Well, we heard that the Sanctuary heard we wanted to dive some
wrecks in the Florida Keys, so they have installed some moorings for us on some
wrecks throughout the keys. We took advantage of their new moorings, and headed
out with 24 divers and 7 crew to test them out.
We started the trip on Thursday evening, boarding at 8 PM and getting underway
at 2 AM. Dawn found us on the Thunderbolt. The Thunderbolt is an old army cable
layer turned lightning strike ship. She was sunk some number of years ago as an
artificial reef, and is a favorite spearfishing spot off of Marathon. Grouper
fishing is closed right now, so we were sure to see plenty of laughing grouper
on the wreck. Not only that, there were lots of fish, including yellowtail,
hogs, and others. Seas were 1-2 feet, there was no current, temp was 70, and vis
was 60 feet or so.
In the afternoon, we moved to the Adolphus Busch, another artificial reef off of
Looe Key. There were lionfish there, and FWC was killing them. Go Cindy! Anyway,
conditions were still 1-2 foot seas, temp 70, but vis was down to 15 feet.
After2 dives, everyone opted to drink beer instead of night dive. A smart
choice, I'm sure.
We steamed to the Vandenberg on Saturday morning. seas were still flat, current
slack, vis 25-35 feet, temp still 70, until the third dive. during the third
dive, the Gulf Stream came to visit. Current hooked up to 2 knots and spun the
Spree in a circle, but the vis cleared to 100 feet, and it warmed up. Moral of
the story is, dive in the Gulf Stream. We saw Grouper, Snapper, and Ling, along
with a bunch of free-swimming remoras. We also saw 2 lionfish in the wheelhouse
of the Vandy. The Spree behaved herself as usual.
|