Fort Lauderdale... Wreck Diving

[mz53480]

...I like going to the chamber.. They have great food there, and awsome live music

Thanks for the new sig line!

[H20doctor]

THE DIVE THAT ALMOST DIDNT HAPPEN

Well its my last day here and we decided to go back to the shore due to the winds and Re hit the reef that I saw yesterday ... after gearing up we walked down to the shore and there was some good brakers hitting the shore.. large rolling waves crashing down on the beach... My game plan today that i didnt do yesterday was to put my fins on and walk backwads into the surf.. chad was up in front of me gettng into the water and i was filming on the go pro as he was getting in... i got in the water and immediatly as i made my way in .. crash .. im knocked on my butt and thrown into the shore.. next thing i know im underwater ... i try to stand up and get on my feet and it was a struggle, i wasnt deep enoght to jusdt hit the trigger and use the scooter to get me out of the breaking waves.. several more tries and im being washed in the washing maching... next thing i know i hear a loud cry from Chad .. " Chris !!! My scooter Is Gone , Chris .. !! My scooter Is gone !! " i said What ?? its gone chad says ... I drop instantly and hit the trigger .. Im in blown sand and surf , seeing nothing..being pushed forward sevral feet, then sucked backwards gaining no ground.. Im looking left and right , furiously for this xscooter and i cant see 6 inches past my eyeballs.. I m also being pushed South down the beach as the current is running good.. after 10 mins and sucking down 600 Psi in 4 feet of nuthing ... i give up ...
Back on the beach after being pounded again trying to get out , im exhausted and drained.. chad is north of me looking into the surf... I yelled to him that i couldnt find it ... Chad Grabs his mask and heads into the water .. as he did that i walked back up the beach and took off all my gear as i was over heating from the sun ... Chad is now in the suf trying to dive down and feel for the scooter... But having just got out of the surf I knew it was being pulled and blown by the shorline current .. and that It was most Likely gone... Now having done lots of dives with chad this weekend i remembered that his scoot is Positive , and everytime he lets go of it , it floats above his head... After thinking this I thought that there might be a chance it shows up 2 or 3 days later... The other problem now is that chad has one of my new batteries in his scooter , AND he just listed it for sale on the local dive boards..
I watched chad for about 30 to 40 Mins in the water , and soon he gave up and got out of the water and started walking down the beach looking at the surf in hope to spot his missing xscooter.. He is now a good 1/4 mile away and i see him talking to a woman and a man ... I then see him running .. He runs for a good 10 mins... The next thing i see is him walking back ... and he has something on his Right shoulder... And its his Xscooter !!! It washed up on the beach .. and it was Chads lucky DAY... he get back to me and he is tired and worn out ... I wrote a message in the sand " YR LUCKY " after we rested chad said , Do you want to still dive ? I said yes , we shouldnt give up...
So what happened ? I tell you ... the culprit here was sand ... sand had gotten into the spring on the tow rope clip.. itwas clipped on the D ring But it wasnt shut.. it had about 1/4 inch gap... and with the up and down of the surf it came off... and when chad let go of his X to put his fins on it went BYe Bye ... as soon as he yelled my scooter is gone and i dropped to find it.. i looked at my clip, and it was the same way... the other problem the sand caused that was being blown up and around in the surf was that on the second dive when I hit the trigger to go , my trigger was Locked, and it wouldnt turn off .. The next thing that happened was a waved knocked my over , and the scooter was knocked off the bottom and out of my hand.. Now im being dragged on my back .. 10 feet while trying to turn myself over ad get this dam scooter... Yes I had my Reg in my mouth breathing, and my mask was on... I get the scooter and work the trigger ... after 5 times.. it unlocks...
I met up with chad , and we started the dive... all in all it started out to be a bad Day, and there was some issues with surf diving.. But we had a really nice 80 min dive on the reef, and we made it out and home , safe...

[Tom Nic]

I love our Puget Sound shore entries.

The End.

[coulterboy]

What a way to cap your vacation on your last day of diving! Glad to know you guys are okay and no equipment lost.

[pensacoladiver]

What a way to cap your vacation on your last day of diving!

Thats EXACTLY what I was thinking. It was a bad 45 minutes to an hour for me. I was thinking, well, I just tossed a few grand right into the surf here.

The breakers were not the worst I have entered into, not even near it, but they were enough to make vis in less than 4 feet non existent. There was also a ripping southbound longshore current. I knew it would wash up south of us eventually, but I had no idea it would be as far as it was. It was give or take a half a mile away from us when the lady saw it.

I was prepared to spend the entire damn day there searching for it.

Good news is, once we got it back and settled down, it was a great dive. Vis was nice once we got past 5 feet deep.

[John Rawlings]

Man....I'm glad that there was a happy ending to this one!

- John

[loanwolf]

What a way to cap your vacation on your last day of diving!

Thats EXACTLY what I was thinking. It was a bad 45 minutes to an hour for me. I was thinking, well, I just tossed a few grand right into the surf here.

The breakers were not the worst I have entered into, not even near it, but they were enough to make vis in less than 4 feet non existent. There was also a ripping southbound longshore current. I knew it would wash up south of us eventually, but I had no idea it would be as far as it was. It was give or take a half a mile away from us when the lady saw it.

I was prepared to spend the entire damn day there searching for it.

Good news is, once we got it back and settled down, it was a great dive. Vis was nice once we got past 5 feet deep.

That is why I always clip it on shore before I enter the surf. Seen that same thing happen in CA a few times both getting in and out in the surf. Glad you got it back.

[BASSMAN]

Chris being dragged by his scooter is a nice picture in my head, thanks
Glad all was okay!

[Jeremy]

So today we finally did a shore dive woot woot.. we got ready and hit the beach.. we had to nav out on a 90 heading to hit the reef which was 20 mins on the trigger … as we scooted out over vast white sands of ripples the water became clear once we hit 15 feet … the view of the bottom changes as you get out from sand … to rock rubble .. to this weird kinda fern stuff.. then sand... and then … Boom !!! the Reef Begins... on the way out I saw a large shell with something in it , but I didnt have time to stop my scoot so I did a fly by and grabbed it up... I had kidnapped a small octo in a large shell and it rode with me for 10 mins.. so I kinda relocated his condo closer to the reef.. HA HA HA .. this reef I saw today was indescribable .. and I am kinda bummed as the go pro didnt capture the color of it .. it came out all blue !!!!! ! in hope I can color correct it when I get back using vegas Pro .. but im not sure.. So anyway this reef was so colorful with coral , and the fish .. THE FISH !!! were everywhere .. this reef was pristine … truly Breathtaking in every way with Color... I wish I had the red filter !! ( CURTIS )
So lots of fish , and tangs, triggers, angels.. parrot fish.. etc..etc.. I like the Volcano things .. very cool .. my favorite part of diving here is being able to swim along with large schools of fish on the xscooter.. its also a blast to chase them … and being able to film them at the same time .. the water is so warm here and ive never been cold because im wearing my 7 mil wet suit.. which is nice and warm , and I dont over heat in it at all.. we came upon a sleeping small nurse shark in a small cave hole thing... saw some really cool clear jelly fish , that seem to be everywhere when we are doing our safety stops .. chad got 3 bugs today on the dive and I was treated to some good pizza afterwords on the way home .. we have 2 more dive to do tuesday , then I fly back home on wed … I really like the warm water diving here and the reefs, the wrecks.. and the sea life..

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ZC5f1kk9GY[/youtube]

Doc,

Your videos are so wonderful, please keep making them! They are entertaining, engaging, and very well done. I love watching them!

Hats off sir...

[BASSMAN]

Doc,

Your videos are so wonderful, please keep making them! They are entertaining, engaging, and very well done. I love watching them!

Hats off sir...

See Chris? I'm not the only one!

[coulterboy]

Doc,

Your videos are so wonderful, please keep making them! They are entertaining, engaging, and very well done. I love watching them!

Hats off sir...

See Chris? I'm not the only one!

+3

I think Chris is one of the "under appreciated" peeps on this board when it comes to videography and still photography. I too, am a fan of your vids and pics dude. Keep on pressing that shutter and play button when you're underwater. You are actually keeping us entertained.

[H20doctor]

Thank you very much for the kudos.. I have a passion for sharing my diving and video with everyone so they can exp what I see and where I go...