Air Temperature 80-89 deg. Water Temperature 82-84 deg F (28 Celsius). Visibility 75 to 100 ft. and more! Wet suits: 3 mil to shorts and rash guards or skin.
Crew this week: Capt. Jon, Engineer Henri, Chef Savio, Instructors Samantha, Cassie and Stewardess Muri.
Saturday 18th October 2008 E 10-15
Hello and welcome as we greet a full boat of 18 guests from all over the United States for another week on board the Cayman Aggressor IV. It was a beautiful afternoon in George Town as we welcomed everyone onboard to settle in for another week of diving and indulging in Chef Savio’s finest cooking. Everyone arrived and settled early again this week, making for a nice Saturday departure for Little Cayman. So we pulled up the fenders and waved goodbye to George Town as we acquainted ourselves with each other while Savio fired up the BBQ! After a long day’s travel everyone was happy to get a nice meal of ribs, sausage and BBQ chicken, as we watched the sunset over the ocean en route to the Sister Islands.
Sunday 19th October 2008 E 10-15
This morning we woke up on Randy’s Gazebo, a very healthy wall dive off the Bloody Bay section of Little Cayman. After a nice big breakfast everyone was very excited to get in the water for the first dive of the week. The weather was calm and good visibility provided for a relaxing check out dive this morning. Our resident baby turtle even made his appearance, along with a spotted eel, a giant green moray, and some bright blue schools of Creole wrasse. During lunch we headed up to another dive site in the Jackson Bay area, known as The Meadows. The visibility was a bit low, but an eagle ray was still hanging around, as well as a nice sized nurse shark. We decided to try moving down a little for the second afternoon dive and night dive to a site known as Bus Stop. Bus Stop is best known for its swim-thrus and stunning mini wall, as well as the small creatures it is home to such as sailfin blennies and various juvenile species. This evening there were no disappointments as an eagle ray gracefully fed in the sand around all the divers, followed by some fighting sailfin blennies and a baby French angelfish no bigger than a fingernail; all providing for great photo opportunities for the several guests this week into their underwater photography. We followed the dive with a lovely dinner of pan-seared snapper in a coconut cream sauce, the beginning of another week of fabulous cooking on board the Cayman Aggressor. Once the sun had set, (and everyone’s stomachs settled a bit!) we headed back out to the dive deck for the first night dive of the week. Strobes set, dives planned, we hopped in the water for our last dive of the day: seeing a few lobsters, eels, and even a couple of squid. After everyone was welcomed with some hot towels and hot chocolate, we packed up again and headed off to bed.
Monday 20th October 2008 NNE 20
First things first on this 20th day of October… a big Happy Birthday to Susan from all of us on the Cayman Aggressor! Not a bad way to spend your birthday here in the Caribbean! The weather shifted a bit overnight, but the diving continues first thing this morning. After an attempt last night to try and dive the Russian Destroyer, today we found ourselves back on Jackson Bight at the Meadows in order to counter the weather. The visibility was a little low for the first dive, but cleared up nicely on the second morning dive, presenting a massive queen trigger fish for Rich and a nice photo op of a reef shark for Rose Marie. A bit overcast through the afternoon, with a few showers made for some interesting diving this evening on one of our favorite sites, 3 Fathom wall, also known as “Mixing Bowl”. A little rain never hurt anyone! Cassie took John on his first ride on one of the torpedo scooters on board as the rest of the divers hopped in to the action that is the Mixing Bowl. We had a few sightings of some yellow headed jawfish with eggs, schooling grunts and Bermuda chub, as well as a nice sized turtle munching away on some sponges and paying no attention to the divers as usual. Our second dive here had no disappointments either, with a little yellow ray in the shallows, three turtles along with several flamingo tongues. We decided to head back to the Meadows for dinner and a not-to-be-missed night dive. After a beautiful dinner and birthday celebration cake for Susan, we got in the water again. The water had cleared up significantly, and the night creatures had begun their evening, including some crab, basket stars, a southern stingray and even a decent sized reef shark. With a little bit of popcorn and a movie after the dive, everyone was happy and settled for the evening.
Tuesday 21st October 2008 ENE 15
Today we moved to another of our favorite sites along Jackson Bight which as been known in the last couple months to be frequented by our favorite seahorse, Cletus. We decided to have a little bit of fun with the guests, and offer a reward for finding Cletus since he had gone missing recently. A free t-shirt (as it is boutique day!). Cletus never showed, but Sarah’s Set proved to be a favorite amongst the guests, especially on the mini wall with the extremely healthy coral and fish life. A few people saw a big green moray, a reef shark and another southern stingray and as everyone slowed down in search for the seahorse, the smaller creatures became more apparent, with Jim spotting a lettuce leaf sea slug and Geri spotting some sort of “grey, snake-like eel” wrapped in a piece of coral. She was unable to locate the head to identify it…yet another mystery for only the reef to know! For the afternoon site we head back down to Bloody Bay Wall for Marilyn’s Cut. Marilyn’s Cut is distinctive due to a giant crack in the reef, which leads divers about 100 ft through to a sky lit opening on the wall. Both dives here were well enjoyed as the weather overall has cleared up significantly. Visibility was back to the expected 100ft plus, with no currents what so ever. The first of the afternoon dives provided us with a beautiful big spotted moray, and Henri discovering a miniscule spotted drum. The second dive brought out a few quarreling wrasse at dusk and a “convention of flamingo tongues.” We stayed here for the night dive, with several people joining in and spreading in all directions to hunt down a couple crabs, a spotted moray, the resident barracuda hiding under the boat and another reef shark! It was another quiet satisfying night, as we dispersed to rest up for our second attempt in the morning at the Russian Destroyer on the Cayman Brac.
Wednesday 22nd October 2008 ENE 10-15
As the bright red sun rose over Little Cayman this morning, the Cayman Aggressor headed off in the direction of Cayman Brac. Destination - the Russian Destroyer. The morning weather had changed completely from the previous couple days, bringing us a beautiful blue sky and very little swell. As everyone slowly rose from their cabins to get some coffee and breakfast, we arrived at our mooring on the stern of the Russian Destroyer #356. The 330ft long wreck was sunk in 1996 by the Cayman government after purchasing it from Cuba, and though it has seen many changes in the past 12 years, it has grown steadily into the healthy artificial reef it was meant to be. The dives were impressive for both the new comers and veteran divers of the wreck, noticing the healthy tube and rope sponges, as well as sea fans and fish life, which now call the Destroyer home. One of the four scorpion fish was spotted this morning, and several photos taken of everyone with those still intact battle guns. During lunch we headed back to Little Cayman for a favorite afternoon spot, the Great Wall. This section of Bloody Ball Wall is the most dramatic and sheer part, with the reef dropping from 20ft of water straight down to depths well into the thousands of feet. This site offers an added bonus when the divers come back on top of the reef with the anxious Freddie and the groupers. Freddie was extra frisky today, nudging off any other groupers who came in for some attention from the divers. Though he is looking for someone to help him catch some food, through a phenomenon known as nuclear hunting, Freddie is tame enough to let just about anyone give him a little pet, or even a kiss on the lips. The site gave us some other excitement as well today while a couple of the divers went on the scooters for the second dive, they noted seeing a turtle munching away with some angel fish and a Caribbean reef shark. We moved back up to Three Fathom Wall a.k.a. “The Mixing Bowl” for the night dive and in preparation for the predawn dive, which turned out to being an excellent idea, as the night creatures were nearly overwhelming. With nearly everyone jumping in for the last night dive of the week, they were well impressed to find nearly every night critter imaginable out. From channel clinging crabs to neck crabs, squid, octopus, golden tail eels, three different types of nudibranch, a 7ft reef shark, and even the very rare red banded lobster. We put on another movie as everyone relaxed in preparation for the predawn dive first thing in the morning.
Thursday 23rd October 2008 ESE 10-15
This morning began before the sun had rose and we began our day with a refreshing predawn dive on the Mixing Bowl. Every diver was up and anxious to make the most of the last day in Little Cayman, and quickly buddied up and jumped in. Though it was dark when the dive started, everyone came up refreshed and ready for the morning. After some breakfast of Eggs Benedict, we moored up at Nancy’s Cup of Tea at the east end of Bloody Bay. Nancy’s Cup of Tea offers an abundance of fish life, including reef sharks, schools of creole wrasse, a couple of turtles, a spotted moray and a few arrow crabs. However, we had a special appearance this week with a beautiful little black long-snout seahorse! We decided to name him Sirus and he quickly became popular amongst the divers. We finished early as the tide began to come out, and moved the yacht down to our last Little Cayman site of the week, Joy’s Joy. After a nice siesta, everyone was briefed on the different contours of Joy’s Joy, slipped on their wetsuits and made that giant stride. With several people naming this site one of their personal favorites, they came back with stories of nurse sharks, turtles and green morays. After finishing another dive here, we packed up the boat and headed back to Grand Cayman, dining on the Aggressor signature Thursday Thanksgiving dinner. During dinner we enjoyed looking back on the week through the video presentation and slideshow images taken throughout the week.
Friday 24th October 2008 E 10
After a good night’s rest with stomachs full of turkey, we awoke this morning for an early dive of the last main attraction of the Cayman Islands, Stingray City. Though there were a few who had done Stingray City before, nearly everyone took the opportunity to interact with these amazing creatures. On a nice sandy bottom in only 14ft of water, the stingrays magically appear and circle the divers resting on the bottom waiting for them. Occasionally these guys can get a little overwhelming when they haven’t been fed for a while, leaving their signature “stingray hickey” behind. Today however, they were as docile and graceful as ever, gliding through the water and greeting the divers with gentle nudges. As we munched on some brownies and settled our week’s expenses, we headed for our last site of the week on the west side of Grand Cayman, Devil’s Grotto. The dive was beautiful, giving us a last look at some giant anemones, a hawksbill turtle, flamingo tongues and the beautiful swim-thrus that the site is known for. Everyone now began to pack up his or her belongings in preparation to head home. We’d also like to send out a big congratulations to Keith and Kathy for completing their 500th dive and Roxanne for her 100th. Also, nice work to Jean who completed an SDI Nitrox Course and Paul for his SSI Advanced Adventure Diver certification.
Until next week,
Samantha and the crew of the Cayman Aggressor IV!
