Flower Gardens, 1999
Author: Rod

Here's the promised report on last weekend's Flower Gardens trip, our first and it shows. It's candid... and probably more personal info than anyone wants to know. I hope some is of interest. If you want to dive the Garden Banks, Spring & Fall trips have high risks of cancellation, summer is more reliable unless there's a tropical storm; but it's also hot as Texas. (The boats do have A/C).
Others know far more about these trips than I.
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Flower Gardens / Stetson Bank / Oil Rig Diving with Rinn’s M/V Fling.
Depart Friday night 8 Oct 99, diving Sat. & Sun, Return Sunday 10 Oct 99. M/V Spree went out as well with another bunch, same trip plan, adjacent mooring buoys. Sea was rough going out, building a bit Sat, then calming nicely into Sunday. Converted aluminum hull 96’ crew boats, nicely done, but rock all the time no matter… Get used to it.

Their rules (good ones)
100' dive floor. Break it and sit out the next dive. Break it twice and sit out the day. First beer, no more diving. No excessive drinking. No dive time or low air limits… Use your own judgement.
No local DM guiding, y’all are on your own (!) with club or shop DM’s but with plenty of safety back up. Minimum surface interval 2hrs 30 minutes. (Mandatory, they check) Lots of in-water down lines and forward line rigging / small chase boat / etc. Computer diving.

About 30+ divers on board…. 6 crew: 2 capts, 2 DMs, 2 galley.
All good crew, good food, small bunks but OK.
Everyone is necessarily good friends by the end of the weekend.
Not a cruise ship, but really nicely done for ninja diving.
Safety is primary concern but they allow considerable personal freedom on the dives too. Both Nitrox and air available, BCD stays on your one cylinder, is hot filled between dives. Deck shower, two heads, good food, always something out to eat. About half the divers were newbies to the trip; no newbie divers. I think this is no place for brand newbies

My first F.G. trip and my buddy’s as well, & our first dives together; although we’d first talked of buddying about a year ago.

Boarding is opened Friday evening 9PM. I tote the last of the gear while buddy claims some bunks. Small world… our cabin mates live about a block from her (previously unknown).

All these dives will be: Salt,Moored boat, Waves, mild to significant Current, Vis about 80’ feet max. to 40’ min (on Stetson bank); Bottom temp 80 to 81 F, me wearing 3mm Farmer John using the 3300 Al 80 & Air. In hindsite this would be a good trip for Nitrox used as air (for fatigue) and I will be trained for it next trip out.

Eight potential dives in about 45 hours.

For technical nitpicking: Logged bottom times as recorded by computer. If using forward line to the mooring line and back, actual breathing time on regulator will add some time to computer's Bottom Time which records only below 5'. Too rough for snorkel.

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Trip Dive 1 Day 1 Dive 1 Sat 9 Oct. 99 Gulf of Mexico

West Flower Garden Bank, #4 Buoy.
Notes:
First dive on Gardens Banks after a very long while looking forward to it. DM requests everyone use the forward & down lines all the way on first dive. High giant stride, from side deck on lee side, about 6 feet. First time for everything. Hold on to the belt, reg & mask,,, Launch marine mammal… Big splash. A little rough & anxious. It’s been a long time between dives & damn this is a long way out. Stayed with a group U/W, checking bearings anyway…but hoping they aren’t lost.
Lots of small to medium barracuda, large Angel fish, a healthy reef.
Amazing to see it here 100 miles offshore in 400' of surrounding blue water. Near the edge of the continental shelf. No big stuff sighted; it’s probably out there… vis maybe 80’ not quite as expected but OK.
Can see boat hull above us so it’s not too bad, but hazy. Pleased with buddy; she's a good smooth diver and stays together. But has problem with equipment: Computer not working…we go to tables.
Note small air leak (not a bleed) on her first stage; will watch her air closely. Remind her about my octo. OK, no problem, cool. Back at the boat, Rinn’s recovery technique works fine. Surprised to see that they record BT and max depth as each diver returns, by bunk #.
And come round later to double check that everyone is in and feeling well. Very thorough… Impressive.
Tech Data:
Jump @ 7:35 am with 3300 psi
MaxD 67' AveD 54'
Out @ 8:03 am with 600 psi
28 min logged dive BT
5 of 9 pixels N saturation
On tables we’re N divers… OK

SURFACE INTERVAL: 2:54

Trip dive 2 Day 1 Dive 2 Same location
Notes:
She had a spare. That’s great. New battery has fixed buddy’s computer. Leak is small and stable and will be tolerated. We’ll stay close. More of the same diving, much smoother this time. Made excursions like spokes on a wheel from mooring point. Boat more visible above, vis somewhat improved (higher sun) Boat name is on the bottom of the hull… they think of everything. Still no big critters but a beautiful reef. Deeper this time, should have brought a light for the holes, overhangs & color loss. Reverse profile… well, that’s the way it goes. Long SI’s will help. Cleared to go to 100, could have easily, but we stayed on high bottom above 80.

Tech Data:
Jump @ 10:57AM am with 3100 psi
MaxD 80' AveD 53'
Back @ 11:27 am with 700 psi
30 minutes logged dive BT (made a direct free descent)
6 of 9 pixels N saturation
Busted tables a bit, but OK on computers.

Once all aboard… Motoring to the other Garden Bank. Seas kind of rough but no hurry. This is the reef nearby High Island A389, the platform I saw installed for Mobil about 15 years ago. Changed hands now but still looks the same. Water depth over there (not far) is 410 feet if remembered correctly. Small world / home again.

SURFACE INTERVAL: 2:40

Trip Dive 3 Day 1 Dive 3
East Flower Gardens Banks Buoy # 1
Notes:
Been feeling pretty rough, glad to get back in the water. More of the same diving actually, actually. I think the failure to impress is within. Nice reef, kind of lack luster due to haze and depth.
Tech Data:
Jump @ 2:07 PM with 3000 psi
MaxD 74' AveD 58’
Back @ 2:38 with 600 psi
31 minutes logged BT, (free descent, line ascent)
6 of 9 levels N saturation

It turned out later the first patch must not have made good skin contact and I lost it on this dive or earlier. Have a sensitive stomach and felt rough all day, got big time seasick back on board the boat. Applied new patch, went to bed, scrubbed the next dive.

Trip dive 4 I scrubbed

Buddy went with Diver Xperienced on dive #4 and ran low on air… they returned to the wrong boat… (the Spree instead of the Fling, which meant they had gone way the hell and gone out there)… had a long surface swim in, him towing her some… she had “0” air back on board. Nuff sed about that.

To my regrets I also missed the night dive due to seasickness but was now trying to salvage the remaining trip. Was exhausted and wanted to sleep. It had been a long week and I was tired when this trip set out; we all had a rough night of sleep Friday, some said it felt like zero G’s overnight in the bunks. No worries, there wasn’t enough space in the cabin to fall out of the bunks. (That's a joke, the boats are fine, cabins small)

Trip dive 5 (night dive) I scrubbed. Dammit! But the sleep was great.

Buddy had had enough too and did not want the night dive… so at least I didn’t let her down. Seas are calming down, the second patch is working, I kept a small dinner down after not eating all day; everyone slept like babies. Tomorrow will be fine.

Surface interval: overnight.

Trip dive 6 Day 2 Dive 1
Woke up on top of Stetson Bank, half-way back to Freeport. 3 dives today, 2 on the banks and (hopefully) an oil rig before heading in. Feeling great, do’em all. All divers were given fair warning, there’s a schedule to keep. Get back to the boat on time and without the chase boat, or the rig dive is scrubbed. Fair enough.

Have heard a lot about this place. Spooky, moonlike, full of fire coral, sponges, big fish and lots of ‘em. All true. Current was running, they told us to definitely descend the lines. Not bad at all on bottom, but brisk above 60’. Unexpectedly poor vis, about 40’.

Trip dive 6 My dive 4 Day 2 Dive 1
Forget about the reef, this was a learning dive.
We went as a threesome with Diver Xperienced.
We went to port side from mooring line, pretty far out,,, more than 1/3 of air… turned us back, should have done so more firmly & sooner. We overshot the mooring, missed it in low vis, overcorrecting for current I think. Buddy had low air now and shared from some of diver X’s nitrox. I’m hanging above them doing my stop in their bubbles and am still ok. Flying safety stop. They stuck like glue together, sharing (hopefuly conserving her last air. I surfaced to find the boat. We were on starboard side, 100’ abeam of the stern, they surfaced and swam in. I was very soon farther down current, maybe could swim it but was near a chase boat picking up folks scattered all over the place and so took an EZ ride in. No big deal except we went too far out in the first place and then missed the mooring. Double mistake made it a sloppy dive

Tech Data:
Jump @ 7:37 am with 3100 psi
MaxD 75' AveD 58’
Back @ 8:04 with 200 psi
27 minutes logged dive
6 of 9 levels N saturation
Hairy dive. Sucked air.

Surface Interval 2:57

Trip Dive 7 My dive 5 Day 2 Dive 2
Still Stetson Bank, current still going pretty good.

We’re going as a lone pair this time, staying up current of mooring buoy. Concentrate on navigation and landmarks which are confusing here. This was a good decision. Fun dive.

BIG Anglefish of several different species… Big as Thanksgiving turkey platters. Buddy laughs out loud and talks underwater. Having a good time I guess. Silver glimpses of big things out on the perimeter above us… vis was bad due to current… maybe 50’up. Could not see boat from underneath it. Some groups later reported Manta Rays, small sharks, but they just couldn’t be seen far enough to share.

Interesting terrain, stratified rockish clay bottom full of sponges and fire coral. I like the desert and this was like diving on the desert… with lots of fish.

We made our way back to the moring buoy (early on air supply) and surfaced uneventfully. I didn’t realize until later this was logged dive # 50 for me and a nice one for that milestone. A calm and very enjoyable dive in what not long ago were anxious circumstances.

Tech Data:
Jump @ 11:01 am with 3000 psi
MaxD 76' AveD 64’
Back @ 11:23 with 700 psi
27 minutes logged dive
6 of 9 levels N saturation

Trip dive 8 My dive 6 Day 2 Dive 3
Everyone heeded the warning on the previous dive and got back soon. Fling headed for a rig, but no promises.
Indeed we did find one empty of fishermen and in blue water..
(name omitted, but it’s a cute little thaing with four big legs and a sign on it that said... (nevermind)...

Current not too bad. Instructions standard for rig diving. Hand over hand forward and down to the rig, stay inside the rig, do not surface in the rig, do not do a flying safety stop, this day they asked us to stay from 30 to 60 feet and be back in 45 minutes.

Typical rig, absolutely covered with barnacles; Blennies peeking out of a lot of the empty holes. Cute as can be. Be careful for hooks and line. Gloves mandatory. A dichotomy as always: divers in a cage and the fish swimming their patrols around the perimeter checking US out. Not a lot of fish but some small schools and some of noteworthy size. No hunting this trip. It’s fun to hang in the eddy of the steel and spot the fish that are holed up. This was buddy's first rig dive.

Tech Data:
Jump @ 3:06 pm with 3000 psi
MaxD 59' AveD 37’
Back @ 3:40 with 800 psi
34 minutes logged dive
6 of 9 levels N saturation

Clean up while heading for port, we’ve already worked our way back pretty close. Back on land before dark. What a GREAT weekend!

FYI, Rinns website, but the season is about over: http://rinn.scubamaster.com/ v

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