My So-Called Dive Life

11/7/2006 - Diving and Spearfishing (well sorta) off of Boynton Beach, FL 11-7-06

Location:  Boynton Ledges, off of Boynton Beach, FL Buddies:  Dave B. Max Depth: 83 feet (deepest I've been on the ledges out here) Bottomtime: 58 minutes Gas: 32 percent Viz: Outstanding 80+ feet Water temp:  76 degrees Today I went out with Loggerhead Charters  for a two tank trip on Boynton Ledges.  We did two reef dives, and today was the first day I went with a speargun!!  That was an experience.  More on that later.  First dive was a gorgeous dive.  The weather here has been pretty crummy, overcast with rain and high winds.  I was really expecting conditions to be crap.  Seas were 4-5 feet on the ride out, which also didn't give me an indication that I would be in for nice dives.  When we got to the site, Dave and I backward rolled off the sides and went around to the step to get our guns and the flag.  As is the usual custom, Hilary took the flag.  I was hoping that if I had a gun...I might get a reprieve.  Oh no. :)  Guess that's Hilary's pink duty from now on.   ANYWAY...on the swim to the back of the boat, I was quite surprised to see the sand clearly some 60+ feet below.  Current was running to the south today, ununusal for this area that fringes the Gulf Stream...but it was still great conditions.  I grabbed the flag and my girl gun and we descended.  I had weighted 2 pounds extra to give myself a bit of leverage to adjust to the gun, etc.  Turned out to be unnecessary, I ditched the extra 2 pounds on dive two. We went down and instead of just going with the current, we swam along the ledges....into the crevices and the channels where the reef fingers out, looking for game.  I was really into this for ...about 2 minutes.  Then  my natural ADD kicked in and I started looking at all the pretty fishies.  At one point, we were coming up from a channel against the main reef, and along the ledge about 10 feet above were a fairly large school of spadefish.  They were hanging along the ledge, in between two rather large basket sponges, and they made a really breathtaking sight.  I was MAJORLY wishing I had a camera in my hand instead of a gun.   And we kept SWIMMING...it was work!  About 40 minutes into the dive, we had seen a few hogfish and snapper but nothing that was legal.  I was lagging behind...all this swimming was wearing me out!  I was about 20-30 feet behind Dave when I saw a nice sized grouper.  I thought he saw it also, and wondered if he was going to shoot at it.  It swam around a few times, and I guess Dave finally saw it because he started stalking it.  It was darting around pretty good (throwin' up some OJ on him...as he put it) and THWACK he took a shot....and missed.  It swam RIGHT by me...and around me a couple times in it's confusion.  And I started laughing not only because he missed it, but also because he was having convulsions underwater.  He was over there screaming into his reg.  I thought he was cussing, as he talks all the time under water and I just can't understand him so I tune it out.  But then I realized he was screaming, "SHOOT IT SHOOT IT!!!"  and it was ONLY THEN that I realized...."Oh...I have a SPEARGUN in my hand!  I came out here to learn to spearfish!!!"  DUH!!  Oh well.  When I realized this....I started laughing hysterically.  He just shook his head and started swimming off.  I think he was a bit frustrated with me.     At that point, we were reaching our time limits (and I had probably used up 200 psi cracking up under water) so we headed up. On the boat, of course I took some grief for my somewhat miserable  performance.  I kept reminding them that it was my first time.  No one cared.    On this dive, we hit a max depth of 83 feet.  The water was clear and blue and BEAUTIFUL!!   We surfaced from 80 feet on the sand, and could still see the bottom from the surface.  The reef ledge came up about 15-20 feet in some spots,  providing gorgeous views.  Even with no fish for my supper, it was a gorgeous dive.  And even with all the extra swimming, I still had a SAC of about .46 and I was quite pleased with that.  Dive #2 Location:  Boynton Ledges Buddies:  Dave B. Depth: 64 fsw Bottomtime: 63 minutes Viz- Outstanding at least 64 fsw Gas: 35% Swells: 2-3 feet Temp: 76 degrees Dive #2 was also on the ledges, a bit further north and west of the original site.  I left the speargun on the boat this dive, so we could take the bug gear.  We descended and did about the same profile.  As Dave was hunting, he swam quite a bit more, out along the channels.  I was content to stay along the ledges and look for bugs.  Only saw one, and I waited patiently til he made his way back to me so I could point it out and he snagged it.  I'm sure it's in his freezer now as we speak.  Or he ate it for lunch.  Either way, he offered it to me and I declined.  I was still feeling a bit guilty about the grouper, I guess. Again was a beautiful dive, and it was a reminder of why I love diving in this area.  I've been so "Blah" about diving since coming back from Cocos Island.  I guess diving like Cocos really spoils one.  Seeing amazing BIG stuff on every dive is hard to beat.  But today, the water was warm and beautiful and blue, the life on the reef very prolific, and the whole day was relaxing and a perfect way to spend a day.  Now that the air temps have cooled a bit here, I've switched back to my 5mm and was toasty warm under water, and comfy above water on the surface interval.  I always love winter diving, both in CA and now here as well.  So anyway, it was a typical drift dive with the usual suspects.  I did see a large spotted drum, one of my favorites, and you don't see those everyday so it's always a treat.  I had stopped at one point to look at something, and Dave pointed out a LARGE moray about a foot from me that I hadn't even noticed.  I screamed.  Funny how easily that sound carries underwater. I'm still nervous around those, still remembering the scubaboard post about the guy that had his forearm devoured by a moray in BVI.  When Dave thumbed the dive, I wasn't really ready to go up.  I looked at my watch and realized we were at a 57 minute bottom time.  Oops.  That meant we'd be over the boat imposed 60 minute limit if we did a safety stop.  Amazing how time flies.  So reluctantly we headed up, hung at 15 feet for about 4 minutes, and surfaced.  It was just a great day diving.

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