Sea Stories

CraigC said:
Treasure no, not interested in a cavity search after a dive. When you say "recovery" I think of searching for a body. That I have done. Not a pleasant experience, especially when the family is present. That was back when law enforcement didn't have their own dive teams. The one time I was involved was in fresh water in a wildlife management area.

When asked about sharks by female students on their open water dives, I replied "Honey, their are more sharks on this boat than you'll ever see on a dive".

The dive store I worked at in Hollywood, FL had a small store in Marathon. One of the boat captains was the nephew of the owner. Returning from a reef trip, the dive master noticed they were passing some area that he didn't remember. He went to look up at the bridge, only to find the captain missing. Not knowing how to disengage the auto-pilot he fought it all the way on a reverse course. After several miles he came across the captain in the water, red faced and glaring up at him through his coke bottle glasses. After being picked up and resuming a course back to the dock, it was determined that one young lady has slathered up with sun screen, moved to the bow, leaving a good smear of sun screen on the ladder to the bridge. Being the arrogant A-Hole that he was, the captain had used a no rung decent of the ladder, hit the smeared sun screen and lost his grip, falling over board with no one noticing.
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What a story - sounds like that Captain is lucky to be alive.

We got our first certification in a quarry in the Midwest which had silos and shafts that were submerged. It was in November when we tested and the water was quite murky. The weekend after we were at a college nearby watching a hockey game with our diving group. The dive instructors got called out over the PA system to report to press area if they were in the ice rink area.

Long story short, another group of divers were doing a night dive at the quarry - something happened to one diver and he lost consciousness, his dive buddy inflated his BCD only to shoot up fast and hit the shaft. At least, that is the story we were told. Unfortunately, our instructors were called in to assist with recovery. What a sad night.
 
rascal said:
I'm glad I don't go diving!! :)

Russ
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Oh there's a lot more than the bad stories. Like the 1 time we were diving off a local reef and 2 giant manta rays came flying in to see what the funny noises were (our breathing), swooped in, arced around us and went back into the ocean depths.

Or the time we were really early to the place we launched our boat and were the only ones there. We tied up after launching for Craig to park the truck and come back. Next thing we knew, we had a manatee bumping the boat. It wanted its back scratched. I obliged, long fingernails then, and then got to tummy scratch after the back itch was satisfied. I'll never forget that, a wild animal willingly and eagerly letting me touch it, in actuality pretty much demanding I touch it. We had to ignore it for a while before it went away. Didn't want to take the chance on it getting hurt by the boat propeller.

Or the time we heard dolphins squeeing, never saw them, but we sure heard them, so they weren't too far away.

Or the time I caught a lobster 1 handed in open water when it was trying to get away from our dive buddy. They swim backwards when they flap their tail to get away. I saw it coming, stuck out my hand and it slammed right into it. Neither Craig nor our friend had ever seen that and they had decades of experience between them.

Then there's the time on another dive trip to the Dry Tortugas where we caught a lobster who was as long as my arm from shoulder to middle fingertip, as well as the biggest hogfish I'd ever seen. The boat crew was amazed at our total catch on that trip.

Then there's the time we were out on our boat with another couple. He dove, she didn't. So, the 3 of us were diving while she was laying out getting some sun. We came across a coral crab, they are pretty good size, not as big as an Alaska King, but close. They aren't out usually in the day but this one was for some reason. Craig snagged it. As we weren't far from the boat, he surfaced, told the woman heads up and tossed the crab onto the boat. Of course it scuttled for the nearest hidey hole, which happened to be under the bench she was lying on. Scared the c#$p out of her, but we all, even her, ended up having a good laugh later that night at dinner when she described what happened.
 
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medtran49 said:
Oh there's a lot more than the bad stories. Like the 1 time we were diving off a local reef and 2 giant manta rays came flying in to see what the funny noises were (our breathing), swooped in, arced around us and went back into the ocean depths.

Or the time we were really early to the place we launched our boat and were the only ones there. We tied up after launching for Craig to park the truck and come back. Next thing we knew, we had a manatee bumping the boat. It wanted its back scratched. I obliged, long fingernails then, and then got to tummy scratch after the back itch was satisfied. I'll never forget that, a wild animal willingly and eagerly letting me touch it, in actuality pretty much demanding I touch it. We had to ignore it for a while before it went away. Didn't want to take the chance on it getting hurt by the boat propeller.

Or the time we heard dolphins squeeing, never saw them, but we sure heard them, so they weren't too far away.

Or the time I caught a lobster 1 handed in open water when it was trying to get away from our dive buddy. They swim backwards when they flap their tail to get away. I saw it coming, stuck out my hand and it slammed right into it. Neither Craig nor our friend had ever seen that and they had decades of experience between them.

Then there's the time on another dive trip to the Dry Tortugas where we caught a lobster who was as long as my arm from shoulder to middle fingertip, as well as the biggest hogfish I'd ever seen. The boat crew was amazed at our total catch on that trip.

Then there's the time we were out on our boat with another couple. He dove, she didn't. So, the 3 of us were diving while she was laying out getting some sun. We came across a coral crab, they are pretty good size, not as big as an Alaska King, but close. They aren't out usually in the day but this one was for some reason. Craig snagged it. As we weren't far from the boat, he surfaced, told the woman heads up and tossed the crab onto the boat. Of course it scuttled for the nearest hidey hole, which happened to be under the bench she was lying on. Scared the c#$p out of her, but we all, even her, ended up having a good laugh later that night at dinner when she described what happened.
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Great stories, maybe I just have fun above the water line,lmao. I've been pretty close to whales dolphins and killer whales. They are amazing animals.

Russ
 
You wouldn't catch me in the sea - I have to take a deep breath before I get in the bath! The dog doesn't like water either.
I'm sorting out some stuff on my DVD recorder, and the rest of the day I'm going to eat as much as possible. I've got some fasting blood tests tomorrow and can't have anything to eat or drink after 10 p.m. I was supposed to go on Friday morning but succumbed at 5 a.m. The health centre is only open for clinic appointments at the weekend, and the local hospital doesn't do blood tests then either (unless you are a patient), so I'll have to go in the morning. If you never hear from me again.....
 
Backbay said:
What a story - sounds like that Captain is lucky to be alive.

We got our first certification in a quarry in the Midwest which had silos and shafts that were submerged. It was in November when we tested and the water was quite murky. The weekend after we were at a college nearby watching a hockey game with our diving group. The dive instructors got called out over the PA system to report to press area if they were in the ice rink area.

Long story short, another group of divers were doing a night dive at the quarry - something happened to one diver and he lost consciousness, his dive buddy inflated his BCD only to shoot up fast and hit the shaft. At least, that is the story we were told. Unfortunately, our instructors were called in to assist with recovery. What a sad night.
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When you say shaft, do you mean an overhead environment?

Grouper Tag
My favorite fish to hunt is black grouper. When you spot one you've got about 3 seconds to get a shot off, or it is gone. These fish get over a hundred pounds, but 20 pounds is as large as I'll go because larger ones get tough and have worms. Being predatory warm water fish larger ones can carry ciguatera, not something you want to contract. :headshake:

A buddy and I decided to check out new dive spots one afternoon when there were no customers for a trip. We loaded up the tank racks that usually held forty bottles for a loaded boat on a two tank dive and off we went. We were cruising an area off of Ft. Lauderdale when the depth sounder started indicating 3 to 4 foot relief in about 45'. We dropped the hook and hit the water. This was a very small area of nooks and crannies that was crammed full of spiny lobster. Before we started picking off the lobster, we decided to check out the whole area. Shot a couple of nice hogfish along the edge where the reef bottomed out to sand. Don't know what made me look out across the sand, but there it was about 20' away next to a sea fan, watching us. Nice 20 pound black grouper. It had lightened its color to sort of match the sand. As soon as it realized I had spotted it, it turned tail and started to move off across the sand. Knowing it might bolt at any second, I took a shot missing the top of its head by inches. That was its clue to split. My buddy was off after it as I picked my shaft off the bottom, reloading as I followed him. Within 200' we watched as the grouper ducked into the open end of an abandoned piece of dredge pipe. Gone! We went back to the boat, pulled anchor and I moved inshore to mark the pipe location. We didn't have GPS back then so had to mark things "line of sight" with shore markings and depth.

For the next couple of months, I'd return to the pipe about once a week (it was a 12' diameter piece about 100' long) and I'd spot that fish hanging out above a tear in the pipe, 20' from the southern end. Every time it dropped into that tear before I could get a shot off. Got to know that pipe's features quite well. One day I had another captain on board showing him good places to take students to for their first open water dives. That pipe was perfect! I had him position the boat at the northern end of the pipe with the stern just above it. After all the students and instructors were in the water, I said what the heck and hit the water for another try at that fish. I started swimming along the pipe, clinging to the side like I was part of it. About 20' from where I knew that tear was, I held my breath (I know, I know never hold your breath) and continued along the pipe. When I knew I was where that tear was, I popped up above it and pulled the trigger. Sure enough it was there and I hit it just behind the head. It tried to dive into the pipe but the 6' piece of stainless spring steel, equally sticking out both sides prevented that. Patience pays!
 
The Velvet Curtain said:
***Waves***

Another diver here, PADI Rescue diver. I learned as a dry suit diver and have all my own gear, but I much prefer hanging out with the pretty fishes in warm waters. I've bothered the corals in Thailand, the Maldives, Borneo, Australia and Fiji.
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When "Specialty" ratings were first introduced by PADI, I had to write my own curriculum for "Rescue Diver" and submit it for approval. Then they came out with their own book. I assume Alex Brilski took all the curriculum from those of us that submitted for that purpose.
 
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I'll stop going off topic in the other thread by creating this one. If a mod could transfer the ones in the other thread to this one, that would be great
 
Yippee! I would love to hear more - my stories are pretty tame all things considered.

May be a silly question but I never participated in spear fishing while diving ( used to spear fish as a kid when wading through the marshes) When you spear a 20 pound grouper how do you get it back to the boat? Do you just grab it and swim up with it or do you have sort of rigging to pull it up?
 
Backbay said:
Yippee! I would love to hear more - my stories are pretty tame all things considered.

May be a silly question but I never participated in spear fishing while diving ( used to spear fish as a kid when wading through the marshes) When you spear a 20 pound grouper how do you get it back to the boat? Do you just grab it and swim up with it or do you have sort of rigging to pull it up?
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I carry a fish clip, which is a stainless steel loop used to put through the eye sockets of the fish and locks back on itself. When not in use it is clipped to my weight belt. Once in use it is hand carried. That way if a gentleman in a grey suit decides it wants my catch it can have it. Once laid a hogfish on the clip on the bottom to catch a lobster. A moray eel tried to snag the fish but gave up when I pulled back.
 
Then there was the time I was carrying a bag full of lobster swimming along about 10 feet off the top of the reef when Craig started going spastic and waving at me to look back. I did. A huge green moray had come up totally out of the reef (usually you just see their head and a small part of their body) and was getting ready to have itself a bag full of lobster or maybe a chunk of one of my fins (and hopefully not my foot). I shot straight up and fortunately had my speargun in hand to poke it away.

Speaking of morays, an older gentleman that I worked with at the time, who had dove in his younger days, always asked about our diving trips on Monday morning. When I told him about the above, he said he shot a moray once with a spear gun that had a line on it. I asked him why because they aren't good for anything, he said I don't know, I was a young kid. Anyway, he proceeded to tell me what happened after he shot it. He didn't get a kill shot. Of course, it saw an attacker and decided to attack back, coming right at him. He had to drop his gun and take off since it was attached.

We saw small sea turtles from time to time, but one time, we came up on one just sitting on top of a rock on on the bottom. A big one, it's head was bigger than my thighs, which were very muscular and thick due to a lifetime of recreational and competetive swimming. It let us come up to it, nearly close enough to touch and then just took off like a bat out of he// between us.
 
CraigC said:
I'll stop going off topic in the other thread by creating this one. If a mod could transfer the ones in the other thread to this one, that would be great
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If I transfer the posts they will appear before your top post - in date order.... done. I'll amend the top post.
 
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Backbay said:
Medtran49, between the bull shark and the hole in your eardrum that is quite the diving "adventure". Can't even imagine what it would be like to witness my partner coming face to face with predator not to mention a large one and underwater! Glad to hear your ear drum healed - it had to be a miserable time for between the pain and vertigo.
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If you consider what you appear to be, fully decked out in gear, to another animal underwater, they tend to be pretty impressed by your size and usually have second "thoughts" about messing with you.
 
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