Trip Report: Pompano Beach, Florida Area Drift Dive (04-26-2008)

**sfldiver** · 27th April 2008, 20:11

On Saturday, April 26, 2008, four of the Florida S.C.R.U.B.'s finest converged on Alsdorf Park in Pompano Beach, Florida to board the Miss Conduct (Welcome to Miss Conduct Dive Charters) for an afternoon drift dive on the local reefs. The plan was to venture out and do one long 2 to 3 hour drift dive, hopefully in the 60 foot depth range.

The Miss Conduct, owned and operated my Captain Conrad Nix, is a local 6-pack boat dive charter in the the Pompano Beach area. Conrad is a very experienced captain, and by all accounts, consistently delivers a great day of diving. This was my first time abord the Miss Conduct, so personally, I was looking forward to checking out the boat and the operation.

The boat met us at Alsdorf Park, a local Pompano Beach Municipal Park where boaters can drop their trailered boats in the water. Alsdorf Park is just off the Intracoastal and only a few minutes from the ocean.

Joining us for this trip was none other then, Optima Instructor extordinaire, Howard (ScubaDadMiami), the video guru himself, Rob (Vidodivr), Mr. U.S. Rebreather World Store, James (monkey) and myself of course. I personally had not dived with James since September of last year and with Rob since November of last year, so I was looking forward to getting in the water with old dive buddies. I got a chance to catch up with Rob and James on the dock and do the obligatory equipment configuration camparisons, as well as hear about Robs upcoming dive trip to the Great lakes for some serious wreck diving.

The boat arrived early, as did James, Rob and myself. Howard however apparrentely experienced a traffic delay, but managed to make it in time to complete our foursome and shove off on time.

The boat is well suited for six divers. Since we were only four, we had plenty of room to maneuver. It was only a short ride out the intracoastal and out to the reef. We suited up and hit the water in no time. Since the Miss Conduct is only 30 feet long and low to the water at the stern, we were able to make an easy entry and just roll back from the sides of the boat.

When we all finally grouped at the bottom, we started our drift along the reef. The reefs we drifted over were filled with fish life. During the dive, James spotted a sea turtle just hanging out under a small ledge along the reef. I saw lots of different kinds of Angel Fish, Butterfly Fish, lots of lobster and a host of tons of other beautiful marine life. The water temperature was in the mid to upper 70's, so it wasn't that bad for James and my self who were diving in wetsuits; however, Rob's dry suit apparentely leaked, so he spent his time diving a flooded drysuit.

The visibility could have been better, but was acceptable at around 50+ feet or so.

After approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, James and Rob decided to call it quits. So Howard and I took over the flag and stayed down a bit longer. We ended the dive approximately 20 minutes later, and after a very slow ascent and a few extra munutes as a safety stop, we returned to the boat that was attentively following our flag on the surface. We were told that a small Hammerhead Shark was circling our flag while Howard and I were still down there, but the only Hammerheads I saw were my handsets!

After the dive, we returned to dock, unloaded our gear and prepared to head out to get a bite to eat. There was some post dive activity on the dock that entailed a lift bag, a life raft, a "Happy Birthday" balloon filled with helium and one fin that somehow ended up in the water at the dock, but I've been sworn to secrecy, so that event will have to wait until a more appropriate time to be told, but just let me just say that we were seriously entertained, and I have the pictures to prove it!!!

On James' suggestion, we drove over to Tee-Jay Thai Sushi Restaurant and, thanks to James being tight with the proprietors, were given a cushion-lined table on the floor that was awesome. Mrs. Monkey also joined us for dinner. Dinner was fabulous, as was the sparlking saki - Thanks James!!!

As always, my camera was around and I managed to snap a few pictures - some came out ok and some didn't, but if you've seen any of my other trip reports, you know I like to share pictures with everyone in Rebreather World.

BTW, Conrad and the Miss Conduct (Welcome to Miss Conduct Dive Charters) did a great job and provided us some great diving, so if you are ever diving in the Pompano Beach area and would like to dive aboard a small custom dive boat, I would definitely recommend their services!!

**sfldiver** · 27th April 2008, 20:56

Sorry, but I had some computer problems - Here's the rest of the pictures:

***caveseeker7*** · 27th April 2008, 21:57

Very nice going, guys, thanks for the pics.

debersole · 28th April 2008, 00:37

Adrian:

Great trip report and photos. Thanks for sharing. I wish I could have been there but (as usual it seems) I was on call this weekend. I hope to dive with you guys again soon! Please keep me in the loop.

Doug

***ScubaDadMiami*** · 28th April 2008, 00:55

Great report and pics (as usual).

**vidodivr** · 28th April 2008, 01:18

Nice job Adrian,
between trying to figure out where I was leaking from, adjusting the bling rings for my new (FABULOUS!!!) BOV, and thinking I peed all over myself on top of it, it was a great dive.

mempilot · 28th April 2008, 04:17

Nice report and dive guys! I'm going through withdrawl. I just got extended 2 days up here in Richmond, so I'm really feeling the pain of not getting wet.

27th April 2008, 21:57	#3 (permalink)
*caveseeker7* Who loves ya, baby Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Prism Topaz Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: Too far from Neverland Posts: 5,496	Re: Trip Report Very nice going, guys, thanks for the pics. __________________ Cheers Stefan "Political Correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.!"
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28th April 2008, 00:37	#4 (permalink)
debersole Custom Title Allowed! Current Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Dolphin Azimuth Other Rebreather/s: Sport Kiss Classic Kiss Dolphin Azimuth Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Lakeland, Florida Posts: 227	Re: Trip Report: Pompano Beach, Florida Area Drift Dive (04-26-2008) Adrian: Great trip report and photos. Thanks for sharing. I wish I could have been there but (as usual it seems) I was on call this weekend. I hope to dive with you guys again soon! Please keep me in the loop. Doug __________________ www.debersole.com
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28th April 2008, 00:55	#5 (permalink)
*ScubaDadMiami* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 2,137	Re: Trip Report: Pompano Beach, Florida Area Drift Dive (04-26-2008) Great report and pics (as usual). __________________ Howard Packer IANTD CCR Instructor Miami Beach, Florida CCRDiveTraining.com
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28th April 2008, 01:18	#6 (permalink)
vidodivr swims in fishes toilets Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Florida/Michigan Posts: 503	Re: Trip Report: Pompano Beach, Florida Area Drift Dive (04-26-2008) Nice job Adrian, between trying to figure out where I was leaking from, adjusting the bling rings for my new (FABULOUS!!!) BOV, and thinking I peed all over myself on top of it, it was a great dive. __________________ Have a good one, Rob LaLonde CK #087 Narked@90 frame URM
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28th April 2008, 04:17	#7 (permalink)
mempilot Eric Stadtmueller Current Rebreather/s: Megalodon Other Rebreather/s: Megalodon Join Date: Aug 2006 Location: Ft. Lauderdale Posts: 1,442	Re: Trip Report: Pompano Beach, Florida Area Drift Dive (04-26-2008) Nice report and dive guys! I'm going through withdrawl. I just got extended 2 days up here in Richmond, so I'm really feeling the pain of not getting wet. __________________ Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"
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