12.30.08 - Divemaster Log

Hello everyone.

Well. it's been a while since I got to wear my DM hat, so it was nice to be the Divemaster for South Florida Diving Headquarters aboard the "Coral Princess". Captain Dick and I played host to 7 divers and 29 snorkelers for the afternoon. It was a great experience for me to get to demonstrate my abilities for SFDH and it was a lot of fun meeting new divers and snorkelers. Setting up the boat and getting gear for everyone was quite a challenge as wave after wave of people arrived at the dock to get on the boat. Fortunately, I had some help - Scuba Goddess Terri was there in her capacity as Instructor, so she lent me a hand getting everyone situated.

After arranging everyone on the boat and making sure everyone had the necessary gear, we headed out to our first dive site, "The Nursery". After getting moored to the anchor ball, Captain Dick gave the briefing for the divers and I gave the briefing for the snorkelers. Following the site briefing, we get everyone situated with gear and get them into the water. The snorkelers were having a blast looking at all the fish and a few of them even saw our resident Nurse Shark! Terri was working with a non-diver on a piece of gear called the "Mini-B", which is a self-contained scuba unit with a 30 cuft tank. This was my first experience with this unit, and I hope not the last. Very Cool!!

After about 40 minutes at this location, we get everyone back on board and head out to dive site #2 - "The Copenhagen". Captain Dick and I get everyone situated with gear and once more into the water. This site is the site where the wooden ship was sunk after running aground in the early 1900s. There is quite a lot to see if you are snorkeling and it's a nice easy dive site for divers of all levels. Once again about 40 minutes elapse and we get everyone back on board and heading for the dock. I get into the pineapple and start slicing it up for everyone and get everyone's gear sorted for storage back at the shop.

What a great day of "crewing"! I had a blast working with everyone and watching a future new diver as well as some new snorkelers enjoy the great wonders of the ocean that we all enjoy. Hope I see you on a dive boat sometime!


Crewing the day away in Paradise,

The Video Dude

12.20.08 - "The Ant Beds" and "Abbey Too Reef"

Hello everyone.

Saturday, December 20th finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri once again aboard ScubaTyme for more reef diving. Once again Enzo, Captain Steve and DM Amanda welcomed us aboard and got us situated. We nearly had the whole boat to ourselves as there were only 8 divers on a boat that holds 18, so it was very comfortable with lots of room to "spread out".

After getting our gear set up and listening to Captain Steve's boat briefing, we are underway to our first dive site - a reef called "The Ant Beds". This is the first time I have ever been on this reef, and the topography was very different than the rest of the reefs down here. Terri and I were going to look for lobster and do some exploring since this was a new reef to us. We saw a couple of Spotted Morays, a big Green Moray, lots of schools of Grunts, Yellowtails, Blue Chromis and more. We also managed to catch 2 Lobsters. It was a nice easy drift with hardly any current, visibility was about 30ft and the water temp was around 73 degrees.

Dive #2 was on an old favorite - "Abbey Too Reef". This time Terri and I are joined by our friend Joe Marino - an amazing underwater photographer - to look for more Lobster and basically take a nice slow drift along the reef. We saw another large Spotted Eel, more schools of Grunts, Porkfish, and Chromis, and we caught another 2 Lobster. Another nice easy drift dive with very little current, visibility around 30ft and the water temp was around 73 degrees again.

Overall a nice morning of diving. Terri said "it was probably one of my favorite days of diving ever!". So there you have it. Since I am to be traveling for the rest of the year, today was most likely the last dive of 2008. Don't worry, I'll be back at it starting January 1 - dive is already booked! - so the blogs will continue! Hope everyone has a safe and Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

Still Diving in Paradise (even in winter!),

The Video Dude

12.14.08 - Blue Heron Bridge Dive

Hello everyone.

Sunday, December 15 finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri returning to the Blue Heron Bridge to shoot some more video of the critters there. It was a much warmer day than yesterday with temps in the low 70s, but it was still very breezy. Today we are joined by fellow ScubaBoarder Dave (Wormil) and there are several Open Water classes here as well.

High tide today is 9:21am, so we get a head start on the dive by jumping in around 8:50am. The current was still moving a little, but it was manageable until it died completely at slack tide. Lots and lots of critters about today. Moon Jellyfish, Sheepshead, Starfish of all varieties, a Sand Dollar, Horseshoe Crabs, File Fish, Arrow Crabs, an Octopus, Red Batfish, Flounder, a Sea Cucumber, two types of Pufferfish, Spadefish, a Yellow Stingray and a Batfish! Quite a full day of critters and we only dove for an hour and a half!

Water temp was around 70 degrees and visibility during slack tide was about 30ft. It was an extremely enjoyable, lazy dive and WE LOVED IT!!!

Diving is Great in Paradise!

The Video Dude

12.13.08 - Anglin' Pier Reef and Sunkist Reef

Hello everyone.

Saturday, Dec 13th finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri aboard "ScubaTyme" heading out to do a couple of nice reefs. This is the first time I have been on this boat and owner Enzo, DM Amanda and Captain Steve made me feel right at home. Seas were calm but the air temp was in the high 50's so I brought a thermos of hot chocolate along!

Dive #1 was on "Anglin' Pier Reef" in 50fsw and we were dropped on it perfectly by Captain Steve. Unfortunately, visibility was only about 20ft or so, water temp was about 70 and there was a pretty good surge going on, so shooting video was a bit challenging to say the least. Still I was able to find an Anenome, High-Hat Drumfish, a Juvenile Trunkfish, and a couple of Lobster (Terri got one). We decide to head up a bit early due to being cold and head for our safety stop and ultimately the boat. After our gear changeover (and a nip of hot chocolate!) we are ready for dive #2.

Dive #2 was on "Sunkist Reef" also in 50-55fsw and again another perfect drop by Captain Steve. Some overall water conditions as on dive #1, so we pretty much took our time looking around and trying to find small critters. Due to poor conditions, small stuff was the most interesting of the day. Overall we saw more Lobster, another High-Hat Drum, a Green Moray, Blue Chromis, 4-eye Butterfly Fish and a couple of Hogfish. Despite poor conditions, it was a great relaxing dive and a fun time spent underwater with the Scuba Goddess!


Diving the day away in Paradise,

The Video Dude

12.08.08 - "The Adventures of Flat Stanley" - Gazebo Reef and Lynn's Reef

Hello everyone!

Monday December 8th finds the Video Dude returning to Boynton Beach, this time with "Hall of Famous" Joanie as dive buddy. We are booked on Underwater Explorer's "Explorer" and, besides ourselves, we have Captain Alex. So we had the whole boat to ourselves - sweet! Conditions were great with clear skies, warm air temps and low seas. We are also joined today by "Flat Stanley" who is visiting us from New Orleans. If you don't know about "Flat Stanley" here's a link where you can find out more: Flat Stanley


So Dive #1 is on "Gazebo Reef", a shallow reef in about 50fsw. Alex does a terrific job of dropping us down perfectly, and Joanie and I (and "Flat Stanley" in his custom "wetsuit" made by Joanie) start drifting with the current. This reef is teeming with schools of Grunts, Blue Chromis, French Angels and Squirrel Fish.
We also saw a Lobster and several pairs of White-Spotted File Fish. They were definitely the predominate fish of the day. "Flat Stanley" posed for several video shots along the way and soon it was time to surface. I think "Flat Stanley" had a good time judging from the video stills.

Dive #2 is on "Lynn's Reef" - same reef as last weekend but totally different in the types of marine life. Again the strongest contingent was the White-Spotted Filefish, but we also saw 2 Nurse Sharks (1 free-swimming). Beautiful Barrel Sponges and Tube Sponges, Queen Angels, Burrfish and Puffers. A very beautiful reef, busting with life! Way too soon the dive is over and we have to head back to the boat. We didn't want to leave!


Needless to say (but I will anyway!) a wonderful day of diving with my friend Joanie and our new friend "Flat Stanley" and certainly a new "buddy" experience!

Diving the day away here in Paradise,

The Video Dude

11.29.08 - "Black Condo Reef" and "Lynn's Reef"

Hello everyone!

Saturday, November 29th finds the Video Dude and Scuba Goddess Terri, along with some members of ScubaBoard, aboard the "Underwater Explorer" in Boynton Beach, FL. Captain Alex and Divemaster Kevin along with Alex B., Tim and Seth rounded out the rest of the group. It was a great afternoon weather wise with temps in the mid-70s, just a little wind and seas were 2-4ft.

In no time at all Captain Alex gets us to our destination for dive #1: "Black Condo Reef". What a beautiful reef at only 45fsw on top and dropping over the side you can reach 55fsw. This section seemed like a haven for Morays of all kinds! We ended up seeing 4 different Green Morays (one free-swimming), 2 Spotted Eels, and a quick glimpse of a Golden Eel. Along with those were several White-Spotted Filefish, a few Lobster (only one got caught on this dive), and the usual cast of tropicals. The reef is in excellent condition and very colorful as well.

Dive #2 was on "Lynn's Reef" - another beautiful reef in the Boynton reef system, starting out at 45fsw on top and dropping over the side again you can reach 55fsw. Once again we were treated to several Green Morays, Spotted Eels, White-Spotted Filefish, Blue Chromis, Burrfish and the usual cast of tropicals. Another very nice reef for life and color and activity. Several times I didn't know which way to point the camera! Way too soon it's time to head back to the boat and head for the dock.

What a beautiful day of diving in Paradise!

The Video Dude