After
a lumpy ride out, the Spree arrived
at 0600 at the West Flower Garden
Bank to find that there were no
buoys present. With the sloppy
weather and the dark, we decided to
mosey on over to the East Bank to
check out the buoy situation there.
All buoys that we had left in the
fall were still present, so we tied
off to EFG#7, right in the middle of
the reef. The seas were running big
(I saw later in the Buoy 42019 that
we were in 5-6’s), but the divers
were hearty, so we jumped in to see
what was around. Melanie saw big
groupers (Yellowfin, Yellowmouth,
Black, and Tiger) during the tie-in,
and there was no current. The divers
saw Tiger sharks, hammerheads, and
Spotted Eagle Rays, big AJ’s, and
lots of King Mackerel. Visibility
was over 100 feet.
Only three dives were completed on
the East Bank due to the late
arrival time, and the night dive was
cancelled due to the large number of
Tiger Sharks.
The weather calmed down nicely
during the day, and the ride to
Stetson Bank was positively nice. We
arrived at 0700 to find buoys number
2 and 3 were there, but we saw
evidence that Shrimpers had been
tying up to them. The bottom is all
busted up around the mooring pins.
Melanie jumped and found a huge
school of Spanish and King Mackerel,
as well as a Dusky Shark. The divers
saw hammerheads and Spotted Eagle
Rays, one diver got great video of a
feeding Stonefish, and a great time
was had by all. Visibility was about
60 feet on the first dive. From the
wheelhouse, I saw lots of Mackerel
jumping, as well as Spinner Sharks
doing their thing. The conditions on
the second dive had deteriorated to
the point that the current was
strong, the visibility was down to
20 feet, and the seas were back to 5
feet when we called it a day and
headed for the dock.
Past customers were unanimous that
the changes to the Spree were well
worth the money spent, and the new
dive deck head was a great hit.
Captain Frank
M/V Spree |
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