Posts Tagged ‘Sea Emperor’
2.2.10 - Divemaster Report
Thursday, February 4th, 2010
Hello everyone!
February 2nd finds the Video Dude donning his Divemaster hat and working aboard Parrot Island Scuba’s “Fathoms O’ Fun” for the day. It was a beautiful day for diving with partly cloudy skies, mild temperatures and flat seas.
The morning trip had 6 divers aboard and was headed for a popular wreck site, the “RSB-1″ and “Razzle Dazzle Reef”. After getting everyone’s gear aboard and handing out whatever rental gear was needed, we get underway. Captain George gets us out to the site in no time, and I am jumping in to tie off the descent line to the wreck. Very little current on the bottom made for a nice dive for everyone and reports came back that there were lots of Barracuda and a couple of Goliath Grouper. While the divers are down, George and I begin to notice what would be the omen for the afternoon, Man o’ War jellyfish are starting to show up. Carefully, I jump in and retrieve the descent line and we head off to our next dive site.
After gear changeovers and surface intervals are complete, I get the divers divided into groups and ready to jump in for their drift dives. George positions us over the reef and the divers jump in for a nice leisurely drift along the reef. After about 40 minutes bottom time, the groups begin coming to the surface and I assist everyone back onboard. Reports of Lobster, Green Morays, and schools of various fish pass between the divers as we head back to the dock.
The afternoon trip is headed out for the “Sea Emperor” and “Lighthouse Ledge” reef. This trip has a family of 4 aboard and they are all very excited about seeing the wreck and reef. I get everyone’s gear aboard and make sure they have everything they need, then it’s off the our first dive site. Captain George gets us out to the wreck in good time and I jump in to tie off the wreck line. It’s gonna be a good dive for the family as conditions were good down below. Just as everyone began jumping in, a Man o’ War jelly got caught on the descent line and 2 of the divers caught a tentacle across the hand. The whole group proceeded with their dives, and while they were down, I was making sure the jellyfish didn’t get caught on the ladders or the dive line. Just as I had the line cleared, 2 of the divers came up and another jellyfish got caught on the line. This time the other 2 divers got minor stings. After everyone was onboard and gear secured, I administered some first aid for everyone and they began to feel the stings less.
Surface intervals done and gear changed over, George takes us out to “Lighthouse Ledge” for a drift dive along the reef. Wary of the jellyfish this time, the family jumps in and starts their dive. While they are diving, I am sitting on the dive platform with a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass picking tentacles off of the dive line, so the next person to use it won’t get stung. No incidents of stings this time as they get back on the boat, and they were all excited to report the things they saw. The family had a great time on their dives and they are planning to come back again.
Divemasterin’ the days away here in Paradise,
Doug the Video Dude
Tags: Barracuda, Divemaster, Fathoms O' Fun, Goliath Grouper, Green Morays, Lighthouse Ledge, Lobster, Man o' War jellyfish, Parrot Island Scuba, Razzle Dazzle Reef, RSB-1, Sea Emperor, Video Dude
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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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