We almost had more crew than passengers for this trip. 12 souls met at the
Rusty Anchor for good food, a little cheer, and a pre-boarding briefing from the
crew before getting underway for the Dry Tortugas. Weather was breezy, with a
wicked south swell that would persist for the next day.
We made our first dives at Alice in Wonderland, a dive site with a monolithic
hard coral cover, which made navigation tough. Turns out that navigation was
tough, because folks were popping up like mushrooms after a rain storm all
around the boat. The site was about 65 feet deep, there was 100 feet of vis, 10
knots of southeast wind, and a 4 foot swell from the south, leaving us right in
the trough. Grouper, angelfish, beautiful corals, and lots of mutton snappers
were seen, as well as the usual reef fishes.
A visit to the fort was requested, and delivered on. We stopped by Ft. Jefferson
in the afternoon. I decided to go on Friday, as it is Memorial Day Weekend, and
I didn’t know how many boaters would be there for the weekend. We got there just
in time, as a flotilla of 30 center console fishing boats showed up to camp and
fish for the weekend. There were 4 mega-yachts anchored in the harbor, and quite
a few sailboats. Our timing was perfect, as we got dock space for a couple of
hours, then back to the diving.
We usually dive the wreck of the Avanti after a fort tour, so off we went.
Unfortunately, that south swell had turned the Avanti site into a blue chocolate
milk, and leaving visibility at about 10 feet. Everyone agreed that it would
have been a great dive if they could have seen anything, although 2 goliaths
were spotted. Seas were down to 2 feet, water temp was 80, and depth was 20
feet. After the poor conditions on the Avanti, a favorite night dive spot, we
decided to go back to Alice in Wonderland for the night dive, which was carried
out successfully.
Friday morning we dove 8 fathom rock. Once again, 8 fathom delivered goliath,
Nassau, red, and black grouper, as well as stingray, amberjack, permit, a big ‘ol
fatty nurse shark, and scamp were there to greet us. Visibility was in the
80-100 foot range, seas were 2 feet, depth was 80 feet to the sand, and the
water temp was 80, at least until that pesky current showed up. On the second
dive, a pesky current, opposing the wind, made an appearance. It wasn’t bad, but
sure was annoying.
In the afternoon, we dove Bat Cave. The dives here were conducted in 50-70 feet
of vis, that pesky current stayed around, but this time, it brought cold (78
degree) water with it. The fish seemed happy, with permit, amberjack, queen,
french, and blue angelfish, and one of the nicest stands of staghorn coral I’ve
ever seen in the Caribbean feeding in the current. Speaking of corals, the coral
in Dry Tortugas North Ecological reserve look better every year. This year is no
exception. The staghorn colonies that were the size of a basketball last year
are the size of a dining room table this year. The black corals once found only
on Black Coral Reef are prolific on many of the sites we dive. The boulder
corals, especially M. Cavernosa, seem to be growing bigger and healthier than
ever before. It will be interesting to get some research results from the folks
who come out here and count these things.
Sunday morning, we dove Cooper’s Reef, which was unanimously proclaimed as the
best site of the trip, with 100 feet of visibility, the same old pesky current,
calm seas, 80 degree water, and plenty of fish for everyone. 2 goliath groupers
made their appearance, as well as every reef fish that the Tortugas has to
offer, king mackerel, cero mackerel, blacks, scamp, hogfish, blue runners, it
was all there for the looking. And taking too, I guess. A charter fishing boat
pulled up beside us (1/2 mile away), dropped anchor, and the “sports” threw
lines in the water like they had never heard of a marine reserve. I almost
called them on the radio to tell them that the marine patrol had been checking
every boat on the bank every morning, but I didn’t want to cause a fuss. Sure
enough, about 10 o’clock, here comes the marine patrol boat with a bone in her
teeth, headed right for us. Until he saw the fishing boat. After spending an
hour with the guy on the fishing boat, the marine patrol never said boo to us
(he had circled us both Friday Night and Saturday Evening, having a good look),
and headed off to the other dive boat to see what they were doing. Maybe once
the poaching stops on the banks, the fish life will be making a comeback like
the corals now seem to be.
Sunday afternoon, we dived on Dante’s Inferno. CP saw yellowmouth grouper, the
guests saw a hawksbill turtle, there were blacks, blue angels, hogfish, and of
course, all the reef fish one could want. The creole wrasse were doing the bad
thing, the bluehead wrasse were not. Conditions varied, with the pesky current
being really pesky. It went one way at 20 feet, a different way on the bottom,
and then it died halfway through the dive, but picked back up on the surface
interval. It wasn’t bad, just annoying. Seas were calm, wind variable at 5
knots, water temp was 80, and vis was 80 feet (sometimes).
We got underway for Key West on Monday morning, planning for 3 dives on the way
home. The first place we stopped was tail end buoy, where the water temp was 80,
vis was limitless, seas were smooth, current was slack, and the goliath grouper
were frolicking. Why did the goliath’s choose this particular place to frolick?
We don’t know, but will surely apply for a grant to study it. Next we went to
Cosgrove Shoal for a drift dive. Mother nature did not cooperate, in that there
was no current, but there was 200 feet of vis, seas were smooth, and temp was
81. There were lots of fisher folk about, so there weren’t much fish to see, all
the hogs were small, and the grouper scarce. The reef was beautiful, and the
conditions were close to perfect. Our last dive was on the Cayman Salvage
Master, right outside the Stock Island Channel. We chose this wreck as there was
no-one catching an early flight, and we had time. Once again, temp was 80, vis
150-200 feet, and with all the fishers, little fish life.
I want to give a big thank you to all the passengers that made this trip a
success, and also say a big thank you to all of the service men and women who
have provided their service.
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