Florida Sea Base News

WEATHER

What could have been a near death blow at the Florida Sea Base turned into a mere flesh wound.  We took a pretty good spanking very early Friday morning when a squall pushed through with heavy rain, an hour of non-stop lightning and 50 knot winds.  We were expecting another wave around noon.  The system was approaching from the west.  The second squall line made it to Key West but fizzled out before getting to Marathon and the Florida Sea Base was spared.  The divers reported great dives.  The sailors came to dock a little early in anticipation of bad weather.  We did get a decent shower at dinner time “dampening” the spirit of luau.  But everyone had a good time despite the weather.

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Going, going, gone!  Well, the rain is gone.  But the wind has picked up and has been blowing in the 20 – 25 knot range from the NNW for the last several hours.  This should not have a major impact on the diving, but launching and recovering vessels in the Florida Sea Base marina will be challenging today.

Looking ahead to next week, we are expecting very consistent 15 knot easterly winds every day.  If this is accurate, it will not be pleasant on the reef.  If you are arriving today or tomorrow, I suggest you start a regime of Bonine® today.

PROGRAM

Office Manager Susan Mahoney had a busy Friday with one Scuba Liveaboard, one Sea Exploring and five Coral Reef Sailing crews checking out.  Today will be even busier with check outs and arriving crews.

SCUBA

The Scuba Adventure crews will make their final dive of their stay this morning.  Several of the dedicated part-time scuba staff members are completing their tours of duty tomorrow.  Their service is greatly appreciated and it is always hard to see them go.  Mark Gilbert, Richard Goldman, and Scott Patton have been instrumental in making the magic happen over the last couple of weeks.  Paul Mangone has one more week and David Ball has two more weeks.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

WEATHER

Everyone has heard the saying, “All good things must come to an end”.  We enjoyed a few days of perfect weather at the Florida Sea Base, but the front moving through upper Florida today is bringing us substantial winds.  Conditions were breezy but manageable Wednesday.  All of the programs went forward without a hitch.  The most recent National Weather Service forecast for Alligator Reef calls for 14 knot winds from the SE.  Tomorrow the winds may increase to 18 knots from the NW.  What does that mean for the Scouts who are finishing up their week at the Florida Sea Base?  Today will be bumpy on the reef but now as bad as 10 days ago.  So they may actually get a little extra high adventure today but not too bad.  Tomorrow is likewise be pretty decent on the reef if the wind direction switches to northwest.  The challenge for tomorrow will be docking boats at the Florida Sea Base marina; 18 knots blowing straight into the harbor is no bueno.  The captains of the five Coral Reef Sailing boats returning to dock Friday afternoon may have their hands full.  Captains Brian Stolzenberger, Michele Morris, Dennis Dugas, Ed Marill, and Mike Painter all have years of experience sailing for the Florida Sea Base and will handle the situation well.

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WEDNESDAY

The sailors and divers had a good day on the reef.  All programs ran as scheduled including a night dive for half of the scuba participants.  On base, some of the sailors were in for shore leave and went tubing, kayaking, paddle boarding, and played beach volleyball.  The scuba staff that were not diving with crews spent the day working on tank and compressor maintenance.

SUMMER STAFF HIRING

The status of the summer scuba staff has improved dramatically thanks to large part to a flood of interest by University of Florida students who just finished their divemaster certifications.  I think I have hired five of their class members to help with our staffing deficit.  But Captain Luke is still looking for sailing staff and I still need some Rescue Divers and one more Scuba Mate (Open WAter Diver or higher certification preferred but not required).

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

1,135

Certainly not a magic number, but as I was logging in to the Florida Sea Base News admin site this morning I noticed that today’s post is number 1,135.  My first post was 19 October 2009.  I have missed a few days on occasion; I think it averages out to about 10 days per year that I have not posted.  While the readers have always been supportive, there have been times when others have not been pleased with my efforts.  Bull-headedness has gotten me through those times.  Some would call it dedication,  a couple of other people have another word for my efforts.

STAFF

Here we go boys and girls, our first significant arrival weekend of the 2013 spring program season.  One Scuba Liveaboard crew and four Coral Reef Sailing crews will arrive today.  Divemaster Paul Mangone checked in yesterday to bolster the spring scuba staff.  More sailing and scuba staff members will trickle in over the next week or two.  I will try to note their arrival, but sometimes I forget.

SAILING

The Sea Exploring crew that arrived Friday will board the Schooner Yankee at the Florida Sea Base dock this morning to begin their sail to Key West and then back to Marathon.  Another Sea Exploring crew and four Coral Reef crews will arrive this afternoon.  The normal routine for the Sea Exploring crews is to spend their arrival afternoon going through a shakedown/orientation process, spend the night in the dorm, and then start their sailing adventure the following morning.  The Coral Reef Sailing crews are able to leave the dock after dinner in the summer time.  But in the spring the sun sets too early for this to happen.  So they spend their first night on the boat at the dock and head out before breakfast the next morning.  Today’s Coral Reef Sailing crews will be aboard S/V Silent Harmony with Captain Guiseppe, S/V Misty Shoals with Captain Brian, S/V Chanticleer with Captain Scott and S/V Sprindrift with Captain Joe.

SCUBA

One Scuba Liveaboard crew arrives today.  They will spend the afternoon preparing for tomorrow’s departure; orientation, swim review, scuba gear check-out, and scuba review in the pool.  They will be led by Scuba Instructor Steven Raymond and Divemaster Jenna Burton.  The crew will sail on S/V Lady Nell II with Captain Drew Mead and S/V Adventure with Captain Hans Bockelman.

Project AWARE

There is a button on the top left of this site for Project AWARE.  This is a non-profit organization that originated as a part of PADI.  They are separate organizations now but still closely related. Please click HERE to read an appeal from Leonardo DiCaprio asking for signatures to help reduce the slaughter of sharks and rays.

WEATHER

Friday was much nicer than expect, a mild breeze, a ton of sunshine and and afternoon high of 70°F.  By dinner time many of the Minnesota crew that had arrived for Sea Exploring were already sunburned.  Today we are expecting a lot of sun, a little more wind (but not much) and a high of 76.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

WEATHER

The Florida Sea Base has several friends and alumni in New Jersey.  The state is not having good luck wth named storms that start with “S”.  I copied this yesterday from The Weather Channel:

However, coastal flooding and beach erosion will also be significant impacts from this winter storm.  Let’s break down the timing and potential impacts.

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Delmarva Peninsula, N.J. shore

- East onshore winds increase Wednesday morning, becoming north-northeast Wednesday evening, then switching to offshore winds in most areas by Thursday morning.

- Most significant coastal flood threat from Ocean City, Md. to Sandy Hook, N.J.  Widespread minor to moderate coastal flooding is expected Wednesday.  Widespread moderate flooding is possible Thursday morning.

Locally, Tuesday and Wednesday were very pleasant.  The afternoon highs crept into the low 70s, a ton of sun, and near calm winds.  Yesterday started out nice and warmed up pleasantly but then the wind started roaring from the SW.  Fortunately we do not have any crews on the water right now.  Posted Wednesday by the National Weather Service:

Synopsis…A COLD FRONT IS CURRENTLY SWEEPING ACROSS THE FLORIDA STRAITS WITH FRESH TO STRONG NORTHWEST TO NORTH BREEZES IN ITS WAKE. A LARGE RIDGE WILL MOVE SLOWLY ACROSS THE EASTERN UNITED STATES TO THE WESTERN NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN THROUGH SUNDAY. MODERATE TO FRESH BREEZES FROM THE NORTH TONIGHT WILL LULL THURSDAY THROUGH FRIDAY BEFORE THE RIDGE AXIS MOVES OFF THE EAST COAST STATES. GRADIENT WINDS WILL FRESHEN AGAIN FRIDAY NIGHT THROUGH MONDAY NIGHT WHILE CLOCKING AROUND TO THE EAST.

STAFF

The Florida Sea Base staff members had a great time at the Brinton Environmental Center Tuesday. I sincerely appreciate the hospitality afforded by Captain Scott Martin and the BEC staff.

I saw Robby Adams and Nick Gross splicing lines for the Florida Sea Base power boat fleet yesterday afternoon.  Captain Christy Clemenson had a crew working on final preparations onboard BSA Explorer and BSA Adventure for today’s US Coast Guard inspection.  Laura Kuras spent the day with most of the scuba staff members working on tank maintenance.  They may finish up before the end of the week.  Several of the sailing staff were honing their skills on the Hunter 170s.

Conference Mate Clyde Clark left the Florida Sea Base yesterday.  He spends the summer working at Philmont and has begun his pilgrimage for here, to family and friends, to there.  Clyde is incredible and we miss him already.  We were fortunate to have three retreads from Philmont with us this spring, Clyde, Veronica “Ronnie” Frye and Jim VanHecke, all working on the conference staff.

CORAL REEF SAILING

Despite the stout west wind, two of the Coral Reef Sailing vessels returned to the Florida Sea Base dock yesterday; S/V Flamingo with Captain Tim, (Office Manager) Susan Mahoney and Rocky and S/V New Dawn with Captain Kim Morse at the helm, Captain Bob Morse working the deck and Sinatra providing vocal accompaniments.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

WEATHER

The water temperature on the reef has officially broken the 76°F mark with the Molasses Reef Buoy reporting 76.3°.  This is excellent news.  If you click on the WEATHER page on this site there is a chart of monthly air and water average temperatures.

Our weather forecast from the National Weather Service is calling for a COOL week ahead; lows 55-60°, highs 67-71° and a decent chance of rain.  The rain should be gone with clear skies and warming temperatures the following week.  By the next wave of Scout arrivals the air temperatures should be back into the low 80s.

STAFF

The scuba staff members continued their quest with the scuba tank annual maintenance yesterday morning while the sailing staff members worked on deep cleaning the sailing dorms.  After lunch the Captain Sargon Smith took the staff snorkeling and diving.   Richard Goldman returned to the Florida Sea Base just before dinner time.  He will spend the next two days volunteering as a Scuba Instructor to conduct staff scuba certifications.  One of the benefits of employment at the Florida Sea Base is you can earn your PADI Open Water Diver certification for only $50.

BRRRRR

Tim Gaffron sent me this photo from Minnesota.  It is going to be chilly here for the coming week, but no icicles.

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Tim is the Eagle Coordinator for Troop 84 in Maple Grove, MN.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

 NASCAR

Danica Patrick was the first woman to qualify for the pole position at the Daytona 500.  Sunday she finished 8th, the best finish by a woman in a Daytona 500 race.  She was in 3rd position on lap 199 of 200 but she got boxed in on the top of the track as 5 cars passed her on the last lap.  But this is still a tremendous accomplishment.  Jimmie Johnson won and Dale Earnhardt, Jr. placed second.

SAILING

One Coral Reef Sailing crew checked in Sunday.  They will spending the week with the world’s (2nd) most interesting man, Captain Giuseppe Passanisi onboard S/V Silent Harmony.

SCUBA

The Scuba Liveaboard and Scuba Adventure crews were gone by 09:00.  I accompanied the scuba staff as we made a final pass through the scuba dorms and scuba area to make sure everything was secured.   The scuba staff were given the remainder of the day off (their first day off in a week).

WEATHER

Sunday was hot, with gentle breezes and clear skies.  It would have been a perfect scuba day.  Our temperature is forecasted to not vary by more than 4 degrees for the next 18 hours.  (Tough on the air conditioners.)  The wind will start to build again this afternoon.

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Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

WEATHER

The National Weather Service forecast indicated a drop in the wind for Tuesday afternoon.  But when the Scuba Adventure crew returned to the Florida Sea Base, the wind was still gusting in the 18-19 knot range.  (The wind did lay down, just later than forecasted.)  The current forecast calls for 8-9 knots today.  Hope for the best and prepare for the worst; that’s the nature of high adventure!

SCUBA

The crew completed their scheduled dives despite a lot of gastroenpukeulitis on behalf of the divers.  The dive boat left the dock around 09:30 expecting a drop in wind speed around noon, but that did not materialize.  The divers gutted it out and returned to the Florida Sea Base around 15:30 (3:30 pm).  We had scheduled a night dive (due to the weather forecast) but postponed it until tonight or tomorrow night.

SAILING

The sailing crew was in for shore leave yesterday.  They too were hoping for a little less wind, but still accomplished all of the planned activities for the day; small boat sailing, stand up paddle boarding, kayaking, tubing and volleyball.  Meanwhile, Captain Giuseppe was working on his second boat, S/V Endeavour.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

WEATHER

It is trying to warm up at the Florida Sea Base.  We MAY have broken 70 yesterday.  The wind clocked to the east earlier than expected (not good for the divers) and continued blowing in the 18 knot range.  We are hoping for a high in the upper 70s today and around 80 for the rest of the week.  The wind should be less intense for the next two days.

SCUBA

The Scuba Liveaboard crew loaded provisions and dive gear at the Florida Sea Base and headed to Stock Island yesterday morning to begin their adventure aboard the Schooner Conch Pearl.  The Scuba Adventure crew spent the morning in the pool completing a scuba review and went diving at Alligator Reef in the afternoon.  Captain Christy Clemenson reported good visibility, 3 to 4 foot waves, and “some pukers”.  (Captain Christy can be SO sympathetic.)

SAILING

All of the sailing crews were on the water Monday.  To the best of my knowledge there were no negative incidents.  The wind was great for sailing.

THANKS

I want to thank Florida Sea Base Administrative Assistant Cheryl Ferreri for coming into work yesterday, an official BSA holiday.  We found ourselves in a bit of a bind on some very time sensitive documents and she came in to bail us out.  Thanks Cheryl.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

WEATHER

Although it is very chilly (54°) and still breezy (18 knots) this morning, the weather should improve quickly.  It was sunny but chilly all Sunday.  The wind dropped to about 15 knots and clocked more towards the east making life much more comfortable in the Florida Sea Base marina.  We should climb into the upper 60s today with 15 to 20 knot winds from the east. The winds will make for challenging conditions for the divers.  It should get even warmed Tuesday and Wednesday and the winds will decrease before building again near the end of the week.

PARTICIPANTS

One Sea Exploring crew (sailing on the Schooner Jolly II Rover) and one Coral Reef Sailing crew (sailing on S/V Silent Harmony with Captain Giuseppe Passanisi) arrived.  Sunday another Sea Exploring crew (aboard the Schooner Yankee), one Scuba Adventure crew (with Divemasters Brenda Mallory and Tyler Giblin) and one Scuba Liveaboard crew (aboard the Schooner Conch Pearl with Divemasters Emily Sepeta and Will Morris) checked in.  Additionally, members of the national high adventure base alumni associations left for a week of sailing aboard S/V Misty Shoals with Captain Brian Stolzenberger on Sunday AND Center for Professional Development conference attendees arrived.

SUMMER STAFF

I reviewed all of the staff applications for summer 2013 scuba positions Sunday.  Please be patient with me.  I started making phone calls but have many more people to contact.  A lot going on at the Florida Sea Base and I am attacking the applications as quickly as I can.  If you are interested in a summer position, PLEASE send in an application ASAP.  You can fax them to Rob Kolb at 305-664-2039.  I do have some openings, but most positions are filled.  Captain Luke Knuttel is also looking for more summer staff for the sailing programs.

NASCAR

I didn’t get to see it, but Danica Patrick became the first female to ever win the pole in the NASCAR Daytona 500.  Very cool.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape

33 KNOTS

The Florida Sea Base experienced 33 knot winds between 18:00 and 19:00 yesterday, just enough to be classified as “gale” force.  At 05:00 the wind has slackened a little, but is still blowing like snot and the air temperature is about 60°F.  The temperature should continue to drop for the next few hours to near near 50.  Then it is forecasted to warm back up to a high of 62 this afternoon.  The participants that arrived yesterday are experiencing some serious High Adventure!  The blow will continue through today and tomorrow; it will be a little challenging for the scuba crews.  Hopefully they brought a good supply of Bonine®.  The wind should lay down considerably on Tuesday so the whole week won’t be blown out.

IT’S SNOWING!!!

Not at the Florida Sea Base, but Captain Rich called me yesterday from North Carolina to tell me it was snowing.  He was still not quite to his new home in Oriental.  He said he had never driven in snow before.

STAFF

The sailing staff spent yesterday morning preparing for our crew arrivals.  Sailing Commissioner Bryce Dallmeyer and the returning staff members provided on-the-job training for our new staff members as the Coral Reef and Sea Exploring crews arrived.  The scuba staff was divided into two teams.  Scuba Commissioner Laura Kuras took one team to the scuba area to work on the annual tank inspections while Captain Christy Clemenson took a couple of staff to assist with boat stuff.

Capt. Steve Willis
Professional Scuba Bum™
Aboard S/V Escape