~ Tails From the Trip ~ On Friday Morning, August 8th, 2008 we began our adventure known as the 1st Annual Ft Lauderdale Drive-N-Dive. We loaded lots of tanks, gear and personal stuff, along with muffins galore and huge coolers with the anticipation of filling them to the brim with fresh lobster and fish. The wait had finally ended, it was time to leave…. approximately 7 hours later and gray skies…we arrived to our destination. With thunder and lightning all around us, we opted to hit the town for some food and drink. We settled into our ocean view tables and enjoyed our dinner at Lulu’s Bait Shack in Beach Place (except for Jason). The skies opened up, and we decided to change our minds and go for the night dive off the Commercial Street Pier. As we shot warnings to Willy and TJ about Ft Lauderdale cab drivers and crossing our fingers they would return safely to the hotel, we piled our gear and ourselves into the truck and made our way to the beach. Minimal harassment by the law was experienced, but it made our walk to the beach shorter! On the dive, several saw a small octopus, a small lobster, lots of crabs and shrimp and a giant trumpet fish. I always like to turn off my light and watch the beams of the other divers; it always reminds me of some kind of other world experience. As we make our way to the truck, I notice Jason turning green and think…” Seasick? On a Beach Dive?? “This is new!! Turns our Jason learned an important lesson about Caribbean Mahi-Mahi…. It doesn’t taste as good the 2nd time around! With Jason sick and the others exhausted from a long day, we pulled into the hotel at about midnight, to our surprise, Willy and TJ already there, safe and sound and having enjoyed a show from one of the docked yachts. Saturday begins bright an early with a knock on our door. It’s Tammy, and she’s ready to rock... an hour early. (Its okay... we were up and we love her anyway) She stole some Jet Fuel and a muffin and was on her way. After a light breakfast we boarded the Hammer Time for a 2 tank morning boat dive. After a boot-crisis narrowly averted, Captain Steve pushed off and we headed to our first site, the Hog Heaven. A dolphin made a short surface appearance. Then Carolyn showed us how a good Divemaster “Dive-bombs” a wreck. Good vis (60’ or so) and a decent current made this a great way to start the day. Some even saw a turtle! Our next stop was Hammerhead Reef. Tammy, Trevor, Jody, Devin and I made our way to the sand for the Navigation portion of their advanced class and began making patterns. Working in buddy teams, while Devan and Jody were excelling their navigational skills, Trevor and I heard something, music (imaginary, of course), and began to dance. Trevor enlightened me to the tune of underwater Mr. Roboto, while I indulged in other various disco dances reserved only for total cheeseballs. The music changed as soon as Devan and Jody returned from their square adventure. Now it sounded more like Kung-Fu. I was treated to a show of Matrix proportions as father and son battled to the death. On the other side of the reef, Jason, TJ, Willy and Tony, armed with lobster gear, fought bravely against 4-7 lobsters (depending who you ask). They were defeated in this battle of wits, making the score, Lobsters-7 Boys-0. And in a moment that will never be forgotten, TJ showed Jason a brand new underwater species, one we had never seen before, we call it the “Mooning’ Jelly... That’s okay, TJ found out what is like to be tangled in lines, and how fun Open Water students can be without their fins to swim with! The morning was wonderful but it was over and we started back into shore. We had time for a quick lunch, and a few stories, before it was time to load up again. With new boots in tow, Trevor was ready to go. So we boarded and pushed off to a site called the 5 Wreck Trek, or Wreck Alley. Coming out the inlet, I felt a sort of sinking feeling as I saw the black sky ahead and noticed we were the only boat going OUT and passing many, many boats (I mean many) coming IN. Hmm… Not even to our destination, it begins to pour and the water gets choppy. With big drops of rain and lightning looming, Carolyn secures our boat to the shipwreck below and returns with the prognosis; stormy, a little rough and the possibility of swift currents. But the pool was not open, not yet. We waited out a rush of storms anchored to a boat that had already sunk, ironic, right?! With lightning everywhere, all of the boat’s patrons huddled under the roof to avoid the chilling wind, except for Jason, still woozy from the night before, is feeding the fish…. Tammy snaps a picture (inadvertently, but funny still.) So,” Who’s Diving??” Very few hands rose. Our big bad country boys decide to sit it out, Willy is shocked, literally, and decides he better stay out as well. But Devan, only 13, is amped and ready to go. Devan, Jody, Trevor and I gear up and head off. We descend through a decent current and enjoy better conditions subsurface than those still huddling in the cabin of the boat! We toured the Jay Scutti and followed the line leading from her bow, to the stern of a wooden sailboat, B.H. Lake. As we hit the 30 minute mark, we made our way back onto the boat, and the weather seemed to have lightened up. Maybe based on our survival, the rest of the crew was ready to hit the water, so we made our way to a spot on the 3rd Reef. Toting Spearguns, the boys drifted the deeper part of the reef, as Tammy and I, armed only with cameras, hit the other side of the reef. Enjoying our leisurely drift dive, we encountered lots of fish, and beautiful reef. The boys on the other hand, were engaged in another battle of wits, this time, versus the Hog Snapper (well known for its aggressiveness and intelligence). After missed shots galore, there was a single hit (to a barely legal Hog by Jason and not to mention the only time he pulled the trigger). Making the game against the Hogs: Boys-1 Fish-4. It was fair to say at this point, the fish fry we loaded the BBQ for, was no longer an option. It is also safe to say, that scoring the only kill must have rejuvenated Jason (I suppose the nap helped too...) and he was no longer sick! Yay! After an exhausting day, dinner was needed by all. On the way, Devan and Evan’s Comedy Tour continued as they pointed out the hobos and drug dealers (apparently disguised as regular folks walking down the street). We chose the Quarterdeck for dinner, the food was delicious, the Blue Moon quenched our thirst... and thankfully, no one got sick. We decided to nix the night dive, as it was getting late and having some beers and some sleep sounded pretty enticing. We walked along the strip for a few, amused by interesting attire in the storefronts, then made our way to the most expensive liquor store on the planet. We purchased our cheap beer at expensive beer prices, packed in the bus and headed back. Most came to Willy and TJ’s room which adjoined to ours, to enjoy our brews and watch very muscular women swim and very strong gymnasts do their thing on the nice flat screen TV, set on the Olympics. Quite entertaining. We shared war stories and had some good laughs, then headed for bed. The next morning began once again, this time everyone moving just a little bit slower... But nothing perks you up like the smell of diesel and wet neoprene. Once again, Capt Steve headed our trip out to a wreck, this one called the “Mercedes”. A very famous wreck, well known for “poor” vis and quick currents. It was a good dive; some found themselves off in the reef, at 110 feet! Oops. Everyone eventually found their way to the boat, or at least to someone that could point them in the right direction. Then we headed to another section of 3rd Reef. This time, discouraged by the lack of fish to shoot, our good ol’ boys decided not to hunt! Well, they grabbed a couple sets of lobster gear, and TJ became a sight-seer! Jody, Devin and Trevor were the hunting pack this time and our last hope to fill the coolers. Our group jumped in for our last drift dive and cruised down the reef. We found another 4 lobsters, all evaded capture. Bringing the Lobster Game to; Lobsters 11- Boys-0. But the attempts were hilarious! We just hope that the boys now realize that the lobster don’t just walk into the bags! Tammy, running low on air, ascended with Tony, who didn’t have much more than she did (even though TJ switched his much fuller tank with Tony’s before the dive...) Can you say…AIRHOG!! After a few more minutes (a total of 45 at 70’) on the bottom, Jason, TJ, Willy and I made our way to the surface and let the boat pick us up. Meanwhile, Devin’s ears were tired, and wouldn’t allow him to descend. Trevor found himself on the bottom, and by himself. He absorbed the sights, ascended and blew up his safety sausage to alert the captain he was up and to avoid boats running over his noggin! See. We told you it was a good thing to have! With this ascent, there would be nothing in a very large cooler but a lonely (and small) Hog Snapper. On the way back to the dock, the large shy DirecTV turtle (had a satellite antenna tag on her back) was spotted with a friend, catching their breath at the surface. What a sight, and a great way to end the dives. As I stood on our balcony that overlooked the dock, and the HammerTime, pushing off for their afternoon dives, Carolyn blew me a kiss and over the loudspeaker came one final tribute to our group from Capt Steve, “Timmay”. With everyone ready for bed, we made our final voyage for the weekend…. A very quiet 7 hour car ride was great way to end a fun-filled and dive packed weekend! Can’t wait to do it again! |
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| 130 SW Monroe Ave Mayo, Florida 32066 (386) 294-3377 |
2008 Drive - N - Dive Trip was great! Click here to check out some
pictures!
Scroll Down for our "Tails From the Trip"
Our next trip in the making is a Spearfishing Live-aboard Trip for Five
Days in the Dry Tortugas!!!!! Check back for more details.
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