Bahama trip, 2015

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2015 Bahama trip

Fun trip, 8 days, Ft Lauderdale to Bimini, then south to Riding Rock. On my much loved 25 Seafari, "Someday Came." A short trip compared to last year, but I could not justify much more time off work. Two other divers, Lance, an extremely competent diver from California and Ron Smith, inventor of the fin I wear and no slouch as a freediver. Former US record for dynamic. I think that swim was 175 meters, one breath, using an earlier version of his fin. Both of them way beyond my class and fun to have on the boat.

This was one of those trips where, before we got started I wondered whether I should just go home, dig a hole, and hide. There is a saying, three strikes and you are out. From long experience, I've learned that too many problems before a trip and I'm better off to stay home. This was one of those, got sick with a antibiotic resistant bug,had trouble with my teeth, can't get the boat right, work emergencies, bla bla etc. But I did not want to disappoint anybody and kept going. Ten minutes on the water and I thoroughly overheat the engine though my own stupidity (left a water valve open). Then the engine would not restart. At that point, I figured we were screwed. Tied up to a container ship dock and worked through what was the problem and what damage had been done (considerable). Finally got it sorted after using a few spare parts and fending off the local security types. Thankfully, there seemed to be no long term damage. Off we went. Got to Bimini two hours late, but still time to clear customs, back on schedule, and it got better from there.

First day we went north looking for dolphins without much luck, only found a pair of juveniles who did not stay around long. We quit before noon, just too much wind to see'm and maybe some bad luck. Oh well, sometimes that happens, time to go south. Next morning we dove a big ledge that I just love, 40-80 ft, current blowing us along, good vis. Too deep for me to spear, but its too pretty anyway.

The next few days, we worked south towards Riding Rock, diving old spots and finding lots of new ones. I learned lots from those guys and they were learning how to dive the Bahamas, even trade. Lance is some kind of serious spearo (shots fish in California in 100 ft of cold dirty water) but it took him a while to adjust to a sling. Fun to watch. Two days into this, we got lucky and a pod of spotted dolphins showed up. Ron and Lance got in while I drove the boat until I realized that these dolphins were staying near the boat and there was little wind. In I went, fast. The video below shows a little of it. Diving with dolphins a a very special thing. I never get enough.

The funny looking fin in the video is Ron's newest version of the fin I use, called the Orca2. It is a whole lot better than my fin, but it did not agree with my feet. I will figure out how to beat that problem.

Funny weather pattern this year. No showers, blew like stink at night, 15-20+ knots, flat calm by about 2 pm. El nino maybe?

Here is the video, enjoy. I'll have some more later.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afORmDf-Qpg

Connor