Posts Tagged ‘Joanie’
Wednesday, August 4th, 2010
Hello everyone.
Once again we take our cameras up to Blue Heron Bridge for some more footage of the lesser-seen animals that hang out between the pilings of the bridge. Ultra-Faboo Dive Buddy Joanie and I arrive around 2pm and get geared up for our dive (which ended up being 2 hours long) and head out off the beach to see what we can see. We start off over by the area where the houseboats are moored, looking for Seahorses and Octopi. We didn’t run into any of those, but we did find a Batfish, an extremely friendly Juvenile Filefish (it came right up to us and played with our fingers!) and a Pipefish. We also found the “Shopping Cart Reef” and the sunken boat with the mirror on it.
After exploring that area, we head over to the west bridge and navigate our way through the pilings. We encountered another Batfish, a Southern Stingray, several Scorpionfish, Banded Shrimp, a Stone Crab, and some Spadefish. We also found a Yellow Stingray, Arrow Crabs and several Cushion Sea Stars. We made our way through the pilings and over to the small fishing bridge to check out the small rubble reef (rubble from the old bridge demolition) and finally back to the beach and our exit point. It was a fabulous, relaxing dive and always a good time checking out which critters are “home” each time we go there.
Diving the days away here in Paradise,
The Video Dude
Tags: Arrow Crabs, Banded Shrimp, Blue Heron Bridge, Cushion Sea Stars, Joanie, Juvenile Filefish, Pipefish, Scorpionfish, Seahorses, Shopping Cart Reef, Spadefish, Stone Crab, Yellow Stingray
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Wednesday, June 9th, 2010
Hello everyone!
Today marks another diving milestone for the Video Dude as I completed my 600th (non-teaching) dive. Super-FABOO dive buddy Joanie was my buddy for this momentous occasion as we boarded “Scubatyme III” and headed out to dive on the “Sea Emperor” and Lighthouse Ledge Reef. Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda, and Owner Enzo were on board as well as 8 other divers as we headed out of Hillsboro Inlet to our first dive site.
In hardly any time at all, it seemed, we arrive at the “Sea Emperor” and Joanie and I are ready to get in first. We head down the line and find a good current on the bottom, but not so tough to swim into as we begin touring around the deck. Our friendly resident Southern Stingray came over for a visit and we played with it a bit before heading down to the sand to look for one of the resident Green Moray Eels that like to come out and check out the divers. We found the little eel pretty quickly (or did she find us?) and she came over to play with me while Joanie took pictures. Pretty cool being on the OTHER side of the lens for a change! After one more tour around the wreck, including a trip inside to rest from the current a bit, it’s time to head up to our safety stops, and then the boat.
After everyone gets their gear switched over, Captain Bob heads us over to Lighthouse Ledge Reef for a nice drift dive. This is my dive number 600 and Joanie and I get in first again and drop down to the reef and begin our drift. Since she is carrying a camera, I carry the flag and we drift lazily along until we encounter a couple of Spotted Eels, a Golden Eel, a couple of Pufferfish, Lobster, Grunts, Snappers and a Queen Angel or two. Very beautiful colors today and a nice relaxing drift dive.
After consulting my logbook, Joanie and I discovered that my dive number 500 was almost exactly 1 year ago (6.8.09) which was another reason to celebrate. 100 dives in a year! I am truly blessed! Thanks again to my Super-FABOO dive buddy Joanie and to everyone else I have met or dove with on the way to this milestone!
Keep on gettin’ wet!
The Video Dude
Tags: Captain Bob, Divemaster Amanda, Enzo, Golden Eel, Green Moray, Grunts, Hillsboro Inlet, Joanie, Lighthouse Ledge, Lobster, Pufferfish, Queen Angelfish, Scubatyme, Sea Emperor, Snappers, Southern Stingray, Spotted Eel, Video Dude
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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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Friday, October 23rd, 2009
Hello everyone.
Tuesday, October 20th finds the Video Dude out to shoot video along with Faboo dive buddy “Hall of Famous” Joanie. We’re off to visit the “Ancient Mariner” and “Abbey Too” Reef. The gang at Scubatyme Charters made us feel right at home and, as we head out into 4-6ft seas and rainy conditions, we wondered if this was a good idea today. We both agreed it was better than being in a cubicle, so we made the best of it.
Shortly after we break the Hillsboro Inlet, we arrive at dive site #1, The “Ancient Mariner”. Conditions on the surface made tying off to the descent line a bit scary, so we jump in and drift over to the descent line and make our way to the bottom. Once we reach the wreck we notice a pretty good south current blowing and we use the wreck as a shield for a bit. We got a visit from a Southern Stingray who circled us for about 8 minutes and performed some interesting maneuvers before leaving to play with the other divers. We also spent some time looking for an octopus we were told inhabits the wreck, but couldn’t find it. We did one swim-through of the wreck, then headed back for the ascent line and ultimately the dive boat.
Back onboard, we do our best to change over our gear in the “sporty” conditions and talk about our next dive on “Abbey Too”. Joanie has gone out on a limb and made some predictions of what we will see again, and we get ready to jump back in. After reaching the bottom, we notice a little East/West surge in the current and begin to make our way over to the drop-off of the reef. Visibility is only about 40ft, but still good enough to check out all the schools of Grunts, Margates, Squirrelfish and Juvenile Hogfish. We also saw one Lobster but no Eels, Turtles or Sharks. Well, if we saw them on EVERY dive we’d be too spoiled, right?
Another great day of diving here in Paradise!
The Video Dude
Tags: Abbey Too, Ancient Mariner, Eels, Grunts, Joanie, Juvenile Hogfish, Lobster, Margates, octopus, Scubatyme, Sharks, Southern Stingray, Squirrelfish, Turtles, Video Dude
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Monday, October 12th, 2009
Hello everyone.
October 11th finds the Video Dude out to shoot video with his Faboo dive buddy, “Hall of Famous” Joanie aboard Parrot Island Scuba’s “Fish Food”. The weather was perfect and the seas were calm and, although we heard rumors of fast currents, we were still excited to be out diving! Due to the currents we were forced to change our first dive destination (which was to be a wreck) and ended up with 2 drift dives instead. Captain George and Divemaster Dale got us all situated onboard and we headed out to the reefs.
Dive #1 was on “Sunkist Reef”, a very pretty reef I have been on many times before but seems to always be different each time. Joanie and I dropped down to the reef and, although the current wasn’t nearly as swift as advertised, it was still good enough for us not to have to kick very much. We saw lots of schooling fish like Grunts and Porkfish as well as Blue Chromis, and we came across a MONSTER Rainbow Parrotfish that we both determined had to be 4 1/2ft long and about 2ft high! We had never seen one that huge before. It was tucked under a ledge just chillin’ and even had a 2ft Remora attached to it’s belly!! Additionally we saw a Stone Crab, Hogfish, lots of French Angels and 2 Squid. All too soon our bottom time is over and we have to head for our safety stop and then the surface.
Back on the boat, we change over our gear for the next dive, talk about what we saw, and I ask Joanie for predictions on what we’ll see on dive #2. She replies, “a Turtle, a Shark and an Eel!”. So, once we arrive at dive site #2 which is the ever-popular “Lighthouse Ledge”, we hit the water and drop down to the reef. Still a moderate current and, wouldn’t you know it, we almost immediately see a Hawksbill Turtle! Not long after we find a Green Moray, a Stone Crab getting cleaned by a Damselfish, and the final part of the prediction, a 7ft Nurse Shark!! Just in time too, cause our bottom time was up and we had to head back to the boat! Overall a Freakin’ Awesome day of diving with my favorite buddy! Next time I’ll get her to predict a Whale Shark and a Manta Ray too!!
Divin’ the day away here in Paradise!!
The Video Dude
Here are some still frames from the video (which is now available for purchase, see link below!):
Tags: Blue Chromis, Captain George, Damselfish, Divemaster Dale, Drift Diving, Fish Food, French Angels, Green Moray, Grunts, Hawksbill Turtle, Joanie, Manta Ray, Nurse Shark, Parrot Island Scuba, Porkfish, Rainbow Parrotfish, Remora, Squid, Stone Crab, Sunkist Reef, Video Dude, Whale Shark
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