April 20 - The RSB-1 and Sunkist Reef

Hello all.

Sunday, April 20 finds the Video Dude on his way out to a wreck dive on the RSB-1 and a drift dive on Sunkist Reef. Today I am aboard Parrot Island Scuba's "Fathoms O' Fun" with Captain Jerry and DM Kimmie, and my dive buddy Heather.

When we arrive at the wreck site, DM Kimmie jumps in to tie off the descent line. She comes up to report a screaming current and tells everyone to make sure they make immediate contact with the descent line after jumping in or they will get pulled off by the current. Sounds like the descent line is gonna be what we like to call a "flag line" or "laundry line" as we will be flying in the current like flags or laundry in the wind. We do manage to get down the line eventually and find the wreck. Not a lot to see on it this day as the fish are all doing the same thing we are - staying out of the current by hiding behind the bulk of the wreck. Did manage to find a nice Basket Starfish thanks to Heather, though. After about 20 minutes we decide it's time to head up the line and after doing a half-stop at 40ft, we head up to do our safety stop. During the safety stop, a fishing boat hooked our ascent line (fortunately no divers were hooked) and Heather ended up cutting the line to avoid anyone getting caught.

After our surface interval, we head out next to Sunkist Reef - a very pretty reef with lots of fish life. We saw 2 Green Morays, 5 or 6 Scorpionfish, a couple of Crabs mating and lots of Queen Angels. A little current made it so we didn't have to kick too much, and the visibility was @60ft or so.

A couple of really nice dives with good friends and a good boat crew.!


The Video Dude