Trip Report: SCHFord Visits Florida for SCRUB Dive 05/12/2007

***ScubaDadMiami*** · 2nd June 2007, 00:34

On a day with calm seas, we headed out for a drift dive starting on the Ancient Mariner wreck. Stuart is in town, visting from the UK, and we had planned to make a dive together with our group. Unfortunately, he has a serious sinus condition. So, he is accompanying us as a bubble(less) watcher today.

The current was moving at a good clip, and the water looked clear as we hit the water via a hot drop onto a shot line that had been tied into the wreck. We descended and ran into the shot line as planned. However, a few divers were parked above the wreck, making our group have to hold the line and delay our descent as we pulled around them.

Finally, we made our way down to the structure, and I tied the reel connected to our floating flag into some structure. Our team of three then got inside the structure, and we settled down to catch our breaths once we were finally out of the current. Meanwhile, N2Diving was busy with his Optima crossover student, doing all of the drills for the open water work portion of the course.

We spent about 30 minutes traveling wherever we could that did not include working against the current. The plan was to then drift off of the wreck, and to head southeast to the nearby reef to drift for another hour or so.

I pulled myself through the current to where I had tied us into the wreck structure, and then I wrestled until I was able to untie the reel. After a quick check to make sure that all of our team was together, we drifted off over the sand in search of the reef.

Unfortunately, the current was not moving in a favorable direction. We probably spent another 15 minutes over sand. Then, we moved over to a a shadow in the distance, finding a small wreck structure. We tied off the reel, explored for a few minutes, and then we untied and drifted away from the second structure.

A few minutes later, we arrived at a third wreck, this one a barge, and we spent another few minutes exploring. By this point, we had finally come to the edge of where the reef line started, and we moved along it to see if the reef was even worth exploring. Honestly, there was not much to it.

We decided to call the dive at this point, which was just over an hour or so into the dive. We made a slow ascent and stopped for deco along the way.

After returning to the dock, everyone met up for dinner and drinks. Our discussion lasted well into the night. Among other things, we had some interesting but friendly debates on gear configuration. What a great way to end the day!

**Padipro** · 2nd June 2007, 01:41

Good report Howard and great pictures Andrew.

Thanks to Scubatyme for the boat ride, we had a good dive that day. Hopefully the winds will die down someday soon and we can all do it again, my gills are starting to dry out.

**trob09** · 2nd June 2007, 02:35

Nice t-shirt Stuart. I sure would like to see one of those up close....

decoweenie · 2nd June 2007, 04:17

Quote: (Originally Posted by trob09)

Nice t-shirt Stuart. I sure would like to see one of those up close....

Me too...

And great job on the design, Tim.

**vidodivr** · 2nd June 2007, 15:54

Nice report Howard,
Wish I could have been on the dive, but the bar was fun as well

mempilot · 2nd June 2007, 17:17

Howard,

Thanks for the report! It sucks that I wasn't done with my training in time to dive with you guys that day. Scott, Marc, Howard, James, Rob; I'm looking forward to the future dives with no bubbles.

Eric

2nd June 2007, 01:41	#2 (permalink)
Padipro Supporting Member Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: South Florida Posts: 232	Re: SCHFord Visits Florida for SCRUB Dive Good report Howard and great pictures Andrew. Thanks to Scubatyme for the boat ride, we had a good dive that day. Hopefully the winds will die down someday soon and we can all do it again, my gills are starting to dry out. __________________ Scott IANTD Megalodon IANTD Trimix TDI Adv Nitrox and Deco PADI MSDT It could be that the sole purpose of your life is only to serve as a warning to others. Before you attempt to beat the odds, be sure you could survive the odds beating you.
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2nd June 2007, 02:35	#3 (permalink)
trob09 . Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Feb 2005 Posts: 699	Re: SCHFord Visits Florida for SCRUB Dive Nice t-shirt Stuart. I sure would like to see one of those up close....
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2nd June 2007, 04:17	#4 (permalink)
decoweenie Crash Test Dummy Current Rebreather/s: Other CCR Other Rebreather/s: Other CCR Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cairo Posts: 5,487	Re: SCHFord Visits Florida for SCRUB Dive Quote: (Originally Posted by trob09) Nice t-shirt Stuart. I sure would like to see one of those up close.... Me too... And great job on the design, Tim. __________________ "...after a while you get bored offering advice to a bull that like to keep butting the fence with its head rather than walking through the open gate..." - Rebreather World PM
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2nd June 2007, 15:54	#5 (permalink)
vidodivr swims in fishes toilets Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Florida/Michigan Posts: 499	Re: SCHFord Visits Florida for SCRUB Dive Nice report Howard, Wish I could have been on the dive, but the bar was fun as well __________________ Have a good one, Rob LaLonde Rec and Tek Media, Inc. Full Service Film and Video Production CK #087, Narked@90 stand, URM
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2nd June 2007, 17:17	#6 (permalink)
mempilot Eric Stadtmueller Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 1,471	Re: SCHFord Visits Florida for SCRUB Dive Howard, Thanks for the report! It sucks that I wasn't done with my training in time to dive with you guys that day. Scott, Marc, Howard, James, Rob; I'm looking forward to the future dives with no bubbles. Eric __________________ Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"
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