WOW! What a weekend!!!!!!! That pretty much sums things
up. We got our first Ocean Experience of 2000 on the books
and what a way to make an auspicious start!
First, lets get the business out of the way and then I'll
get to the good stuff. Thanks to the J2 Diving Staff for
all of the help in making this an awesome weekend. You know
we could not have done it without you!
Thanks to the great folks at Tropical Isle and Diving
Solutions for the great accommodations and diving!
Where do I begin? Well, a couple of us snuck down for
a Friday AM dive, you know, to kinda' see what to expect.
Great dives! Lottsa' stuff and warm waters. The "weather
experts" were calling for a crappy weekend, but something
in my bones told me otherwise - guess I should have played
the Lotto!
Folks started arriving Fri afternoon and were welcomed
by a warm and sunny day - a great day for hanging out
at the pool or beach. We got everyone into their rooms
and I made role-call at about 6:30am Sat.
We got gear issued and headed for the
boat.
Once loaded and divers briefed, we headed
down to Bath and Tennis Reef, to be followed by a dive
on Breaker's.
Anxiety was high -- for most, the FIRST true Ocean Experience...
We dropped in around 8:30ish and we had turtles, morays and
lots and lots of fish. The visibility was 50ish feet. The
dive on Breaker's was pretty much the same - lots of "ooohs
and aahs". Unfortunately, we had a couple that didn't fair
to well with the "boat-burp", but mad preparations for Sundays
dive as a result.
Sat afternoon, more sunshine, a few naps
and some cold beer, it finally became cookout time.
As usual, we had more food than good sense. The grill
was certainly put to task with Brats, steak, lots of
chicken and some wahoo. I don't think there was not
a bloated belly at the end of the evening.
We were joined by Trish and Rick, some
of the excellent crew of Diving Solutions and some "soon-to-be-converts"
from the Blue Dolphin Dive Club - formerly Disney Dive
Club. All in all, the group was pretty subdued,
but there's was LOTS of talk about the days dives.
We welcomed a handful of new
divers with C Card presentations
(HEY, We FINALLY finished a complete class!!) and a
feeble attempt to get a certain Instructor in the pool
was foiled.
On a personal note, I/we were
lucky to have a visit from a Charter Member of J2 Diving
work it out with her schedule and not only join us for
dinner, but for the Sunday dive as well. Some of you
have met/know and others have heard reference to our
"little blonde headed girl", but Mindy Cole was able
to break away from work - massage therapist at the Breakers
Resort - and hang out with us.
After about midniteish, I think most people stumbled
their way back to their rooms.
Sunday AM rolls around and it was the perfect day! We
were able to do breakfast AND get to the boat early
to begin our adventure.
Marty ("I'm amazing and I don't know how I do it")
was our Captain for both days, but Sunday, he ranked
himself pretty close to god status, at least in my
book.
We were able to go south - very south and begin our dive
on Horseshoe Reef. All I can say is WOW! Visibility cleared
up even more and just a little north current. We had rays,
free swimming morays and more turtles. By the way, it was
Mindy's first dive in a while in addition to having a couple
that didn't dive Sat, so they got the best of the two days.
After the dive, spirits were high and we made our way to
Paul's Reef, where the best of the best was to happen. We
made our entry and began our dive - still lots of stuff
to see. Group 1 (my group) had two, that's right two, nurse
sharks swim right along with - within touching distance-
of our group. I had to laugh because I was yelling and whooping
through my regulator as much as everyone else was. Talk
about an overall experience for everyone.
Back at the hotel, showered and geared stowed, we said
good-bye and we all went our separate ways.
I think Jack will agree with me, that we saw a lot
of people "get it" this weekend. I know that we will
have a few new regulars that wont miss a trip with us.
I gotta tell you, that's what makes this ALL worthwhile
for us!
