23 replies to this topic

[Mitch0129]

I am finally back from the SD.com trip to the Texas Flower Gardens and thought I would be the first to post a report about it. Well, here it is.

There were 14 members who made this trip (Wenchie, correct me if I have it wrong!) Here is who went ...

Yours truly aka Mitch0129
Kamala aka WW
Sandy aka ScubaPunk
Mike aka Bubski or Bubble2Bubble or B2B or whatever he goes by!
Karl aka scubafanatic
Karen aka nurseshark
Mike aka Poogweese
Mary aka Mary
Ben aka AXL72
Victoria aka TexasStarfish
Matt aka JackBSwift
Matt aka yacmandu
Kenneth aka Weademan68
William aka ScubaTex

The trip did get off to a very slow start due to the Wenchie's travel adventures (or should I say mis-adventures). Murphy must have had a serious bone to pick with her because if it could have gone wrong, it did. Flights delayed, flights re-rerouted, lost luggage, you name it. By the time we left the dock, it was nearly midnight. BTW, do not underestimate the Wench's power of persuasion, she was able to get the boat to wait for her (along with the Punk and Bubski) for nearly THREE HOURS!!! That was no small feat, I assure you.

We shared the boat with a group from a dive ship in Glendale, Illinois, a suburb of Chicago. I do believe one of them will become a SD'er in the next few days, Marsha, please check in when you sign on! Due to our late start, we did our first dive at Stetson Bank early the next day, then moved on to the West Bank of the Texas Flower Gardens for the remaining four dives of the day. In all, we were able to get in 15 dives in all, although some of us (like me) did not do them all, I ended up doing 13.

On day-2, the boat moved over the East Bank where we did three dives on that location. Also, we got on a rig dive at Rig HI-389, one of the top-5 rig dives in the world. On day-3, we started at East Bank for a morning dive, got in another at HI-389, then moved over to Stetson Bank for the last two dives of that day and the two dives of day-4.

As for what we saw and encountered, well, I will touch on the highlights for me and let everyone else fill in theirs. As we tied up at the West Bank on day-1, we were visited by a pod of Dolphins, I counted 10 of the creatures. I also saw sharks on two occasions, once outside the rig and the other at Stetson on day-4. Yes, the resident Sea Turtle at the rig made it's presence known.

As for the boat, I tip my hat to the captains (Bruce and Gerald) and the crew (Divemasters Greg, Kurt, and Mark; Galley crew Steve and Mike). They all did an awesome job.

I will conclude with this assessment of the diving, it is some very good diving out there but I would only advise it to those that do have some diving under their belts. On just about every dive, we did have to encouter currents and they can take you away if you are not careful. Fortuately, no one needed to be picked up by the chase boat.

I do want to thank the Wench for putting this together and making it happen and for all the SD'er who came on this trip. You guys and gals were awesome!

Please chime in with you comments if you like ...

[Scubatooth]

mitch

thank for the report, i cant wait to hear more about the trip, and pictures.

WW you thinking what im thinking

tooth

[JackBSwift]

My favorite part was the seahorse... oh wait... wasnt that a figment of someone else's imagination!!! HA HA.

Great Trip Everyone!

[yacmandu]

If anyone didn't get a chance to write down where we dove. Here is the short list. Not including sea horses.
I had a great time and hope to do another trip with you all again soon. You are a great group to jump with.
Thanks for the pointers Kamala!

Dive #, Bank, and Bouy#
1 Stetson bank #1
2 West bank #2
3 West bank #2
4 East bank #4
5 East bank #4 (night dive)
6 East bank #2
7 HI 389 (oil rig)
8 East bank #4
9 East bank #4 (night dive)
10 East bank #3
11 HI 389 (oil rig)
12 Stetson bank #2
13 Stetson bank #2 (night dive)
14 Stetson #2
15 Stetson #2

Later,
yacmandu

[ScubaPunk]

Thanks to all the great SD members who made this trip so wonderful, I had a great time. The crew on The Fling were fabulous, they way overfed us and I gained 4 pounds. Either that or B2B is right and the Nitrox made my butt big! The group from Chicago that we shared the boat with were great people, and a lot of fun. The diving was great, and the weather was great. Here are a couple of pics.

[Mitch0129]

For those of you who participated in the Project Dive Exploration with DAN and have not filled out the "48-Hour Report" yet, for the FRC Name, you will need to fill in the name "Heather and Juliana" especially if you submit this online. You can submit it online by clicking here.

[Bubble2Bubble]

Thank You WW
That was a World Class Dive Op!!
I have a report in the making but here is a few pic's till then.

Please dont tell me that the Yellow Seahorse was an figment of my imagination!!!


B2B

Attached Images

• 

[WreckWench]

WOW!!! What a trip! And what a way to meet your fellow divers.

Or is that 'Alms for the poor...clothing for the needy...er naked'????

So the first day or so of the trip went like this for me:

Hey anyone got an extra shirt?

How about a pair of shorts?

Oh hey...you look about my size...do you have an extra bathing suit?

And so it went for deoderant, hairbrush/comb, toothpaste and yes...exactly WHOSE toothbrush did the wench borrow when she discovered she had NO LUGGAGE for this trip?????

Stay tuned for more fun and frolic in the ongoing mis-adventures of the wench as she does the Flower Gardens with only her drysuit, regs and computer in her carry on!

[Bubble2Bubble]

The Rigs where Mysterious and Wonderful!

Sandy I told you that Nitrox makes a divers butte look bigger not the chessecake or the peanut butter cookies


B2B

Attached Images

• 

[rkymtwy]

Sounds like you all had a great trip and Kamala wish I had been there to return the favor, no luggage, I so know how you felt.

And Karen, did you see the manta this time?

Hopefully next time I can join you all on this trip.

[Bubble2Bubble]

World Class
From the time the Capt gave his Safety, Procedures, and Conduct speech I knew I was in good hands! The DMs followed up with there diving procedures and diving limits followed by explaining the placement of the various lines they had to return to the ship including one that had a Octo on it in case you ran out of air and needed a safety stop.. I bet they get scared every few days when they get new divers. They didn't know us and as far as they where concerned we downloaded our Certs from the Internet but It took only a couple dives to show them we where serious divers and they relaxed alittle and began to have fun with us. Gulf diving was new to me and it has its unique ability to change environments fast. Riding out the first night in the rain was interesting and the first dive was filled with strong current and I said #@*^^%$ is this an exercises program or a dive adventure?? But just like in the movie Forest Gump the skies cleared and all was well as we left the East Bank of the Flower Gardens heading to the West Bank. Once there the diving was wonderful and pretty much current free. The Capt gathered us in the wheelhouse to give us and important speech. Because of the slow current docking up to the Rig 389 was very dangerous the boat would just be floundering in the water because there would be no current to keep it away from the Rig so the Capt asked all the Groups if they could all be ready at the same time and safely enter the water in a 5 min time frame. The Capt and Crew later that day gave all of us a thumbs-up for not only doing what they asked of us but we even entered the water safely and orderly in 3 min! This was also the first time on a dive boat that we/me was responsible to plan and execute our own dive plans. There where 15 dives available that trip and I was glad to make each one of them. There where 3 night dives and 12 daytime dives and all of them where filled with the creatures Great and small from the Gulf waters. As Sandy has mentioned already the food was plentiful and good. The first night I had a little panic attack when I woke-up in the middle of the night and realized I was below the water line in a bunk 100 miles out at sea so I got up and took a walk around the boats upper deck for a few minutes and went back to sleep with no prob and all my sleeping was good after that.


FG July 6-9 Uncut

Well this was my first Live-with-Broads and I really enjoyed the morning worship hour with the ladies from SD coming out of there bunks one by one and sporting there Pillow Heads! WW won the Eeeech Award . I saw her then next morning after she had dove hard and was put up wet and I was sure that another diver had joined us over that night?? And I was glad to unleash the SD Scuba Diving Dance ( Pat Pending) It goes something like this using your UW signals with both hands you start by giving the Unsure signal then Out of Air then Low on Air the Lets go Up then Lets Go Down back to Unsure.. Its Huge, Large and Fun I’m sure it will be a Big Hit on the next SD trip. WW coming on board with no cloths was very interesting and I reported to the Capt that I had misplaced my toothbrush somewhere and it showed up later clean and dry so I’m not sure who’s Tooth Brush WW used ??? I thought Victoria did a wonderful job entertaining the Capt and Crew with her Bubble Bath showers on the deck (That’s All I saying about that)

There is a lot more to write about but I gotta go do some work to be able to afford my next SD trip
Thanks Everyone who came!

Thanks WW!!! for letting me be part of the Project Dive Exploration with DAN !

A special Thanks to Scubapunk for being my Dive Buddy and for letting me Park-n-Ride at her house and letting me stay the night after we returned from diving TY

I cant wait to do the FG again


B2B

[yacmandu]

I want you all to know that I had grand time on the M/V Fling. All of you at SD really made me feel welcome and were very helpful to lend a hand with strap or a zip tie. Kamala's pointers on negotiating the current and terrain were the difference between a marginal trip and the fact that I really leared a lot and had a ball.
The only downside to the trip was that I gained 5 pounds. That galley crew was awesome. Feeding 40 people 3 hot meals a day and snacks is something I am having a hard time explaining to my dive buddies in Topeka.
I can't wait to do another trip with your wonderful group.

Can any send me a pic of the sea turtle on the oil rig? Send it to yacmandu@yahoo.com

Look forward to diving with you all again.
Later,
Matt

Edited by yacmandu, 12 July 2006 - 12:37 PM.