April 11, 2019 - Dave and I dive Hourglass Cave at French Reef

After a bit of a hiatus from diving while we had company and Dave was on a trip, we finally found a good day to get back underwater. We decided to try the Hour Glass cave area of French Reef in about 40’ depths. . After about 10 minutes of searching I found the cave entrance, which is hard to find. I also looked for Christmas Tree Cave, but had no success as I don’t think I went far enough East. For a 2nd dive we tried a new spot on the shallow side of the reef further to the NE. Some decent structure, but the coral destruction here is great. It must have been a very beautiful reef years ago. We followed the reef line on the sand shallows. Some decent fish sighted.

Click the link below for YouTube video of the dive.

Road Trip Home from Florida Keys - via Virginia, Delaware, New York and Michigan.

I’ve decided I”m going to add a little variety to my journal page and add some photos, videos and commentary about Peg and my road trips throughout the U.S. It will allow us to document and remember these trips that we both enjoy so much.

For the first time, Peg will be joining me on a road trip BACK to Minnesota. We left the Florida Keys on May 5th with plans to drive up the coast and then to the Blue Ridge Mountains and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia, then visit friend in Delaware. Then drive to upstate NY to visit the Baseball Hall of fame and then over to Niagara Falls.

After overnight stops in Jacksonville and FIshersville VA, we drove Skyline Drive in Shenandoah NP on a beautiful sunny day. Later in the day we drove around Washington DC, through Annapolis ME and across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge to the Delmarva Peninusula and on to Milton, DE to visit our friends Dave and Lisa near the Delaware shore. We had a very enjoyable visit including some beach walking, bike riding and eating crab cakes at Woody’s in Dewey Beach. Dave and I biked through Cape Henlopen State Park and then through the town of Rehoboth Beach. We also had some time for Peg and I to try running Dave’s backhoe. Something new to both of us, it was fun to learn.

Leaving Delaware we headed to Cooperstown NY to visit the Baseball Hall of Fame and then east across NY and the fingers lake region with a stop near Ithaca. The following day we visited Niagara Falls - my first time there. It was cold and windy, but still an extremely enjoyable visit for 2 people that love waterfalls. Leaving Niagara we drove through Canada and up through Mackinac MI and the MIchigan Upper Peninsula and back to Minnesota.

March 26, 2019 -Molasses Reef - Final day of diving with my son Scott

Although I was wore out from diving 3 of the last 4 days, the weather was good and Scott wanted to go out again as it was his last day before returning to Minnesota. We decided to return to Molasses. Conditions were great. Fairly calm seas, little current and decent visibility.

At the end of the first dive, just as I was heading up to the boat, a pair of reef sharks came cruising by, so I stayed down to capture some images. They kept circling back around, always one after the other.

For our 2nd Dive we went to Buoy #18. I was able to find the 2 large tunnels in the coral to take Scott through. I did goof up the videography however.

Click the link below for a video of the 2 dives.

March 25, 2019. Scott and I dive the Benwood Wreck, French Reef and Molasses Reef

Benwood Wreck

After a day of rest, Scott and I headed out for our 3rd day of diving on his trip down here. First stop was the Benwood Wreck. A WWII wreck we have dived numerous times. Visibility was poor but acceptable. The highlight of this dive was spotting a huge (6’ long) Goliath Grouper on the wreck. I missed it on my first pass, but Scott saw in hidden in the deck and alerted me. Click link below for a video of the wreck dive.

French and Molasses Reefs

Goliath Grouper

For our 2nd dive we headed to French Reef, known for its caves and swim-through in the large coral heads. We spotted a Sting Ray (an infrequent sighting this winter). We viewed some schools of Atlantic Spadefish and also a school of Permit. Visibility was moderate. We had brought an extra tank, so we had enough air for a 3rd dive and decided to return to Molasses Reef for our final dive of the day. We spotted our 2nd Goliath Grouper of the day on the SW end of the reef. This one was quite a bit smaller, but still a good 3’ in length and probably 50 lbs.

Click link below for video of French and Molasses Reef dives.

March 23, 2019 - Scott, Dave and I dive Conch Wall and Conch Reef-Horseshoe

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Blessed with acceptable dive conditions the 2nd day in a row, Scott and I were joined by Dave Rufft. Winds were running around 12 knots and it was a little bumpy. Both Dave and Scott wanted to do a wall dive, so we headed to Conch Wall, which starts at around 55’ depth and then drops steeply to 105’ or more. All the buoys were taken by fisherman, so we moved inshore to the shallow reef for our 1st dive. Decent dive with what has been a rare sighting of a Stingray and good photos of the resident Moray Eel and also a French Angelfish.

Conch Wall

The Bottom at 105’

After the 1st dive we went back to Conch Wall about 1/4 mile away. The fishing boats were gone and we tied up to the eastern most buoy. Very little current at the site today and visibility was excellent. Our boat could be spotted from the bottom below, which is unusual and makes for an easier time returning. Normally, one always make your deep dive 1st, (leaving you with more margin of error on air supply) which wasn’t an option today. We went in with about 3/5ths of a tank of air, so I knew we need to carefully manage our bottom time. The reef starts at 55’ and plummets down a wall to over 100’. At those depths, you use your air supply much more quickly. We would have only minutes at the bottom of the wall before we would have to begin our slow ascent up the wall and include a safety stop at 15’ for 3 minutes. We also had to account for time to find the boat again when we reached the top of the wall.

Colors were deep dark blue as light was filtered at depth. Lots of barrel sponges on the wall and few fish, other than a small Queen Angelfish and a Moray Eel. We also spotted the invasive Lionfish in a sponge on the way back up the wall. I successful navigated the group up the wall and back to the boat with air to spare (but not much!)

Click the link below for a 3 minute video of both the wall dive and the reef dive.

March 22, 2019 - Scott and I do 2 dives at Molasses Reef

My son Scott arrived Wednesday night ready to enjoy warmer weather and hopefully some good diving. The next morning was a bit windy but it was predicted to set down in the afternoon. We headed out in the late afternoon to get some diving in at Molasses Reef. There was a bit of current but visibility was good. We worked toward the SW end of the Reef where the coral is a little better preserved. A year after his last dives, Scott picked it right back up and we both enjoyed some colorful coral and I captured some good images and videos, including real nice close-ups of a French Angel and a couple of Scrawled Filefish. I also got great video of a spotted eel desperately trying to find a hole to crawl into to get away from me.

Click the link below to watch my Youtube video of this dive.

March 17 2019 Back to Alligator Reef

Alligator Reef Light

After some of Dave’s friends viewed my Alligator Reef video from March 12th, they wanted to check it out. So I took Dave and Lisa and their friend along on a Sunday trip to Alligator Reef to meet another couple. Dave and I would dive while they snorkeled. On the way there, I spotted a pod of Dolphins and we watched them put on a show around our boat for a few minutes, before heading on to Alligator Reef. It was very busy at Alligator, but we lucked out as a large snorkel boat was heading back to shore just as we arrived so we were able to snare buoy#3 that they just left, otherwise we would have been out of luck.

There were not as many fish as on our last visit, but there were still lots of schooling grunts. The lobsters were out in force and once again we saw lots of Moray Eels, and nurse sharks. The ladies snorkeling above had a great time. I was able to capture some great video and had a hard time editing it down. After the dive, we moved close into the tower to enjoy some lunch and lounge around and Dave and I snorkeled around the tower. I made a separate video of snorkeling around the Light Tower. Click the appropriate links to the videos on my YouTube Channel.

March 12, 2019 - Alligator Reef dives

Fish, Fish and more fish everywhere you look!

On a gorgeous calm day, Dave Rufft and I headed out to try Alligator Reef. I had only been there once many years ago. It a 15 mile jaunt southwest down the coast. Alligator Reef has a 1873 137’ tall landmark lighthouse. There were many boats anchored in the sand around the lighthouse just enjoying the day. The nearby reef had 4 mooring buoys - only one was available - #4. Turns out most of the good sites are around buoys #2 and #3. We moved to buoy#2 doe our 2nd dive. Water was calm and clear. We encountered huge schools of hundreds of grunts, balled up in tight groups. It was quite the sight and fun to swim into the thick. One of the best dives Dave and I have done. We have never seen so many fish in one area before.

We also encountered a dozen eels and many nurse sharks on this dive.

To watch a video of the clouds of fish, click on the YouTube link on the left below.

Click the above right link for a full video of the dive, including lots of eels, sharks and more fish.

3-1-19 - Conch & Snappers Reefs - Dolphins, Sharks, Eels

Dave Rufft and I headed out to dive Snappers Ledge and Conch Reef, which we had not visited in awhile. Visibility at Conch was not great, although we were greeted by a shark circling beneath us. The red filter for my GoPro fell off on entry and couldn’t be found, so my videos and photos were less than stellar for todays dives. Dave did spot a well camouflaged Scorpion fish.

After diving Snappers we headed to Conch Reef, which neither of us had dived yet this winter. Only they way out in blue water, we encounter a pod of Dolphins. We watched them for awhile and Dave jumped in with snorkel gear and got a close up view. Upon reaching Conch Reef, we geared up and jumped in and were promptly greeted by a large Hawksbill turtle. I also managed to capture a good video of an Moray Eel swimming by on the way to his “lair”.

Watch a video of the dives by clicking on the link below.

Sharks and Colorful fish and Coral at Molasses Reef - February 15, 2019

My brother is visiting so he joined Dave and me on a trip to Molasses Reef on a beautiful day with dead calm seas and good visibility and most important, no current! We were able to get back to Buoy #18, which is a part of the reef that seems to have recovered best from Hurricane Irma . We also found the caves in this area again. I did have a close encounter with a reef shark as I cruise the area. I sensed his presence and looked left and raised my camera as it came swimming right toward me and passed a few feet in front of me.

We did our 2nd dive at the very SW end of the reef. Heading W of the mooring ball leads to lots of towering coral formations and large schools of fish.

To see a YouTube video of this dive - Click the link below.

Diving the Benwood Wreck and Molasses Reef - February 3, 2019

Today we encountered a very calm day, so we decided to start our dive day at the Benwood Wreck, which is close to 10 miles east of my house. The Benwood went down after running dark and colliding with another ship during WWII. It lies in 40-5- feet of water. Visibility is usually not very good and today was no exception. We could not see the ship until we descended well below the surface. The Benwood is also home to lots of fish and the sides of the ship are covered in colorful coral.

For our 2nd dive we headed to Molasses Buoy#18. The current there was extremely strong and it would be dangerous to dive here, so we moved to the NE edge of the reef where the current was not as strong. It is deeper on this end and not as much coral and fish. But we did see a Sting Ray and I got a good shot of a Green Moray Eel.

Click on the link below to watch the Youtube video of this dive.