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Diving @ Haigh Quarry

Thu, 24 Aug 2006 23:38:51 GMT

Saturday the 19th of Aug. I meet my usual dive buddy Joe and did 3 dives.

Dive 1 was out to the Lark depth of 45 feet for 24 minutes it was a pretty nice dive but we didn't see any fish and the water was a bit on the chilly side at 65 degrees

Pictures from the Lark

Dive 2 Surface swim out to the Orange Bouye droped down to 29 feet and headed North to The Christmas Tree to see the BIG CRAPPIE. From The Christmas Tree we continued North to the wall and worked our way to The Rock Crusher. Depth of 29 feet for 22 minutes. Someone ran low on air.... LOL

Pictures from The Christmas Tree

Dive 3 was Tim's dive with most time spent back at The Rock Crusher depth of 23 feet for 48 minutes.

Pictures from The Rock Crusher

Joe w/ a school of Gills

Life time dive #s 66 and 67 Haigh Quarry

Sat, 05 Aug 2006 23:26:56 GMT

Well I did 2 dives at Haigh Quarry today. I went out to Haigh without a dive buddy as Joe had to work, but I was only there about 10 minutes when Tina Haigh came down to my usual set up location with another diver without a buddy so we teamed up.

Dive 1 site name Tim’s Dive ( ya have to name it something) Joe knows this dive well as it is my favorite. Depth of 24 feet for 48 minutes. Vis was 20 feet at best and closer to 15 most of the way do to an algae bloom taking place.

Dive 2 was along the West Wall at a depth of 31 feet for 41 minutes. The highlight of this dive was a close encounter with a very big Paddle Fish. I mean this thing was a good 4.5 feet long and swam right at us at a depth about 25 feet and swam past us about 3 feet away. It was truly awesome.

Don't ask if I got a picture ( my batteries in the camera died early in the dive.) I am so pi$$ed cause I doubt if such a great photo op will ever present itself again. I mean this thing was 3 feet away as he swam past us at our exact depth. Well I guess I can only help.

Even missing the photo op of the Paddle Fish it was a great day at Haigh and I met and made another great Dive Buddy.

Snorkeling Lake Michigan

Mon, 31 Jul 2006 20:55:16 GMT

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Snorkeling Lake Michigan

Got in the water @ The Hammond Marina Beach and swam out to this wreck of a 300 foot wooden power barge. (Luckily I found it as I did not bring my compass) No one seems too know much about this barge other then its location. It rests in about 12 feet of water and though it is pretty old and has been underwater a long time it is still pretty much in tact.

The boiler is still on the deck and if you stood up on it you would be dry from the waist up. I have dove this wreck one time and still enjoy it. I saw a nice school of Smallmouth Bass hanging around the boiler.

I took a few pictures and then my camera batteries got low so I had to swim back to the beach, walk up to the truck and change them.

After a short break I walked down the fishing wall to the end and climbed down the 8 foot ladder into the water. Swam along the rock wall and did not see a single fish. I then swam out to the break wall maybe about 60 feet and swam along it and seen a bunch of Smallmouth, Largemouth, Shad and Carp. Got a few pictures and swam back to the beach.

All together I was in the water for about 2.5 hrs and my legs are dead. Damn I am getting old. Sorry I meant to say Darn I am getting old.

Well it wasn't SCUBA Diving but I was in the water with the fish and had a great time.

Gobies on the wreck

Carp

Shad

bout a 4 pounder

More diving at Haigh 7/23/2006

Sun, 23 Jul 2006 20:52:47 GMT

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I did 2 dives at Haigh Quarry today with Karen and Cheryl

Dive 1 The Rock Crusher 23 feet for 23 minutes vis was about 20 feet seen some nice fish

And a couple of Mermaids

Karen & Cheryl

Dive 2 The Christmas Tree 24 feet for 19 Minutes

First time I dove this site and found it a great spot for taking pictures.

Also did a little snorkeling

Sunday, July 02, 2006

Sun, 02 Jul 2006 01:39:27 GMT

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Did 2 dives at Haigh Quarry with Joe today

Dive 1 SS Flamingo and The Lark 43 feet for 22 minutes

I have dove the Flamingo a few times in the past and it is not one of my favorite dives but being Joe had not seen it yet and wanted to I was more than happy to dive it again.

The water was very cold at depth some place in the mid 50s I would guess. I hate diving with hood and gloves so I didn't and was I sorry it was COOOOOOOOOLDDDDDD. Still a pretty good dive and Joe really enjoyed it so it was well worth diving it again.

couple pictures diving the LARK

That's Joe taking a look at the LARK

Dive 2 The Shallow wall and The Rock Crusher 24 feet for 25 minutes water temp 65

The Shallow Wall and especially The Rock Crusher are my favorite dives at Haigh as you always see a lot of fish. Bluegill, big Catfish, and some big Largemouth Bass

Pictures taken at The Rock Crusher

about 4 pound LM Bass

3 pounder

Nice Bluegill

Bluegills eating a bannana I brought down with me.

Bluegills @ The Rock Crusher

4 pound Catfish

another BIG Bass @ The Rock Crusher

Top off 2 good dives, nice big fish and Jerked Chicken grilled for lunch. It don't get much better than that.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Wed, 28 Jun 2006 21:52:33 GMT

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Trip Report

Negril, Jamaica

Resort: Point Village

Point Village is located on the Caribbean, in the town of Negril in Jamaica, only 90 minutes (actually 60 minutes but as is the case in Jamaica the bus always stops at the half way point so you can get off and have a beer or two and some Jerked Chicken if you want) from the Donald Sangster airport and less than 5 minutes from the Negril Aerodrome.

It is called the Point Village because of its Jamaican village-like atmosphere and the fact that it is located on a picturesque rugged point where Negron’s famous seven mile beach ends and spectacular Bloody Bay Beach begins.

The resort caters to singles, couples, families and groups. The 150 air-conditioned rooms (comprising of studios, superior studios, junior suites, one bedroom suites and two and three bedroom townhouses) are all equipped with satellite television, kitchenette, telephone, and balcony/patio and have a view of either the Caribbean Sea or lush manicured gardens.

The property is beautiful in its diversity. It features two white sand beaches and spectacular cliffs complete with innumerable grottos - perfect for snorkeling.

The man made amenities are spectacular. Swim in the (smallish) fresh water pool, relax in the Jacuzzi or spend the day in the unique and refreshing Rock Pools (Pools carved from the iron shore that the sea fills with salt water).

Maid service daily thank God as we tracked in a lot of sand. Great staff always greeting you with a smile and the only time they told me no was when I wanted a Diet Pepsi with my breakfast ( no soft drinks till 10:AM )

Food was good but not great, plan on eating a lot of chicken ( do not order the Jerked Chicken as it is not good at the Point.)

2 bars serving local brands as well as Jim Beam. Great bartenders very friendly but at times slow as is the custom in Jamaica no one is in a hurry.

Dive Operator: SunDivers

What a great group of people and some pretty good diving to boot. Capt. Tony pilots the 24 foot 200 HP boat that seats 10 divers comfortable, we only had 9 divers on one dive generally 4 or 5 divers most trips.

DM Kirk was amazing as he was always looking out for the divers as well as pointing out some interesting sites and critters. Karen had a few issues before we started or dives and Kirk talked her through all that we would do on the dive. He even talked her into the swim through at the Throne Room and put her mind at ease for Shark Reef where we did not see any sharks L

We also did one trip with Castro (1 shell as we called him because he had 1 shell in his braids) as our DM, another great DM.

We did get to spend a lot of time with one of SunDivers Instructors by the name of Myron. What a great guy and a load of fun. He even offered to drive us to his favorite restaurant for some Jerked Chicken my favorite Jamaican dish. Unfortunately his schedule did not afford him time to join us on a dive, and that was a shame as I am sure it would have been a great experience.

The Dives:

1 The Throne Room 67 feet for 35 minutes.

Descend through an opening in the coral head into a 25 foot long swim through and marvel at the light at the end. Rats no sharks. Nice reef with juvenile fish of all sorts.

2 Sharks Reef 68 feet for 36 minutes

Nice ledges, coral, and sponges of many varieties. Kirk caught a huge Reef Crab and brought it out to show all the divers, no one wanted to hold it with the exception of yours truly. I was amazed at its strength. This site is excellent for photographers.

3 The Gallery 68 feet for 37 minutes

Good corals and sponges plenty of juvenile fish

4 The Hunt 54 feet for 41 minutes

A lot of great ledges and huge vase sponges. Seen 2 Hawk Bill Turtles, and a nice sized Reef Shark. Great site for photos.

5 The Fish Pond 73 feet for 41 minutes

Nice dive with a lot of fish to be seen

6 The Shallow Plane 63 feet for 36 minutes

Cessna sits beside a beautiful coral reef with plenty of fish to see and some great photography. One of my favorite pictures on this trip is of the plane.

7 The Tug Boat 94 feet for 29 minutes

Wreck sunk in 1993. The boat itself was not all that but did have some nice corals and sits alongside a great reef with plenty of fish including some of the biggest Ocean Triggerfish I have ever seen.

8 The Fish Pond for the second time 59 feet for 38 minutes

See dive 5

9 NIGHT DIVE @ The Arches 56 feet for 44 minutes

This was my first ever night dive and though I was a bit nervous at the beginning it turned out to be the best dive of my life. Something about descending in darkness only seeing what your flashlight is shining on WOW! We did see a lot of Lobsters and are you ready for this my first octopus that changed colors on us 3 times in about 20 seconds as he slid down his hole. I did get 3 nice shots of him before he disappeared.

A few other things we did:

Walked the entire 7 Mile Beach highly recommend this walk stop at a few of the beach side bars for a drink and when you get hot just jump in the ocean to cool off.

Catamaran trip for snorkeling and a BBQ on a private beach but don’t take it with The Wild Thing as they picked a terrible location for snorkeling. DO NOT drink to much Red Stripe and Rum. AS I learned from experience LOL.

Two must stop and eat locations Bourbon Beach for the best Jerked Chicken on the beach and Kuyaba for some Jumbo Hot Peppered Shrimp FANTASTIC!

Kuyaba also has cottages to rent $56.00 per night in summer $70.00 per night in winter for 2 people. Folks you can’t beat that price. Next trip to Negril Karen and I are going to try to stay there.

LINKS:

Point Village www.pointvillage.com

SunDivers www.negril.com

Kuyaba www.kuyaba.com

Monday, May 29, 2006

Mon, 29 May 2006 13:23:06 GMT

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Well I am happy to report that after a long cold winter my dive season 2006 has begun.

5/27/2006 I met my dive buddy Joe out at Haigh Quarry www.haighquarry.com

for a couple of dives to check out our gear and my new Reefmaster underwater digital camera.

That's Joe

Black Crappie tucked in the Rock Crusher

Bluegill

OK OK now the diving

Dive 1 Rock Crusher Max Depth 25 feet for 24 minutes . Turned out to be a very enjoyable dive. On my decsent I seen my first Paddle Fish ever. I knew they had a few swimming around the quarry but after 2 seasons of looking for them I finaly seen one. Don't it figure I was not looking for 1 and though I had my camera I did not get a picture of it. Damn the bad luck.

Dive 2 Golf Ball Rock Mag depth 29 fet for 34 minutes not much to see but worked out the rust after a long winter off.

Both dives the water was 60 degrees at the surface and low 50s at depth. We did not use our hoods or gloves so did not go deeper then 29 feet as it got way to cold.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Sun, 22 Jan 2006 02:03:42 GMT

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Sunday, August 28, 2005

Sun, 28 Aug 2005 22:20:07 GMT

Went out to Haigh Quarry yesterday and meet up with a guy named Earl for some diving.

Started out at the North Wall depth of 23 feet for 15 minutes seen the usual fish along with the biggest Largemouth Bass I have seen in the quarry so far had to be pushing 6 pounds. No Tina would not let me break out the fishing poll she's mean that way.

Next was a trip out to the Rock Crusher, one of my favorite dives at Haigh. I did bring my camera along

22 feet for 14 minutes visibility about 10 feet

Last dive of the day was along the East Wall didn't see to many fish but the visibility was a good 15 feet and the wall looked great (did I ever mention I love walls?) 29 feet for 17 minutes. All three dives done on one tank of air and still had 1200 psi left at the end. Really should have stayed for another dive or two but....

I didn't know they had Morays at Haigh.

Dosen't he look friendly

Not so friendly

Meeting some buddies back at Haigh next Saturday so that's it till then.

DSDO

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Tue, 16 Aug 2005 00:28:51 GMT

Just a quick update ...Did my final on First Responder, CPR, First Aid and AED all went well so it's on to Rescue diver.

Thinking of diving @ Haigh with Goose's Wednesday evening. If I do I will post a dive report.