Pickle Barrel Wreck - April 8, 2020

After returning home after the morning dive to pick up the mask I forgot, Dave and Lisa and I headed to Pickles Reef Buoy #3 - the Pickle Barrel Wreck. A good shallow snorkeling spot as well as some nice sand channels in the coral. Lately we’ve alway been encountering nurse sharks and lots of schools of fish. Today was no exception. Weather was perfect with very light winds. I am beginning to like this spot more each time. There are also some nice new growths of elk horn coral which is very encouraging .

Click the link below to view the YouTube video of this dive.

Diving at Hens and Chickens Patch Reef - April 8, 2020

With fairly light winds today, Dave and I decided to try an inside reef - Hens and Chickens. I had not been there in 5 years. Usually the visibility is quite poor, but we hoped with a few days of light winds we might find better visibility. Lisa decided to join us and snorkel from above while we dove.

When we arrived there were only a couple of other boats and just slight chop and the visibility comparatively good. Unfortunately, as I geared up I realized I had left my mask back at the house. Normally I carry a spare in my dive bag, but I had switched dive bags recently. So Dave hit the water alone as did Lisa. She was kind enough to lend me her mask after she had enough snorkeling. Hens and Chickens this day was up to 40-50 ‘ visibility, but few fish. I did get some good coral shots. This reef has some unique coral structure, both hard and soft, that you don’t see elsewhere.. With a leaking mask, my dive was over in 20 minutes.

Click the link below for the YouTube video of this dive.

Conch Reef Dive - Sting Ray and Lionfish

Much like most of the month of March, the wind was blowing over 10 knots so we opted to make the short run to Conch Reef to avoid the pounding as much as possible. With the wind out of the southwest, we would have some protection from rollers as the shallow part of the reef would break the waves. Since this was to be a 1 tank dive, I decided to try and explore some new areas of NE end of the reef.

Lionfish

I found a lion fish in a crevice at the bottom . I hadn’t seen one diving for awhile, which is a good sign. I think the lion fish derbies are helping keep them off the dive reefs.

We also came across a stingray with a large scar on his upper body and what looked like a bit out of his side. During the hour long dive, we covered the areas both NE and SW of both buoys #1 and #2. It is so disappointing to see the death of most of the large finger corals located near the mooring anchor. You will see the finger corals in the first part of the video.

Click the link below to watch a YouTube video of the dive.

Diving Key Largo Dry Rocks and Grecian Rocks with Dave and Scott - March 25, 2020

For the 3rd straight day of diving with my son, Dave R. joined us for a trip to Key Largo Dry Rocks to show Scott the Christ of the Deep statute and then on to the nearby very shallow patch reef name Grecian Rocks.

We got tossed around a bit at Dry Rocks due to the rollers from the SW. Visibility was moderate as it has been with most visits. We tied up to Buoy#3 thinking the stature was to our left as we face the reef edge.. Swimming that way it kept getting shallower with no Statue in sight. Turns out the statue is to the right of that location.

Click the link below to watch a YouTube video of the dive at Key Largo Dry Rocks.

For our 2nd dive we moved to the grassflats area on the West side of Grecian Rocks and tied up to a mooring buoy. The reef protected us from the rollers and it was a short swim in shallow 10’ water to the patch reef edge. My 2nd visit there. Lots of fish life and coral in the shallow water.

Click the link below for a Youtube video of the Grecian Rocks dive.

Diving Conch Reef with Scott on March 24, 2020

My son Scott and I headed for a dive a close by Conch Reef as the seas were quite rough with winds from the SSW. The reef provided some protection and we did a 60 minute 1 tank dive that covered the entire reef. We spent some time on the NE end, which I haven’t explored as much in the past.

My camera had locked up when I reloaded the memory card, so I was not able to bring it along. So of course, we saw a sea turtle, a couple of sting rays (one missing much of his tail) Also a nurse shark, eels and lots of fish. Visibility was pretty good and we had the reef to ourselves.

Diving Molasses Reef with Scott Hewitt and Dave Rufft - March 23, 2020

My son Scott was here for his annual dive trip. We headed out to Molasses Reef. Fairly stiff breeze so the swells were quite large and unfortunately the current at Molasses was also strong, running at a 90 degree angle to the wind. We moved to the NE deeper end of the reef for our 1st dive. The current was slower here, but the dive doesn’t have as much live coral or fish life as the other end of the Reef. Lots of wreck pieces in this area.. Interesting school of horse-eyed Jacks.

Click below for video of this dive.

Finally back in the Water- Molasses Reef - March 5, 2020

With an extremely windy winter, and my dive buddy Dave being gone for 2 weeks and then out sick for awhile - I did not make it to the reef the entire month of February! Finally the wind subsided temporarily and I took Dave and his friend Pete out to Molasses on Thursday afternoon. We arrive in mid afternoon and found the reef under lots of current. Pete was going to snorkel while Dave and I dove. Given the current, he had to stay close to the boat. Visibility wasn’t great, but the dive was still nice as I spotted a turtle and a sting ray and got some good angelfish photos too.

Finally back to the reef - Diving Molasses on 3-5-20

First time back in the water since January. February was very windy much of the month and Dave was gone for 2 weeks and then out for a week sick. So Thursday March 5th, was the first time out in quite awhile.

Off we went in mid afternoon. I took Dave and his friend Pete to Molasses. Unfortunately, current was strong and Pete couldn’t get far from the boat. I did get a decent 40 minute dive in where I saw a turtle a sting ray and got some good video of angelfish.

Fishing aboard the Satisfaction - March 3, 2020

A very successful fishing trip with Capt. Brian McCadie aboard the Satisfaction - a 25’ Parker. Because of the high winds, we went bayside, down past Long Key. By time time we got to our fishing destination, the wind had set down nicely.

Brian put us on a nice spot where we caught our limit of Mangrove Snappers and well as some grouper and a permit and a couple of sharks (all returned to the sea).

Benwood Wreck/Grecian Rocks

Benwood Wreck

A very calm morning - time to head out to sea again. This time to visit the Benwood wreck and WWII era freighter that collided with another ship while running dark off the coast.

With the calmer seas the last few days, Dave and I hoped for some good visibility. We got it. Probably the best visibility in the dozens of dives I taken here. We even spotted the anchor down in the deep of the reef where wreck settled. Lots of fish on the wreck today.

click the link below to watch the Youtube video of the Benwood Dive

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Grecian Rocks

For our 2nd dive, we decided to head way further NE to the patch reef - Grecian Rocks. A very shallow reef I had not visited before. Its a popular snorkel reef due to its shallow depths. We tied up in little more than 10 -12 feet of water and jumped in. Lots of barracuda showed up and then Dave spotted a large Goliath Grouper. On my 3rd dive I managed to spot a scorpionfish on my way back to the boat. They are so well camouflaged, they are easy to miss.

Click the link below to watch the Youtube video of the grecian Rocks Dive

!st Dive of the New Year - Molasses Reef - 1-25-2020

After a windy start to the new year, Dave and I finally got a break and headed out to Molasses on a very calm day. Back to the NW area of the Reef, at Buoy #1 . Very little to no current and few other boaters on the reef. Perfect conditions. Head toward shore and you find lots of barracuda, grouper and lots of schools of fish and some decent looking coral.

Click the link below to watch a video of this dive

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Dive # 2 at Molasses

After a nice lunch on the boat, for our 2nd dive, Dave and I moved just a bit north to the next buoy. The coral looks pretty good on this portion of Molasses Reef. Lots of pairs of angelfish. Some grouper and lots of schooling fish.

Click the link below to watch a video of this 2nd dive.