Night Dives, Pompano Beach, 06/28/2008

***ScubaDadMiami*** · 29th June 2008, 21:27

After receiving a last minute call to fill up some slots on a night dive, we boarded the Reef Roamer, which runs out of Fort Lauderdale, to dive the wrecks of the Mercedes and the Tracy. A last minute call to SFLDiver so that I would have at least one other CCR diver on the boat, and we were set for the dives.

Conditions were finally very good after a ten day period of strong Gulfstream currents occuring near time of the Summer Solstice. Finally, the strong winds of a recent tropical front died down, and we had our first chance to evaluate ocean conditions as we left Port Everglades on our way to our destination. It was not completely flat as it can often get on the ocean's surface during the Summer months, but seas were no higher than two feet. Good enough for me!

We knew that we were going to have good dives when the DM hooked the shot onto the first wreck, and we could see the float ball not getting pulled under by the strong currents of late. Visibility was good but not great, probably about 50 feet or so. Everyone jumped into the water and made effortless swims down to the Mercedes, which is in about 100 feet of water. Summertime water temperatures are here: 82F on the bottom.

SFLDiver was taking lots of macro shots using his new camera set up. So, I cruised up and down the wreck, just relaxing and enjoying. At the end of the first dive, divers in the group unhooked the shot line from the wreck, and we drifted along in the mild current during our ascent. We surfaced to the last bit of daylight, and the shore's skyline was alight in the distance. Beautiful!

By the time we hit our second location, the wreck of the Tracy, it was full-on night, and we arrived at the wreck to find amazing colors everywhere. This wreck has been underwater for a while, and the growth of corals everywhere made the wreck come alive in our light beams.

It's not like I hadn't made these dives many times before, but for some reason, last night was some great therapy for our small group of divers. We finished off our dives with a post-midnight meal at a local 24 hour diner, talking about the evening and making plans for future dives.

**sfldiver** · 29th June 2008, 22:29

Great job on the trip report Howard!

As Howard inficated, conditions were not bad at all for a couple of easy twilight/evening dives. Personally, it was my first night dive in years, so I was excited. I was also really looking forward to getting my new camera wet and seeing what the new toy could do!

Prior to departing the dock, I did manage to take a few topside pictures of some of the people onboard, so here's a few shots of us, before we donned our gear and hit the water. The last picture, which is of everyone onboard, was taken by the divemaster, who was nice enough to volunteer to snap the shot with my camera.

Yeah, that's me in the dark glasses hiding behing everyone! To my left is Ariel (airbornediver) and next to Ariel is none other than Howard (ScubaDadMiami). At the end of the line, wearing the biggest smile of the group is Lesley (runawaylobster).

Since my camera and housing were new and I really hadn't finished reading the user manual yet, I wasn't expecting too much in the way of quality pictures, as I was simply happy to get the system wet and verify that the housing didn't leak. So I took it down and took a few close-up shots of some interesting things, while learing to recognize all the buttons on the new housing.

This picture is of a small Queen Anglefish that stopped by to say hello to me on the Wreck of the Mercedes.

This picture is of a 2 to 3 inch Slender Filefish that made every effort to hide from me within the Gorgonians on the Mercedes.

The Wreck of the Tracy is an amazing dive, especially at night. I saw so many small different tiny critters engaging in nightly activities. This picture is one of many tiny (approximately 3/4") Red Reef Hermits I saw on the second dive.

The Tracy is also starting to develop lots of spots with Orange Cup Coral. If you're not familiar with this type of coral, let me just say that it absolutely explodes with color when hit with direct light. Since I wanted to see how my camera would shoot when I attached and stacked both of my external close-up lenses together, I took a few shots of one tiny area of the Orange Cup Coral. This picture is of one small dime size section of the coral at extreme magnification.

Well, that's it for now, but let me just say, that I know it may not appear this way yet, but the new camera setup is really going to give me the capability to include much nicer pictures within future trip reports - So keep an eye out for them on future reports!

BTW, I know you are all used to seeing a picture of the group eating somewhere as the final shot of the report, but truth be told, we didn't get to the diner until about midnight, and we were all so tired that it never even ocurred to anyone to ask the waitress to snap a picture of us. Sorry, but the late night dives really through me for a loop - I'll write a note to myself on my hand in permanent ink next time to remind myself!

Adrian

**vidodivr** · 30th June 2008, 02:26

Nice report Howard...

Adrian, I heard you were at reef photo, but the phone connection was bad and didn't realize you were getting a new system!!

What did you end up getting? The pictures look great

**sfldiver** · 30th June 2008, 03:02

Quote: (Originally Posted by vidodivr)

Nice report Howard...

Adrian, I heard you were at reef photo, but the phone connection was bad and didn't realize you were getting a new system!!

What did you end up getting? The pictures look great

Thanks Rob! The pictures are ok, but more importantly, it gave me an idea of what close-up capabilities the camera/housing/lenses have.

After doing my homework and considering the math on what it would cost for me to setup an slr with the variety of lenses and ports that I would need, I made the decision to go another direction.

As you can see by the signature on my RW postings, I went with an advanced point and shoot, the Canon G9. Considering it's a p&s, it's a pretty powerful little camera.

One of the main reasons for my decision was based on the fact that Patima came out with their G9 housing, which is extremely heavy duty and made from aluminum, and it has a depth rating of 120 meters. The housing comes standard with a short port for wide angle and a long port for close-up shooting, and both ports are already threaded for the addition of 67mm wet lenses. The housing also comes standard with the ability to connect strobes, either by optical cables or by sync cords - I went with optical cables, because it was the best option for connecting the Inon Z-240 Strobes I already owned.

Time will tell if I made the right decision, but so far I'm happy with the initial results!

29th June 2008, 21:27	#1 (permalink)
*ScubaDadMiami* Moderator Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Florida, USA Posts: 2,044	Night Dives, Pompano Beach, 06/28/2008 After receiving a last minute call to fill up some slots on a night dive, we boarded the Reef Roamer, which runs out of Fort Lauderdale, to dive the wrecks of the Mercedes and the Tracy. A last minute call to SFLDiver so that I would have at least one other CCR diver on the boat, and we were set for the dives. Conditions were finally very good after a ten day period of strong Gulfstream currents occuring near time of the Summer Solstice. Finally, the strong winds of a recent tropical front died down, and we had our first chance to evaluate ocean conditions as we left Port Everglades on our way to our destination. It was not completely flat as it can often get on the ocean's surface during the Summer months, but seas were no higher than two feet. Good enough for me! We knew that we were going to have good dives when the DM hooked the shot onto the first wreck, and we could see the float ball not getting pulled under by the strong currents of late. Visibility was good but not great, probably about 50 feet or so. Everyone jumped into the water and made effortless swims down to the Mercedes, which is in about 100 feet of water. Summertime water temperatures are here: 82F on the bottom. SFLDiver was taking lots of macro shots using his new camera set up. So, I cruised up and down the wreck, just relaxing and enjoying. At the end of the first dive, divers in the group unhooked the shot line from the wreck, and we drifted along in the mild current during our ascent. We surfaced to the last bit of daylight, and the shore's skyline was alight in the distance. Beautiful! By the time we hit our second location, the wreck of the Tracy, it was full-on night, and we arrived at the wreck to find amazing colors everywhere. This wreck has been underwater for a while, and the growth of corals everywhere made the wreck come alive in our light beams. It's not like I hadn't made these dives many times before, but for some reason, last night was some great therapy for our small group of divers. We finished off our dives with a post-midnight meal at a local 24 hour diner, talking about the evening and making plans for future dives. __________________ Howard Packer IANTD CCR Instructor Miami Beach, Florida CCRDiveTraining.com
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29th June 2008, 22:29	#2 (permalink)
sfldiver Optima Army Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pompano Beach, FL Posts: 734	Re: Night Dives, Pompano Beach, 06/28/2008 Great job on the trip report Howard! As Howard inficated, conditions were not bad at all for a couple of easy twilight/evening dives. Personally, it was my first night dive in years, so I was excited. I was also really looking forward to getting my new camera wet and seeing what the new toy could do! Prior to departing the dock, I did manage to take a few topside pictures of some of the people onboard, so here's a few shots of us, before we donned our gear and hit the water. The last picture, which is of everyone onboard, was taken by the divemaster, who was nice enough to volunteer to snap the shot with my camera. Yeah, that's me in the dark glasses hiding behing everyone! To my left is Ariel (airbornediver) and next to Ariel is none other than Howard (ScubaDadMiami). At the end of the line, wearing the biggest smile of the group is Lesley (runawaylobster). Since my camera and housing were new and I really hadn't finished reading the user manual yet, I wasn't expecting too much in the way of quality pictures, as I was simply happy to get the system wet and verify that the housing didn't leak. So I took it down and took a few close-up shots of some interesting things, while learing to recognize all the buttons on the new housing. This picture is of a small Queen Anglefish that stopped by to say hello to me on the Wreck of the Mercedes. This picture is of a 2 to 3 inch Slender Filefish that made every effort to hide from me within the Gorgonians on the Mercedes. The Wreck of the Tracy is an amazing dive, especially at night. I saw so many small different tiny critters engaging in nightly activities. This picture is one of many tiny (approximately 3/4") Red Reef Hermits I saw on the second dive. The Tracy is also starting to develop lots of spots with Orange Cup Coral. If you're not familiar with this type of coral, let me just say that it absolutely explodes with color when hit with direct light. Since I wanted to see how my camera would shoot when I attached and stacked both of my external close-up lenses together, I took a few shots of one tiny area of the Orange Cup Coral. This picture is of one small dime size section of the coral at extreme magnification. Well, that's it for now, but let me just say, that I know it may not appear this way yet, but the new camera setup is really going to give me the capability to include much nicer pictures within future trip reports - So keep an eye out for them on future reports! BTW, I know you are all used to seeing a picture of the group eating somewhere as the final shot of the report, but truth be told, we didn't get to the diner until about midnight, and we were all so tired that it never even ocurred to anyone to ask the waitress to snap a picture of us. Sorry, but the late night dives really through me for a loop - I'll write a note to myself on my hand in permanent ink next time to remind myself! Adrian __________________ *Currently piloting & shooting...* Dive Rite O2ptima FX Rigged w/ a Dsix Custom Aluminum Frame, Nomad Wing, Transpac Harness and VR3 Computer w/ VPM-B/E & a 4th Cell Sensor Link.* Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera Rigged in a Patima-PDCH 2008 G9 Aluminum Housing w/ an Inon UWL-100 Achromat Wide Conversion Lens, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses and 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes. Last edited by sfldiver : 29th June 2008 at 22:37.*
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30th June 2008, 02:26	#3 (permalink)
vidodivr swims in fishes toilets Current Rebreather/s: Classic Kiss Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Florida/Michigan Posts: 491	Re: Night Dives, Pompano Beach, 06/28/2008 Nice report Howard... Adrian, I heard you were at reef photo, but the phone connection was bad and didn't realize you were getting a new system!! What did you end up getting? The pictures look great __________________ Have a good one, Rob LaLonde CK #087 Narked@90 frame URM
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30th June 2008, 03:02	#4 (permalink)
sfldiver Optima Army Current Rebreather/s: Optima Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Pompano Beach, FL Posts: 734	Re: Night Dives, Pompano Beach, 06/28/2008 Quote: (Originally Posted by vidodivr) Nice report Howard... Adrian, I heard you were at reef photo, but the phone connection was bad and didn't realize you were getting a new system!! What did you end up getting? The pictures look great Thanks Rob! The pictures are ok, but more importantly, it gave me an idea of what close-up capabilities the camera/housing/lenses have. After doing my homework and considering the math on what it would cost for me to setup an slr with the variety of lenses and ports that I would need, I made the decision to go another direction. As you can see by the signature on my RW postings, I went with an advanced point and shoot, the Canon G9. Considering it's a p&s, it's a pretty powerful little camera. One of the main reasons for my decision was based on the fact that Patima came out with their G9 housing, which is extremely heavy duty and made from aluminum, and it has a depth rating of 120 meters. The housing comes standard with a short port for wide angle and a long port for close-up shooting, and both ports are already threaded for the addition of 67mm wet lenses. The housing also comes standard with the ability to connect strobes, either by optical cables or by sync cords - I went with optical cables, because it was the best option for connecting the Inon Z-240 Strobes I already owned. Time will tell if I made the right decision, but so far I'm happy with the initial results! __________________ *Currently piloting & shooting...* Dive Rite O2ptima FX Rigged w/ a Dsix Custom Aluminum Frame, Nomad Wing, Transpac Harness and VR3 Computer w/ VPM-B/E & a 4th Cell Sensor Link.* Canon PowerShot G9 Digital Camera *Rigged in a Patima-PDCH 2008 G9 Aluminum Housing w/ an Inon UWL-100 Achromat Wide Conversion Lens, 2 Inon UCL-165M67 Close-Up Lenses and 2 Inon Z-240 Strobes.
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