Pensacola Bay 5/30

    I was determined to freedive a couple of my grouper spots in Pensacola Bay this week, but I'm just not there yet.


    Things looked good at first, with no visible current moving at the surface. We found the first spot easily, and dropped a marker buoy. Again, no visible current tugging at the buoy, so I'm getting pretty excited. Visibility at the surface was only about 4-5', but it opened up to about 15' once I got down a bit, which is pretty good for the bay. The problem was the goofy tide. I could descend slowly and calmly to about 20' deep. But below that was some bizarre jet stream of a ripping current. I had to pull myself hand over hand along the marker buoy line to reach the wreck. I was able to hook the buoy anchor in the wreck, so I could confidently pull along the line, but there was simply no way I could swing a gun against the current while still holding the line with one hand.


    Very frustrating too. As I hung on the line at about 30', I could see at least half a dozen nice grouper and a fair bunch of Red Snapper. They didn't seem to be alarmed at my presence at all, which continues to surprise me whenever I get the chance to freedive.


    In all, I felt pretty good for the effort, even if I couldn't get off a shot. I was comfortable at 35' even with the surface murk and the additional effort required to get to the wreck. Dive times were around 1:30 on average, which is an improvement for me.


    Sooner or later, I'll catch the conditions right!

    Tin Man,


    Congrats on your improvements underwater. Your bottom times are not too shabby either! Next time let the arrow fly!;)

    when you saw the bouy, would you notice the line in an angle?. Because once you notice in the direction the current on the bottom was heading . you can swim forward in the surface and whe you reach 20'+. you try to land either on top of the wreck or close to it. Or either at the line. Making your decent as straight down as posible. that way you dont have to burn air holding the line and pulling. And that bottom time of yours is pretty damn good for the time of conditions you have at the bay. If i do 1:30 i be happy as hell.
    especially when you cant do a calm descent because you need to pull yourself all the time.
    Hey you think i might get a chance to go there and try Woody freediving?:D. Just need my fins and a snorkel and i'm good to go. Still cant wait to get some blood on it.


    I was in AL. recently but work related. was thinking on going hunting with you and bill:).


    Anyways Tin Man keep at it, you will start using the tank less and less. Once you master that zone with a technique that works for you, you will want to freedive all the time. Now the tank might have t be used to retrive the fish if it tangles:thumbsup2:


    Congrats

    Core - The buoy line went straight down for 25' or so, then angled sharply over below that. We often see currents in the bay that are somewhat different on the top vs. bottom, but I have never experienced one so dramatically different. We tried a couple of other spots as the day went on, and the tide was minimal from top to bottom on those. When you get to go with us, maybe we can figure it out together.


    Quote from pargo

    Next time the fish. Do you think they didn't react because of the lack of bubbles?


    Actually, I still got the fish. I just left that part out, being as this is a freediving forum . . .:D


    I think it may be partially because of the lack of bubbles. They certainly seemed less cautious, but they sometimes are curious even on scuba.


    Forgot to mention it, but I love my new 3mm Imersion suit open cell suit. I was amazed at the difference in flexibility and lack of water intrusion. I am optimistic that I may be able to use it for more of the season than I previously thought.

    Hey Tin Man did you got hot in the suit?.i mean out of the water. because i know i get hot as hell even if it's open cell plus if you go in the BEAST(the tank boat) i know i will die if i dont take it off . You see now i'm more excited about a trip down there again. We going to clean the bay
    :bringiton::overkill:


    I'm going to have my surgery next wednesday :angry5:then i have a root canal on one tooth. so hopefully that doesnt mess any plans for freediving soon.:(


    Hey Jeff i need to talk to you. can you send me a PM with your cell.

    Good job Jeff. Keep it up.:thumbsup2:
    Core, what's the surgery for? If it's personal, no need to explain, but I was just wondering if it has anything to do with what was happening to you.

    Toledo


    No woories is an implant in my mouth. I lost a tooth long time ago and they are going to put the titaium bolt in my jaw bone, so i can get that needed tooth.:). Is going to be a litle painfull but is ok i want to take advantage of the army benefits while i'm at it. I'm also trying to get the eye surgery to correct my vision. Tired of damn prescription glasses. About the chest pains i had, i've been feeling good lately and the doc gave me a green light on the surgery.:thumbsup2:


    Thanks for asking

    Alvin - I didn't get hot, but I wasn't in it long out of the water. As soon as I stopped freediving, I changed to my beat up old scuba suit because I knew I was going to get banged around in the tide. When I went back down, I had to hook my leg through an old barnacle encrusted tire just to stay on the wreck while I strung fish and reloaded.

    No, it's not that cold now. I didn't measure the temp, but I would guess mid 70s in the bay. A rash guard would probably do fine for short duration dives. There was a bit of a thermocline below 60' in the Gulf.


    By the way, I saw something really cool on a Gulf dive early last week. There were two turtles on the bottom at about 80'. They would circle each other like two boxers, spiraling around and slowly getting closer until they touched shoulder to shoulder. Then, they would push and shove, until one of them broke off the combat and retreated a short distance. A minute or two later, they would repeat the whole thing. They did this 5 or 6 times, until one of them finally retreated behind the sunken tug and never returned.

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member to leave a comment.

Register a new account
Sign in now