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David "Rainmaker" Mauldin's
Scuba Dive Log

Dives 513 - 518: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 24, 2008)This was a warm and cloudy Sunday afternoon, and I was very surprised when I arrived at the lake just before noon to find that I was the only diver there. However, I suited-up and went diving, anyway. At the second training platform (depth of 18 feet), there is a large mirror under the platform, propped up in a corner. I smiled as I saw a 4 - 5 pound Largemouth bass directly in front of the mirror, patiently studying his reflected image. It is hard to judge the expression and body language of fish, but I feel that I detected puzzlement, frustration and a bit of fear. It was as if the fish was contemplating "flight or fight", along with experiencing a sense of irritation at being unable to figure out exactly what was going on. It would have made a great photo or video clip. Anyway, I made a total of six dives, and the maximum depths were 36, 41, 33, 46, 28 and 36 feet. The lengths were 22.5, 22.0, 21.5, 21.5, 21.0 and 23.0 minutes for a total of 131.5 minutes of diving from one AL80 tank. The average surface temperature of the water was 81 degrees, and the minimum temperature I experienced at 46 feet was 80 degrees. Apparently the lake has begun to cool, signaling that the end of the diving season (at least for me) is probably 6 - 8 weeks away.

Dives 507 - 512: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 17, 2008)This was a very nice, stormless late-summer day at the lake. The weather was warm and sunny, but not really hot. I made 6 dives, and the lengths were 21.0, 21.0, 20.5, 20.5, 20.5 and 31.0 minutes, for a total of 134.5 minutes from one AL80 tank (which is a record for me). The maximum depths were 42, 38, 35, 33, 31 and 40 feet. The surface temperature of the water was 84 - 85 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 42 feet was 80 degrees. I used my 7/7 with hood and gloves and 12 pounds of weight, which seemed about right. Viz was 12 - 15 feet. The level of the lake is holding steady but is very low. The end of the diver's ramp is about a foot out of the water, and the depth of the second training platform is 18 feet.

Dives 502 - 506: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 14, 2008)Lance Young and I made these dives on a Thursday afternoon and had the entire lake (at least the underwater part) all to ourselves. I practiced shooting a lift bag (safety sausage) from a depth of about 20 feet while kneeling on the second training platform. The first time, everything went well; I inflated the bag with my reg, and it flew to the surface like it had been shot out of a gun. However, on the second try, the line got tangled as it came off the reel. The line stopped, but the bag didn't. If I hadn't let go of it, it would have taken me to the surface with it. We made 5 dives, and the maximum depths were 35, 41, 44, 42 and 41 feet. The lengths were 21.5, 23.0, 21.0, 22.0 and 24.0 minutes. Viz was about 12 feet. The water temperature at the surface was 84 - 85 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 42 feet was 80 degrees. We got chased off the diver's ramp (and into our cars) by a severe thunderstorm as soon as we exited the water. With the high winds and hard rain, we were surprised that we didn't lose any of our gear that had been left on the ramp. It was all there (except for one reg bag I had to chase down), but it was all very muddy and gritty. A kayaker lost one of his boats, but he found it later in the little cove just south of the ramp. All in all, a very adventuresome day.

Dives 497 - 501: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 10, 2008)I have to be one of the few divers who doesn't care for steel tanks. I dived with my seldom-used steel 95 today, and it completely destroyed my buoyancy control and kept trying to flip me over on my back. Also, I was seriously overweighted. If diving with my trusty AL80s is like driving down an Interstate in a Cadillac while using cruise-control, today was like driving a junker that doesn't have power steering down a gravel road full of ruts. The thing nearly beat me to death. I was very thankful for the expert tutoring from my friend and dive partner Lance Young. Maybe someday I'll get the hang of it. We made 5 dives, and the lengths were 22.0, 24.0, 21.5, 20.5 and 21.5 minutes. The maximum depths were 42, 42, 30, 32 and 29 feet. The average surface temperature of the water was 85 - 86 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 42 feet was 81 degrees. I used my 3/2 shorty over my worn-out 7/5 with hood and gloves, and used 6 pounds of weights (which was too much). However, when all was said and done, I'd reached the milestone of my 500th dive.

Dives 491 - 496: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 3, 2008)These were the first dives I made after returning from Costa Rica. Lake Jocassee isn't the Pacific, and it's not in Central America, but it was good to be diving "at home" again. The water level at the lake continutes to get lower, and the water temperature continues to get higher. The diver's ramp is now completely out of the water (and so is the adjacent boat ramp), so there is no longer any motorized boat traffic in the vicinity of the divers. I made 6 dives, and the maximum depths were 40, 42, 27, 31, 26 and 31 feet. The lengths were 21.5, 22.0, 21.0, 21.5, 20.5 and 23.5 minutes, for a total of 130 minutes of diving from one AL80 tank. The average surface temperature of the water was 85 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 42 feet was 80 degrees. Based on my previous experience at the lake, I believe that these are maximum (or near maximum) summer temperatures. My 7/7 suit was overkill, but being too warm at Lake Jocassee is a difficult concept for me to accept. However, for the next few weeks, I'll probably be using my nearly worn out old 7/5. Today was equipment failure day; one of my 2 dive computers flashed a low battery warning and shut down, the purge valve in my primary mask came loose, and the inflator valve on my BC became balky with a tendency to stick in the "open" position. I dropped it off at Bill Routh's dive shop for repairs.

Dives 489 - 490: (Playa del Coco, Costa Rica, July 19, 2008)We went to Monkey's Head for the first dive today. I'd seen Monkey's Head Island in the distance a couple of times, and hoped that I'd get to dive there. It is a small island, circular in shape and maybe 100 feet in diameter. In the middle of it is a very unusual stone column about 50 feet high, and it is clearly shaped like a monkey's head. The Gulf of Papagayo has some strange stuff. This was a pleasant, glide and relax kind of dive. It was a great dive for what it didn't have; thermoclines, strong current and giant Sting rays freaking out (see dives of July 18 below). I saw one medium-size Eagle ray, but it remained calm. The maximum depth was 66 feet, and the length was 56 minutes. The second dive was made at Argentina (got its name because someone thought the island is shaped like the country). The divemaster led us to Shark Cave, and sure enough, there were two Nurse sharks inside. The sharks stayed inside the cave, we stayed outside the cave, and everyone seemed happy with that arrangement. The maximum depth was 45 feet, and the length was 51 minutes. Visability was a little better than yesterday, perhaps 30 feet. The water temperature was 83 degrees. When we surfaced after the second dive, we found ourselves in a storm with hard rain and choppy waves. We were between 2 small islands, and I couldn't see any other land and could barely see the dive boat. These were the last dives that I'll make in Costa Rica this trip, and it was a fitting end to a great week of some very adventuresome diving.

Dives 487 - 488: (Playa del Coco, Costa Rica, July 18, 2008)First dive today was made at Supresa. The current was the strongest that I've been in, and everyone had to descend on the anchor line. I literally had to hang-on with both hands. Shortly after reaching the bottom, we saw the largest ray that I've ever seen. The thing was huge, and its wingspan was wider than I am tall. The Divemaster unintentionally spooked it, and in making its escape, it swam directly under me doing about 110 mph (or so it seemed). It easily could have nailed me with its barb, but thankfully it chose not to. A little later, I encountered a thermocline and it felt like going from the sauna to the refrigerator, all in about 2 seconds. Just as the dive was ending and I was about to ascend on the anchor line, I spotted a large Morary eel in a crevice. The length of the dive was 40 minutes, and the maximum depth was 86 feet. The minimum temp I encountered was 75 degrees (it felt a lot colder than that). After the dive, the DM apologized for spooking the ray in my direction and asked if I was okay. It had been kind of scary, but I tried to laugh it off. The second dive was made at Tortuga. Even though it is the third time I've dived it this trip, I didn't mind since I wanted to shoot some video of the wreck that is at the site. While we were at the wreck, a large turtle swam by, and I watched it for about a minute. The maximum depth was 69 feet, and the length was 43 minutes. The mimimum temperature was 79 degrees. Vizability for both dives was only 15 - 20 feet.

Dives 485 - 486: (Playa del Coco, Costa Rica, July 17, 2008)We went to a site called Estudiantes for the first dive. There are many small, rocky islands in the Gulf of Papagayo, and most of the diving done locally is just offshore from an island. Today was no exception. It really makes sense; divers can get out of the wind and avoid choppy seas, and the islands all have great underwater rock formations that are covered with soft corals. This was a lazy glide and relax dive in shallow water. The maximum depth was only 31 feet and the length was 63 minutes. We saw a couple of large Eagle rays, a small octopus and several small Moray eels. For the second dive, we went back to Tortuga. I spotted the largest Moray eel that I've seen on this trip, and everyone got photos. One of the divemasters also found a small seahorse. They are a rare treat, it was only the second one I've seen. The current picked up, and we got bounced around a bit. The maximum depth was 61 feet and the length was 57 minutes. Visability was about 30 feet today, and the water temperature was 83 degrees.

Dives 483 - 484: (Playa del Coco, Costa Rica, July 16, 2008)Today's dives were made at Playpen and Casita. Visability was not quite as good as yesterday, probably 30 - 40 feet. Both dives were drift dives. We let the current carry us along, and the boat picked us up when we surfaced. At Playpen, we dived near the rocky shore of a small island. There were massive underwater columns of rock that were covered with soft corals. The maximum depth was 54 feet and the length of the dive was 58 minutes. At Casita, the current was really strong, and we got tossed around a good bit. The maximum depth was 36 feet and the length was 58 minutes. We saw several rays, including a large Eagle ray, several small octopus, 3 large lobsters and hundreds of colorful tropicals. Water temperature was a very comfortable 83 - 84 degrees. All the local dives here are made in the Gulf of Papagayo, which is just offshore from Playa del Coco. I used 13 pounds of weights, and that seems about right for this trip.

Dives 481 - 482: (Playa del Coco, Costa Rica, July 15, 2008)These were the first dives that I've made in the Pacific. Visability was not quite as good as I'm used to in the Caribbean, but the abundance of wildlife more than made up for it. We saw a White Tipped shark (my first), a couple of octopi, so many Moray eels that I stopped counting, a Yellow ray, a Spotted Eagle ray and a barracuda. In addition, at times we were practically swarmed by schools of colorful tropicals. There were plenty of colorful soft corals around and even a few small hard corals (they looked like Staghorn). The first dive was made at a site called Argentina. The maximum depth was 81 feet and the length was 54 minutes. The second dive was made at Tortuga, and there was a small wreck to explore. The maximum depth was 71 feet, and the length was 63 minutes. The water felt very warm at 81 - 83 degrees and the visability was 40 - 50 feet. I used my 4/3 full-length wetsuit without hood or gloves and was very comfortable. I was seriously overweighted on the first dive with 16 pounds, and moderately overweighted on the second dive with 14 pounds.

Dives 476 - 480: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 8, 2008)Lance Young and I made these 5 dives in the little cove that is just north of the diver's ramp. We were fortunate to get 5 dives done, had to make a hasty retreat off the ramp in a loud thunderstorm. We initially sought refuge in nearby woods, but eventually ended up in Lance's car while still wearing our dripping wetsuits. Concerning our dives, the maximum depths were 43, 43, 31, 33 and 24 feet. The lengths were 20.5, 21.5, 21.0, 23.5 and 20.5 minutes, for a total of 107 minutes from one AL80 tank. The surface temperature of the water was 79 - 80 degrees (felt warmer than that), and the minimum temperature at my maximum depth of 43 feet was 75 degrees. I'm continuing to wear my 7/7 along with hood and gloves, and was somewhat overweighted with 12 pounds. I'm considering switching back to my nearly worn-out 7/5, at least until the water starts cooling this fall. It is a lot more comfortable than the 7/7, and much easier to get on and off.

Dives 470 - 475: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 2, 2008)I made these 6 dives from the diver's ramp with Lance Young. The water temperature increased about 5 degrees in the past week, now at a very comfortable 84 - 85 degrees at the surface. The minimum temperature I encountered was 74 degrees at my maximum depth of 41 feet. The maximum depths were 30, 33, 41, 40, 30 and 25 feet. The lengths of the dives were 21.5, 21.0, 22.0, 22.5, 20.5 and 21.0 minutes for a total of 128.5 minutes from one AL80 tank. I wore my 7/7 with hood and gloves, but without a shorty, and was slightly overweighted with 13 pounds. Viz was a little better than last week, probably about 12 feet. The water level of the lake has more or less held steady for the last few weeks. The end of the diver's ramp is submerged about 6 inches, and the depth at the first training platform is 6 feet.

Dives 466 - 469: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 22, 2008)I made these 4 dives with Lance Young, again diving in the cove that is just north of the diver's ramp. Visability today was very poor for some reason, probably no more than 10 feet and that is stretching it a bit. The maximum depths were 36, 36, 32 and 39 feet, and the lengths were 21.0, 21.5, 22.0 and 26.5 minutes. The surface temperature of the water was 80 - 81 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 39 feet was 73 degrees. I used my 7/7 under a 2mm shorty with hood and gloves, and was a bit underweighted using 12 pounds. I suppose I'll try 13 pounds next time.

Dives 462 - 465: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 14, 2008)Lance Young and I made these 4 dives in the cove that is just north of the diver's ramp. The maximum depths were 43, 46, 36 and 28 feet, and the lengths were 21.5, 21.0, 21.0 and 21.5 minutes. The surface temperature of the water was 81 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 43 feet was 67 degrees. I wore my 7/7 wetsuit under a 2 mm shorty and was slightly overweighted with 14 pounds.

Dives 457 - 461: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 8, 2008)The near-record heat is having quite an effect on the water temperature, now up 7 degrees (in only a week) to 83 degrees. My friends Lance and Jane were at the lake, and it was fun diving with them again (first time this year). I made 5 dives, and the maximum depths were 40, 37, 41, 31 and 33 feet. The lengths were 21.0, 21.5, 21.5, 20.5 and 21.0 for a total of 105.5 minutes of diving from one AL80 tank. The minimum temperature I encountered was 67 degrees at 40 feet. I wore my 7/7 wetsuit with hood and gloves but without the shorty. I was slightly overweighted with 14 pounds, next time I'll try 12.

Dives 453 - 456: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 2, 2008)I tried 22 pounds of weight with my 7/7 wetsuit and 7/7 shorty, and it seems to be about right, though it is difficult to descend on the first dive with the wetsuit being dry and very buoyant. The water is warming some, and I may not need the shorty much longer. It does feel good at depth when the water gets cooler, though. I made 4 dives, and the maximum depths were 41, 33, 26 and 30 feet. The lengths were 21.5, 21.0, 20.5 and 28.5 minutes. Surprisingly, the surface water temperature has increased 5 degrees since May 25 (according to my dive computer, anyway), now up to 76 degrees. The minimum temperature at my maximum depth of 41 feet was 66 degrees. There were some monster-size Largemouth bass hanging out under the first training platform.

Dives 450 - 452: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 25, 2008)I brought enough weights to use the 7 mm "shorty" with my 7/7 wetsuit. Last week, I didn't have enough weights and had to do without it. It really made a difference. This was the first time diving at the lake this time of year when I wasn't uncomfortably cold. I used 24 pounds of weight, and was a bit overweighted. Next week, I'll try 22. I made 3 dives and the maximum depths were 32, 33 and 40 feet. The lengths were 23.5, 22.5 and 23.0 minutes. According to my primary computer (Aeris Atmos2), the surface temperature of the water was 71 degrees, and the minimum temp at 40 feet was 64 degrees. However, my back-up computer (Aeris XR1) records all temps 2 - 3 degrees lower than the Atmos2. Even though this is Memorial Day week-end, there were only a few divers at the lake. Perhaps gas being 3.71 per gallon is having an effect.

Dives 448 - 449: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 17, 2008)It was nice being back at the lake to begin my 4th year of diving there. I used my new 7/7 arctic wetsuit for the first time, and seriously under estimated how buoyant it is. With my old 7/5, I need only 6 pounds of weight in fresh water and thought I'd need only 10 for the 7/7. However, I was barely able to descend with 14 pounds, and that was without using the 7 mm "shorty". However, I could feel the difference concerning the cold water. I won't say I was toasty warm, but I didn't get as cold as I expected. I made 2 dives. The dive lengths were 22.5 and 24.5 minutes, and the maximum depths were 30 and 42 feet. The surface temperature of the water was 69 degrees, and the maximum depth at 42 feet was either 60 or 62 degrees, depending on whether I believe my primary dive computer, or the back-up. It felt closer to 60.

Dives 446 - 447: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 27, 2008)The first dive of the day was made at Palencar Bricks. It is a beautiful wall dive with towering columns of coral. I've dived it 3 or 4 times on previous trips and it never fails to please. Today was no exception; I think Palencar is one of my all-time favorite sites to dive. However, I had a moderate O-ring leak in my tank and had to end the dive after only 36 minutes. I almost waited too long, hit the surface with less than 200 psi. The maximum depth was 84 feet and the visability was about 60 feet. The water temp (according to my dive computer) was 75 degrees, but it didn't feel that cold. The second dive was at Cedral Wall. This was the second time this trip that I've dived this site, but I love the moderate-depth wall that is bordered by a very large and realtively flat coral reef. We saw several large turtles and a shark. The length of the dive was 46 minutes and the maximum depth was 80 feet. The visability was 60 - 70 feet and the water temperature was 80 degrees. These were the last dives that I'll make this trip. After two weeks of daily diving, I'm tired and all "dived-out". In addition, the aches and pains are accumulating, and it is time to go home. It has been a wonderful trip, and I'll miss the warm, clear, tropical waters and the spring-like temperatures of Cozumel in January.

Dives 444 - 445: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 26, 2008)I'd planned to make 3 or 4 shore dives, but the current was very strong. After hanging on to underwater rocks and feeling like a windblown sheet on a clothes line, I decided to call it quits after 2 dives. I'd started my dives into the current, and gratefully turned into the current and drifted back to the area just offshore from the Blue Angel Dive Shop. I saw one medium-size Moray eel. These guys always seem to be in a bad mood and on the verge of losing their temper. They remind me of grumpy old men. Even with the strong current, I was sorry to leave the water, knowing that these were my last dives on this little area of reef, rocks and rubble for at least a year. The maximum depths of the dives were 24 and 23 feet, and the lengths were 20 and 24 minutes. The viz was about 60 feet, and the water temperature was 79 - 80 degrees.

Dives 442 - 443: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 25, 2008)The first dive of the day was made at Punta Sur, one of the premier wall dives in Cozumel. Visibility was not good (only about 40 feet) and no large marine animals were seen, but the towering columns of coral and the steep wall still made for a spectacular dive. The swim-thru at a depth of 100 feet was challenging but exciting (I'm not a big fan of overhead environments). The length of the dive was 40 minutes, and the maximum depth was 111 feet. This was the deepest dive that I've made in a while. The second dive was made at Cedral Pass, which has a expansive, flat reef with a few trenches. Visibility was a little better, perhaps 50 - 60 feet, and I saw the largest lobster that I've ever seen. The thing was the size of a small-size suitcase and downright scary. I have no idea how it survived for as long as it has, but it is now residing in a marine park, and hopefully it will be around scaring divers for many more years to come. The maxiumum depth was 53 feet, and the length of the dive was 55 minutes. The water temperature for both dives was 79 - 80 degrees. I've been a bit cool in my 4/3 full-length suit, and haven't been using a hood. Sixteen pounds of weight seems to be about right for this trip.

Dives 438 - 441: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 24, 2008)I made 4 shore dives, taking advantage of a very warm and sunny day with very little wind and almost no current. Visibility improved to 70 - 80 feet and approached 100 feet when the sun was not behind clouds. Marine wildlife was abundant. I saw a small school of what I think were large Trumpetfish, along with 2 of the smaller, speckled rays (about the size of a large frying pan), a Scorpion fish, and 2 Nudibranches. These were the first Nutibranches that I've ever seen. They were quite small, and very beautiful. Since there was very little current, I did one of my favorite things to do when diving; kneel beside a coral head and just see what starts moving. In just a few minutes, I counted 9 different species of tropical fish. Also, to my surprise, a small Moray eel climbed out of a crevice and started moving around. The lengths of the dives were 22, 20, 21 and 26 minutes and the maximum depths were 21 - 22 feet. The water temperature was 80 - 81 degrees.

Dives 436 - 437: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 23, 2008)Today's dives were made at Cedral Wall and San Francisco Wall. The dive at Cedral will be remembered as my "Jurassic Park" dive. It is the type dive that fortunate divers experience only once every year or two. To begin with, the site has a beautiful coral reef that borders a steep wall that drops over 3,000 feet. I dearly love to get right on the edge of the wall, with the coral reef off to the side, and let the current carry me along. It provides the feeling of effortless flying in space. We saw a large turtle on the surface and it descended and swam with us for a while. Then there was another large turtle. Then a couple of very large Eagle rays were sighted. A little later, I saw another diver shooting some video footage of something that was in a large crevice. I swam over to see what it was being photograhed and saw the largest Moray eel that I've ever seen. It had a head the size of a medium-size bear's head, and was not very happy about being disturbed and having a bright light shined into its eyes. I had no idea that Morays got that huge. I watched for a minute and decided to move away while I still could. I've known of 4 divers being bitten by Morays, and 3 of them ended up in the hospital. Just before the dive ended, we saw a couple of large Nurse sharks and a Barracuda. Everyone wanted to talk about all that they had seen when we got back on the boat, and I feel that this was one of the best dives I've ever made. The maximum depth was 82 feet, and the length was 52 minutes.

The second dive was made at San Francisco, which is also a wall dive. It was a lazy, drift and relax kind of dive and again I enjoyed the sensation of "flying" along the edge of the abyss. It is about the most addictive thing I've ever done. The maximum depth was 71 feet and the length was 52 minutes.

The water temp for both dives was 79 degrees, and the visibility was about 50 feet.

Dives 433 - 435: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 22, 2008)I was scheduled to do boat dives today, but decided to wait another day in order for visibility to improve after several days of high winds. Instead, I made 3 dives from shore. Visibility improved to about 60 feet and it was a typically beautiful Cozumel day of mild temperatures and beautiful sunshine. The lengths of the dives were 20, 20 and 23 minutes, and the maximum depths were 20 - 22 feet. The water temperature was 80 degrees.

Dives 430 - 432: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 21, 2008)A strong north wind prompted the Harbormaster to close the local waters to small craft and all recreational use (snorkeling and scuba diving included). So, there was no diving yesterday, or early this morning. Waves were 10 - 12 feet and were breaking over the seawalls and into the streets. The closure was finally lifted this morning about 10:00, and I made 3 dives from shore after Carol and I went snorkeling. The maximum depths were 21 - 22 feet, and the lengths of the dives were 23, 23 and 28 minutes. I saw a small pod of squid, and they were watching me just as intently as I was watching them. I also saw a Moray eel. The water temp was about 79 degrees, and the visibility was 40 - 50 feet. I was surprised that Carol wanted to go snorkeling, because of how rough the conditions were, but we had a good (but very bouncy) time.

Dives 427 - 429: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 19, 2008)Today's dives were made on the reef offshore from the Caribe Blu Hotel. The tropicals were out in force, but I saw only one Moray eel and one Sharptailed eel. One Triggerfish swam with me for 15 or 20 minutes, actually coming close enough to touch my mask on several occasions. The lengths of the dives were 20, 21 and 23 minutes and the maximum depths were 21 - 22 feet. The visibility was about 70 feet, and the water temperature was 80 - 81 degrees. Carol and I snorkeled for about an hour before I made my dives. If she has been in "snorkel school" all week, then today she graduated with honors. She was much more relaxed and confident, and on several occasions I had to turn her around because we were getting too far from shore and into an area where there could be boat traffic. Because of the current and wind, today we got our gear at the Blue Angel Dive Shop (next door to the Caribe Blu Hotel), then walked about .3 mile to the Dive Paradise Dive Shop. We entered the water there, then drifted back with the current to the Blue Angel Dive Shop.

Dives 425 - 426: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 18, 2008)The first dive today was at Columbia Wall. I've been having problems clearing my ears, but didn't have problems today, thanks mainly to a 12-hour Sudafed I took a few hours before getting on the boat. Columbia is a beautiful dive. I've dived there 2 or 3 times since I started coming to Cozumel, and have never been disappointed. Visibility was not very good, but the reef and wall were spectacular, anyway. The maximum depth was 101 feet, and the length of the dive was 46 minutes. For the second dive, we went back to La Fransesca (where I dived two days ago), but it is a very nice reef with lots of little tunnels (nice to look at, but I don't go in them). Everyone else saw 2 Blacktip sharks, but somehow I missed seeing them. The maximum depth was 53 feet and the length of the dive was 54 minutes. Viz was about 50 feet, and the water temp for both dives was about 80 degrees.

Dives 422 - 424: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 17, 2008)Diving today was done at the reef just offshore from the Caribe Blu Hotel. The visibility improved to 70 - 80 feet, and a lot of marine life was around. I saw a large Barracuda, a couple of medium-size Stingrays (28 - 36 inch wingspans), 4 Moray eels and a deadly Stonefish, along with hundreds of colorful tropicals. A few eyebrows get raised at the dive shop when they find out that I'm solo diving in the ocean, but so far, no one has said anything. The maximum depths of my 3 dives were 20 - 22 feet, and the lengths were 20, 20 and 23 minutes. The water temperature was 81 degrees. Carol and I went snorkeling in the same area earlier for about an hour, and her skill level is improving. She got to see a couple of the Stingrays, one seems to actually interact with us a bit. When it sees us, it stops, then comes up a few feet to check us out. Then it swims away. The weather was beautiful. Lance and Jane, wish you were here!

Dives 420 - 421: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 16, 2008)My first boat dives on this trip were made at Horseshoe and La Francesca Reefs. The maximum depth at Horseshoe was 92 feet, and the length of the dive was 42 minutes. The water temp was a cool 76 degrees, and I think I'm going to start using a hood (gloves aren't allowed in the Marine Park) for the remaining dives on this trip. I was a bit under-weighted with 14 pounds, had problems remaining negatively buoyant toward the end of the dive. The maximum depth at Francesca was 60 feet and the length of the dive was 50 minutes. The water temp was 78 degrees. We saw two Nurse sharks, one was about 7 feet long. I used 16 pounds of weights on this dive, and that appeared to be about right. The visibility for both dives was 50 - 60 feet.

Dives 418 - 419: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 15, 2008)We arrived in Cozumel yesterday, and after checking-in with the Blue Angel Dive Shop, I made 2 shore-dives on the little reef just offshore from the Caribe Blue Hotel. I was surprised and disappointed to see that the little reef was in worse shape now than it was a year ago after being devastated by Hurricane Wilma. However, it was great to be diving again in the (relatively) warm Caribbean Sea. The maximum depths for the 2 dives were about 22 feet, and the lengths were 26 and 27 minutes. The water temp was 80 degrees, and the visibility was about 50 feet. I saw one little spotted Moray eel. Before my dives, Carol and I went snorkeling. It was her first time snorkeling in the ocean, and she did well. A medium-size Manta ray (about a 36 inch wingspan) swam directly under us at one point. We also saw a Trumpet fish and a lot of colorful tropicals.

Dives 416 - 417: (Lucaya, Bahamas, October 13, 2007)These were the last dives that I'll make on this trip. The first dive was made at Pgymy Caves. It is a very nice reef with lots of trenches and swim-thrus. In addition to an abundance of fish, we saw one turtle and a lone shark. The length of the dive was 57 minutes and the maximum depth was 71 feet. The second dive was made at The Chamber. On my descent, I could see about a half-dozen sharks directly under me patiently waiting to be fed (the area is very near Shark Junction). I got many more photos, having learned that the best way to photograph sharks is from underneath them, and at an angle (shark shouldn't be directly overhead). I reluctantly ended my dive after 60 minutes, cutting it very close on air consumption. The maximum depth was 48 feet. The viz for both dives was about 60 feet, and the water temperature was 81 degrees. I asked Fred how cold the water gets here in winter, and he said about 72 degrees.

Dives 414 - 415: (Lucaya, Bahamas, October 12, 2007)This was probably the best day of diving I've experienced to date. The first dive was on the Theo wreck. The Theo was a 230 ft. freighter that was intentionally sunk years ago and presently rests intact on its port side in about 100 feet of water. It lies very close (30 - 50 feet?) to a ledge where the water is 2,000 feet deep. Visibility finally improved, and was about 100 feet. There were lots of fish around and it was a beautiful dive. The maximum depth was 101 feet, and the length of the dive was 44 minutes. The water temperature was 82 degrees. The second dive was at Shark Junction. There were about 15 Caribbean Reef sharks swimming among us, very patiently awaiting hand-outs that never came (they normally get fed here, but not today). Gratefully, they didn't take out their frustrations on the divers. From my experience, it seems that these sharks are not the mindless killers that are portrayed in movies. They are quite shy. Fred said that if a diver chases one with a camera, the shark will leave and not come back. I could have stayed underwater for hours, but had to come up after 57 minutes. The maximum depth was 47 feet. The visibility was about 60 feet, and the water temperature was 84 degrees.

Dives 412 - 413: (Lucaya, Bahamas, October 11, 2007)Today's dives were made at medium-depth coral reefs. The winds decreased substantially several days ago, but unfortunately the visibility has not improved. It was about 50 - 55 feet, and that is probably stretching it a bit. The first dive was made at Gal's Grotto, and the maximum depth was 72 feet. The length of the dive was 53 minutes. One small Caribbean Reef shark made an appearance and swam with us a few minutes. The second dive was made at Angel's Camp. The maximum depth was 45 feet, and the length of the dive was 65 minutes. The water temperature for both dives was 84 degress. I used 12 pounds of weight today, and that appears to be about right for this trip.

Dives 410 - 411: (Lucaya, Bahamas, October 10, 2007)The first dive today was at Duncan's Wreck. It is a large cargo ship, perhaps 200 feet long, that is in pieces. There was a large Stingray nearby half-buried in the sand and I got some nice photos. I also was fortunate to get a photo of a Lionfish on the wreck (the first one I've seen). The maximum depth was 90 feet and the length was 47 minutes. The second dive was made at a place called The Chamber, named because an old decompression chamber was sunk there years ago as an artificial reef and mooring point. It is surrounded by a very large and beautiful coral reef. While we were there, a group of 5 - 7 Caribbean Reef sharks (several were 7 feet long) showed up and slowly glided among us, between us, above us and below us. We never knew where the next one was going to appear, and they were close enough to touch (though I didn't). It was very exciting, and I think I was just as excited as the 15 year old boy who was diving with his dad. It was one of my most memorable dives. The maximum depth was 43 feet, and the length of the dive was 56 minutes. Viz for both dives was about 50 feet, and the water temperature was 83 - 84 degrees. I used 14 pounds of weight today, and was still overweighted. Tomorrow, I'll try 12.

Dives 408 - 409: (Lucaya, Bahamas, October 9, 2007)Yesterday should have been my first day of diving here, but all dives were canceled because of high winds. I really didn't expect today to be any better, but Melinda of Grand Bahama Scuba picked me up at 8:45 and took me to the dive boat. Her husband, Fred, said not to expect much, that if the weather system that has caused all the wind had produced winds any higher, it would have a name. He said it was going to be a rough boat ride, and viz was going to be bad. He then said that our boat would probably be the only one that went out today. He was right on all counts. Even though I started taking an anti-seasick med 4 days ago, I got half-seasick going to the first dive site, which was a place called Tunnels. There were a few Caribbean Reef sharks around that were 6 - 7 feet long. This was a medium-depth reef dive, and the viz wasn't much. The maximum depth was 64 feet and the length of the dive was 54 minutes. After a short surface interval (which everyone was thankful for because of the rough seas), we made our second dive at a place called Papa Doc's. The reef has a colorful past. Back in the 1970's, a wooden boat laden with guns and ammunition left Port Lucaya bound for Haiti, where the cargo was to be used to help overthrow the dictator Papa Doc Duvalier. However, the boat struck the reef and sank. Fred said that as late as a few years ago, he was still finding ammunition on the bottom. The boat has rotted away, leaving only the 2 diesel engine blocks. Because of complaints from divers that there was not a wreck on this wreck dive, a few years ago a dive operator sank an old tugboat near the original wreck site. It was an interesting dive, and another reef shark made a brief appearance, coming within 20 feet of me before turning away. Unfortunately, I was not quick enough to get a photo. The maximum depth was 43 feet and the length of the dive was 65 minutes. The water temperature for both dives was 84 degrees, and the viz was 40 - 50 feet. I was overweighted with 18 pounds on the first dive, and still overweighted on the second dive with 16 pounds. I'll try 14 pounds tomorrow.

Dives 405 - 407: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 3, 2007)Lance Young and I made these dives in the cove that is just north of the diver's ramp, and we successfully navigated back to the wall we found on September 26. It is an area that we look forward to exploring in the future. Right now, the depth at the wall is about 35 feet. When the lake is at full capacity, the depth will be about 60 feet. The maximum depths of our dives were 36, 43 and 43 feet, and the dive lengths were 23.0, 21.5 and 24.0 minutes. The surface temperature of the water was 76 - 77 degrees, and the mimimum temperature we encountered at 43 feet was 76 degrees. The lake has dropped another foot, the depth of the first training platform is now only 5 feet. One boater arrived while we were there and decided that the water level was too low to launch his boat, and left. Because of the rapidly cooling water temperature, I expect to make only 2 or 3 more trips to Lake Jocassee this year.

Dives 400 - 404: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 30, 2007)The weather was nice and warm (about 78 degrees) and there wasn't a cloud in the sky, but the water is definitely cooling off. The surface temperature was 79 - 80 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at depth was 77 degrees. I wore my 3/2 shorty under my 7/5, along with hood and gloves (using 8 pounds of weight), and still got a bit chilled. The Greenville and Oconee County Emergency Response Teams were allowing their members to do helmet dives (tethered to their air supply) at the diver's ramp. I'd never seen this type of dive suit (except in photos), and it was interesting watching the divers suiting-up. Concerning my dives, the maximum depths were 33, 32, 31, 26 and 30 feet. The lengths of the dives were 21.0, 21.0, 20.0, 20.5 and 21.0 minutes.

Dives 395 - 399: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 26, 2007)The beautiful summer-like weather continues, and Lance Young and I took advantage of it. We made 5 dives, all in the little cove that is just north of the diver's ramp. Because the water level is so low, we made a new discovery. At a depth of about 35 feet, we found a rocky wall that is nearly sheer. Before the lake was created, this feature was probably a cliff on the side of a hill. We didn't follow it all the way to the bottom, so we have no idea concerning its length. The level of the lake has dropped 2 more feet in only 3 days. The first training platform is now at a depth of only 6 feet. If the water drops only 2 more feet, I don't believe that boaters will be able to use the ramp that is adjacent to the diver's ramp. Our maximum depths were 51, 37, 29, 25 and 27 feet. The lengths of the dives were 22.5, 22.0, 20.5, 20.5 and 21.0 minutes. The temperature at the surface was 82 - 83 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 51 feet was 78 degrees.

Dives 390 - 394: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 23, 2007)This was a beautiful and warm early fall day that felt more like mid-summer, and the diver's ramp was crowded. I suppose everyone wants to get a few more dives before the weather (and water) get cold. My maximum depths were 35, 40, 31, 34 and 33 feet. The dive times were 22.5, 23.0, 22.0, 21.5 and 21.5 minutes. The surface temperature of the water was 83 degrees, and the mimimum temperature I encountered at 40 feet was 78 degrees. It should be warm enough but I got a bit chilled, probably because my old 7/5 Henderson has over 300 dives and is wearing out. I intend to replace it next year, probably with a 7/7.

Dives 386 - 389: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 20, 2007)Lance Young and I made these dives on a cool, cloudy and windy day that felt more like late October than mid September. The surface temperature of the lake has dropped 5 degrees in only 4 days, now down to 78 degrees. The minimum temperature I encountered at 54 feet was 76 degrees. The lengths of the dives were 25.5, 21.0, 22.5 and 25.0 minutes. The maximum depths were 54, 30, 32 and 37 feet. The lake has dropped a foot in the last 4 days, the first training platform is now at a depth of 8 feet. Big bass were out in high numbers today, there were at least a dozen hanging out around (and under) the dive platforms.

Dives 381 - 385: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 16, 2007)Someone placed a large mirror (approximately 24 x 36 inches) on the back of the first underwater platform. I'd never seen a mirror image of myself underwater, and it was kind of strange. When swimming toward the back of the platform, a diver will see someone swimming toward him, getting closer and closer, only to find out that the diver swimming towards him is himself. Thanks to whoever put the mirror there; great idea! Concerning the diving, the water temperature is definitely getting cooler. The surface temperature was down to 83 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 42 feet was 79 degrees. The lengths of the dives were 22.5, 22.5, 23, 22.5 and 25.5 minutes, for a total of 116 minutes from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 36, 38, 30, 42 and 34 feet. The water level of the lake has stayed more or less constant during the last 2 weeks. The depth of the first underwater platform was 9 feet.

Dives 376 - 380: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 9, 2007)Lance Young and I had a very good day of late-summer diving. Surprisingly, the level of the lake increased a foot in the last 4 days, the depth of the first platform is now 9 feet. The maximum depths of the dives were 50, 33, 32, 31 and 33 feet. The lengths were 23.5, 21.5, 22.5, 21.5 and 27.0 minutes for a total of 116 minutes from one AL80 tank. The surface temperature of the water was 86 - 87 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 50 ft. was 80 degrees. Lance and I agreed that this is about the best time of the year to dive at the lake. On our last dive, we were entertained by a small catfish that swam along with us for several minutes, darting between us and swimming circles around us.

Dives 371 - 375: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 5, 2007)Knowing that the diving season at the lake will be ending soon (but hopefully not for a couple of months), I took advantage of another stormless summer day and went diving. The level of the lake continues to drop, down another foot in only 3 days. The first training platform in front of the ramp is now in only 8 feet of water. Big bass were out in high numbers today and several of them checked me out, including the largest live bass that I've ever seen. I watched it for several minutes, and decided its length was about 24 inches. Weight probably would be 12 - 14 pounds. Concerning the diving, the lengths of the dives were 21.5, 21.0, 22.0, 21.0 and 24.5 minutes, for a total of 110 minutes from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 31, 36, 25, 40 and 35 feet. The water temperature at the surface was 84 - 85 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 40 feet was 80 degrees. I'm now using only 6 pounds of weights, down from 22 pounds when I started diving at the lake in the summer of 2005.

Dives 366 - 370: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 2, 2007)These dives were made with Lance Young and his life-partner Jane, and it was a very enjoyable day. The water level of the lake continues to drop, and the depth of the first training platform in front of the diver's ramp is now 9 feet (last week it was 12 feet). In addition, the platform in the cove is in only 4 feet of water, and we were actually standing on it during one of our surface intervals. Normally, its depth is about 25 - 26 feet. Concerning the dives, the maximum depths were 42, 34, 32, 33 and 31 feet. The lengths of the dives were 21, 21, 20, 20.5 and 22 minutes. The surface temperature of the water was 82 - 83 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 41 feet was 79 degrees.

Dives 363 - 365: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 26, 2007)Thunder, lightning and whitecap waves on the lake ended my day after only 3 dives. The lengths of the dives were 22.0, 21.5 and 21.0 minutes, and the maximum depths were 40, 31 and 33 feet. The surface temperature of the water was 83 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at 40 feet was 80 degrees. Wearing gloves, but no hood, I was able to reduce my weights from 8 pounds to 7. It was still a bit too easy to descend and I had problems remaining neutrally buoyant at 40 feet, so I'll probably try 6 pounds on my next dives.

Dives 358 - 362: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 19, 2007)It is difficult to figure how crowded it will be at the diver's ramp on any given day. Being a beautiful late-summer day and a Sunday, I expected to have problems finding a parking space. However, there was plenty of parking, and I think there were only 5 or 6 other divers present. Randy Bayne was waiting for his students in Reese Davis's boat, and he and I talked about the Rescue Diver course that I'd recently completed (Randy was my instructor). Concerning the diving, the surface temp has cooled a few degrees since last week, now down to 85 - 86 degrees. I made 5 dives, and the maximum depths were 35, 31, 33, 35 and 30 feet. The dive lengths were 22.0, 22.0, 21.0, 21.5 and 22.0 minutes. The minimum temperature I encountered at 35 feet was 79 degrees. The water level of the lake continues to drop, and it is a long way down the ramp from the parking area to get to the water. In May, the first underwater training platform was in 32 feet of water. Now, the depth is only 12 feet.

Dives 353 - 357: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 14, 2007)Lance Young and I arrived at the lake just after 11:00 and found that we were the only divers present. The 100+ degree weather we've been having has finally had an effect on the surface temperature of the water. According to my Aeris Atmos2 dive computer, the surface temp of the water was 87 - 88 degrees. This is the warmest temp I've encountered in the 3 summers I've been diving at the lake. I made 5 dives, and the maximum depths were 65, 25, 31, 33 and 30 feet. The dive lengths were 26.5 21.5, 21.5, 21.0 and 23.5 minutes for a total of 114 minutes from one AL80 tank. The minimum temperature at my maximum depth of 65 feet was 73 degrees.

Dives 347 - 352: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 10, 2007)Lance Young and I made these dives on a very hot day. The first dive was made in the vicinity of the 3 underwater training platforms, and the others were made in the little cove just north of the diver's ramp. This area is my and Lance's favorite place to dive at the lake. It was a good day to see really large bass, some in the 8 - 10+ pound range. The lengths of the dives were 21.0, 21.5, 24.0, 22.5, 20.5 and 21.0 minutes. The maximum depths were 32, 26, 27, 31, 25 and 22 feet. The minimum temperature I encountered at 32 feet was 77 degrees, and the surface temperature of the water was 84 degrees. We were literally swarmed by biting black flies when we exited the water, so we quickly packed up and left.

Dives 342 - 346: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 5, 2007)After the Rescue Diver certification dives last week, it was very nice to get back to my weekly schedule of slow, relaxing dives at Lake Jocassee. Big bass were out in high numbers today; I saw one that was probably over 10 pounds, it looked like a small Caribbean Grouper. The length of today's dives were 24.5, 22.5, 22, 22.5 and 23 minutes for a total of 114.5 minutes from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 35, 35, 34, 30 and 25 feet. The surface temperature of the water was 81 - 82 degrees, and the minimum temperature I encountered at depth was 77 degrees.

Dives 338 - 341: (Lake Keowee, SC, July 28, 2007) These dives were made while attaining my Rescue Diver certification. I actually made 9 dives during a very long, hard day in the water, practicing the rescue of either a panicked or unconscious "victim". The training got very real. However, I decided to count only the 4 longest dives. The dives lasted only about 3 - 4 minutes each, the depths were about 20 feet and the water temperature was about 83 degrees. However, they were among the most stressful and difficult dives that I've ever made. At the end of the day, I was exhausted, had several scrapes and bruises and I was very glad to leave the water.

Dives 333 - 337: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 22, 2007)Today was unusually cool, considering this is the middle of summer. I don't think the air temperature at the diver's ramp ever reached 80 degrees. I made 5 dives, and the lengths were 22, 21.5, 22.5, 22 and 23 minutes. The maximum depths were 30, 42, 32, 38 and 38 feet. The minimum temperature I encountered at 42 feet was 75 degrees, and the surface temperature of the water was 79 - 80 degrees.

Dives 328 - 332: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 14, 2007)When I was driving to the lake and about 1/4 mile from the diver's ramp, a full-grown, gray coyote crossed the road in front of me. They are very shy creatures, and it is not often that I get to see one in the wild. Concerning the diving, the water temperature has dropped a bit because of the rain and cool weather. The surface temperature was down to 77 - 78 degrees. I made 5 dives, and the lengths were 21.5, 23.5, 24, 24.5 and 28.5 minutes for a total of 122 minutes from one AL80 tank. This is a record for me, and it is not one that I expect to break any time soon. The maximum depths of the dives were 30, 33, 42, 32 and 31 feet. The minimum temperature I encountered at 42 feet was 74 degrees. Even though it is mid-summer, I'm still using my 7/5 suit, along with hood, gloves and 8 pounds of weights.

Dives 323 - 327: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 8, 2007)I expected the diver's ramp to be crowded today, but it wasn't. There was plenty of parking, and there were only about a half-dozen divers present when I arrived about 11:30 a.m. This is probably because none of the local dive shops offered classes this week-end, because of the July 4th holiday that was in the middle of the week. Anyway, I made 5 dives and the maximum depths were 45, 32, 40, 24 and 30 feet. The surface temperature of the water was 80 - 81 degrees, and the temperature at my maximum depth of 45 feet was 73 degrees. The dive lengths were 21, 21, 21.5, 21.5 and 23.5 minutes. I was pleased to get 108.5 minutes from one AL80 tank, something I can do only with shallow dives in warm water. I saw Randy Bayne (instructor at Bermuda Triangle Dive Shop), and we briefly discussed the Rescue Diver certification course that I expect to take later this month.

Dives 319 - 322: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 1, 2007)It is starting to feel like summer at the lake; the surface temperature of the water is now 80 degrees. However, after my dives were completed, I got chilled when I peeled off my wetsuit on the ramp during a thunderstorm and encountered 20 - 25 mph winds. The maximum depths of the dives were 32, 33, 24 and 41 feet, and the dive lengths were 22.5, 24, 20.5 and 23.5 minutes. The temperature of the water at my maximum depth of 41 ft. was 72 degrees.

Dives 315 - 318: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 24, 2007)Lake Jocassee certainly is not the Caribbean, but it was kind of nice to be "home". I was pleasantly surprised to see my dive-buddy, Lance Young, assembling his dive gear as I drove up. He is recovering from shoulder surgery and was not expected to be diving again until next month. However, when he went to his doctor recently, he was told him that he could start diving today. We made a total of 4 dives, and the maximum depths were 60, 34, 25 and 24 feet. The dive lengths were 21, 21.5, 21.5 and 20.5 minutes. The surface temperature of the water was 79 degrees, and the temperature at 60 feet was 68 degrees. I used a full-length 7/5 suit, hood, boots and gloves, and got cold on the 3rd dive. I used 10 pounds of weight, which was too much; next time I'll try 8 pounds. It was great to be back diving with Lance. He and I have spent many hours on the bottom of Lake Jocassee during the last 3 summers.

Dives 313 - 314: (Roatan, Honduras, June 16, 2007)These were the last dives that I'll make on this trip. We went to West Wall on the first dive, a place that has an amazing amount of marine life. Basically, there were schools of fish all over the place. They practically swarmed us. The depth of the dive was 77 ft., and the dive length was 56 minutes. The second dive was made at Blue Channel, a reef that Monty (the divemaster) said he wanted me to see before I went home. It was a very nice and relaxing, shallow dive site with a beautiful reef, easy swim-thrus, warm, clear water, a large Moray eel and thousands of other critters. It was a fitting end to some of the best diving I've ever done. However, after 13 straight days of diving, I'm very tired and it is time to go home. The maximum depth was 41 feet, and the dive length was 56 minutes. Viz for both dives ranged from 50 to 70 feet, and the water temperature was 85 degrees.

Dives 311 - 312: (Roatan, Honduras, June 15, 2007)First dive today was made at Sea Quest Shallow. I had the rare privilege of being bluff charged by a very large lobster, just as I was snapping a photo. It really surprised me, and I moved back a ways instinctively. Then I laughed. At least it didn't try to eat my camera like the crazy barracuda did about a week ago. The maximum depth of the dive was 42 ft., and the length of the dive was 53 minutes. The second dive was made at Lighthouse Reef. It was a very nice wall dive with lots of vibrant coral and colorful tropicals. The maximum depth was 61 ft. and the dive length was 52 minutes. Viz was about 60 ft. for both dives, and the water temperature was 85 degrees.

Dives 309 - 310: (Roatan, Honduras, June 14, 2007)Today's dives were at the Odyssey Wreck and Fish Den Reef. I've dived both sites previously, but didn't mind going back. My camera batteries failed on the Odyssey when I dived it before, and I was glad to be able to get more photos. Also, Fish Den is one of the most beautiful reefs around. Maximum depth for the first dive was 110 ft. and the length of the dive was 37 minutes. For Fish Den, the maximum depth was 72 ft, and the length of the dive was 60 minutes. The water temperature was 83 - 84 for both dives, and viz was ranged from 60 to 75 feet.

Dives 307 - 308: (Roatan, Honduras, June 13, 2007)First dive of the day was made at Canyon Reef, where there were a lot of narrow swim-thrus in overhead environments that I wasn't real comfortable with. After my octo hose briefly got hung up on a rock, the remaining swim-thrus became "swim-overs" and "swim-arounds". However, on the plus side, we encountered a large Moray eel (about 5 ft. long), and I got several photos. The maximum depth was 71 feet, and the length of the dive was 50 minutes. For the second dive, we did a shallow portion of Hole In The Wall, where there were even more swim-thrus that I detoured around. The maximum depth was 61 feet, and the length of the dive was 51 minutes. Viz was affected by rain last night, and cloudy skies today, and was down to about 50 feet for both dives. The water temperature was 83 degrees.

Dives 305 - 306: (Roatan, Honduras, June 12, 2007)Diving today was at Texas Reef and Mandy's Eel Garden. Texas Reef has a lot of wildlife, and barrel sponges that are bigger than I am. It was a beautiful dive. Mandy's Eel Garden has a multitude of little eels that bury themselves in the sand, then get vertical to feed. They are funny little critters. The surrounding reef contains a lot of diversity and color. Maximum depth on the first dive was 104 ft., and the length of the dive was 53 minutes. Maximum depth on the second dive was 74 ft., and the length of the dive was 55 minutes. Viz was about 75 feet for both dives, and the water temperature was 83 - 85 degrees.

Dives 303 - 304: (Roatan, Honduras, June 11, 2007)Today's first dive was made at the El Aquila wreck. The ship is in 3 sections, and was originally about 300 feet long. The maximum depth was 108 feet, and the length of the dive was 52 minutes. Viz was about 75 feet, and the water temperature was 84 degrees. The second dive was made at Grape Escape, where a dive boat sank many years ago in a heavy rainstorm when the bilge pumps failed (the boat sank very close to shore and there were no casualties). It is surrounded by a very nice coral reef. My maximum depth was 66 feet, and the length of the dive was 58 minutes. The viz was about 75 feet, and the water temperature was 82 degrees. No crazy Honduran barracuda today; just a few curious groupers looking for a hand-out.

Dives 301 - 302: (Roatan, Honduras, June 10, 2007)First dive of the day was at Spooky Channel, and the Divemaster warned that this dive would be "different". He said we'd start out with poor viz, swim to the end of a canyon, use a "hole" to go through the reef, and then we'd be greeted by brillant light and great viz. About halfway through the dive, it seemed like Lake Jocassee, except the water temperature was 20 degrees warmer. However, when we went through the reef at a depth of 80 feet, it was like someone turned on a floodlight. The contrast was amazing; Mother Nature's underwater light show. There were also many creatures around, including a Nurse shark, a barracuda with an attitude and a fondness for bright objects, and many Goliath groupers. Toward the end of the dive, the barracuda singled me out for some special attention. He'd come as close as 2 feet before stopping. I didn't want to turn my back on him, so we'd just stare at each other. When I got back on the boat, Will (the Divemaster) told me that on the previous day, the same barracuda had chewed up another Divemaster's safety sausage (brightly colored, rolled up, and dangling from his BC). Then it clicked; the barracuda had been wanting to get at my brightly colored camera. I'd noticed that he seemed attracted to it, especially when the flash went off. The length of the dive was 56 minutes, and the maximum depth was 91 feet. The viz ranged from 10 feet to almost a 100 feet. The second dive was made at Fish Den. The reef has beautiful color, and lots of colorful tropicals. It is an easy "glide and relax" type of dive. The maximum depth was 71 feet, and the length of the dive was 56 minutes. Viz was about 75 feet. The water temperature for both dives was about 85 degrees.

Dives 299 - 300: (Roatan, Honduras, June 9, 2007)Today's first dive was at Sea Quest Deep. The maximum depth was 69 feet, and the length of the dive was 53 minutes. The second dive was at Turtle Crossing, and true to its name, we saw several large turtles. One swam along with us for several minutes. The maximum depth was 65 feet, and the length of the dive was 49 minutes. The water temperature for the dives ranged from 83 - 85 degrees, and the viz was about 75 feet. The second dive was my 300th dive, and it is a milestone that I was very happy to reach.

Dives 297 - 298: (Roatan, Honduras, June 8, 2007)Today was a very special day of diving, one that may be unique in my diving "career". My heart sank a bit when I got to Coconut Tree Divers this morning and I saw that I was the only person signed-up for the morning dives. I figured the morning boat wouldn't go out. However, I soon found that I was wrong. The net result was, I had a private boat, captain and guide for my 2 dives. The Divemaster was Monty, and he and I got along very well. He wanted to go to Hole In The Wall, and I asked him if I could do a "touch-and-go" to a depth of 130 feet. Surprisingly, he readily agreed. It was a beautiful dive, and my maximum depth was 133 feet. The length of the dive was 50 minutes, and the water temperature was 85 degrees. The second dive was made at Fish Den Reef. We slowly glided over the beautiful reef, both of us totally relaxed and taking in the immense beauty of the place. Monty led me to some of his private places on the reef, and they were spectacular. The best part of the dive was watching a turtle munching some underwater vegetation. It was not bothered by our presence at all, and I got several photos. There were also a couple of large Grouper that swam right up to us, perhaps just curious, or maybe after a hand-out. Maximum depth was 62 feet, and the length of the dive was 60 minutes. Water temperature was 83 degrees, and the viz for both dives was about 75 feet. This is what diving in the Caribbean is all about.

Dives 295 - 296: (Roatan, Honduras, June 7, 2007)First dive today was made at the West Wall. I'd already dived the site once this trip, but my camera batteries died early, so I didn't mind going back to get some photos. The maximum depth was 88 feet, and the length of the dive was 55 minutes. The waves on the surface really picked up while we were diving, and everyone had a great deal of trouble getting back to the boat. The second dive was made at Half Moon Bay Reef. I've noticed that the reefs that are in the vicinity of this one have a great deal of diversity and color. Today was no exception. I got lots of photos, including one of a small octopus. It seemed bothered by all the flash photography and human activity, and I'm sure he was relieved when we had all moved on. Maximum depth was 77 feet, and the length of the dive was 55 minutes. Viz for both dives was 60 - 70 feet, and the water temperature was 83 degrees.

Dives 293 - 294: (Roatan, Honduras, June 6, 2007)After asking everyone on the boat if they were comfortable with making a deep dive, the divemaster said that we were going to Hole In The Wall, which is his favorite dive in all of Honduras. We descended to a wall and found a "hole" that goes through (while going downward) to the other side. When we made our exit on the opposite side, we were at a depth of 117 feet. The view of the wall while looking back up toward the surface was breathtaking. We then slowly ascended, taking in the beauty of the reef. The length of the dive was 54 minutes. After a surface interval of 45 minutes, we made another dive at Dixie's Reef, which is just offshore of Coconut Tree Divers and Half Moon Bay. This was the prettiest reef I've seen so far in Honduras, and I took many pictures. The length of the dive was 48 minutes, and the maximum depth was 66 feet. The viz for both dives was about 75 feet, and the water temperature was 85 degrees. I used 14 pounds of weight today, and that seems about right. I'm using a 4/3 full-length suit with neoprene socks and boots, but no hood or gloves.

Dives 291 - 292: (Roatan, Honduras, June 5, 2007)The first dive today was made at the Odyssey Wreck, and at a depth of 113 feet, it was the second-deepest dive I've ever made (deepest dive is 121 feet). The 300 ft. freighter was quite a sight as we descended and it slowly came into view. Because of the depth, we didn't stay long. The length of the dive was 34 minutes. The second dive was made at Overheat Reef. This is a multi-level reef that is really large and spread out. I wish I could have stayed longer, but the length of the dive was 54 minutes, and the maximum depth was 58 feet. Viz was about 60 feet for both dives, and the water temperature was 84 - 85 degrees. For some reason, even though I'm using the same gear I used in Cozumel, I need less weight to descend here in Roatan. I started with 20 pounds, went down to 18 pounds on the second dive yesterday and used only 16 pounds today. It was still too much.

Dives 289 - 290: (Roatan, Honduras, June 4, 2007)These were my first dives made in Honduras. The reefs are nice; from what I saw today I'd say not quite as nice as Cozumel, but close. The depth for the first dive at West Wall was 103 feet, and the length of the dive was 58 minutes. The second dive was made at Temptation Reef, and the maximum depth was 72 feet, and the dive time was 48 minutes. The water temp was 83 - 84, and the visability was 60 - 80 feet.

Dives 286 - 288: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 26, 2007)These dives were made with Mike Ault. Mike and his wife Susan drove up from Atlanta for the holiday week-end, and I enjoyed meeting them both. It was also good to see Lance Young again. He is recovering from shoulder surgery and hopes to be able to dive again in late June or early July. Concerning the diving, the good news is the water temp at the surface (according to my dive computer) has increased to 73 degrees. The bad news is all the large bass that I saw last week have disappeared. The maximum depths were 55, 52 and 37 feet, and the lengths of the dives were 22, 22 and 21.5 minutes. Mike and I visited the 3 underwater platforms, the Bones family, the sunken fishing boat and the little cove that is just north of the diver's ramp. The water temperature at my maximum depth of 55 feet was 62 degrees. Things are warming up a little, and it really feels nice.

Dives 283 - 285: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 21, 2007)The surface water temperature has gained a degree, now up to 69 degrees. It was 65 degrees at my maximum depth of 42 feet. The lengths of the dives were 21, 21.5 and 21.5 minutes and the maximum depths were 36, 31 and 42 feet. I'm still wearing a full length 3/2 under a 7/5, and today I tried 14 pounds of weight instead of 16, and it was still a bit too much. I'll probably try 12 pounds next time. Even with 2 wetsuits, I was cold and had to get out of the water to warm up between my 2nd and 3rd dive. Today seemed to be the day for bass, they were numerous all around the boat ramps, some as big as 7 - 8 pounds. When I'd stay very still, they'd let me get as close as 2.5 - 3 feet. I never seem to get tired of watching them underwater.

Dives 281 - 282: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 12, 2007)The water apparently is slowly warming; now up to 68 degrees at the surface, and 61 degrees at 37 feet. However, I'm not quite ready to stop wearing my full-length 3/2 wetsuit under my 7/5, along with 7 mm. hood, 2 mm. socks and 5 mm. boots. The lengths of the dives were 22 and 23 minutes, and the maximum depths were 35 ft. and 37 ft.

Dives 279 - 280: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 9, 2007)After enduring the cold water last week, I decided to wear a full-length 3/2 wetsuit under my full-length 7/5 wetsuit. I wasn't quite as cold wearing 2 suits today, but I had to grab a rock off of the bottom of the lake to help me get negatively buoyant. I had 14 pounds of lead, and that wasn't nearly enough. The water temperature doesn't seem to be warming any, according to my dive computer it was 66 degrees at the surface, and 59 degrees at 52 feet. The lengths of the 2 dives were 20 and 20.5 minutes, and the maximum depths were 52 and 36 feet.

Dives 277 - 278: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 1, 2007)These dives were the first of the season at Lake Jocassee, and the first dives I've made since leaving Cozumel, Mexico in January. The maximum depths today were 33 and 37 feet (the water felt so cold that I didn't want to go deeper), and the dive times were 20.5 and 22.5 minutes. The water temperature at the surface was 67 degrees, and the temperature at 37 ft. was 59 degrees. It was cold enough to end my day after 2 dives. However, it was a beautiful day with all the spring growth in the woods around the lake, especially the Mountain Laurel (which was bloming). After the lake level was so low last year, it was very nice to see the lake at full level today. Last fall, the first dive platform was at a depth of about 16 feet. Today, the depth at the platform was 32 feet.

Dives 272 - 276: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 18, 2007)These were the last dives that I'll make on this trip, and the best was saved for the very last dive. These were shore dives, and just as I was navigating back to the buoy line near the Caribe Blu Hotel I noticed movement to my left. I could hardly believe my good fortune when I saw that I was only about 30 feet from a very large eagle ray. I moved to within 15 feet of it and watched it for a minute or so, then it changed course and headed west for the Mexican mainland. I decided to head east for the hotel. Also on these dives, I saw a large spotted moray eel, a snake-like sharptailed eel, 2 scorpion fish, a trumpet fish, 2 large lobsters, 3 small yellow-spotted rays and a group of small squid. The maximum depths were 20 - 23 feet, and the lengths of the dives were 20 - 22 minutes. Viz was about 80 feet, and the water temperature was 82 degrees. We fly home tomorrow; I am really going to miss this place.

Dives 270 - 271: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 17, 2007)The first dive was made at Santa Rosa Wall. This was my second dive at Santa Rosa during this trip to Cozumel, but I didn't mind. The wall is so steep and hauntingly beautiful that I feel fortunate each time I can dive there. The maximum depth was 84 feet and the length of the dive was 44 minutes. The second dive was made at Tormentus Reef, and it was my first dive there. The reef has a lot of interesting coral formations, but is a bit sandy. We saw a fairly large turtle when it swam above us. The maximum depth was 55 feet, and the length of the dive was 51 minutes. Water temperature for both dives was 81 degrees, and viz was about 60 feet.

Dives 265 - 269: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 16, 2007)These dives were made on the reef just offshore from the Caribe Blu Hotel. Either the wildlife activity on the reef has picked up a bit, or I'm getting a little better at spotting the animals. Today I saw 3 of the small, yellowish, spotted rays along with 2 moray eels, 2 scorpion fish and a very large lobster. The lengths of the dives were 20 - 22 minutes each and the maximum depths were 20 - 23 feet. Viz was about 75 feet, and the water temperature was 82 degrees.

Dives 263 - 264: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 15, 2007)Seeing the large green moray eel was not totally unexpected; having to get out of the way of the submarine was. The first dive of the day was made at Palencar Gardens. This is the third time I've dived this site, and it seems to get better each time. The maximum depth was 87 feet, and the length of the dive was 47 minutes. Viz was about 70 feet, and the water temperature was 78 degrees. The second dive was made at Chankanaab Reef, and that's where the submarine and the moray were encountered. The sub is operated for tourists, and there appeared to be about 20 of them aboard. I took a photo of the oncoming submarine in about 60 feet of water, and then had to scramble to get out of the way. It was odd to look inside and see dry people, and they seemed to be just as surprised and awed to see scuba divers. The moray was about 5 feet long, and swam with us for several minutes. The length of the dive was 50 minutes, and the maximum depth was 65 feet. The viz was about 75 feet, and the water temperature was 79 degrees.

Dives 258 - 262: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 14, 2007)These dives were made on the coral reef just south of the Caribe Blu Hotel. I see something new every time that I dive there. I'm making progress at finding the hiding spots of things like octopi and the small spotted rays. As usual, the tropicals were abundant. I saw two of the spotted rays, each was about the size of a large frying pan. The lengths of the dives were 20 - 22 minutes each, and the maximum depths were 22 - 23 feet. The water temperature was 82 degrees, and viz was about 75 feet.

Dives 256 - 257: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 13, 2007)The first dive was made at Santa Rosa Wall. The wall is nearly sheer, and probably the most beautiful wall that I've dived so far. The reef is in very good condition, but just a bit sandy. There are some very interesting and challenging swim-thru's. At the end of the dive, we saw 2 very large eagle rays. My maximum depth was 84 feet, and the length of the dive was 54 minutes. The water temperature was 79 degrees, and viz was about 70 feet. The second dive was at Paradise Reef. This is a very flat and shallow reef that has a lot of wildlife. I saw one medium-size sting ray, a small moray eel and a very tiny seahorse that was spotted by one of the divemasters. The maximum depth was 44 feet, and the length of the dive was 57 minutes. The water temperature was 81 degrees, and viz was 75 - 80 feet.

Dives 250 - 255: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 12, 2007)Today's dives were made on the reef near the Caribe Blu Hotel / Blue Angel Dive Shop. I've been searching this area for a sting ray, and I finally saw one. It was small, mainly brownish in color with some yellowish markings. I'd never seen one quite like it. I got very close to it, and it posed for several photos. I also saw a small moray eel, and the tropicals were abundant. The lengths of the dives were 20 - 21 minutes and the maximum depths were 21 - 23 feet. The water temperature was 81 degrees, and viz was about 75 feet.

Dives 245 - 250: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 11, 2007)These shore dives were made from the Caribe Blu Hotel / Blue Angel Dive Shop. I saw one spotted moray eel, and what I thought was a spotted sea snake. However, one of the divemasters at Blue Angel told me that the Caribbean doesn't have sea snakes, and that what I'd seen probably was a sharptailed eel. Anyway, it looked like a snake and was brown with white spots and was about 2 feet long. The lengths of the dives were 20 - 23 minutes each, and the maximum depths were just over 20 feet. The water temperature was 80 - 82 degrees and visability was about 75 feet.

Dives 243 - 244: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 10, 2007) The first dive of the day was made at Palencar Gardens, so far my favorite coral reef / wall in the world. Visability was only about 60 - 70 feet, but the place is still pretty amazing with its coral heads as tall as 3-story buildings and the maze of swim-thru's. My maximum depth was 103 feet, and the length of the dive was 47 minutes. Water temperature was 75 degrees. The second dive was at Cedral Pass, a beautiful reef of moderate depth that has a lot of wildlife. I saw the largest green moray eel that I've ever encountered; it was about 6 feet long and swam within a few feet of me. I also accidentally got on a collison course with a large barracuda when I took its picture, then we both turned in the same direction. I got the heck out of the way and it passed within 3 feet of me, which was close enough for me to see the yellow fishing lure hanging out of the side of its mouth. The length of the dive was 54 minutes, and the maximum depth was 54 feet. Water temperature was 76 degrees, and viz was about 60 feet. The current was mild for both dives.

Dives 238 - 242: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 9, 2007) These dives were made on the reef just offshore from the Caribe Blu Hotel. This little recovering reef amazes me each time that I make a dive on it. There is so much activity; so much going on. It is great to have time to just sit beside a coral head and watch all the activity. Today, I found 2 octopi and a spotted moray eel tucked away in crevices. The lengths of the dives ranged from 20 - 23 minutes, and the maximum depths were 20 - 23 feet. The water temperature was 80 degrees. Viz has suffered a bit due to winds stirring up the waves; today it was about 60 feet.

Dives 233 - 237: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 8, 2007) These shore dives were made on the coral reef just south of the Caribe Blue Hotel. I had been warned that the reef had been "destroyed" by Hurricane Wilma in 2005, but I found this not to be true. There is lots to see, including both new and old coral. I also found the hideout of the resident octopus, and managed to navigate back to the spot on a subsequent dive. He was inside a crevice, and very much asleep. I didn't disturb him. I expect I'll be checking on him each time I dive on the reef. The maximum depths were 21 - 23 feet, and the lengths of the dives ranged from 20 to 30 minutes. Thanks to the shallow depths, I was able to get 116 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank. The water temperature was 82 degrees. Viz was about 80 feet; maybe a bit more.

Dives 231 - 232: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 7, 2007) My first dive was made at Palencar Bridge. The maximum depth was 78 feet, and the length of the dive was 52 minutes. The water temperature was 81 degrees. We saw a large stingray as soon as we entered the water. The second dive was at Francesca, and the maximum depth was 64 feet. The water temperature was 80 degrees, and the length of the dive was 54 minutes. The current was mild for both dives, and visability was about 75 feet.

Dives 228 - 230: (Cozumel, Mexico, January 6, 2007) I made these shore dives from the small beach area at the Caribe Blu Hotel. The maximum depths ranged from 20 - 25 feet, and the water temperature was 81 degrees. I was comfortable in my 4/3 wetsuit, and the lengths of the dives ranged from 20 - 23 minutes. The wildlife was varied and I really enjoyed the parrotfish that were just about everywhere. Viz was about 75 feet.

Dives 225 - 227: (Lake Jocassee, SC, November 10, 2006) I got very cold during these dives and unless I purchase a drysuit, I expect that this will be one of my last trips to Lake Jocassee this year. Even though I wore a 3/2 shorty wetsuit under my 7/5 suit (in addition to hood, gloves and boots), I was shivering by the end of the 3rd dive. The water temperature at the surface was 66 degrees, and 65 degrees at my maximum depth of 41 feet. The lengths of the dives ranged from 20.5 to 21.5 minutes, and the maximum depths ranged from 36 to 41 feet. There were many spotted bass in the vicinity of the 1st dive platform, the largest probably weighed about 8 pounds.

Dives 213 - 224: (Cozumel, Mexico, October 4 - 10, 2006) The 12 dives I made in Cozumel were beautiful and spectacular. The lengths of the dives ranged from 54 to 94 minutes, and the depths ranged from 28 to 103 feet. The water temperature ranged from 76 to 85 degrees, and visability often exceeded 100 feet. I learned how to drift dive, and I found that I really like diving the walls. The deep reefs and walls on the southern end of the island appear to be almost completely undamaged by Hurricane Wilma. However, for the shallower dives, there is a lot of sand on the reefs, and noticeable damage to the coral. I used a 4/3 wetsuit and even without hood or gloves, I was surprised to find that I needed 20 pounds of weight to descend.

Dives 208 - 212: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 30, 2006) The water temperature at the surface has dropped 6 degrees in the last 2 weeks, now down to 76 degrees. I wore a 3/2 shorty under a 7/5 full-length wetsuit, along with hood, gloves and boots. I was warm enough in the water, but got chilled during surface intervals, and when I left the water at the end of the day. The water temperature was 75 degrees at my maximum depth of 45 feet. The depths of my dives ranged from 33 - 45 feet, and the dive lengths ranged from 20.5 - 23 minutes, for a total of 106 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank. The battery in my dive computer was changed on September 28. The old battery lasted for 203 dives over a period of about 18 months. I had been getting a low-battery warning when I turned on my dive computer recently, and wanted a fresh battery before my trip to Cozumel, Mexico next week.

Dives 203 - 207: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 17, 2006) The maximum depths of these dives ranged from 33 - 42 feet, and the dive times ranged from 20.5 - 24.5 minutes. The surface temperature of the water was 82 degrees, and it was 78 degrees at my maximum depth of 42 feet. Total dive time on one AL80 tank was 110.5 minutes. While I was packing up to leave, a Copperhead snake that was about 2 feet long was trying to eat a small Catfish that it had in its mouth. The snake captured the fish in the water, hauled it up onto the diver's ramp, then took it back in the water. It appeared to be a standoff, with the fish holding its own. The snake obviously had no intention of releasing it, but after trying for an hour, the 6 inch long fish apparently was too large for the snake to swallow.

Dives 198 - 202: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 10, 2006) The surface temperature of the water surprisingly increased 3 degrees in the past week, it is now 84 degrees. This is the warmest water that I've experienced at Lake Jocassee. The water temperature at 43 feet was 79 degrees. The maximum depths of my dives ranged from 35 - 43 feet, and the dive lengths ranged from 20.5 - 22.5 minutes. Total dive time from one AL80 tank was 107.5 minutes. It was very nice to reach the milestone of my 200th dive.

Dives 193 - 197: (Lake Jocassee, SC, September 3, 2006) The water level is still the lowest that I've seen at the lake. The water temperature at the surface was 81 degrees, which represents a drop of 2 degrees in the last week. The water temperature at 41 feet was 80 degrees. The maximum depths of my dives ranged from 33 - 41 feet, and the lengths ranged from 21 - 22.5 minutes. Diving time on one AL80 tank was 107 minutes. Bill Routh (owner of Off The Wall Dive Charters) mentioned in his monthly newsletter that this is the warmest that the lake has been in September in the last 5 years.

Dives 188 - 192: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 29, 2006) Lance Young and I made these dives together, and we were the only two divers at the diver's ramp. I eliminated 2 more pounds of trim weights, I'm now using only 8 pounds. This time last year, I was using 22 pounds. The lengths of the dives ranged from 20.5 - 22 minutes, for a total of 105.5 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths ranged from 30 - 63 feet. The water temperature at the surface was 82 degrees, and it was 77 degrees at 63 feet.

Dives 183 - 187: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 27, 2006) The level of the lake continues to drop. The platform just north of the diver's ramp (in the cove) is now at a depth only 12 - 13 feet (usually the depth at the platform is about 24 - 26 feet). The cove now also has a small island. The maximum depths of my dives ranged from 35 - 45 feet, and the dive lengths ranged from 20.5 - 25.5 minutes. Total dive time on one AL80 tank was 109 minutes. The water temperature at the surface was 83 degrees, and it was 79 degrees at 45 feet. I'm now using only 10 pounds of trim weights, and when I'm not using my hood, I feel that I can drop another pound or two.

Dives 178 - 182: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 19, 2006) The maximum depths for these dives were 40 - 41 feet and the lengths ranged from 20.5 - 22.5 minutes each. The water temperature at the surface was 83 degrees, and it was 79 degrees at 41 feet.

Dives 173 - 177: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 13, 2006) The maximum depths of these dives were 45, 29, 29, 39 and 30 feet. The lengths were 21.0, 21,0, 20.5, 21.5 and 37.5 minutes, for a total of 121.5 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank. My tank had about 3200 PSI at the beginning of the dives, and I surfaced with about 500 PSI at the end of the day. The surface temperature of the water was 82 degrees, and it was 79 degrees at 45 feet.

Dives 167 - 172: (Morrison Spring, FL, August 8 - 9, 2006) I made these 6 dives over a two day period with my brother, Capt. Mark Mauldin, who lives in Panama City, Florida. The surface temperature of the water ranged from 69 to 71 degrees, and the minimum temperature at depth (43 ft.) was 69 degrees. This was several degrees colder than we expected, but my dive computer agreed with his concerning the water temperatures. I wore a 7/5 suit along with hood, gloves and boots and still got cold by the end of each dive. The maximum depths ranged from 34 to 45 feet, and the dive lengths ranged from 20.5 to 27 minutes. To see the underwater photos from this trip, click here.

Dives 163 - 166: (Lake Jocassee, SC, August 3, 2006) These dives were delayed because of a hose coming loose from my regulator. I didn't have a wrench to tighten it with (a lesson learned the hard way), so I took the regulator to Bill Routh's dive shop, and he tightened it. Lance Young and I then made 4 dives, and the lengths of the dives were 21.5, 22.5, 21 and 36.5 minutes. I was pleased to get 101.5 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank, especially after the hose leak had resulted in a loss of about 200 PSI of air. The maximum depths were 32, 40, 25 and 24 feet. At the end of my 4th dive, I hung out with about 10 Largemouth bass at one of the underwater platforms. The largest was about 10 pounds. The water temperature at the surface was 82 degrees, and it was 77 degrees at 40 feet. Without my hood, I'm now able to use only 10 pounds of trim weights, down from 22 pounds this time last year.

Dives 159 - 162: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 30, 2006) The water temperature at the surface is now 82 degrees, and I think that is about the maximum temperature for Lake Jocassee. It was 76 degrees at a depth of 46 feet. The lengths of the dives were 20.5, 20.5, 22 and 30.5 minutes, for a total of 93.5 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 46, 33, 25 and 37 feet. The Largemouth bass were really out in high numbers today, the largest was probably 8 - 10 pounds. Visability was a little better than it has been in previous weeks, probably about 20 feet. On the last dive, I went with an instructor and several students on their last cert dive. When they were done, I still had some air and left the group. One of the assistant instructors thought I was a student who had gotten lost and tried (twice) to get me to rejoin the group. After his second attempt, I moved my pony bottle so he could see it, and he realized his mistake (or maybe he thought, "Where in the hell did that student get a pony bottle?"). We had a good laugh over it when I got back to the surface. In the place of my weight belt that I no longer need, I'm now wearing a small waist pack (fanny pack worn in the front) that holds my spare mask.

Dives 155 - 158: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 23, 2006) Previously I've been dividing my trim weights between my BC and my weight belt. However, since I've recently dropped 10 pounds of trim weights, I no longer need my weight belt. I'm now putting all 12 pounds in my BC. The maximum depths were 48, 25, 26 and 42 feet. The dive times were 20.5, 21, 21 and 22 minutes, and the surface temperature of the water was 79 degrees.

Dives 151 - 154: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 22, 2006) I'm continuing to drop trim weights, now down to 12 pounds (from 22 pounds this time last year). The lengths of the dives were 21.5, 21.5, 21.5 and 41.5 minutes. I was very pleased to get a total of 106 minutes of diving time from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 36, 32, 30 and 27 feet. The surface temperature of the water was 79 degrees. Visability has suffered greatly in the last few weeks, probably because of all the thunderstorms. Viz is now down to about 10 - 12 feet.

Dives 147 - 150: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 16, 2006) The water temperature at the surface has warmed considerably since my last dives here a week ago, now up to 83 degrees (and 74 degrees at 35 ft.). The diver's ramp area is getting pretty crowded now, it is often difficult to find a parking space. Lance and I agreed that we need to start arriving later in the day, or choose a day other than Sunday to dive. The lengths of the dives were 22, 22, 21 and 29 minutes and the maximum depths were 28, 35, 30 and 31 ft.

Dives 143 - 146: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 9, 2006) The surface temperature of the water surprisingly dropped 4 degrees in the middle of summer, now down to 76 degrees since my last dives here a week ago. The maximum depths were 34, 25, 30 and 26 ft. The lengths of the dives were 21.5, 21.5, 22.0 and 32.5 minutes. I was surprised to get 97.5 minutes of diving from one AL80 tank. I'm now wondering if I can break 100 minutes. Lance Young and I are both reducing the amount of weights we need for diving. I have dropped 5 pounds in the last 2 weeks, and will drop another pound the next time I dive. On the 3rd dive, I saw the biggest Largemouth bass that I've seen at Lake Jocassee. It was about 18 inches long, and I'd estimate its weight to be at least 10 pounds. The water temperature at 34 ft. was 74 degrees.

Dives 139 - 142: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 2, 2006) I made these 4 dives with Lance Young in the cove just north of the diver's ramp. The surface temperature of the water was a surprising 80 degrees, and the temperature at 31 ft. was 74 degrees. The lengths of the dives were 21.5, 21.0, 21.0 and 26.5 minutes for a total of 90.0 minutes from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 31, 31, 25 and 31 ft. At the end of the 4th dive, we hung out with 4 big Largemouth bass for about 5 minutes. The largest was probably 8 - 9 pounds.

Dives 135 - 138: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 25, 2006) Lance Young and I explored the shallow, boulder-strewn west shore of the lake just north of the diver's ramp. There is a cove there where no boats are allowed, and it is our favorite place to dive at the lake. The maximum depths were 31, 25, 30 and 30 ft. The dive times were 22.0, 22.0, 22.5 and 23.5 minutes. Even though these were not deep dives, I was still very pleased to get 90 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank. The surface temperature of the water was 77 degrees, and it was 72 degrees at 31 ft.

Dives 131 - 134: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 18, 2006) It was good to be back at my "home" lake and dive site after the trip to Belize, though Lake Jocassee isn't exactly the Caribbean. I made 3 dives and the maximum depths were 48, 34 and 33 ft. The lengths of the dives were 21, 22 and 30.5 minutes. The surface temperature was 75 degrees, and it was 69 degrees at 48 ft.

Dives 120 - 131: (San Pedro, Belize, June 5 - 9, 2006) These 12 dives were quite an adventure; the best diving I've done so far. The maximum depths were 29 ft. to 102 ft. and the dive times varied from 44.5 to 61.5 minutes. The water temperature range was 77 to 84 degrees. A multitude of sea life was encountered, including sharks, turtles, rays, lobsters, moray eels, an octopus, extremely large grouper and parrotfish and an abundance of brightly colored tropicals. The reefs were strikingly beautiful, and visability often exceeded 100 ft.

Dives 117 - 119: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 31, 2006) It's hard to believe the water is warming as fast as it is, but Lance Young's dive computer agreed with mine; it is now 79 degrees at the surface (and 63 degrees at 63 feet). The lengths of the dives were 23, 22.5 and 35.5 minutes, for a total of 81 minutes of diving from one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 63, 30 and 32 feet.

Dives 114 - 116: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 28, 2006) The water temperature is still on the rise, now up to 73 degrees at the surface, and 64 degrees at a depth of 46 feet. Summer weather has finally arrived, and there were about 30 divers at the ramp. I saw Reese Davis (owner of Bermuda Triangle Dive Shop in Greenville, SC) for the first time since last fall, and we talked for a few minutes. The lengths of my dives were 21.5, 21.5 and 31.5 minutes, for a total of 74.5 minutes on one AL80 tank. The maximum depths were 46, 31 and 36 feet.

Dives 111 - 113: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 25, 2006) The water is rapidly warming at the lake, now up to 69 degrees at the surface. This was a fun day of diving with Lance Young. At the end of our last dive, we came upon a group of 5 - 6 big Largemouth bass. They were in about 10 feet of water, so Lance and I hung out with them for about 15 minutes. The sizes of the bass ranged from 4 - 5 pounds to 8 - 10 pounds. The largest one looked like a small Grouper. The maximum depths of our dives were 47, 31 and 32 feet. The lengths of the dives were 22, 21.5 and 36 minutes. I was very pleased to get 79.5 minutes of diving time from one AL80 tank, the best I've done so far.

Dives 108 - 110: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 21, 2006) The water is now 66 degrees at the surface, up one degree since my last dives at the lake 3 days ago. Just as I began my first dive, a thunderstorm started. It was a bit odd looking up and watching the rain strike the surface while underwater. The lengths of the dives were 21, 20.5 and 21.5 minutes and the maximum depths were 43, 24 and 31 feet. Visability was about 22 feet and the water temperature at 43 feet was 63 degrees.

Dives 105 - 107: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 18, 2006) The water is finally warming a bit, now up to 65 degrees at the surface. It was 59 degrees at 73 feet. I wore my new 2mm shorty wetsuit under my 7/5 wetsuit (along with socks, boots, hood and gloves), and didn't get cold during the dives. The maximum depths were 73, 30 and 27 feet. The lengths of the dives were 22.5, 20.5 and 21.5 minutes. On the last dive (and mainly for practice), I switched from my primary reg to my pony bottle reg while at a depth of about 22 feet. I had no problems, and finished my dive using the pony bottle. It was nice going to the lake mid-week, Lance and I were the only divers there.

Dives 102 - 104: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 13, 2006) I made these 3 dives from the diver's ramp. With the relatively warmer weather, more divers are coming out now. In addition, Bermuda Triangle Dive Shop had a class of approximately 15 students in the water. The maxiumum depths of my dives were 41, 33 and 35 ft. The lengths of the dives were 20.5, 20 and 21.5 minutes. The water temperature at the surface was 63 degrees, and 61 degrees at 41 ft. Visability was about 20 ft. There were several big Largemouth bass in about 15 ft. of water. If the fishermen at Lake Jocassee could actually see how few fish are down there, they'd all probably stay home.

Dives 99 - 101: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 6, 2006) These 3 dives were made from the diver's ramp with Lance Young. The lengths of the dives were 21.5, 21 and 20 minutes, and the maximum depths were 62, 36 and 23 ft. The water temperature at the surface has increased 2 degrees in the last two weeks, now up to 66 degrees. The water temperature at 62 ft. was 58 degrees. On our second dive, I saw a large Catfish (about 1.5 ft. long) that was bluish in color and kind of resembled a small shark. It was by far the largest Catfish I've seen at Lake Jocassee. It was great to reach the milestone of my 100th dive.

Dives 96 - 98: (Lake Jocassee, SC, April 23, 2006) Lance Young and I made these 3 dives from the diver's ramp. The water is slowly warming, now up to 64 degrees at the surface and 56 degrees at 63 ft. The lengths of the dives were 23, 23 and 22 minutes and the maximum depths were 63, 36 and 23 ft. I was pleased with my air consumption. I dived a total of 68 minutes on one AL80 tank and had about 500 psi of air at the end of the last dive. An additional 2 pounds of weight seems to have solved the buoyancy problems I've had since I began diving with my Pony bottle. Previously, I've been popping up like a cork at the end of my dives in shallow water. Today, I easily stayed submerged in 4 ft. of water.

Dives 94 - 95: (Lake Jocassee, SC, April 16, 2006) These 2 dives were made from the diver's ramp with Lance Young. The surface temperature of the water is up 1 degree (to 62 degrees) from my last dives at Lake Jocassee 2 weeks ago. The temperature at 41 ft. was 56 degrees. The lengths of the dives were 25 minutes each and the maximum depths were 31 and 41 ft. (it was too cold to go deeper). Visability was about 20 ft. This was a beautiful and warm spring day, and the air temperature was about 80 degrees. However, Lance and I are both anxious for the water temperature to increase a bit. We were both very cold by the end of the second dive.

Dives 92 - 93: (Lake Jocassee, SC, April 1, 2006) I made these two dives from the diver's ramp with Lance Young. The water hasn't warmed up any in the last 3 weeks. My dive computer said the surface temp was 61 degrees, and 53 degrees at 43 ft. The lengths of the dives were 22 and 20 minutes and the maximum depths were 43 ft. and 37 ft. Visability was a bit better than usual, probably about 22 ft. This was the first time that I've dived with my pony bottle. At the end of the second dive (and in very shallow water), I switched from my primary regulator to the pony bottle reg without any problems. However, I need a couple of pounds of extra weight when I use the pony bottle, toward the end of the dives I was having some buoyancy problems. I wore an exposure suit under my 7/5 wetsuit, but it didn't seem to do much concerning keeping me warm. Lance and I were both very cold by the end of the second dive.

Dive 91: (Lake Jocassee, SC, March 12, 2006) I made this dive from the diver's ramp. Because of the water temperature (my computer said the surface temp was 62 degrees, but it felt like icewater), I almost changed my mind about diving. Usually in this situation, folks say "it wasn't bad once I got used to it". Not so on this day; the water felt colder the longer I stayed in it. By the time I got back to the surface after 21 minutes, I was nearly shivering. I wore my 7/5 wetsuit along with gloves, hood, neoprene socks and boots, but the 52 degree water at 33 ft. was numbing, and it was the coldest water that I've ever dived in. It was an adventure, but Lake Jocassee isn't Key Largo. It will be a several weeks (at least) before I try it again.

Dives 81 - 90: (Key Largo, FL, February 20 - 24, 2006) Eight of these dives were made with Silent World Dive Center and two were made with Capt. Slate's Atlantis Dive Center. Both operations are located in Key Largo. Seven of the dives were made on reefs and three were made on wrecks. Depths ranged from about 20 ft. on one of the reefs to about 100 ft. on the Duane wreck. Visability ranged from about 30 ft. to just over 60 ft. The water temperature ranged from 71 to 75 degrees and I wore my 7/5 wetsuit, along with gloves and hood. The 7/5 was probably overkill, but I get cold fairly easy and I was glad I brought it. These were 10 of the most beautiful dives I've ever made.

Dives 77 - 80: (Lake Jocassee, SC, November 13, 2005) These dives were made with Lance Young from the diver's ramp. The water temperature dropped 2 degrees from last week, now down to 67 at the surface. Lance and I both got chilled during surface intervals, and when we left the water to switch tanks. On our last dive, we hung out with a very large bass in 25 ft. of water for about 5 minutes. The fish would let us get as close as 3 ft. without moving away from us, if we didn't make any quick moves. It was about 17 - 19 inches long, and probably weighed 8 - 9 pounds. The maximum depths of our dives were 105, 37, 105 and 27 ft. The lengths of the dives were 30.5, 21.5, 24 and 24.5 minutes. Visability was about 15 feet. Because of the rapidly cooling air and water temperatures, Lance and I aren't sure how much longer we can dive at Lake Jocassee this year. We are thinking of perhaps 1 or 2 more trips. It has been a blast!

Dives 74 - 76: (Lake Jocassee, SC, November 6, 2005) I made these 3 dives from the diver's ramp. I visited the 3 underwater dive platforms in the area, along with the sunken fishing boat, the fake skeleton (he still has his can of beer), Catfish Rock (there are still catfish swimming in the crevice) and the boulder-strewn area just north of the ramp. I also encountered some of the biggest Largemouth bass I've even seen. The maximum depths were 47, 52 and 40 ft. The lengths of the dives were 22, 21.5 and 23.5 minutes. Considering the maximum depths, I was pleased to get 67 minutes of diving time from one AL80 tank. The visability was about 15 ft., and the water temperature at the surface (and at 52 ft.) was 69 degrees.

Dives 70 - 73: (Lake Jocassee, SC, November 2, 2005) These 4 dives were made from the diver's ramp with Lance Young. It was a beautiful day with lots of late fall color in the woods that surround the lake. The water temperature at the surface was 70 degrees. There is a thermocline (area where the water temperature suddenly drops) almost exactly at 100 ft. The maximum depth on our first dive was 115 ft., and the water temp at that depth was 66 degrees. It is getting a bit chilly down there. The maximum depths on the other 3 dives were 60, 90 and 45 ft. The lengths of the dives were 25.5, 20.5, 27.5 and 25 minutes. Visability in most areas was only about 12 ft. Lance and I both enjoy diving in the area near the shore just north of the diver's ramp. There are many huge boulders in the area at a depth of about 20 ft. that provide some interesting nooks and crannies to poke around in. Also, we both enjoy just hanging out with the fish and exploring.

Dives 65 - 69: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 30, 2005) I saw Jeff Russell from Bermuda Triangle Dive Shop at the diver's ramp, and we made the first 3 of these 5 dives together. There is a fake human skeleton just north of the ramp in about 45 ft. of water. It has a regulator in its mouth, sunglasses on its head and a cell phone by its side. I felt that the guy also needed a cold beer, so my life partner Carol weighted down an empty beer can with small rocks. I brought the can with me, and on my first dive I placed it next to the skeleton's left arm (he doesn't appear to have any hands). I also got a photo of it, and it has been uploaded to my ScubaBoard and Yahoo photos (see the "My Dive Photos" link above). Jeff was my willing partner in this Halloween foolishness, and we had a good time. Later, we made a dive on the brush pile that is southeast of the ramp and then another dive was made on the navigation course that is south/southwest of the ramp. After Jeff left, I made a couple of dives in shallow water to use the remaining air in my tank. The maximum depths were 61, 66, 67, 33 and 33 ft. The lengths of the dives were 22.5, 26, 28.5, 20.5 and 22 minutes. The visability was about 15 ft. and the minimum water temperature was 69 degrees.

Dives 61 - 64: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 27, 2005) I picked up my Nitrox tank from Off The Wall Dive Shop shortly before arriving at the lake. Bill Routh said that the tank valve had been shipped to me with the wrong size 0-ring installed. I met Lance Young at the diver's ramp, and we made a total of 4 dives. The first dive we made was my first Nitrox dive, and we went to a depth of 113 ft. My buoyancy control suffered mightily because my steel Nitrox tank is negatively buoyant at all times (different from my aluminum tanks), and I forgot to remove some of my weights. As a result, I had to constantly kick hard with my fins to stay off the bottom. By the time the dive was over, I was exhausted. It is a lesson that I won't soon forget. The maximum depths on the other 3 dives were 43, 71 and 45 ft. The lengths of the dives were 24.5, 20.5, 27 and 21.5 minutes. The water temperatures varied from 67 degrees at 113 ft. to 72 degrees on the surface. Visability was about 15 ft. On our second dive, we found an old airplane wing that neither of us had encountered previously. Lake Jocassee is quite a playground for scuba divers.

Dives 58 - 60: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 23, 2005) I drove to Lake Jocassee mainly to drop off my 95 cu. ft. steel tank at Off The Wall Dive Shop for repairs (I have problems getting a seal between the tank valve and regulator when I pressurize my hoses). Since I was at the lake anyway, why not go diving? Also, even though it was a beautiful fall day, the falling temperatures indicate that the end is near for this year's diving at the lake. I brought my camera and practiced my underwater photography skills. Taking photos underwater is like relearning photography. The fish are hardly ever still and it often amounts to trying to hit a moving target. I made 3 dives, and the maxiumum depths were 49, 34 and 29 ft. The lengths of the dives were 21, 27.5 and 25 minutes. Visability was about 17 ft. and the water temperature at 49 ft. was 74 degrees. Harold and Jeff from Bermuda Triangle Dive Shop were there with a group of students, and I enjoyed talking with them. I'm back to wearing my hood, gloves and boots with my 7/5 wetsuit. I'm mostly warm while diving, but I got chilled briefly when I left the water and changed clothes.

Dives 53 - 57: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 20, 2005) These 5 dives were made from the diver's ramp with Lance Young. The day didn't start well. I found that my new Worthington steel Nitrox tank will not connect properly to my Zeagle Flathead regulator. Lance and I had planned to make a 100 ft. dive and thought of scrubbing it since I couldn't use my 95 cubic ft. tank. However, I also had my two AL80 tanks, so I made the deep dive with an AL80. We went to 102 ft., and I had plenty of air. Later, we made 4 other dives to maximum depths of 54, 50, 44 and 42 ft. The lengths of our dives were 23, 21.5, 21, 23 and 20.5 minutes. The water temperature at 102 ft. was 70 degrees, and it was 74 - 75 degrees at 40 - 50 ft. Visability was 12 - 15 ft. While defogging my mask prior to the second dive, I lost my corrrective lens. On the plus side, I found a dive knife (with case) in about 30 ft. of water. I brought my underwater camera and got a few photos of Lance, and also of some fish. Largemouth bass are definitely moving into the shallows; there are many of them at 25 - 35 ft. There were also two elderly men diving from the ramp. One of them mentioned that he has been diving since 1955, and has made over 12,000 dives.

Dives 50 - 52: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 16, 2005) The water temperature at 60 ft. is now down to 75 degrees; noticeably cooler, but still unusually warm for this time of year. These 3 dives were made from the diver's ramp, and the maximum depths were 61, 50 and 36 ft. Visability was about 18 ft., better than it has been lately. The length of each dive was 21.5, 21 and 21 minutes. Considering the maximum depths, I was satisfied to get nearly 64 minutes of diving from one AL80 tank. I saw several big Largemouth bass. The 2 largest ones (probably 5 - 6 pounds each) were hanging out under a dive platform in about 29 ft. of water. They followed me for several minutes after I left the area. I suppose they are moving into the shallower water because of the cooling temperatures. This was a beautiful, warm and sunny fall day; not a cloud in the sky. Also, it felt great to achieve the "milestone" of my 50th dive. I look forward to many more.

Dives 47 - 49: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 8, 2005) The water temperature continues to cool 1 degree per week at Lake Jocassee, now down to 76 degrees at a depth of 45 ft. Visability on these 3 dives made from the diver's ramp was about 10 ft., which is a bit less than I'm accustomed to. This was probably due to siltation (stirring up the lake bottom) caused by a class of 7 students that was in the area. The maximum depths were 45, 37 and 42 ft. and the dive times were 21, 21 and 22 minutes. Lance Young arrived after my 2nd dive, and we made the last dive together. While we were packing up our gear, we discussed making a trip to several north Florida springs early next year.

Dives 44 - 46: (Lake Jocassee, SC, October 2, 2005) I made these 3 dives from the diver's ramp. The maximum depths were 34, 37 and 43 ft. The water temperature dropped one degree from last week, now down to 77 degrees at 43 ft. The lengths of these dives were 20.5 minutes, 22 minutes and 31.5 minutes, for a total of 74 minutes from one AL80 tank. My air consumption is definitely improving; it has been very slow, and at times very frustrating, to make progress. I tried my new Tusa Pano Geo mask today and it did very well, though it took me a while to get the strap adjusted correctly. I also did some work on buoyancy control. I've finally been able to make some progress in this area, too. There were lots of fish (bream and a few small bass) in the shallows, at times I had 20 - 30 swimming around me. I expect some divers have been feeding them. This was a very enjoyable day of diving. Lake Jocassee is surrounded by forested mountains, and the trees are showing some early fall color.

Dives 41 - 43: (Lake Jocassee, SC, Sept. 24, 2005) These 3 dives were made from the diver's ramp. While I was assembling my gear, I saw Lance Young and we made the dives together. I hadn't dived in a while because of an injury, so I wanted to limit my maximum depths to 35 - 40 ft. Each of the dives was just over 20 minutes in length, and the maximum depths were 31, 41 and 35 ft. I managed to get nearly 62 minutes of dive time from one AL80 tank. However I really had problems clearing my ears, probably because it has been almost 2 months since my last dive. The water temperature was 78 degrees at 41 ft.; unusually warm for this time of year. I had a lot of fish around me at one point. I've had them nibble on my fingers and toes occasionally, but today one tried to take a bite out of my left ear. It really didn't hurt that much, but it startled me badly (then I laughed; at least as close to laughing as a person can get with a regulator in his mouth).

Dives 38 - 40: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 31, 2005) I made these dives from the diver's ramp. I wanted to test my new Tusa regulator and practice some basic scuba skills such as buoyancy control, efficient air consumption, mask clearing and mask removal. The lengths of the dives were about 20 minutes each, and the maximum depths were 43, 36 and 31 ft. respectively. The water temperature at 43 ft. was 76 degrees. My buoyancy control is slowly improving, and I managed to get 61.5 minutes of underwater time using only 1 AL80 tank. The Tusa regulator performed well. It breathes very easy, as well as my much more expensive Zeagle model. At the end of the 3rd dive (and in shallow water) I flooded my mask several times and cleared it, then removed it completely, put it back on and cleared it.

Dives 36 - 37: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 24, 2005) These dives were made in the vicinity of The Wall. The first was made with Lance Young and a woman named Becky. After leaving Reese's boat and swimming to the buoy that marks the location of the wreck we call The Junk, we descended about 63' to the bottom. We then followed another line about 30 ft. over to the wreck. We explored the area for about 20 minutes before beginning our ascent. After a 3 minute safety stop we surfaced after 29 minutes. The water has really warmed up in Lake Jocassee recently. According to my dive computer, the minimum water temperature that we encountered was 70 degrees. Viz was about 15 ft.

After a surface interval of 40 minutes, I made a short dive to 24 ft. with Lance, mainly to use up the remaining air in my tank. At that depth, the water temperature was a balmy 79 degrees.

Dives 33 - 35: (Panama City Beach & Vortex Springs, FL, July 19 - 20, 2005) These dives were made with my brother Mark, who lives in Panama city, FL. We made our first dive at St. Andrews State Park near Panama City Beach. The viz was bad and the tide was wrong but since I'd driven so far to get there, we made the dive anyway. We began our dive in the channel outside the jetty. However, because of the very strong current, we finished the dive in the shallows inside the jetty. There was a surprising amount of wildlife around the rocks, including grouper, colorful tropical fish, hermit crabs and rays. Total dive time was about 40 minutes, the water temperature was about 80 degrees, but the viz was only about 10 ft.

The next day we drove to Vortex Springs and made two dives in the gin-clear water. I went into the cavern and then swam under an overhang about 40 ft. to the cavern's rear wall. There is a cave entrance there, but I didn't go into it. This was my first time diving in an overhead environment, and I was okay with it. There were lots of large, colorful fish around (Koi), along with some large bream. Each of the 2 dives was about 21 minutes in length, and the maxium depth was 57 ft. The water temperature was 68 degrees. To see more information about these dives, see the "Trip Reports" section. To see the photos, see the "Panama City Beach & Vortex Springs" album.

Dives 31 - 32: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 9, 2005) These navigation dives were made near the diver's ramp after meeting instructor Amy Mayfield about 10:00 a.m. My first task of the day was navigating to the underwater platform that is north of the ramp and attaching the dive float. After that, using coordinates that Amy furnished, I swam a "box" course and then a "triangle" course while on the surface but with my face in the water. Then I was required to swim the courses again while underwater. My final task was navigating back to the underwater platform and, using the slate that Amy furnished, drawing a small map of the area. When I was done, she told me that I had satisfactorily completed the navigation portion of the Advanced Open Water course. The corrective lens that I installed in my mask the previous day made a lot of difference. Navigation was not difficult once I gained the ability to easily read my compass underwater. I made about a half-dozen "mini-dives" and the total time spent underwater was about a half hour. However, my dive computer counted all this activity as 2 dives, and that is how I'm going to count it, too. The maximum depth was 28 ft. The water in Lake Jocassee has really warmed up recently, it is now about 75 degrees on the surface.

Dive 30: (Lake Jocassee, SC, July 3, 2005) This was the 2nd deep dive for my Advanced Open Water certification. Instructors Randy Bayne and Ben Miller and I descended to a maximum depth of 121 ft. from the diver's ramp. There's an old airplane wing and propeller there that we briefly inspected. No one seems to know exactly how this wreckage got on the bottom, but everyone seems to agree that it was already there when Lake Jocassee was created in 1972. Anyway, it was interesting, but the water was very cold (59 degrees) and we didn't stay long. However, it wasn't really the cold water that got us moving. If we had stayed much longer, I would have been in a decompression situation, and I didn't have enough air to do any decompression stops. As it was, I had only about 500 psi left when I surfaced after 22 minutes. It was eerie being at that depth. Dive lights not only make the darkness bearable on deep dives, they also make the dives interesting and fun.

Dives 27 - 29: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 26, 2005) The first of these dives was a deep dive made with instructor Reese Davis. We descended to 97 ft. and the water got noticeably colder. We dived on the wall that is behind the wreck we call The Junk. I stayed on the descent line at 97 ft. while Reese and another student descended to 120 ft. (my 120 ft. dive will be made soon). I straddled the descent line and held the line in one hand, placed my feet against the cliff and leaned back while I waited for them to return. I passed the next few minutes shining my light around; it was a strange experience. It was exciting, but not really scary.

Later, I made 2 "practice" navigation dives. The depth for each dive was about 15 ft. and the lengths of the dives were about 19 minutes each. I had problems reading my compass, and it is apparent that I will need a corrective lens in my mask before I can pass the navigation part of the Advanced Open Water course.

Dives 25 - 26: (Lake Jocassee, SC, June 25, 2005) These night dives were made as part of the Advanced Open Water course I recently enrolled for. The maximum depths were 63 and 64 ft., and the lengths of the dives were 26 and 26.5 minutes. This was a new experience, and mostly it was eerie and fun. However, it took a bit of getting used to. Without the dive lights that I had, viz was about 2 ft. Generally, I enjoyed making these 2 wreck dives at night but I noticed that everything got more complicated. It was more difficult to keep track of my partner, maintain buoyancy and even navigate back to the ascent line.

Dives 19 - 24: (Key West, FL, June 7 - 8, 2005) These dives were made with Dive Key West (800.426.0707). I was very satisfied with the diving and their service in general, and plan to do more business with Dive Key West in the future.

Concerning the actual dives, I hardly know where to begin. This was my first time diving in salt water, and it was quite an experience. I made 1 wreck dive (Joe's Tug) and 5 reef dives. The reef dives were made at Western Sambo, Middle Sambo, 10 Fathom Ledge, 9 Foot Stake and Number 1 Reef. Viz ranged from 30 - 40 ft., except at Joe's Tug where it was about 60 ft.

The maxiumum depths ranged from 18 ft. at one of the reefs to 66 ft. at Joe's Tug. The lengths of the dives ranged from 25.5 minutes to 60.5 minutes. The water temp was about 84 degrees. The wreck dive had the most azure and spectacular blue water that I've ever seen. While making my descent on the mooring line, a group of large barracuda swam by me.

When all the diving was done, I'd seen one 5 ft. shark, a sea turtle, several small moray eels, a scorpion fish, a few large lobsters, many barracuda and more species of tropical fish than I could keep track of.

In addition, after diving over 60 minutes on one AL80 tank, I feel that I have lost my newbie "ASD" (Air Sucking Dog) status. These dives really left me hungry for more.

All the dives I made at Lake Jocassee preparing for this trip paid off. I had enough experience to adequately prepare me for everything I needed to do. The only thing I wasn't prepared for was getting seasick on the second day. Apparently, Bonine (anti-motion sickness medication) doesn't work for me. Next time, I'll try something else.

To see additional info about our trip to Key West, see the "Trip Reports" section of this page. To see the photos, see the "Dive Photos" section.

Dive 18: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 29, 2005) After getting a ride on Reese Davis' boat, Keith Collins and I made a dive on The Junk (40' wreck in 65' of water). Keith lives in Greenville, SC and was certified in April. Neither he or I have a regular dive partner, and we made plans to do more diving together.

I made a slow, careful descent with frequent stops for equalizing. I felt very little pressure (and no pain) in my ears. I've learned a lot since I began diving in February. At that time, I was having extreme difficulty equalizing ear pressure when descending.

However, what suffered on this dive was my air consumption. I'm not sure what happened, but after being on the bottom for only about 17 minutes at 67 ft., I was down to 1000 psi. It was time to go up. My breathing rate may have been affected by some anxiety brought on by my mask fogging and causing me difficulty reading my gauges, and my inability to find the wall that Reese Davis and I had dived on the week before. I had also felt "rushed" on the dive boat to get into the water, and perhaps this carried over to the dive. After making a 3 minute safety stop at 15 ft., I surfaced with about 500 psi.

Water temp at the surface was 65 degrees, and it was 59 degrees at 67 ft. (my maximum depth). The length of the dive was 22.5 minutes and viz was about 15 ft.

I saw Todd Criswell at the diver's ramp. He was my instructor for the classroom and pool portion of my dive training in February. It was good to see him again, and we talked briefly about the Advanced Open Water course I intend to take this fall.

Dives 16 & 17: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 22, 2005) I met Reese Davis, an instructor and 4 students, and another diver about 1:30 p.m. and Reese piloted the boat to The Wall. I didn't have a dive partner, so I waited for the instructor and students to finish their underwater skills, knowing that they planned to do a certification dive on The Junk, which is located in 65 ft. of water. We made the descent together and briefly swam over to the boat. We stayed only a few minutes, and then began our ascent. After we surfaced, I realized that I had enough air left in my tank for another dive.

Following a surface interval of 18 minutes, Reese Davis, another diver named Renee and I made a descent to the vicinity of The Junk. At that point, Reese lead us to a rocky underwater wall that is nearly sheer. At a depth of 81 ft., this was my deepest dive to date. We soon began our ascent by slowly making our way up the wall. It leveled off at a depth of about 24 ft., and I began looking for fish to photograph. One little bream cooperated. I used most of my remaining air and surfaced with about 500 psi left.

Visability at 81 ft. was about 25 - 30 ft. The water temp at the surface was 67 degrees, but at depth, it was 59 degrees. The length of the first dive was 21 minutes, and the second was 21.5 minutes.

Dives 14 & 15: (Lake Jocassee, SC, May 17, 2005) These dives were made from the diver's ramp. I really tried to improve my air consumption, and mostly succeeded. This was the first time that I 've been able to dive more than 55 minutes on one AL80 tank fill. I'm getting there, but progress is slow. The two dives were 23 minutes and 33.5 minutes, for a total of 56.5 minutes. The maximum depth on the first dive was 35 ft., and 42 ft. on the second. The water temp was 60 degrees and visability was about 12 ft.

I tried some new adjustments on my underwater digital camera. I've been disappointed with the photos I've taken so far, but the results were better today. I got several fair-to-good shots of some fish in shallow water (about 15 ft.).

I also wanted to work on basic navigation, buoyancy and safety skills. I successfully navigated away from, and then back to, the underwater platform that is in the area. Most of the time, I was also satisfied with my buoyancy control, however, things get worse in a hurry when I take photos. When the emphasis is on photography, buoyancy control suffers and I usually crash into the bottom about the same time that I push the shutter. In very shallow water, I also removed my mask, put it back on and then cleared it. This was the first time I'd practiced this skill u