It was a dark and stormy night…..OK, it was windy as hell, but not dark and
stormy, that wouldn’t happen until the next day. The trip was scheduled to be a
keys krawl from Key West to Key Largo and back, hitting all of the wrecks and
reefs not normally dived by the day boats. The forecast was yucky (15-25 east),
the trip leader was stuck in Dallas, so we put it to a vote. Keys Krawl where we
might sit on the hook for 2 days waiting for it to calm down, or Dry Tortugas,
where we had a forecast of diveable, if not great weather. Dry Tortugas it was.
I woke up Friday morning to relieve Captain John to the news that #2 and #3 were
plugged tight. Really tight. Tighter than they’ve ever been Tighter than 2
plungers could budge. So, after anchoring at Turtle Lodge for 2 spectacular
dives, I started to remove plumbing. We need more fiber on this boat. Turtle
Lodge was 80 feet to the sand, and we saw a big red grouper, Green and
loggerhead turtles, The barrel sponges were spawning like mad, and CP saw a
giant anemone with a Banded Clinging Crab (look that one up in the reef
creatures book). I saw the inside of a pipe plugged with poo. I finally rammed
the poo-ramming stick through the mass, and we were free to poo at will once
again. Seas were 2-4 feet, current nil, vis was 80 feet before spawning, 40 feet
during and after.
Friday afternoon we moved to Bat Cave. Bat Cave is one of the old standby dive
sites, almost guaranteed to provide a Goliath Grouper, and it didn’t disappoint.
Two were sighted on the dive, down in the tunnels under the reef. Also seen were
permit, barracuda, and a host of smaller reef fish. Seas were still 2-4, no
current, with 70 feet of visibility.
We anchored in the sand in the park that night, looking for a smooth nights
sleep. About the time we anchored, the macerator pump failed. The plug had made
its way to the macerator pump, and then to the overboard. We moved on to Georges
Gorge for the morning dive. Zach had a big lone dolphin come up to him on the
conditions check dive and give him the stink eye. One of the guests spotted a
mantis shrimp and shrimp goby digging a burrow, and while good diving, was not
considered to be a spectacular dive site. In the afternoon, we went to the fort
to visit and pick up our fearless leader, who had finally arrived from Dallas.
We had a nice walk around the fort, and moved off to the French wreck (Avanti)
for the afternoon and night. The French wreck is always a fantastic dive site,
with loads of fish, including french grunts, goliath grouper, a nassau grouper,
black grouper, red grouper, yellowtail snapper, and clouds of reef fish. As
always, folks got lost either going to the wreck, or getting back. That’s the
story of the French Wreck.
Sunday morning found us at Seaclusive Sanctuary for a couple of morning dives.
The usual reef fish greeted us, but nothing spectacular was on tap. We had angel
fish, blue runners, yellowtails, grunts, nothing great, just a nice dive or 2.
Vis was 50-60 feet, seas were 3-5, and there was no current. Sunday afternoon
was spent at Keeney’s Wall. This is one of my favorite dive sites, and it did
not disappoint. I was stalked by a grey angel, I saw grouper, and hogfish, and
coral arches, and swim throughs, and I just had a great dive. Vis was 70 feet,
Seas were 2-4, there was no current.
Monday we dove on 8 Fathom Rock. We had an unknown type shark (probably a lemon,
but we’re still fighting about it), as well as a nurse shark, goliath, red,
scamp, and nassau grouper, southern stingrays, amberjack, you name it, we saw
it. Visibility was close to 100 feet, seas were 1-3 feet, and no current,. We
spent the afternoon on Dante’s Inferno. CP checked out the dolphin-calling
scooter, and discovered many new reefs, and also figured out how easy it is to
get lost using one of those things. Seas were calm, until an afternoon squall
came up with 40 knot winds, costing us a dive. Visibility was only pretty good
at 50 feet, there was no current.
Tuesday morning we decided to try something a little different. We steamed up
past Key West in the night, and tied in on the wreck of the Adolphus Busch.
After waiting out a passing squall, we jumped in for a dive. The wreck sits in
100 feet of water, and is just a wreck, nothing special. There was no current,
no waves, 5 knots of wind, and vis was better than 50 feet. Since the Adolphus
Busch was nothing special, we opted to do our last 2 dives at Looe Key. Looe Key
was outstanding, with 50 feet of vis, spur and groove coral formations, calm
seas, and no current.
Everyone professed to having a great time, and it looks like we will see
SingleDivers.com again in August. |