Yes, we know.
We completely slacked off on getting new pictures, new videos and our newsletter out since our last trip of 2017. What can we say? Life, family and jobs took away a lot of the time we dedicate to videos, the website, and our newsletters. It has even impacted our dive time *gasp*. So far, in 2018, we’ve only managed 5 - yes only 5 - dives. We’re about as dried out and scaly as a lizard in the desert at this point.
October 2017 ~ Our first trip to the Cayman Islands aboard the Cayman Aggressor IV was filled with quite a few special events. We celebrated our 25th anniversary, Brandi's 46th birthday, and her 200th dive all on this trip.
We were scheduled to dive Grand Cayman, Little Cayman, and Cayman Brac but Hurricane Nate had other ideas and we had to stay close to Grand Cayman the entire trip. Although this was disappointing, the trip was still amazing. The Aggressor Fleet lived up to its reputation on our first trip aboard one of their boats.
Dive sites for the week included the Doc Poulson, Devil’s Grotto, Eagle Ray Rock, Governor’s Reef, Neptune’s Wall, Ex USS Kittiwake, Oro Verde, Angelfish Reef, Babylon, and Round Rock.
The crew of the Aggressor were wonderful and truly took care of everything we needed. Our tanks were kept filled, they fed us around the clock, wrapped us in hot towels and passed out hot cocoa with Bailey’s following the night dives, and even made us a cake for our anniversary and Brandi’s birthday. They surprised Brandi on the back deck by “making her a cake” for her 200th dive. Which basically entailed all of the ingredients of a cake dumped on the top of her head - literally “making her a cake”. She especially enjoyed the chocolate syrup.
Unfortunately we spent two and a half days tied to the dock for hurricane Nate but it was a good call by the captain. Safety first! The day before we went in to dock, we dove the Kittiwake, a former submarine rescue vessel, which was sitting upright on the bottom in 60 feet of water. The swell created by the storm, passing almost 300 miles to the west of us, pushed and pulled against the beam of the Kittiwake, breaking her anchor chains and pushing the 251-foot ship toward the reef. The wreck now lies on her port side and 20 feet deeper than before the storm. Again, good call by Captain Alan to put is in a safe harbor.
June 2018 ~ Our first dives of 2018 were a 3 tank trip with Emerald Coast Dive Charters in Pensacola, FL. We dropped on the Pete Tide, the Russian Freighter and the Liberty ship. Brandi found a playful octopus on the Russian Freighter that tried to steal her light. The Russian Freighter has a very interesting back story you can read here .
July 2018 ~ On our next excursion, again with Emerald Coast Dive Charters, we dropped on the Brass Wreck and the Joe Pati barge.
The Brass Wreck got its name because of the thousands of brass pins sticking out of its iron ribs and because of the many brass artefacts that have been collected in the years since its discovery. We don't know the exact history of this 250-foot long wooden schooner. We have heard that she probably had four masts and was built in the 19th century.
On these dives the normal critters were evident as well as a surprise sighting of a seahorse on the Brass Wreck. We had our first sighting of a tessellated blenny and a hungry octopus grabbing a quick snack by way of a hermit crab on the Joe Pati.
We have a lot of exciting trips planned for the rest of the year and the beginning of 2019. August 8-12 will take us back to the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary, including dives on the new artificial reef 60 miles off the Texas Coast - the Kraken.
October will find us back in the comfort of the Aggressor Fleet aboard the Belize Aggressor IV. March 2019, the WLDT will be heading to Cozumel to meet up with our good friends, Jason and Holly, to reunite the "Dark Side Dive Team".
Stay tuned for more pictures and videos!
Wet Lizard Dive Team current stats:
- 467 Total dives
- 401 Hours total bottom time
- 28,809 feet cumulative depth
- 867,715 psi of gas sucked down
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