Getting Back in the Water
I had been in contact with my local dive club about a trip out of Boynton Beach the second weekend of August and told them I needed to nail down a babysitter but to count me and Paddy in. Unfortunately, by the time I sweet talked my parents into joining us on the other coast, the trip had filled up.
Confession: I have never planned my own diving excursions; whether an afternoon of diving or a week diving the Caribbean. Either my local dive club plans it or I tag along with friends but I have never had to do it for myself.
Unwilling to be dry one weekend longer, I spent the week frantically calling dive operators in the Boynton Beach area. I wanted to get as much diving in as possible so the thought was to do two afternoon dives Saturday, a night dive Saturday, and two dives Sunday morning before heading home. But it was the last weekend of lobster season so most rosters were full.
Thankfully, Underwater Explorers had two spaces open on their two tank Saturday afternoon trip.
On the Boat
The stormy sky above and water below reflected my inner feeling as the boat motored out of the pass, into open water. Common sense was screaming in my head about how it had been 13 months since my last dive and I should have done some kind of refresher course to dust off my skills. But I am a mommy now and that money was being spent elsewhere; besides I had done it before after an even longer dry period (though I was diving with two trained Dive Masters). Even with the voices, I trusted my training and was not going to miss out.
Setting up my gear like I always had, I noticed the blinking battery on my computer. I should probably have checked that before I was bobbing on open water. Thankfully, another diver on the boat had a spare computer to loan me as backup in case mine failed.
Then I started thinking about my weights, I had gained 40ish pounds while pregnant. By then, I had lost most of it, but 5 or so stubborn pounds were still hanging around. Would that affect how much weight I would need to get down below the waves? My dive training told me off course I would need more lead, but nope, I was going to stick with my usual 8 lbs. I like to think I am overweighted most dives anyways.
The captain dropped the other divers, briefed Paddy and I, then perched us one on each side of the boat. Paddy looked a little uncomfortable but flashed a silly smile at me as I clung to the boat and our dive flag, waiting expectantly for the “Go” signal from the captain.
The Dives:
Black Condo
Max Depth: 65 ft Dive Time: 47 minutes H2O Temp: 82°F
Avg. Depth: 52 ft Nitrox 36%
He gave the signal, I tossed the flag over and away from me along with the handle, one hand over my mask and rolled backwards off the boat and into the water. Frantically I grabbed for the flag and handle before the boat drifted forward in time for me to see Paddy give the okay. With a signal, we were letting the air out of our BCDs and down we went.
Or at least down I went, I had enough weight to comfortably manage my decent but Paddy was struggling around 5-10 feet. I signaled to see if he was okay, he signaled no and up. Back to the surface we went.
He needed more weight. On most dives this would not have been a big deal; swim over the boat and either the captain passes you weight to put in your pockets or you climb back aboard and do it for yourself. Except I had chosen Boynton Beach as my reintroduction to diving for a very specific reason: drift diving.
Much as the name says, drift diving is when you allow the current to move you along on your dive meaning minimal work for the diver. Except for when you are drifting, and your dive buddy is drifting, and the boat is drifting (not mention being beat by waves) as your buddy tries to get extra weights on the surface. The dive captain passed the weights off and I stuffed them into Paddy’s BCD pockets. Then we got a bearing and attempted to surface swim back onto the reef.
Once fatigue began setting in from our frantic swimming, my mind switched on and I signaled for us to go under the waves to get to the reef. So much easier beneath the waves.
On the reef, we allowed the current to fly us over the coral heads and past schools of vibrant fish as we rested up from our unfortunate swim. A drift dive was just what I need to re-acquaint myself with my gear and rejuvenate my inner mermaid.
Time passed as easily as the reef below and before I knew it Paddy was down to 600 PSI and it was time to surface.
I didn’t bring a camera along on this dive, but here is a reef picture anyways.
Castle’s Ledge
Max Depth: 57 ft Dive Time: 57 minutes H2O Temp: 84°F
Avg. Depth: 46 ft Nitrox 36%
After a 1 hour 18 minute surface interval, it was time to splash into Castle’s Ledge.
Practice makes perfect and getting into the water was much smoother, even if the seas had become rougher.
During the briefing we were told to “stay West of the crest” for the best dive and to hang out after the coral rotunda (i.e. don’t go over the crest). I was paranoid wondering if that was the rotunda or that but each time more amazing coral heads lay just ahead. By the time I was certain we had gone over the crest it was too late. I was not going to exhaust myself struggling against the current again. There were fish and coral to see and I had a flag so the boat could find us, I wasn’t worried.
I don’t know why I enjoyed this dive as much as I did. The visibility was decreasing as the summer storms approached and the sky darken overhead but I was relaxed and played through the duration of the dive; even hanging upside down for a distance to get a closer look at the reef below me. A pair of curious grey angelfish came over to check me out. They would swim within reach, then away and back again. Lightning lit up the water around us a couple of times queuing us that it was time to say goodbye.
I took a couple of measured risks, but I thoroughly enjoyed these dives. There is a reason I have been returning to Boynton Beach since 2005.
In the end, what I had hoped to be five dives over two days was simply a two dive trip. Lesson learned: plan and book in advanced, especially during lobster season.
Is there a destination, diving or not, that you return to repeatedly because you know it always delivers?
