Holy moley, what a ride. 14 divers from around the states met
up with us Tuesday evening for another meal that couldn’t be beat at the Rusty
Anchor, then back to the boat for a briefing and getting underway for the Dry
Tortugas. Experienced ranged from instructor to 4 open water dives ever.
The week started out nice, with slick-calm seas, mild currents, warm clear
water, and very little fish life. The usual reef fish were there in abundance,
of course, but the big goliaths and black grouper were few and far between, as
in we didn’t see any. That would change. Our first dive was at Alice in
Wonderland, which was gin-clear, at least 100 feet of vis. You could clearly
read the name Spree from the bottom. There were scads of tropicals, no grouper
or sharks to be seen. We did 2 dives there, then moved on to Great Every Time.
At Great Every Time, current was strong enough to warrant a current line for the
first dive, but slacked off somewhat as the afternoon went on. Once again, there
were loads of tropicals, but no real big fish.
Thursday, we started out at Cooper’s reef, where we had no current, water temps
in the mid 80’s, tropical fish, with a few juvenile African Pompano thrown in
for good measure, but no big fish were in evidence. In the afternoon, we moved
on to Bat Cave, where the first Goliath Grouper showed up. So did the current.
So did the cold water, as well as the murk layer. The water clarity was great
above and below the murk layer, and the murk wasn’t significant, and there was,
afterall a Goliath Grouper, but still. We visited Ft. Jefferson that afternoon,
then headed back to the Bat Cave for a night dive.
Friday morning, we dove on 8 fathom reef. There is nothing 8 fathom about 8
fathom reef, but there we were anyway. The current was mild, but picked up a
little for the second dive. There were 2 or 3 Goliath Grouper, a nurse shark,
another unidentified “big gray shark”, big big black grouper, and of course the
usual reef fish. After diving twice on 8 fathom, we headed to Dante’s Inferno.
When we got there, the current was strong enough to set a current line. On the
first dive, the current was stiff enough that the divers declared that they
wouldn’t be doing that again. As the afternoon went on, it got worse. The
current pulled the ladder lines underwater. The boat pulled the mooring ball
underwater. The water temp dropped 4 degrees at the boat. There was much
discussion about what was causing this current, but the final answer was that
lots of water moving across the bank was the culprit. Theories ranged from Gulf
Stream loop currents to Spring tides. All I know is that it was flowing too hard
to dive, and all sat out the late afternoon dive, and only 3 hearty souls went
on the night dive.
We got underway Saturday morning for some live boat diving on the way home.
First stop, tailend buoy. Vis 10 feet or so, current ripping. Some of the divers
actually found the reef. Next stop, Western dry rocks. Current ripping, movin’
on. Next stop Vandenberg. Surface current mild, bottom current ripping. Vis 20
feet. All but one made the dive, the outstanding one couldn’t get her ears to
clear. Better luck next week.
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