Circumstances have once again interfered with my goal of diving once a month. In reality, January is almost always a loss due to post-holiday things, plus weather. This year though I “lost” November and December and so it wasn’t until Sunday – which was coincidentally Valentine’s Day – that I was able to go out. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, the winter water temperatures here go down to 70-74 depending on the site and day. While the wet suit helps, the maximum I have is a 3 mil and that’s right on the edge of comfort. I can’t see getting the next thickness up as it’s too warm for most of the time I dive. Also, if the air temperature is around 80 and especially if the sun is out and wind down, then it doesn’t take long to warm up after a dive.

With that said, there was a bit more wind than predicted to bring us 3-4 foot waves; nothing too difficult. Visibility was decent on the first dive at about fifty feet and while there was nothing “big”, I did see several of my favorite fish and multiple lobsters. We moved to the second site and visibility dropped to only about thirty feet. That again is a matter of perspective. People who come from the Northeast often consider thirty feet as “excellent”, not being as spoiled as we are. However, I had just seen one of my favorite fish and knew I couldn’t get the attention of Hubby and his student in time to show them, but as I turned, Hubby gave the sign for “shark” and pointed beyond me. I didn’t see anything and then it happened. Three – count them – three dolphins came zipping past us within like fifteen feet. Hubby hadn’t actually seen a shark and knew I missed the dolphins on their first pass. He just wanted to get me pointed in the right direction hoping they would come back as they did.

Once we were on the boat, the Captain and Mate explained they’d seen the pod approach and realized several of them were close to where they could see our bubbles. Like Hubby, they couldn’t be certain as to which divers would have a chance to see them. Fortunately, only a few of the divers missed out and they did see a shark. It had been like 20 years since I had seen a dolphin underwater.

Some who follow the blog are familiar with the wreck of the Benwood as one of the artificial reefs in Key Largo. This is what is referred to as a “natural artificial” reef as opposed to a planned one. All shipwecks become artificial reefs since the coral polyps that move through the water don’t care what they affix to as long as the surface will support the beginning of the colony. The same is true for small fish seeking shelter – a shipwreck is no different to them than a series of rocks. The Benwood was a freighter during WW II and was running under blackout conditions as was required. Unfortunately when two vessels in close proximity are under blackout conditions, collisions can occur. They salvaged as much as possible, but couldn’t save the ship. As happens, with more than 70 years underwater, storms have also battered the wreckage and scattered it even more. However, there is a large section still together and lots of pieces, to include the anchor, spread around. It is a shallow wreck at only 30-42 feet deep. There is always plenty of marine life around, usually multiple schools of fish and you never know what else you’ll see.

In finally getting out to dive again, it didn’t disappoint the other day. Hubby didn’t want to jinx it, but apparently a few months ago a sea turtle took up residence. I haven’t seen a turtle in ages and sure enough he was on the wreck. He seems to be quite comfortable being around divers. He hung around for a while, surfaced for air, and then came back again. He passed right in front of us, not the least bit concerned. They are always fun to watch, especially when they linger. Another fish I hadn’t see in a long time was a puffer and they really do tend to dart off. This one though didn’t and I got a nice long look at it. A very pleasant dive on the Benwood.

This photo was taken some time ago, but they do rather all look alike.

Turtle in Key Largo. Photo by hubby, of course.

I try to get out to dive once a month, knowing Jan and Feb are unlikely between schedule and weather. In other cases, it’s a matter of whether there’s availability on the boats as I am admittedly spoiled and prefer not to go when it’s really crowded. That usually lets out the weekend. I also don’t go deep if Hubby is in a professional capacity. That’s a rule I made because he has to be able to focus on his student/client and if a problem occurs in diving deep, he doesn’t need to have his attention diverted because of me. While an actual problem isn’t likely, I am not as good on air as he is (that means I consume a greater amount of air – or for deep diving, Nitrox – than he does in the same period of time). While in most cases I will be as good or better on air than whoever he’s with, that isn’t always true. In a buddy situation, you have to stop the dive based on time or whoever is at the “turn around point” of air. For deep dives, you have to add in the time required to ascend to the 15-20 foot mark and do a 3 minute safety stop before completing the ascent. In other words, you have to allow an extra 5-6 minutes for that part of the dive. So, if we are deep and I hit 1,000 on my gauge, that’s the general point to begin ascent for the safety stop. If everyone else is doing better on air, they have to also stop and come with me. If Hubby and I are diving alone deep, it’s okay because he dives so often, cutting one dive a bit short isn’t a big deal. Causing a client to shorten a dive isn’t fair.

Anyway, Jan and Feb were in fact months I couldn’t get out and I knew June wasn’t likely with everything I had going on. July almost worked, but it was in fact Mon, Aug 5th when I finally got out. I am planning one extra dive day in August, so that will sort of make up for July. We didn’t see anything spectacular, although a few people did see an eagle ray. I kept looking for rays and wasn’t in the right spot at the right time. I did see some of my regular favorites and conditions were very nice.

This is a trunk fish and I always enjoy them.

My schedule has not been compatible with my intent to dive once a month, so despite the temperature being less than I cared for yesterday, I did make it out. I think I’ve mentioned before that diving here in the December through February months is relative. The water cools down to around 70 as it starts the Nov decline at about 78 degrees. When you dive, you have a variety of options for wetsuits. Some people do choose to dive without them, but I prefer to have even the thin layer of a “skin” which is my summer choice. As the name implies, it is quite thin, but does provide a bit of protection in the event of a small stinging thing floating about. Next is a 1mm wetsuit, then it goes up to maybe 8mm for colder water. You can also add on a hood, vest, etc.,. There are “drysuits” that I have also mentioned and those are for cold water or extended deep diving. There’s actually a tropical weight drysuit a number of people here (to include Hubby) have because as I have also mentioned before, locals don’t like the water temperature below 75. Divers who come in from places like New England, the Great Lakes or Europe find that amusing as they consider such conditions to be “balmy”.

Anyway, the surface temperature dropped a bit lower yesterday than predicted, the sun wasn’t very strong and the breeze did pick up. All that combined to make it less than comfortable with what I was wearing. I do admit when I made the decision to dive in my 1mm suit, it was questionable. As I said when I came up, “It wasn’t quite a mistake, but the season for 1 mm is over.” Visibility wasn’t great, although again, at 40 feet, this is terrific for people who dive in places where they’re lucky to have 20 feet.

I didn’t see too many of the “big things” we all enjoy even though I did find one large green moray eel and a little yellow ray. There were lots of fish, to include my angels which I always enjoy. There was also a spotted drum. More of an adult than in this photo. As an adult, the coloration remains about the same and the “plume-like” fin decreases in size .

Juvenile Spotted Drum

Yellow Head Jawfish out of it’s hole.

Although I didn’t get out diving in July, I did make it on Sunday for an early birthday celebration. It was a bit bouncy going out, but while we were underwater on the reef, a rain shower swept through and calmed the winds down. Watching the rain come down when you’re underwater is an interesting sight. There weren’t many people on the boat, so the crew and I think maybe one person were able to be in the covered part so they were sheltered.

We did two shallow genuine wrecks. By that, I mean they weren’t deliberately deployed to become an artificial reef. The first, City of Washington, was  somewhat famous in its day because it was in the port of Havana when the USS Maine exploded. The City was the primary rescue ship to bring the surviving crew back. It was later converted to a barge though and met with a very ordinary end when it ran aground on the reefs off Key largo. Anyway, as a genuine wreck, it’s all broken apart, but is a thriving artificial reef. On the second site, we went to one which actually has two names. For many years, people referred to it as Mike’s Wreck with the idea it was a rum runner back in the days of Prohibition. Some underwater archeology folks did some cataloging and research though and explained from things like the type of rivets, it couldn’t have been the kind of boat everyone thought. They determined it was the Hanna Belle (might have the spelling wrong), a British vessel. It, too, is quite broken up, but marine life that takes hold doesn’t care if it doesn’t look like a ship any longer. Coral and sponges grow just as well on a jumble of wood as they do if the structure is still intact. Little fish can hide and bigger fish can cruise around looking for a meal.

We didn’t see any of the “big stuff” like eels, turtles, rays, or sharks, but there were plenty of fish and a few of my favorites. I was able to find a juvenile puffer and stay with it for a while. They tend to dart away as quickly as possible, so that was a treat.