Project Aware
Weather Underground
Captain Dennis, if you are reading this post, please do not read any further until you have Ellen by your side to console you.
SAILING
Coral Reef Sailing crews returned to the Florida Sea Base Tuesday morning for a day of shore leave. They spent the day small boat sailing, kayaking, standup paddle boarding, tubing and playing volleyball. Another set of crews will do the same today. I spoke with Captain Brian Stolzenberger, S/V Misty Shoals, who said his crew had sailed a lot in the past 2 days and snorkeled once on the reef. We are expecting the wind to clock to the north tomorrow so conditions may be better for snorkeling (and diving).
SCUBA
The diver’s cowboyed up yesterday morning and headed off into the Atlantic Ocean searching for a dive site with acceptable conditions. I called the BSA Eagle by radio in the early afternoon. Captain Christy said the crews made dives at Captain Grumpy’s (a patch type reef near Islamorada) and Davis Reef ( ledge type reef in Tavernier). Captain Christy reported a 100% puke rate. By 14:30 they had anchored on the bay side, protected from the wind and waves, for lunch and some swim/snorkel time to recover from their escapades on the ferocious Atlantic Ocean.
After dinner the crew regrouped and headed out again for the night dive at Alligator Reef. The wind died as if to acknowledge the bravery displayed earlier in the day.
BSA TARPON
These may be the last photos ever of the BSA Tarpon. Scuba Instructor Captain Dennis Wyatt, Scuba Instructor Milly McCoy, Course Director Captain Bert Hubby, and thousands of others, including me, have fond memories of the BSA Tarpon. When Bert, Milly, Dennis, and I first came to the Florida Sea Base the scuba department had two 45′ Corinthian Catamaran dive boats (BSA Scoutmaster and BSA Tarpon) and a small fleet of 26′ Duskys. All of these vessels have gone away as the Florida Sea Base has moved to diesel powered v-hulled boats built specifically for scuba diving.
New owners came to the Florida Sea Base Tuesday to take possession of the BSA Tarpon. Sorry everyone, she is gone; all that is left are the memories and often embellished tales of legend. (Dennis, call in sick for a few days if you need time to recover.)
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The Tarpon’s final fueling at the Florida Sea Base.
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BSA Tarpon’s final day of rest at the Florida Sea Base dock before moving to the Alabama coast and a new life.
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A local dolphin (with part of her dorsal fin missing) even came by to pay her respects and say good-bye.:)
Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape
aw, that was a great boat. at least I can say I was one of the last people to work on the BSA Tarpon last year. I hope that the new owners treat her well.
BSA tarpon was my favorite dive platform for the 20 seasons I worked at FSB. I did hundreds of dives off her with Captain Steve and Instructor Bert. Captain Hal, her skipper, used to be lots of fun. He had a faked cassette tape he’d play right before the night dive. It was a USCG pan pan reporting sightings of bull sharks in the vicinity of Alligator Reef. Scared the c**p out of me when he did it during my first staff training. Steve and Bert calmly donned their gear and jumped into the dark water. So I bravely followed wondering what I had signed up for. . When Hal retired Tarpon had a couple other skippers before Captain Dennis. He made diving even more fun. I never laughed so hard in my life as I did when a scout dived through the hoop and got stuck. I think the hoop was an inner tube from a wheelbarrow tire. Nobody could do the James Brown scream like Captain Dennis. BSA Tarpon may not have been our fastest dive boat, but she was always the most fun.
Worked the Tarpon the summers of ’09 and ’10. Working with Dennis and Sea Base was some of the most fun I’ve ever had in my life. I know those Newtons are designed for diving, and don’t break ask often, but they will never match the Tarpon in my eyes.
:’( Sad to see her go. The Tarpon was my favourite boat to serve as crew on and dive from. She’s the boat I logged most of the dives I needed to get into the DMA on, with Captain Dennis as her skipper. Tarpon was always, in my opinion, much more hospitable for crews than any of the Newtons with her huge, carpeted deck that was just perfect for sprawling out on on the way to/from a site, during lunch, or after a long day of diving. Her speaker system (and of course, the most awesome captain in the world – Captain Dennis) made it a pleasant ride out to/back from dive sites, and the raised dive platform was, to me, so much more comfortable to enter the water from. I have many fond memories of kids getting stuck in inner tubes, having fun diving off the boat during lunch (or pushing each other/their divemasters off the boat), even the occasional hilarious trip/faceplant into the water, and they’re all from that boat.
OH! And of course, the “splash zone.” Who could forget the “splash zone?” I often described the Tarpon as the rollercoaster of FSB in rough seas. I loved being aboard her in those conditions – waves crashing over the bow, the boat pitching and crashing onto the waves, but always remaining as steady as could be. In rough seas, the Tarpon carried a certain thrill not found on the Newtons.
Even with all of her old age issues (which, in my opinion, added to her charm), she was still a great boat. Perhaps not the fastest, but the best (though I’m biased).
Farewell, dear Tarpon. You will certainly be missed. <3 I hope your new owners treat you well.