10.20.09 – “Ancient Mariner” and “Abbey Too”
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
