Dive # 1
, 04-Oct-97, 1st morning dive
a. Dive Location:
Princess Ann
b. Conditions:
Typical Florida Clear Blue Skies (CBS), calm seas and
Clear Blue Water (CBW), @ 85 deg air temp., water temp 81.
c. Dive Information:
91’ for 20 minutes (total time), bottom temp 81 deg. Vis was great, from 20’
down we could see the Princess. The Princess is caving in!!! There are
several places that were there 6 months ago, now they are caved in!! Watch out
entering the Princess. There is still one passageway that you can swim up, but
beeeeeeeee careful. The dive was great, Vis great, lots of fish. I did a baby
sitting for a non-current diver, so I did not get a chance to look for bugs
(several were caught). It was worth the trip! We went down on the Princess
and Penetrated Ann!! If you’ve never dove the Princess, it’s a must - ya
really need to be Advanced Certified, the Princess does go down to over 100’ at
the prop.
A note about this dive:
[Problem #1]
While we were getting ready to go in the water, my dive partner noted her BC
(recently purchased used) inflator was not working.
[
Problem #2
- not familiar with the equipment]. Another diver on the boat decided not to
dive and gave her his BC.
[Problem #3]
When we jumped in the water, my dive partner did not have enough weight to go
down. Capt Bob came over and we put 3 lbs in her BC pocket. But - by this
time, the rest of the divers were already on the Princess and well dispersed.
I ususally go down with the dive master and follow the divemaster! Note the
Princess is a deep dive, you can go down below 100'. When my dive partner was
down to 1000 lbs, I said we should go up. There really was no other divers
around the local area.
[Three swings and your out!!!]
Well, I let the air our of my BC and kicked up - nothing happened. My dive
partner was going op without me, I grabbed her fin and pulled her back down. I
put some air in my BC and again kicked up - nothing happened!! I put a lot
more air in my BC and really kicked up. Finially we started to go up, all the
time I was putting air in my BC. We got to the surface and I was almost ready
to dump my weight belt, I was still putting in a lot of air to my BC. I use a
120 cu ft steel tank and had lots of air. Well, when we got back on the boat,
I took apart the valve on top of the BC used to deflate the BC, looked it over
and put it back together. There were no visible problems. The second dive
showed no problems with the BC!?. It was not a good feeling to be almost 100'
down and no easy way to get up without sheding some weight from the weight
belt!!!
Dive #2,
04-Oct-97, Saturday Morning dive #2
a. Dive Location:
Bob’s Flower Garden - Capt Bob missed the Breakers!!
b. Conditions:
Typical Florida Clear Blue Skies (CBS), calm seas and Clear/Cloudy Blue Water
(CBW), @ 85 deg air temp., water temp 81.
c. Dive Information:
72’ Analog / 62’ Cochran for 30 minutes, Vis around 30 feet (not the
greatest). I think it’s time to
get rid of the Cochran Dive Computer
. The first dive had 91’ on both analog and Cochran - it’s very very
unreliable!! With the low Vis, most of the dive group each went their own
way. By the time we made it to the bottom, the DiveMaster was out of sight!
Ya really should make our plans ahead of time for this scenario - I just
continue the dive and drift with the current! Capt. Bob dropped us off south
of the Breakers, the current was drifting south - guess what - we did not get
to see the Breakers. Accidents like that happen occasionally, I call the
scenery Capt. Bob’s Flower Garden. There’s lots of bottom growth, lots of
fish, just not much reef!!! But, It's better than going to work!!
Last Updated: 10-July-2002