2010 DIVE & TRAVEL HIGHLIGHTS
Dive & Travel Log
Nov - Dec Traditionally this period is hard to plan dive trips - the water gets colder and the winds tend to pick up, but this gives me the opportunity to do a few other things. I spend a few days in Moab in Southern Utah, hiking and taking photos around a couple of National Parks (Arches and Canyonlands) and rewarded myself with having a few beers at the Moab Brewery !
And now the colder mornings are arriving, I'm off to see the manatees in the Crystal River. I also get out a bit more to Sanibel and Corkscrew Swamp to see the wildlife.
I'll still try to brave the cold Gulf waters and get up to Venice for some shark's Teeth 1 more time...perhaps
I'll have to dust off my drysuit...brrrrrrr.
Aug - Oct -Started off August in style with a 3 tank trip out to the wreck of the Bayronto in the Gulf - calm warm seas and excellent company made for a great day out.
Work got in the way of other plans for Aug, but bounced back with my 2nd trip to Bonaire of the year on the first week of Sept. Frogfish, seahorses and very cool reefs made for another fun aquatic adventure.
The rest of Sept and Oct was pretty dry, although I did manage 2 amazing dives at Blue Heron Bridge on my birthday weekend - finally saw a Stargazer !
June - July -A long deco dive on the Speigel Grove followed by 2 single tank dives on it the next day was a fun weekend in Key Largo.
Popped over to Boynton and saw mating flying gunards and a couple of squid, then off to Jupiter for a 3 tank dive on the
July 4 weekend.
Apr - May - Long Memorial Day weekend
trip to the Dry Tortugas on the Ultimate Getaway gave us superb weather and calm
seas. Saw my first ever sawfish (a strange looking thing
- about 5ft long sharks body with a 2ft "nose" like a chainsaw).
Also was great to see some dolphins and also a couple of Manta Rays swimming by.
Now have a load of hogfish in the freezer! Managed a day over in Boynton on Good Friday and despite
the still somewhat chilly 70 degree water, was rewarded by a couple of bull sharks and my first ever
guitar fish ! Took the middle 2 weekends of April for a
deep technical diving class with Horizon Divers. After a few practice
dives on the Duane and Speigel Grove wrecks, the culmination of the course was a
most excellent dive on the wreck of Northern Light - superb vizability
although the seas were a bit "sporty". Even got to see a marlin down
there, along some sharks, african pompano and a very large tasty looking
hogfish.
Jan - Mar - A very windy and cold start
to the year meant that January was a "dry" month (spear fishing in Marathon was
called off with 12ft seas !). First dives came with a nice day over in
Boynton early Feb. Then things picked up with a great week of warm water diving
in Bonaire - complete with seahorses, frogfish and lots of eagle rays. That
coupled with sunshine and surface temps in the mid-80's meant a great weeks
vacation ! Rounded off March with a trip to Marathon. The water was
a little chilly (around 66-68 degrees) and the viz was horrible - but it was
sunshine and not too "sporty" on the boat so still a good weekend.
Dives so far this year: 108
Tentative Plans
Sept-Nov - Sharks teeth in Venice and over to the East Cost..not sure what else yet.
Dec - UK for Christmas festivities, curry, pork pies
and twiglets.
Will have to "sea" what else I plan throughout the year.