Re: Good live aboard in the Carribean?

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:Xw1hf.13316$Mi5.13160@dukeread07...
>
>
>>>I'll have to check out Bimini. You gun totin' guys seem to get extra
>>>nervous when you have to leave them behind and cops tend to be slightly
>>>paranoid as a rule, albeit for good reason.
>>
>>Only thing I am paranoid about is all the lawyers trying to get me.
>
>
> That many lawyers in Bimini, huh? Then I'll definitely have to check it
> out. Sounds like a great place.

In Bimini I was cautious. In the courthouse I am paranoid.

>
>
>>Well do be forwarned. The Nekton folks have a pretty inflexible policy.
>>Your first drink of the day is your last dive of the day.
>
>
> Don't worry. I don't mix drinking and diving, unless I'm in Cozumel or
> staying on Catalina Island.
>
> That is one thing that bums me out about Nekton: they do their night dive
> after dinner. As you know, I'm one who likes to wash down my dinner with
> copious amounts of wine. But I also love night diving. Were I alone, the
> wine would probably win out. But now that Janna has finally gotten into
> night diving and found that she too loves it, the booze will have to wait
> until we're back aboard. That will really cut down on my drinking
> opportunities since it will be practically time to head to bed then. So
> I'll probably keep my nightly activities to a solitary rum drink, except on
> the last night.

I did every night dive they offered and some of my best pictures were
during the night dives. One location we dove, "The Strip" had quite a
few Scorpion Fish. I was amazed at how well they camoflauged. We dove
three wrecks. The "Sugar Wreck", the "Hesparus" and "Theo's Wreck".
The Sugar Wreck was absolutely teaming with marine life. The "Hesparus"
was rather shallow and not that populated during the day except for a
few inquisitive sting rays. However, at night, the Loggerhead turtles
moved in but they proved to be quite unsociable.

>
> Unfortunately that will likely leave me with over $900 of undrunk booze. I
> guess that would be a nice tip for the crew.
>
>
>>One of the things I liked about Nekton, they anticipated a lot of our
>>needs. Before I left, we filled out form indicating what, if any special
>>dietary needs we might have. They provided us with a phone number to call
>>when we arrived at the airport and were there within 20 minutes to pick us
>>and our luggage up (thank goodness for cell phones).
>
>
> I'm not sure how that will work in Belize. Hopefully they'll have someone
> standing there waving a sign. It always makes me feel special when my name
> is on one of the signs. Even when I'm not expecting someone to meet me at
> the airport, I always scan the signs just in case . . .

My guess is, they have a system worked out. They seemed very organized.
I am sure you can email or call them with any questions. I found them
quite accomodating in answering all of my questions. I also found the
crew quite friendly and eagerly answered questions about the boat. One
day, I had just come topside and was curious about the crew quarters.
One of the crew readily showed me the crew quarters. While underway we
were welcome to come up on the bridge and chat with the Captain. The
only time they didn't want passengers on the bridge were if they were
mooring or docking or something like that.
>

>

>
> Dan Marino's. Don Shula's. You could make it your life's mission to eat at
> every restaurant owned by a former football player or coach. That would be
> something.

I am willing to make that sacrafice for my fellow divers.

>
> I've driven around Ft. Lauderdale quite a bit, but I'm waiting for Lee to
> tour me around on his "water taxi". It is a very nice town, but my envy
> streak always kicks in and I end up feeling bitter. Why can't we all have
> waterfront mansions with huge yachts and lots of topless models hanging
> around?

Perhaps if you started a dumpster or trash business. A number of the
waterfront mansions we saw were owned by the CEO of some dumpster
business down there. There was one I think went for $25 million or so
that was given to his daughter as a wedding gift.



> On the way back, they offer a half-day Mayan Ruins tour and promise to get
> us to the airport by 12:30 p.m. Problem is, our flight doesn't leave until
> 4:30 p.m. I got the later flight so we could dive most of Friday. I
> recall that there isn't much else to do in the Belize Airport other than sit
> at Jet's Bar drinking his potent rum punch. If I do that for 4 hours, they
> won't let me on the plane. Plus, you've seen one Mayan ruin, you've seen
> 'em all. Maybe we'll get a day room again and bowl the day away.

I have only been to one Mayan ruin and that was in Cozumel, much to the
disdain of my fellow divers. We rented a jeep and went along the
eastern shore and followed a dirt road.....actually more of a path
through jungle-like vegetation. We actually bottomed the jeep out and a
few of us had to get out so the Jeep could get unstuck. In the process,
the local vampire bats that were masquarading as mosquitos saw us as a
smorgasborg. By the time we got back, the white shirt I was wearing
looked like I had been the guest of honor at a paintball firing squad.
>
>
>
>
> Soft drinks I can live without, though it would be nice to have pineapple
> juice to mix with my rum. I recall that there isn't much cheaper booze in
> all the world than in the Belize Airport duty free, so I might make my major
> purchases there. Get some bang for my thousand bucks.
>
> What's the ice situation like? I like ice.

No shortage of ice on the boat. The boat has two 100kw generators that
supplies power for ice machines, air compressor, airconditioning,
washers, dryers, water desalination etc.


>
>
>>I agree. However, with the sites we visited, I could visit them again and
>>probably still see a lot of different things.
>
>
> Yeah, fish are like that. They tend to move around.

True, but some of the sites we visited I only saw a brief sample.
Others, such as the Sugar Wreck, the Hesparus, "The Strip", it is quite
easy to see all there is to see in one dive. I have to say I saw the
widest variety of marine-life on that trip of any other trip I have been on.

>
>

--
I have never met a liberal street cop.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:Xw1hf.13316$Mi5.13160@dukeread07...
>
>
>>>I'll have to check out Bimini. You gun totin' guys seem to get extra
>>>nervous when you have to leave them behind and cops tend to be slightly
>>>paranoid as a rule, albeit for good reason.
>>
>>Only thing I am paranoid about is all the lawyers trying to get me.
>
>
> That many lawyers in Bimini, huh? Then I'll definitely have to check it
> out. Sounds like a great place.

In Bimini I was cautious. In the courthouse I am paranoid.

>
>
>>Well do be forwarned. The Nekton folks have a pretty inflexible policy.
>>Your first drink of the day is your last dive of the day.
>
>
> Don't worry. I don't mix drinking and diving, unless I'm in Cozumel or
> staying on Catalina Island.
>
> That is one thing that bums me out about Nekton: they do their night dive
> after dinner. As you know, I'm one who likes to wash down my dinner with
> copious amounts of wine. But I also love night diving. Were I alone, the
> wine would probably win out. But now that Janna has finally gotten into
> night diving and found that she too loves it, the booze will have to wait
> until we're back aboard. That will really cut down on my drinking
> opportunities since it will be practically time to head to bed then. So
> I'll probably keep my nightly activities to a solitary rum drink, except on
> the last night.

I did every night dive they offered and some of my best pictures were
during the night dives. One location we dove, "The Strip" had quite a
few Scorpion Fish. I was amazed at how well they camoflauged. We dove
three wrecks. The "Sugar Wreck", the "Hesparus" and "Theo's Wreck".
The Sugar Wreck was absolutely teaming with marine life. The "Hesparus"
was rather shallow and not that populated during the day except for a
few inquisitive sting rays. However, at night, the Loggerhead turtles
moved in but they proved to be quite unsociable.

>
> Unfortunately that will likely leave me with over $900 of undrunk booze. I
> guess that would be a nice tip for the crew.
>
>
>>One of the things I liked about Nekton, they anticipated a lot of our
>>needs. Before I left, we filled out form indicating what, if any special
>>dietary needs we might have. They provided us with a phone number to call
>>when we arrived at the airport and were there within 20 minutes to pick us
>>and our luggage up (thank goodness for cell phones).
>
>
> I'm not sure how that will work in Belize. Hopefully they'll have someone
> standing there waving a sign. It always makes me feel special when my name
> is on one of the signs. Even when I'm not expecting someone to meet me at
> the airport, I always scan the signs just in case . . .

My guess is, they have a system worked out. They seemed very organized.
I am sure you can email or call them with any questions. I found them
quite accomodating in answering all of my questions. I also found the
crew quite friendly and eagerly answered questions about the boat. One
day, I had just come topside and was curious about the crew quarters.
One of the crew readily showed me the crew quarters. While underway we
were welcome to come up on the bridge and chat with the Captain. The
only time they didn't want passengers on the bridge were if they were
mooring or docking or something like that.
>

>

>
> Dan Marino's. Don Shula's. You could make it your life's mission to eat at
> every restaurant owned by a former football player or coach. That would be
> something.

I am willing to make that sacrafice for my fellow divers.

>
> I've driven around Ft. Lauderdale quite a bit, but I'm waiting for Lee to
> tour me around on his "water taxi". It is a very nice town, but my envy
> streak always kicks in and I end up feeling bitter. Why can't we all have
> waterfront mansions with huge yachts and lots of topless models hanging
> around?

Perhaps if you started a dumpster or trash business. A number of the
waterfront mansions we saw were owned by the CEO of some dumpster
business down there. There was one I think went for $25 million or so
that was given to his daughter as a wedding gift.



> On the way back, they offer a half-day Mayan Ruins tour and promise to get
> us to the airport by 12:30 p.m. Problem is, our flight doesn't leave until
> 4:30 p.m. I got the later flight so we could dive most of Friday. I
> recall that there isn't much else to do in the Belize Airport other than sit
> at Jet's Bar drinking his potent rum punch. If I do that for 4 hours, they
> won't let me on the plane. Plus, you've seen one Mayan ruin, you've seen
> 'em all. Maybe we'll get a day room again and bowl the day away.

I have only been to one Mayan ruin and that was in Cozumel, much to the
disdain of my fellow divers. We rented a jeep and went along the
eastern shore and followed a dirt road.....actually more of a path
through jungle-like vegetation. We actually bottomed the jeep out and a
few of us had to get out so the Jeep could get unstuck. In the process,
the local vampire bats that were masquarading as mosquitos saw us as a
smorgasborg. By the time we got back, the white shirt I was wearing
looked like I had been the guest of honor at a paintball firing squad.
>
>
>
>
> Soft drinks I can live without, though it would be nice to have pineapple
> juice to mix with my rum. I recall that there isn't much cheaper booze in
> all the world than in the Belize Airport duty free, so I might make my major
> purchases there. Get some bang for my thousand bucks.
>
> What's the ice situation like? I like ice.

No shortage of ice on the boat. The boat has two 100kw generators that
supplies power for ice machines, air compressor, airconditioning,
washers, dryers, water desalination etc.


>
>
>>I agree. However, with the sites we visited, I could visit them again and
>>probably still see a lot of different things.
>
>
> Yeah, fish are like that. They tend to move around.

True, but some of the sites we visited I only saw a brief sample.
Others, such as the Sugar Wreck, the Hesparus, "The Strip", it is quite
easy to see all there is to see in one dive. I have to say I saw the
widest variety of marine-life on that trip of any other trip I have been on.

>
>

--
I have never met a liberal street cop.

"nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
news:hV4hf.13353$Mi5.7634@dukeread07...

> I have to say I saw the
> widest variety of marine-life on that trip of any other trip I have been
on.

That's because you havent dove the Pacific Northwest.

"nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
news:hV4hf.13353$Mi5.7634@dukeread07...

> I have to say I saw the
> widest variety of marine-life on that trip of any other trip I have been
on.

That's because you havent dove the Pacific Northwest.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:Xw1hf.13316$Mi5.13160@dukeread07...
>
> > Well do be forwarned. The Nekton folks have a pretty inflexible policy.
> > Your first drink of the day is your last dive of the day.

That's pretty "standard" policy on the two major fleets of liveaboards,
the Aggressor and the Peter Hughes -- but both are flexible as to
allow a beer for lunch and a beer or wine for dinner without being
TOO flexible about it.

Afterall, the small amount of alcohol has less an effect on the
possibility of intoxication than dehydration.
>
> Don't worry. I don't mix drinking and diving, unless I'm in Cozumel or
> staying on Catalina Island.
>
< rest of Greg's drinking tale snipped >
>
> Unfortunately that will likely leave me with over $900 of undrunk booze. I
> guess that would be a nice tip for the crew.

I think Greg left a decimal place before the 9. The cost of booze

(was/is) included in the Aggressor and PhD liveaboards -- which means
I subsidize most other divers when I dive on them.
>
> > One of the things I liked about Nekton,

< discussion about likes and dislikes of Nekton snipped >

My three main DISLIKES of Nekton are: (1) "cattleboats" for a
liveaboard,
(2) very limited dive locations, in the Bahamas (which is NOT in the
Caribbean) and in Belize, (3) the use of 90 cu.ft steel tanks -- which

is an "indication" that the liveaboard, as some other minor liveaboards
in the Fort Lauderdale area, are catered mainly to Floridian newbies.

As for Caribbean liveaboards in the Aggressor and PhD fleets, the
crew, dive sites, and equipments/boat set-up are uniformly of
excellent quality, and quite comparible. Below are the liveaboards
(in the Caribbean) of those fleets, in MY order of preference, mostly
rated by dive LOCATIONS:

Aggressor: http://www.islandream.com/aggressr.htm

Cayman Aggressor (14 times)
Turks & Caicos (once)
Belize Aggressor (twice)
Bay Islands Aggressor (3 times)

Peter Hughes: http://www.peterhughes.com

Former Sea Dancer: Turks and Caicos (5 times)
Former Wave Dancer, now Sun Dancer: Belize (3 times)
Former Wave Dancer: Bay Islands (once)
Wind Dancer: Tobago (once) Grenada (new location: never)

You can probably find one or more of my posts about everyone of
these liveaboards somewhere in the groups.google archives
under author "Reef Fish", e.g.,

"Cayman Aggressor" in 148 threads
"Bay Islands Aggressor" in 38 threads
"Wind Dancer" in 20 threads

etc.

For my reports on Bahamas liveaboards, see author "reef fish"

"Bottom Time I" aka ("AWFUL Time) 6 threads
"Bottom Time II" aka ("AWFUL TIme) 2 threads
"Crown Diver" (now extinct) 2 threads
"Crown Islander" (now extinct) 3 threads

on the keyword of "Caribbean Liveaboards" and author "reef fish",
there are 19 threads including:

Some comparisions of the Aggressor and Peter Hughes fleets,
and also the Little Cayman Aggressor (LCD II) and the former
Caribbean Explorer (Saba).

-- Reef FIsh Bob.

Greg Mossman wrote:
> "nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
> news:Xw1hf.13316$Mi5.13160@dukeread07...
>
> > Well do be forwarned. The Nekton folks have a pretty inflexible policy.
> > Your first drink of the day is your last dive of the day.

That's pretty "standard" policy on the two major fleets of liveaboards,
the Aggressor and the Peter Hughes -- but both are flexible as to
allow a beer for lunch and a beer or wine for dinner without being
TOO flexible about it.

Afterall, the small amount of alcohol has less an effect on the
possibility of intoxication than dehydration.
>
> Don't worry. I don't mix drinking and diving, unless I'm in Cozumel or
> staying on Catalina Island.
>
< rest of Greg's drinking tale snipped >
>
> Unfortunately that will likely leave me with over $900 of undrunk booze. I
> guess that would be a nice tip for the crew.

I think Greg left a decimal place before the 9. The cost of booze

(was/is) included in the Aggressor and PhD liveaboards -- which means
I subsidize most other divers when I dive on them.
>
> > One of the things I liked about Nekton,

< discussion about likes and dislikes of Nekton snipped >

My three main DISLIKES of Nekton are: (1) "cattleboats" for a
liveaboard,
(2) very limited dive locations, in the Bahamas (which is NOT in the
Caribbean) and in Belize, (3) the use of 90 cu.ft steel tanks -- which

is an "indication" that the liveaboard, as some other minor liveaboards
in the Fort Lauderdale area, are catered mainly to Floridian newbies.

As for Caribbean liveaboards in the Aggressor and PhD fleets, the
crew, dive sites, and equipments/boat set-up are uniformly of
excellent quality, and quite comparible. Below are the liveaboards
(in the Caribbean) of those fleets, in MY order of preference, mostly
rated by dive LOCATIONS:

Aggressor: http://www.islandream.com/aggressr.htm

Cayman Aggressor (14 times)
Turks & Caicos (once)
Belize Aggressor (twice)
Bay Islands Aggressor (3 times)

Peter Hughes: http://www.peterhughes.com

Former Sea Dancer: Turks and Caicos (5 times)
Former Wave Dancer, now Sun Dancer: Belize (3 times)
Former Wave Dancer: Bay Islands (once)
Wind Dancer: Tobago (once) Grenada (new location: never)

You can probably find one or more of my posts about everyone of
these liveaboards somewhere in the groups.google archives
under author "Reef Fish", e.g.,

"Cayman Aggressor" in 148 threads
"Bay Islands Aggressor" in 38 threads
"Wind Dancer" in 20 threads

etc.

For my reports on Bahamas liveaboards, see author "reef fish"

"Bottom Time I" aka ("AWFUL Time) 6 threads
"Bottom Time II" aka ("AWFUL TIme) 2 threads
"Crown Diver" (now extinct) 2 threads
"Crown Islander" (now extinct) 3 threads

on the keyword of "Caribbean Liveaboards" and author "reef fish",
there are 19 threads including:

Some comparisions of the Aggressor and Peter Hughes fleets,
and also the Little Cayman Aggressor (LCD II) and the former
Caribbean Explorer (Saba).

-- Reef FIsh Bob.

"nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
news:hV4hf.13353$Mi5.7634@dukeread07...

> I did every night dive they offered and some of my best pictures were
> during the night dives. One location we dove, "The Strip" had quite a few
> Scorpion Fish. I was amazed at how well they camoflauged. We dove three
> wrecks. The "Sugar Wreck", the "Hesparus" and "Theo's Wreck". The Sugar
> Wreck was absolutely teaming with marine life. The "Hesparus" was rather
> shallow and not that populated during the day except for a few inquisitive
> sting rays. However, at night, the Loggerhead turtles moved in but they
> proved to be quite unsociable.

I'm still working on my night shots. My camera won't autofocus because the
infrared doesn't penetrate very far, so it needs light. It's awkward
holding the light on the subject while I'm trying to shoot it. Holding the
light in the same hand as the housing doesn't give me much flexibility. So
I have Janna following me around as my light technician, but that takes
coordination if there's even a mild surge or current.

> My guess is, they have a system worked out. They seemed very organized. I
> am sure you can email or call them with any questions. I found them quite
> accomodating in answering all of my questions. I also found the crew
> quite friendly and eagerly answered questions about the boat. One day, I
> had just come topside and was curious about the crew quarters. One of the
> crew readily showed me the crew quarters. While underway we were welcome
> to come up on the bridge and chat with the Captain. The only time they
> didn't want passengers on the bridge were if they were mooring or docking
> or something like that.

Any female crew? I always seem to find female crew more pleasant to look
at.

> Perhaps if you started a dumpster or trash business. A number of the
> waterfront mansions we saw were owned by the CEO of some dumpster business
> down there. There was one I think went for $25 million or so that was
> given to his daughter as a wedding gift.

Obviously I just need to meet the right girl. Did she get divorced yet?

> I have only been to one Mayan ruin and that was in Cozumel, much to the
> disdain of my fellow divers. We rented a jeep and went along the eastern
> shore and followed a dirt road.....actually more of a path through
> jungle-like vegetation. We actually bottomed the jeep out and a few of us
> had to get out so the Jeep could get unstuck. In the process, the local
> vampire bats that were masquarading as mosquitos saw us as a smorgasborg.
> By the time we got back, the white shirt I was wearing looked like I had
> been the guest of honor at a paintball firing squad.

I've been to the one in the middle of the island, but it's pretty much
nothing there, just signs and dirt mounds letting you know what used to be.
You have to have a good imagination.

Tulum, on the other hand, is a great ruin to visit. It's pretty intact and
it's pretty small so you don't have to spend all day there. Back then, the
priests got all the snazzy waterfront condos complete with topless
sacrificial nyphomaniacs, just cut their hearts out when you're done with
them so you don't have to hear the nagging about sleeping in the wet spot.
A really pretty spot, and a refreshing dive or two in the nearby cenotes
makes for a complete day.

I figure nothing in Belize can beat that, so why try?

> True, but some of the sites we visited I only saw a brief sample. Others,
> such as the Sugar Wreck, the Hesparus, "The Strip", it is quite easy to
> see all there is to see in one dive. I have to say I saw the widest
> variety of marine-life on that trip of any other trip I have been on.

Very nice, and you barely have to leave the country. It's definitely on my
short list. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to seeing what Belize can really
offer besides wind. Unfortunately I picked the windiest (non-hurricane)
month of March, but if all the diving gets blown out at least I can blame
chilly for sending me twice now to the windiest spot in the Caribbean.

"nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
news:hV4hf.13353$Mi5.7634@dukeread07...

> I did every night dive they offered and some of my best pictures were
> during the night dives. One location we dove, "The Strip" had quite a few
> Scorpion Fish. I was amazed at how well they camoflauged. We dove three
> wrecks. The "Sugar Wreck", the "Hesparus" and "Theo's Wreck". The Sugar
> Wreck was absolutely teaming with marine life. The "Hesparus" was rather
> shallow and not that populated during the day except for a few inquisitive
> sting rays. However, at night, the Loggerhead turtles moved in but they
> proved to be quite unsociable.

I'm still working on my night shots. My camera won't autofocus because the
infrared doesn't penetrate very far, so it needs light. It's awkward
holding the light on the subject while I'm trying to shoot it. Holding the
light in the same hand as the housing doesn't give me much flexibility. So
I have Janna following me around as my light technician, but that takes
coordination if there's even a mild surge or current.

> My guess is, they have a system worked out. They seemed very organized. I
> am sure you can email or call them with any questions. I found them quite
> accomodating in answering all of my questions. I also found the crew
> quite friendly and eagerly answered questions about the boat. One day, I
> had just come topside and was curious about the crew quarters. One of the
> crew readily showed me the crew quarters. While underway we were welcome
> to come up on the bridge and chat with the Captain. The only time they
> didn't want passengers on the bridge were if they were mooring or docking
> or something like that.

Any female crew? I always seem to find female crew more pleasant to look
at.

> Perhaps if you started a dumpster or trash business. A number of the
> waterfront mansions we saw were owned by the CEO of some dumpster business
> down there. There was one I think went for $25 million or so that was
> given to his daughter as a wedding gift.

Obviously I just need to meet the right girl. Did she get divorced yet?

> I have only been to one Mayan ruin and that was in Cozumel, much to the
> disdain of my fellow divers. We rented a jeep and went along the eastern
> shore and followed a dirt road.....actually more of a path through
> jungle-like vegetation. We actually bottomed the jeep out and a few of us
> had to get out so the Jeep could get unstuck. In the process, the local
> vampire bats that were masquarading as mosquitos saw us as a smorgasborg.
> By the time we got back, the white shirt I was wearing looked like I had
> been the guest of honor at a paintball firing squad.

I've been to the one in the middle of the island, but it's pretty much
nothing there, just signs and dirt mounds letting you know what used to be.
You have to have a good imagination.

Tulum, on the other hand, is a great ruin to visit. It's pretty intact and
it's pretty small so you don't have to spend all day there. Back then, the
priests got all the snazzy waterfront condos complete with topless
sacrificial nyphomaniacs, just cut their hearts out when you're done with
them so you don't have to hear the nagging about sleeping in the wet spot.
A really pretty spot, and a refreshing dive or two in the nearby cenotes
makes for a complete day.

I figure nothing in Belize can beat that, so why try?

> True, but some of the sites we visited I only saw a brief sample. Others,
> such as the Sugar Wreck, the Hesparus, "The Strip", it is quite easy to
> see all there is to see in one dive. I have to say I saw the widest
> variety of marine-life on that trip of any other trip I have been on.

Very nice, and you barely have to leave the country. It's definitely on my
short list. Meanwhile, I'm looking forward to seeing what Belize can really
offer besides wind. Unfortunately I picked the windiest (non-hurricane)
month of March, but if all the diving gets blown out at least I can blame
chilly for sending me twice now to the windiest spot in the Caribbean.

In article <11o9pslktjiq71d@corp.supernews.com>, Greg Mossman
<mossman@qnet.com> wrote:

€ "nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
€ news:hV4hf.13353$Mi5.7634@dukeread07...
€
€ > I did every night dive they offered and some of my best pictures were
€ > during the night dives. One location we dove, "The Strip" had quite a few
€ > Scorpion Fish. I was amazed at how well they camoflauged. We dove three
€ > wrecks. The "Sugar Wreck", the "Hesparus" and "Theo's Wreck". The Sugar
€ > Wreck was absolutely teaming with marine life. The "Hesparus" was rather
€ > shallow and not that populated during the day except for a few inquisitive
€ > sting rays. However, at night, the Loggerhead turtles moved in but they
€ > proved to be quite unsociable.
€
€ I'm still working on my night shots. My camera won't autofocus because the
€ infrared doesn't penetrate very far, so it needs light. It's awkward
€ holding the light on the subject while I'm trying to shoot it. Holding the
€ light in the same hand as the housing doesn't give me much flexibility. So
€ I have Janna following me around as my light technician, but that takes
€ coordination if there's even a mild surge or current.

Try rubber banding a small flashlight to your strobe. It works both as
an aiming light (for the strobe) and gives your autofocus sensor
something to see.

In article <11o9pslktjiq71d@corp.supernews.com>, Greg Mossman
<mossman@qnet.com> wrote:

€ "nitespark" <nitespark@cox.net> wrote in message
€ news:hV4hf.13353$Mi5.7634@dukeread07...
€
€ > I did every night dive they offered and some of my best pictures were
€ > during the night dives. One location we dove, "The Strip" had quite a few
€ > Scorpion Fish. I was amazed at how well they camoflauged. We dove three
€ > wrecks. The "Sugar Wreck", the "Hesparus" and "Theo's Wreck". The Sugar
€ > Wreck was absolutely teaming with marine life. The "Hesparus" was rather
€ > shallow and not that populated during the day except for a few inquisitive
€ > sting rays. However, at night, the Loggerhead turtles moved in but they
€ > proved to be quite unsociable.
€
€ I'm still working on my night shots. My camera won't autofocus because the
€ infrared doesn't penetrate very far, so it needs light. It's awkward
€ holding the light on the subject while I'm trying to shoot it. Holding the
€ light in the same hand as the housing doesn't give me much flexibility. So
€ I have Janna following me around as my light technician, but that takes
€ coordination if there's even a mild surge or current.

Try rubber banding a small flashlight to your strobe. It works both as
an aiming light (for the strobe) and gives your autofocus sensor
something to see.