May 4, 2000: Grand Bahama, Bahamas

A Bahamas 2000 dive

"Theo's Wreck" - "Arrow Point"

Diving off of Grand Bahama:

• Directions from Tampa: It's only about 55 miles off of the coast of Florida. You can go by boat or by plane ... talk to a travel agent.
• Conditions on the day of my visit: Sunny and warm.
  
  
• Personal Notes: DAN guidelines call for a minimum of 24 hours before flying after diving. Advice from DAN lately has included the suggestion that you wait longer if you've done multi-day, multi-dive diving. However, we'd been averaging a dive a day. I was a little apprehensive with out tentative plans, though, since they would put us a little under the 24 hour limit.
  
  My second visit to "Theo's Wreck" was much quieter than the first, and went more smoothly. There was a bunch of air captured in a corner of the cargo bay, which my sister visited with Shamie; I broke my previous 100 foot record (from the first visit to "Theo's Wreck") and managed to get to 101 feet (which, since I had set it that way, cause my computer to complain a little ... but that only brought a grin to my face ... as much of a one as you can get with a regulator in your mouth). Between currents, wind, and waves, it was a rough dive. One of the first things I looked for upon reaching the stern of the ship where our mooring line connected was the Continental Shelf, a scant 60 feet from the stern of the wreck. From there it drops to 2000 feet deep, according to Shamie. I didn't check ... and have no intention of doing so.
  
  My 50th logged dive was "Arrow Point." This is Shamie's favorite site. Lots of fish, and a green eel that was hiding in a crevasse. Shamie showed us a hole that was connected to a cave system under the island of Grand Bahama that continued on to the other side of the island. Shamie said that the flow from this hole depends on the differences in water levels on the two sides of the island. When we checked, the flow was coming out of the hole.

Theo's Wreck
My sister and her husband on the mooring line. I probably took this while hanging on to the line myself, holding the camera with one hand. I'm surprised it came out so well.
Shamie and Rona on the ascent line, slowly making their way up to do a safety stop.
If they weren't blurry, they'd look really cool. Bigger bubbles take a really strange shape as they ascend, kind of like flying saucers. And you get an appreciation of what uncontrolled lowering pressure can do to you when they grow and grow and then grow so big that they break apart.
This is a good shot of the hull and bridge from the mooring line.
It may not be spooky to you but it gives me a little shiver to see this. This is the best shot (of the 8 or so I took) of the edge of the Continental Shelf. Maybe it helps if you realize that I'm at about 70 feet, with the camera angled down, which would mean the shot would normally be of sand instead of the impression it might give you that that's just a "normal underwater horizon."
A kind of spooky picture of Shamie, like maybe "The Shark's View" (without flash).
A neat picture of the engine room, with flash, of course. Shamie's getting ready to swim up through the exit hole.
Entering the engine room of the wreck. A hole has been cut in the side so that you can fairly easily make your way in and through. Shamie's leading, and he's just taken a right turn.
A photo of the bridge of the wreck, probably just before we entered the cargo bay (no pics of that really came out well enough to include on the web pages).
Shamie with one monster of a Sea Cucumber in his hands. They don't get that big in the Gulf. That's my sister shuffling up to touch it.
A photo looking to the stern of the starboard side of the wreck.
The pink fin is Rona's. This is of course the prop of the wreck, with the shelf visible not too far away.
Arrow Point
Me, of course. Wanted to get that roll of film finished off.
Saying goodbye to the Bahamas.
My sister.
And I thought I could blow good O-rings! These are Shamie's ... show off!
My sister and brother-in-law, on the way back to the dock from our "Arrow Point" dive. My brother-in-law is doing what every good diver should do before, in between, and after dives: Drinking water. In the background, you can just make out the new part of the Lucayan hotel under construction.
Well, they're blurry, but there are a bunch of tiny crabs on my hand that I can only guess came from the mooring line. I had to try to get a picture of them.
He's kinda hard to spot but there's a Green Moray hiding in the crevasse (go to the lower right from the center, and look for the shape of his head). The flash didn't go off (or either wasn't strong enough) to get a clearer shot of him. I wasn't about to try to get closer to see if I could get a better shot.
Just low of center are a couple of Christmas Tree Worms. Trust me, this is a very good shot of them. It would have been nice to get a side shot of them to show you exactly why they are called Christmas Tree Worms, but I didn't think about it, *and* they tend to actually be quite skittish.
A Parrotfish; my guess it's a Queen Parrot fish.
Here's a blurry picture of a Squirrelfish. Don't ask though what that blue fish is. I have an idea, but the description says that they aren't supposed to get that big!
There's a Squirrelfish hiding in the bottom of the picture. It could be a Longspine Squirrel fish in particular.