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| The Keys -
Key Largo - August 25-27 |
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The photo contest ends on Thursday, August
31. Anxious photographers are trying to find
every opportunity to get their last best
shots and this was the weekend to do it. |
 We
hit Key Largo with a vengeance
but after a "frisky" dive on the
Spiegel Grove, we were
definitely moving on a slower
plane. The club dive was
scheduled for Saturday afternoon
and Sunday morning with Cristal
Clear Charters. Some of us are
just to anxious and we arrived
late morning at the dive boat in
Key Largo. It was very luxurious
to be 7 divers on a 42' Newton
dive boat that is decked out
perfectly for a group much
larger. Captain Pete and
divemaster Matt were ready to
cater to our every whim. The
Spiegel Grove, on the other
hand, was not so cooperative
with heavy surface current. We
did find it a little calmer on
the deck of the ship but our
safety stop was a little
challenging - as soon as we
reached 20 feet the lines were
vibrating heavily and we looked
like flags in a hurricane as we
did our safety stop.
 We
sent Gary off the buoy line and
were amazed when he disappeared
from sight in a matter of
seconds - thankfully it was in
the right direction and he got
on the boat to help the rest of
us grab the elusive yellow line.
No cameras on this dive - we
felt lucky enough to manage our
own bodies and get back to the
dive boat. We, wisely, decided
to head to French Reef where the
current was slow and we could do
a leisurely dive to recover.
Photo of Brian "Anemone Man" by
Cherri Wood. |
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| We retired to the condos at
the Suites of Key Largo and a
pot luck BBQ on the waterfront
canal. Some of the group got up
early the next day to dive and
some just lollygagged around the
condo fooling with cameras and
having a leisurely breakfast. |
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 By
afternoon, the whole group had
arrived at the dock where the
Cristal Clear III crew, Captain
George & Matt, worked diligently
to get us set up and organized.
A representative from DAN was at
the dock and convinced us to
hook little computers to our
bodies that would record certain
aspects of our dive and would be
combined with some papers we
turned in at the end of the
dive.
 Soon,
we headed out for our first dive
with flapping flippers and the
haunting sounds of "Lola"
echoing in our ears. In no time
we were tied up at the buoy for
the "Winch Hole" at Molasses
Reef and surfing with the
Grunts. Viz was around 30' or
so. Our second dive was on a
spot that we got to name because
no one is really diving there on
a regular basis - it is now,
officially, "Captain's Reef".
Nice area - lots of little coral
heads where each diver got a
personal spot to explore and
enjoy. We would be remiss if we
forgot to mention that Irene
Besser celebrated a birthday
that ended in a "zero" on this
dive. Photo of Captain George
by Bob Miller. Photo of Irene
Besser by Gary Wood. |
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 We
didn't want to spoil the
reputation of the Caloosa
Diving, Drinking & Dining Club
(in no particular order) so we
got together along the canal for
a pot luck dinner and by 9:00 pm
were tucked snugly in our
beds...Except for a few people
trying to figure out the mystery
of batteries- Photo by Kitty
Willin |
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Sunday morning arrived too
soon, as it always does on these
weekends, but we were up and
ready as we headed back on the
Cristal Clear Charters III with
our favorite crew. Our first
dive was on an old favorite,
Snappers Ledge. Snappers boasts
a huge amount of Snappers and
Grunts who congregate in huge
balls of fish. You almost have
to push them aside to see what
else is on the reef. The spot
was nice for the hunters who
headed out to find lobster and
other delectable delights. The
photographers spent some time
looking at a large Nurse Shark
who just wasn't interested in
our antics. Capt George knew we
were hungry for those last
spectacular shots so he headed
off to an unnamed spot - maybe
we'll call it the
 "Ghost
Pot" reef. This reef is a
beautiful garden spot. It has
hundreds of small coral clumps
and some nice ledge areas that
are inhabited with spotted eels,
crabs, shrimp and colorful
coral. The really nice thing
about this area is that with 20
divers, you can get in the
water, find something to look at
and not overcrowd your fellow
divers. Photo of Mel & Denise
Marley and their spiny friends
by Bob Miller (who owns a few of
those spiny friends).
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| Overall, we had a great
weekend at a very good price.
The club sponsored dive is less
expensive than if you booked
alone. We used the dive club
discount at the Suites of Key
Largo. We BBQ'd and crockpotted
and our only meal that cost real
money was our traditional stop
at Hobo's (in their new location
in Key Largo). Headed back to
Cape Coral and thinking about
Hurricane Ernesto and hurricane
shutters. |
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| Thanks to
Cristal Clear for a super
weekend. |
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| Those in attendance: |
| Lynnan &
Brian Chouiniere |
Jan Desch |
| Bob & Janet
Miller |
Walter Wilt |
| Tess Madeya |
Jerry Frease |
| Sandy & Jerry
Canning |
Ron Daugherty |
| Irene Besser |
Denise & Mel
Marley |
| Kitty & Guy
Willin |
Cherri & Gary
Wood |
| MaryAnn &
David McCampbell |
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