Snorkeling & Collecting Discussion Group

Ds04384 · Oct 8, 2018

Ron do you expect anything interesting to wash up on the beaches over the next several days in response to the hurricane?

Ron Reefman · Oct 8, 2018

Ds04384 said:
Ron do you expect anything interesting to wash up on the beaches over the next several days in response to the hurricane?

That's a very interesting question. The winds now, as Michael approaches are out of the east, so they are offshore and I wouldn't expect much of anything. Once it goes past us and we get the on shore winds, from the west, off the bottom of the hurricane, it's possible some good stuff could wash up. But Michael is supposed to be pretty far off shore and I don't know that the winds will be strong enough.

And although I'd love to be out on the beach Thursday or Friday after Michael goes by, I can't. Thursday before the sun rises I'll be in a jet headed to Albuquerque, NM to spend a few days at the Balloon Fiesta. I hope to come home with lots of cool memories and maybe even a few good photos. Here is one of the top 3 winners in last years photo contest in the 'Night Glow" category.

And here is the Grand Prize winner. There are over 100 balloons going up in this one photo and there are about 100 more on the ground getting ready to launch!

Reef-junky · Oct 8, 2018

Wow looks like a good time Ron. Have fun!

cracker · Oct 8, 2018

Hello folks I'm up on the N E coast just south of Jax. We don't get the real pretty stuff like further south We are considered in a temperate climate. however in the summer when the wate is very clear, one can find some interesting inverts. Great forum !

Ron Reefman · Oct 9, 2018

Reef-junky said:
Wow looks like a good time Ron. Have fun!

Both Elaine and I intend to take a LOT of pictures. We both have Nikon P900 super zoom cameras and I'm taking my Go Pro as well. The Nikon has a single built-in lens that goes from 22mm wide angle to 2000mm telephoto. Here is a pic from in front of our house looking down our street. See the stop sign at the end of the street? No?

How about now? I haven't moved an inch closer to the sign either.

I got one to do sports photography (mostly sports car racing) and Elaine liked it so much that one weekend when I was at a race, she went on a nature hike and didn't have the camera. When she got home she went online and found a used one and bought it! LOL!

And I got the Go Pro to video my auto-x runs while doing data collection.

cracker said:
Hello folks I'm up on the N E coast just south of Jax. We don't get the real pretty stuff like further south We are considered in a temperate climate. however in the summer when the water is very clear, one can find some interesting inverts. Great forum !

I'd be very interested in anything you can collect along the NE coast of Florida, whether it's picked up off the beach (empty shells or live animals) or collected while snorkeling. Don't you live in the area where there is a strange little critter called a sea petunia or something like that? I can't remember the correct name.

Have you read about tearing some 'fresh' sponges open that you find on the beach? It's talked about somewhere in this thread. I'm going to miss what may be a good opportunity this week after hurricane Michael goes by because I'll be gone. But the dry season (winter to most of the US) isn't far off and that's when SW Florida gets far better shelling and a chance to collect some live animals off the beach. Down here we only get good strong westerly winds a few times a year when a strong cold front makes it all the way here.

cracker · Oct 9, 2018

Hello Ron, I'll look into the "Sea Petunia " . Iv'e seen small plain anemones on jetty rocks & boat dock floats ,sponges , lot's of plain camouflaged goby's Also the biggest red Hermits Iv'e ever seen. I mean the claw as big as a baby's fist. sea robins etc. more colorful fish on the offshore reefs which would require scuba. The occasional octopus ( large ), good clean sand alga's .nothing real fancy . When a friend goes to the keys, they bring me some real nice live sand.

Reef-junky · Oct 9, 2018

Which one is you under water camera again?

Ron Reefman · Oct 9, 2018

Reef-junky said:
Which one is you under water camera again?

I use an Olympus Tough. It's only good to 50 feet, but I use it for snorkeling, not scuba diving (I'm not a diver). And it works great in the aquarium. It has a F2.0 lens which is faster than all the other 'tough' cameras so it can use a faster shutter speed. That does make a difference when you are shooting underwater. It also has a 3X zoom.

Ron Reefman · Oct 17, 2018

We're back from the International Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Albuquerque and it was AWESOME!!!

I started a thread here: https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/albuquerque-balloon-fiesta.479315/

And over the next few days I'll be posting a lot of photos at my Flickr account. We took a 'tour' package with an outfit called Road Scholars and they did a wonderful job. We promised the other 38 people on the trip with us that we would post up the better ones out of the 1100 photos we took in just a couple of hours during Saturdays 'Mass Ascension' of 600 balloons. And notice all the people! Almost 100,000 people show up every morning before dawn. And you are welcome to get up close and personal with the balloons and their crew. The 50th Balloon Fiesta is in the next couple of years and I think we'll go do it again!

BTW, there are about 60 balloons in this photo, now imagine 10 times this many all launched in roughly 2 hours! The sky is literally littered with balloons!

Reef-junky · Oct 17, 2018

You ever hear about that guy that made a make shift hot air balloon out of a lawn chair and army surplus balloons Ron?

Ron Reefman · Oct 17, 2018

Reef-junky said:
You ever hear about that guy that made a make shift hot air balloon out of a lawn chair and army surplus balloons Ron?

Yes I have. I think I even saw a video. Somebody did it with ordinary balloons filled with helium!
BTW, there are a number of balloons at the Fiesta that will take up passengers. Many can only take 2 or 3 but there were a handful of commercial units that could take as many as a dozen. The bad news is, the going rate during the Fiesta is $800 per person for an hour or more!

Reef-junky · Oct 17, 2018

Reef-junky · Oct 17, 2018

Ron Reefman said:
Yes I have. I think I even saw a video. Somebody did it with ordinary balloons filled with helium!

mythbusters tested it and worked but you would have to be nuts to do it.

Ron Reefman · Oct 17, 2018

That's where I saw it! Thanks for reminding me.

cracker · Oct 17, 2018

Y a me too I always thought it was an urban myth.

tripdad · Oct 17, 2018

Nice photo Ron! I've always talked about going to see a launch, gotta get of my duff and do it.

Reef-junky · Oct 17, 2018

cracker said:
Y a me too I always thought it was an urban myth.

Here’s the story

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawnchair_Larry_flight

Ron Reefman · Oct 23, 2018

Well, it's starting to cool off in SW Florida. We actually opened the windows last night as the lows were below 70 degrees! This weekend, actually Sat thru Tues, we have a weather system coming through that will create westerly winds off the Gulf of Mexico which is very uncommon. If they are strong enough it could mean better shelling and maybe even some possible critter collecting. The predictions don't look like typical cold front winds of 15 to 20+ mph (which we only get a few times over the winter), but 4 days of 8 to 13 mph may just work. So as soon as that weather gets here, I'll be out on the Sanibel beaches.

This is my wife getting a portrait of a Florida Fighting Conch.

OPtasia · Oct 24, 2018

That's pretty cool. I wish I still had my open water PADI certification because I would dearly love to do a little diving and amateur collecting. I had to give it up when I developed some complicated inner ear issues that required two major surgeries to correct. @cracker, hey man i'm up here in Orange Park.

Captain Quint · Oct 24, 2018

OPtasia said:
That's pretty cool. I wish I still had my open water PADI certification because I would dearly love to do a little diving and amateur collecting. I had to give it up when I developed some complicated inner ear issues that required two major surgeries to correct. @cracker, hey man i'm up here in Orange Park.

OPtasia you could take a short refresher course. You're still be certified.

If your PDG is old and need hydro or VIP and you don't want to go through the hassle you could rent some gear and go, my friend.