dive. I brought my hand truck with me so I wouldn't have to walk to the entry point loaded down with my gear and tank. No, I'm not a wuss, I just have a weak lumbar and wanted to minimize the stress on my back.

Cathy and I started out for the entry point. All of the kids, Dave, Ann, and Al were already in the water.

Cathy and I trucked our gear up to the entry point. John Choate was very gracious to lend me his video camera. I turned the camera on after we got geared up at the entry point and started to tape our dive. The camera has a light, but the rangers would not allow us to take it in the hole with us. There are very strict rules about not entering the cavern unless you are cave or cavern certified. A light in the hole will bring you a $100 fine. So we had no light on the camera.

The water was a little brisk at a constant 72 degrees. Bobby was sick so he didn't join us. But he did allow me to use his 5 ml wetsuit. There was a brief shock as the water entered the suit, but once it warmed up, I didn't get chilled at all.

As we approached the spring entrance, the kids were already exiting the dive sight. Some decided that they wanted to do 2 dives, so they dove to 1750 psi and exited for lunch. We had a new youth and her father with us on this dive. They have been doing a lot of West Palm and Keys diving. They were NOT impressed with the Blue Springs dive. Spring diving is different and without the possibility of a manatee encounter, it can be a little boring unless you are an explorer.

Cathy and I had the entire spring to ourselves - except for the occasional snorkeler diving into the spring and then back out. There was this one guy who carried a light and was free diving to 70 feet and then hanging out at that depth. I was impressed! He even disappeared a few times into the tunnel.

For those not familiar with Blue Springs, it is a triangular, pie shaped hole that goes down to 60 feet. At 60 feet, there is a tunnel that goes off at a 45 degree angle. This tunnel goes down to 120 feet where it opens into a large room. Only cavern and caves divers are permitted to enter the tunnel - and, obviously, very good free divers with lights. And I have proof - I got this guy on video.

I had some problems with the camera at depth. We determined that the camera was not perfectly seated in the underwater housing. I as able to surface, turn on the camera, and then reenter the hole. We fixed this before the second dive and Dave took the camera with him.

Cathy and I spent about 40 minutes in the spring and then drifted down the spring run to the swim area to exit. The rest of the group was munching on chicken at the pavilion. Cathy and I dove our entire tank rather than splitting one tank into two dives. Cathy had a little chill coming out of the hole, but Bobby's 5 ml wetsuit kept me toasty warm.

After lunch, Dave took 3 of the youths back into the hole for a second dive. The rest of us hung out in the park, walked the boardwalk along the spring run, and just enjoyed the day.

We left the park at 4:30 PM after checking out at the office and retrieving our C-Cards. We were originally going to stop for dinner on the way home, but everyone was still full from the chicken so we headed straight for Melbourne. We were home shortly after 6:00.

Costs:

Lunch: $4.50

Dive: $5.30

Gas: $1.00

Total: $10.80

Another great day of diving!

Dive Safe! Dive Often!

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