Intracoastal Waterway | Video Dude Productions

Saturday, February 6th finds the Video Dude aboard the “Island Magic” with members of the South Florida Spearfishing Club heading out on a beautiful day to do some spearfishing and hunting for lobsters (except me – I was shooting video of course!). “Island Magic” is a wonderful boat carrying 6 divers with plenty of space, a covered cabin, shower and marine head, and even a couple of berths down below. Captain Jim is very laid back and makes everyone feel at home. Check out their website at: http://island-magic.com/boatchrt.php

After leaving the dock, we have about a 20 minute ride up the Intracoastal Waterway, then another 15-20 minutes to our first dive site, a reef called “The Mounds”. I am buddied up with Lance, one of the club members, and we jump in and head down to about 90ft looking for stuff to hunt/video. As soon as we hit the bottom, Lance is circled by 3 Remoras checking him out closely. Meanwhile, I am looking for their ‘ride’ in case they were attached to something big that might be sneaking up on us! We drift along the reef without seeing very much for either of us to shoot, so we’re relaxing and having a good time. Then it’s up to do safety stops and back on the boat, where we discover that one of our group, Maureen, has speared about a 13-14lb Mutton Snapper! She was VERY happy about that.

During our surface interval, Captain Jim takes us in towards shore to a calmer area so we can all relax and swap stories a bit. After about an hour or so, we head off to our next dive site, the “Pompano Trench”. I have never done this site before, so it was pretty cool to see all the stuff down there. Lance and I came across 3 Lobsters (he caught 2 of them) and a Lionfish just before hitting the Trench, then we entered the Trench itself and followed it for a while. I felt like a bug in the Grand Canyon it was so huge. There was a nice Anenome on the bottom, and in one section, there were old cement trucks (the round part that carried the cement) that had been placed on the bottom with holes cut in them for reefs. Lots of Glassy Sweepers inside most of them and supposedly there were Goliath Grouper as well, but we didn’t see them. There also a lot of tires on the bottom, not deliberately placed there, that apparently drifted over from other areas. Soon we have to come up to our safety stops again, and back on the boat.

7.7.09 – “Antipodes” Mini-Sub Video Shoot

Hello everyone!

Tuesday, July 7th finds the Video Dude cruising down the Intracoastal Waterway at about 4mph behind a boat towing the “Antipodes” Mini-Sub, heading out to “Touchdown Reef” off of Atlantic Blvd. Pier for some test runs. Pete Hoffman of Hoffman Marine had contacted me to shoot video of the test runs for his client who was purchasing the sub. Earlier this morning, a crane lifted the mini-sub and lowered it into a canal behind Hoffman Marine to begin the long trip from south of Atlantic Blvd., up the Intracoastal Waterway to Hillsboro Inlet and back south to the second reef off of Atlantic Blvd. In the movies it all looks so easy, but there is really quite a lot of work to get a sub ready for launching!

Once we arrive at our dive site – “Touchdown Reef” – the sub begins to run through it’s test paces, maneuvering here and there and giving the new owner and his son a chance to see everything in the area. I am maneuvering myself on the outside to not only get good shots of the sub, but to stay out of the way as well. The sub performed flawlessly, and I got some great video of it zooming around over the reefs and occasionally over my head!

At the end of the day, everyone else (including me!) got a chance to ride in the sub and see what it was like. It was an amazing experience and I am glad I got to be a part of the whole project. Thanks Pete!!

Another amazing dive day in Paradise!!

The Video Dude

Video Dude Productions

Posts Tagged ‘Intracoastal Waterway’

2.6.10 – Island Magic trip report

7.7.09 – “Antipodes” Mini-Sub Video Shoot

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