pratt@paul.rutgers.edu (Lorien Y. Pratt) (05/29/90)
Trip report to the Everglades and Florida Keys
==or-- how to see 165 species in 8 days.
This file contains a fairly detailed travel log of a trip that we took this
spring to the Everglades, then to Key Largo, then to Big Pine Key. We did
lots of both bird- and fish-watching and did our first scuba diving since we
were certified (NAUI) last fall. This information should be of interest to
birders and fishers (?) alike who are interested in doing the same kind of
trip that we did.
Part 3: Wednesday 4/26/90,
Our first ocean dive ever! with Conch Republic, snorkeling with Sundowner's
We went out on the first boat with Conch Republic. I really liked this
operation, because the people who ran it seemed to be the types who
were ready to get right out on the boat with you. In comparison to
Underseas on Big Pine key, the operation seemed run by ``dive nerds''
-- not overly macho (and hence exclusionary to me, as I have found in
some NJ divers), but still very serious, and seemingly competent.
There were only four or five other people on the boat besides John and
I.
We had asked for a very shallow dive for our first trip out, but the
waves were at 4-8 feet, which is fairly high relative to the usual
amount of turbulence. I think that we realized on this trip that for
Florida diving, you don't watch the weather charts to worry about rainy
weather (which rarely happens, and doesn't get in the way too much if
it does) but instead to watch for wind. This day was very clear and
sunny and beautiful, but the waves almost made diving impossible. Add
to this that we were experimenting with *not* taking dramamine (neither
of knew if we were seasick ``prone''), and it's not surprising that
John lost the contents of his stomach, and then some, in the process of
getting in and out of the water. He was much better when the boat was
moving (about 25 minutes from the shore to the reef), but while we were
maneuvering to anchor, the boat moved on another axis, I think, and
this was just too much for his stomach.
As I was beginning to say before, the waves were high, which meant that
a deeper dive would be necessary to avoid the turbulence. Conch
Republic took us out to the ``Conch Wall''. This consists of a shelf
at around 55', with a wall dropping below it that goes much deeper.
Thus the macho divers we went with could dive the wall, which I hear is
great, and we could be wimpy at 65' (actually, we ended up with a 60'
maximum depth).
Once the boat was anchored, we slowly put on our equipment (Neither my
stomach, nor nerves, were doing very well by this time), and then
descended on a line that the Conch people had over the stern. John
went down fast so he could rest on the (non-turbulent) bottom while I
dropped down. I felt panicky and had some trouble clearing my ears,
but was able to calm down with the reassurance of one of the more
experienced divers, who had chosen to dive in a buddy team of three
with us. Reading the Ontario reports on rec.scuba, I had remembered
that 3-person teams were Not a good idea, so I told Jim (the third)
that I couldn't guarantee that I'd be able to watch out for him. In
retrospect, I am glad he was there, as he was able to be kind of a
``dive master'' for us. He kept me company and was indispensable to
reassuring me to get rid of my panic on that first trip down; I'm sure
that it would have been much worse with just me and John, both of whom
were having trouble of various sorts.
As we had been reassured on the boat, our stomachs felt considerably better
under water. We had about a 20 minute dive, swimming out a bit from the line
and back again. We saw about a 8' moray eel on the way back (John pointed it
out, feeling much better by this time), which was a real highlight of the
trip. We returned to the line, all with 1000 PSI in our tanks, and I hung
on the line and got the feel of things while John and Jim circled around me.
This also was good for me, as I was able to practice being calm and enjoying
my surroundings without too much fear -- the line was reassuring.
Jeff the dive master and the others on the boat were very helpful and not at
all condescending to us as first-time divers. On the contrary, I think that
there was a little gallantry going on -- the others had the chance to feel
like the diving experts that they were. So, amazingly, despite all our
troubles, we were both cheerful through the day, due in no small part to the
encouragement and helpfulness of the people around us.
Our second dive was difficult for a reason -- we were in only 20' of water,
and there was considerable swell. I was underweighted (only 9 lbs in my
shorty top and lycra), and so had to spent half of my effort just to stay
down! This was a good test of my ears, though, and I had no trouble with
them. We got far away from the boat on a current that I don't think we had
noticed, so there was a long swim back, in which I eventually gave up on
staying down and just paddled on the surface. Our aerobic excercise for the
day....
Conch Republic checked our C-cards but not our log books. We asked the
divemaster to sign our log books afterwards, and another customer remarked
that it's not very often one gets asked to do that, but Jeff the divemaster
said it had happened just last week. I was also surprised that we didn't
spend lots of effort writing out our dive profiles on the boat. Jeff gave us
a very detailed verbal consultation, in which we determined how long to stay
down at our planned depth. It was a good plan, which we dived, but keeping
track of times, and recording it all afterwards, was completely up to us.
The rental gauges had LCD bottom timers attached to the depth gauge, which was
really nice, and helpful with this process.
Jeff chopped us a pineapple on the way back, and fed us free sodas.
Everybody said we'd done a great job for a first ocean dive. We drive
by Tom Selick's house, which people say probably cost 6 million. I
feel scared to dive again, but probably less now than I was at the
day's start. Back in the shop, they're showing a video of Conch's new
wet sub. Looks like lots of fun!
We go home to the hotel and collapse for an hour or so, then we book a trip
with a snorkel-only company (``Sundowner's''?) about a block from our hotel.
They take us out to White Rock Reef again (the same place we went with Pennekamp
park people). The boat isn't as crowded, the people are nicer. We see
a ==magnificient frigatebird over the boat as we drive out. In the
tavernier plaza parking lot (MM 100?) later, we see a ==ringed turtle
dove, though it might have been a common ringed dove.
In the evening we go out for a walk around. I recommend this pastime -- a
couple of times we felt that after the diving and snorkeling and other
``costly'' activities, there isn't really much to do on the Keys. When we
went out for walks in the neighborhoods, though, we saw another side of things
-- the way that people live in the Keys. Discouragingly, there's a lot of
garbage in the streets and parks, reminding us of New Jersey. But it's all
very tropical, and pretty interesting to think about what it would be like to
live here.
At home that night, we both find big bruises on our shins from boarding the
dive boat in those high seas -- the ladder was pitching by as much as 6 feet
at a time!
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L. Y. Pratt Computer Science Department
pratt@paul.rutgers.edu Rutgers University
Hill Center
(201) 932-4634 New Brunswick, NJ 08903, USA