Sometime after midnight we rock & roll from Palm Beach to Grand Bahama, arriving there around 9:30 am. Having watched the sunrise from the aft deck, I can't say the sea was particularly rough, but the M/V Shear Water sure made it feel like it, robbing several of us from a good night's sleep.
Bahamian immigration formalities handled for us by the crew, we get on our way again while Jim thoroughly briefs us about diving with sharks: what to expect, how to behave, etc. Several hours later, we're all pretty anxious to get in the water.
Dive #1 [ 14:45 | EAN33 | 45' | max.21m, avg.14m | viz<10m | 29°C ]
Check-out dive with a dozen caribbean reef sharks (1½–2m), cruising around the bait crates, often swimming by pretty close :o) For our well-being, we're all equipped with a sturdy 1m length of PVC tubing, to prevent them from getting too personal on our first encounter.
This being the initial dive of the trip, I did not bring any camera yet, just the empty new housing, to test its waterproofness, concentrating in stead on getting myself & my scuba gear tuned as necessary.
Despite 29°C warm water, a 7mm wetsuit and 2mm hooded vest, I got cold after only 30' due to lack of sleep and undernourishment in the last 24h. Reason enough to skip the second dive of the day.
