The Dry Tortugas Liveaboard The Ultimate Getaway is a 100' dive
vessel out of Fort Myers, Florida. It has a nice layout... with two
bunk sections in the mid and bow w/ dorm style bunks and 4 full
heads with showers. We had to bring towels, bedding and dive gear
but everything else was provided including tanks. The nitrox system
was down so I didn't need my cert (which I got for the trip) or the
nitrox for that matter when you consider the number of dives we were
able to do. The boat holds 20 divers and we had 16 on board. An
outstanding group of people and I enjoyed meeting everyone. Special
thanks to Robin for pulling us together. I decided to make the 12
hour drive instead of flying since I had to carry so much and didn't
want to risk the hassles (I am sure you know them well) of flying.
Walter was nice enough to meet me in Ft Myers, show me around and be
my dive buddy for the few dives we managed to make. The wind was
howling on Sunday night as we pulled away from the dock but we all
had hopes and the forecast called for it to subside over the next
few days ... boy were they wrong. The ride out was a little bumpy
but we were going with the seas and wind so it wasn't too bad ...
now the ride back in was another story. Woke up to rough conditions
on Monday morning so Capt Rick anchored in a protected spot between
Fort Jefferson and Loggerhead Key and after breakfast we dropped in
to see what we could see ... which wasn't much ... vis was only
about 10 ft and the current was pretty strong ... so we completed
the dive with hopes of finding a site with more desirable
conditions. The second dive was better, the vis had cleared another
20 ft, the water temp was about 79 deg. but the current was still
raging. Several in the group had to be picked up by junior (the
chase boat). Four tried to climb in on one trip and junior became a
submarine !!! The crew jumped into action and junior was saved,
thank goodness because he was needed again the next day. I believe
Walter and I were the only ones during the entire trip that didn't
take a ride in junior! We spent the rest of the afternoon walking
around Fort Jefferson and taking pics. Tuesday looked like a wash as
the seas had not calmed and the winds were still blowing strong so
off we went to Loggerhead Key. We decided to go snorkeling on the
back side and spend the morning exploring the island ... I found
several treasures including a great hat and sun visor ... both I
gave away ... after lunch we decided to dive again ... the plan was
to drop in and swim to the anchor line and descend down the line ...
I never made it. The current was so strong I was barely making any
headway ... I made it to the front of the vessel descended a few
feet only to be swept under the bow and when I looked up I was close
to being struck on the head from the bouncing boat ... so I pushed
off from the keel and came out the other side ... I was breathing so
rapidly from exertion and the thought of being hit in the head that
I could not catch my breath or slow my breathing ... Walter was soon
by my side asking if I was OK and trying to inflate my BC (I had
already filled it) as the current was rapidly taking me past the
boat I waved to the mate who threw me a line and pulled me safely to
the stern. Needless to say I called that dive as did Kathy who was
swept past the reef and spent her bottom time swimming back to the
boat. After moving to another site I decided to try it again ...
this time dropping in and descending immediately ... the current was
still strong but to me it was the best dive of the trip. We saw a
large hogfish, four lobsters, several beautiful angles, a grouper
and the typical smaller reef fish. Thanks to Walter's navigation, we
came up very near the stern ... much to my relief. We had hoped to
get in a wreck dive the next morning but the weather did not favor
us ... guess we should have made that sacrifice to the weather gods.
So we headed back to Ft Myers ... this time into the seas... four of
us in the forward bunks soon found ourselves on the back deck just
trying to find a little abatement from the pounding seas. So Walter,
April and I told jokes (well mainly Walter) soon making us forget
out discomfort, laughing until 3am ... waiting for a break to
finally get some ZZZZZ's. We pulled back into the dock between 9 &
10am Wednesday, a little bruised and battered but all safe and
sound ... and even with all the challenges we faced I still had a
great time. I would do it again. Want to join me ...