Bob and my annual fall dive trip to my home in the Florida Keys did not get off to a great start. We arrived to find strong winds and heavy seas. Too much for me to launch my boat, so we checked with local dive charters and found it they were also not going out in these conditions. Winds were 20+ knots for the first 5 days fo our trip. The winds finally subsided to 17-19 knots on Thursday. Still too windy to bother launching my boat, but Conch Republic Divers was heading out. So we booked them for the mornings on Thursday and Friday on their big dive boat. Conditions were still not great, but at least we got 4 dives of an hour each over the two days before we had to return to Minnesota.
The boat ride out isn’t bad, it getting back into the boat that is the most difficult in rough water conditions as the ladder is plunging up and down with the large waves and you have to grab it at the right time and hold on tight and ride it back up the wave.
Thursday’s dives were at Pickles Reef (Pickle Barrel site) and then Snappers Ledge.
Molasses Reef Dive
Friday we again went out the the Conch Republic Diver. Winds had subsided down a little and the ride out to Molasses Reef was fine, however visibility was down and there was quite a bit of surge underwater. It is noticeable in my video - which is a combination of shots from both Bob and me.
Conch Reef Dive
Last dive of the day and trip was at Conch Reef. Not a lot to see there and visibility was again poor. Buts its alway nice to be in the water. Again I edited the video using shots from both Bob and me.