My rule for birthday dive in during my birthday week and in trying to dive once a month when I can, going August 31 slipped into both categories. Conditions were good for the first dive, but I was not quite feeling it and decided to snorkel at second spot. Mother Nature and something unexpected came into play though. During my dive, I was having issues with my mask getting matter in and I thought I had perhaps caught some hair underneath the map which is not uncommon. While there was nothing big on that dive, I did get several of my small favorites and finally saw yellow-headed jaw fish again. For whatever reason, the last couple of dives, I hadn’t seen them in some of the familiar spots.

The wind and some rain came in and whipped up the waves for sure. I thought I would try snorkeling anyway at the second site and even though it was bouncy I would have been okay for at least twenty minutes. Then I realized my mask genuinely was leaking and I couldn’t keep it cleared. There is a technique to handle that and if conditions has been calm I wouldn’t have minded. Waves and the mask were enough to send me back. I mentioned it to the boat captain and he said, “hmmm, you do have some yellowing going on”. In other words, the mask was showing signs of age. Later when I said something to Hubby, he reminded me the mask was like twenty years old. Oh, yeah. I do have a prescription mask and since i was overdue a bit for my annual, I decided to squeeze in an exam so when we get back from our trip, I – well, Hubby, will send off the new prescription to get me a new mask. While you do get some magnification from the glass in a regular mask, it’s just nice to have the stronger type.

Yellow Head Jawfish out of it’s hole.

Getting out to dive on April 30 does still count for making it out in April. The winds were supposed to have come down for waves of 2-3 feet. It didn’t exactly work out that way although when we started back it was getting better. We actually had 3-5 for most of the day. That also meant there was a lot of surge. On the other hand visibility was like 50-60 feet which was nice. I did the first dive and didn’t want to struggle with the ladder again so went in for a bit of snorkeling on the second site.

Anyway, back to the first dive. Nothing big, but plenty of fish to include my queen and gray angels and two rock beauties. Yellowtail snappers were all over the place and my pretty little chromis were around, too. Couple of butterfly fish, a trumpet, a file fish and plenty of parrotfish. There was one that has black, silver, and yellow and I never remember the name. I hadn’t seen one for a while. I was surprised to not find yellow headed jaw fish, but there were some bluehead wrasses. Those have become a bit of a joke because a few months ago a crew was in from England and for some reason they were out filming specifically to get footage of bluehead wrasses. I forgot to ask if anyone ever found out why. We do see them on most dives. So then, coming home I realize that also unlike the weather forecast, the “scattered afternoon showers” were in fact  heavy dark clouds and I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it home without going through heavy rain. I did make it with about ten minutes to spare.

Rock Beauties are the smallest of the angel fish we have on our reefs.

Chromis are seen on most of the local reefs.

Okay, so my November dive yesterday – which I wasn’t sure I would get in – started out well. Conditions had improved after a few days of wind and there weren’t many people on the boat. What should have happened was two good dives, then a leisurely waterfront lunch. Mother Nature, however, didn’t care what the forecast had showed. On the “upside” a manatee decided to come into the canal and passed under the boat twice while we were still docked. Can’t beat that for a pleasant surprise.

Trip out to the first site was okay although heading into the gray clouds made the timing tricky as to if we would get into the water before the rain started. We all did. Visibility was only about 30-35 feet, but we did see some of my favorites. Lots of blue parrots, rock beauties, little chromis, couple of queen angels, hogfish, and Hubby found a spotted drum which I hadn’t seen in ages. Toward the end of the dive Hubby found a turtle. Hooray! Came up and moved to the second site and rain had stopped. Better vis, but fair amount of surge with nothing very special although there was a nice grouper and several schools of yellow tail snappers. We all managed to get on board as the rain started up again. This time wasn’t so gentle and fortunately, everyone could fit under the covered part of the boat. The mate finally had to close the plastic forward curtains. The temp dropped some and it was right on the edge of manageable for me. The poor folks who didn’t have as much “natural insulation” were chilled. Surface conditions had kicked up too, so ride in was bouncy.

Hubby did have his rain jacket with him and told me to stay on the boat as he off-loaded everything. He did say he was okay with going in search of conch chowder instead of straight home and I gave up the idea of lunch out in favor of heading to the house. The rain had pretty well stopped except it was moving north which meant rain on the way home. This is when seat heaters in the truck came in handy. Ah well, so it goes. This photo was from a previous dive, but also a Key Largo reef.

Juvenile Spotted Drum on reef off Key Largo, FL

There’s a common saying about scuba divers hate to get wet. What that means is, we don’t like to get rained on. Part of it is because you have “dry stuff” for after diving. When you come up from a dive – or are getting equipment ready to go in for a dive, being rained on can interfere with you dry stuff and depending on the temperature of the air and the rain, you can become extra chilled. I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to get out to dive in September, but things came together and I did. It was hot and humid and when we arrived at the dive site, the reliable City of Washington shallow wreck, there were signs rain might be on the way. As we were underwater, it became apparent rain was close as we sunlight diminished when the skies clouded over. Visibility was already down some, but we did find a small southern stingray as well as the regular fish life of parrots, snappers, angels, and so forth. I, as is often the case, surfaced a few minutes earlier than others and soon after, the rain did start. It picked up in intensity as the other divers came up. The boat wasn’t overly crowded so there was room for everyone under the covered section. Those who weren’t wearing wet suits though because it had been so hot got a bit chilled and we were all looking to see if it would pass fairly quickly. I was still in my skin (lightest weight suit I wear) and with my “natural insulation” was actually okay to stand in the rain for a freshwater rinse. I wouldn’t have done it for much longer. Anyway, the rain did slack and seem to be stopping when the mate looked out and said, “Dolphins!”

Sure enough I think there were two at a distance at first although we could see them. One came really close to the boat and of course no one minded the light rain in getting to watch them. The rain had almost stopped when we moved the short distance to the next site and because the rain hadn’t lasted long, the water was warmer than being on the boat. By the time everyone came up again, the sun was out and all was calm again.

Scrawled File Fish on Reef

Having missed diving in July, we managed to go yesterday in the hope I can also slip in a day in late August. I always try to dive on or close to my birthday, so it might all come together.

We did a repeat of last time with a trip to the wreck of the Benwood, then on to French Reef. There are nineteen different mooring sites on the reef and one of the Captain’s favorites is Sand Bottom Cave. There aren’t actually caves; more like thick arches to go through. Anyway, visibility was not very good on the wreck – not uncommon. There were the nice schools of fish and I saw all three types of angel fish; a French, then a gray, then a queen angel. There were quite a few butterfly file and a pair of file fish together. The resident turtle wasn’t around. Coral bleaching is a lot in the news these days. With the extended number of days of high water temperatures, there is some bleaching with the shallow corals and that’s what we saw. The deeper (below 30 feet) are mostly unaffected.

We had much better visibility on the second dive and some special treats. We see cute trunk fish on most dives and on this one we saw a larger variety, too; don’t have a photo yet as Hubby hasn’t finished with them. One of the other Horizon instructors found a big green moray tucked way up under a ledge and showed it to Hubby. I almost didn’t see it at first. It has been ages since I’ve seen a ray, but about five minutes after the eel, we found an average size one on another part of the reef. It was intent on something it was getting out of the sand and didn’t let Hubby disturb it so he got some good shots of it was well.

Scrawled Cowfish have pretty colors

We did have time for lunch after and went next door to Shipwrecks. They have been having real problems with getting food orders out. Hubby said we could see if it was better and it was. We did the usual with him a grilled mahi sandwich and blackened mahi basket for me.

Thursday started quite cool and did make it back to the high 70s with sunshine. Water temp is at 73 so a lot of locals stay out of the water in Jan and Feb. I missed diving in early December and knew if I didn’t go Thursday the odds were I would not make it out in Jan either. Visibility was not great on the first dive although better on the second. In other words, conditions were on the margin for me, but doable. We didn’t see anything big on the first one even though I did find a hamlet fish which I hadn’t seen in a long time. There were also blue parrots along with the more common type and three midnight parrots did go by. One very large barracuda was tucked back under a ledge and I couldn’t get to the other divers in time to show them. There were quite a few fish around for a pleasant if not great dive. We went to the wreck of the Benwood next; always reliable as it’s been down since WW II as a thriving reef. Hubby found two turtles; always fun to watch. One has been “in residence” for a while and the other was in a separate section of the wreck. There were lots of butterfly fish to include a banded one, the type we see less often. Quite a few trumpets as well as a pair of trunk fish together, plus a file fish in the last bit of the dive. I looked everywhere for an eel to no avail. Two of the divers did see a nurse shark although I’m not sure where. I always enjoy seeing rock beauties and little chromis.

I doubt I’ll be out in February as my schedule and weather don’t usually coincide. Winds can pick up a lot causing frequent choppy seas if not out-and-out cancellations. The latter part of the month might be good; just have to wait and see what happens.

Rock Beauties are the smallest of the angel fish we have on our reefs.

Chromis are seen on most of the local reefs.