Archive for November, 2009
11.16.09 - The “Sea Emperor” and Abbey Too Reef
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Hello everyone!
Monday, November 11th finds the Video Dude, along with Faboo dive buddy “Hall of Famous” Joanie, aboard Scubatyme III heading out to the ever-popular wreck of the “Sea Emperor” for a relaxing morning of diving. Captain Bob is at the helm and Divemaster Goddess Amanda is assisting everyone on deck as we head out on flat seas to our destination. Along the way we see a pod of Dolphins cavorting and jumping our wake. Captain Bob makes a couple of circles so we can see the dolphins and to give them a nice wake to play in. It was a great start to the morning and a good omen of things to come!
We arrive at the “Sea Emperor” and after Amanda ties off the descent line, Joanie and I head for the bottom. I nearly landed on the resident Stingray, who was out and about already. I had several face-to-face encounters, with the stingray occasionally brushing my camera and once even hitting it head-on! I always love to watch the grace of a “flying” stingray, they make it look so effortless! Captain Bob gave me some crackers to feed to the fish, so I went over to the sand and started feeding them so everyone could get pictures. We also found one of the resident Green Morays, and I found a 6ft Nurse Shark over amongst the pipes next to the wreck. We also came across a sick-looking Midnight Parrotfish who seemed to be having trouble just moving it’s fins to stay in one spot.
After our surface interval, we head over to Abbey Too Reef. Visibility on the bottom was much improved from the day before, but the east/west surge was stronger. We did see about 7 Lobsters all total though. No other critters besides the usual Grunts, Squirrelfish and Chromis.
So that’s about it. Good seas, Faboo dive buddy, better visibility and still warm water temps, plus a cool stingray encounter and a fish-feeding made for a great morning!
Still diving in Paradise (even in November!),
The Video Dude
Tags: Abbey Too, Chromis, Dolphins, Green Moray, Grunts, Joanie, Lobster, Midnight Parrotfish, Nurse Shark, Scubatyme, Sea Emperor, Squirrelfish, stingray, Video Dude
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11.14.09 - JBL Spearguns Equipment Demo Day
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009
Hello everyone!
Saturday, November 14th finds the Video Dude shooting video aboard South Florida Diving Headquarters‘ “Coral Princess” for an equipment demo day. JBL Spearguns, Oceanic Dive Computers and SCUBA Network (Deerfield and Fort Lauderdale) put the whole event together and divers got to pay a discounted rate for their seats on the boat in return for the opportunity to try out the various spearguns and computers (including Oceanic’s Datamask!).
After getting everyone set up with the gear they wanted to try, Captain Shane and DM Matt took us out to Hillsboro Ledge and turned everyone loose to play with the new toys. I swam along with the speargun group on the first dive getting some footage of them using the guns (and keeping my eyes open for stray shafts!). The dive went well and everyone who tried the guns enjoyed the experience.
After our surface interval was done, we headed over to Lighthouse Ledge for more playtime. Everyone was able to switch and try something else if they wanted. This time I dove with the divers trying out the Oceanic Datamasks and wrist-mounted computers. Lots of reef to see and everyone was thrilled with the various computers.
So, next time you’re on a boat and you see a JBL speargun or Oceanic dive computer, that might be someone who participated in the Demo Day!
Playing with new toys and friends in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Coral Princess, DataMask, Hillsboro Ledge, JBL Spearguns, Lighthouse Ledge, Oceanic Dive Computers, SCUBA Network, South Florida Diving Headquarters, speargun, Video Dude
Posted in Video Projects | No Comments »