Matts first Florida dive at age 14. We boarded the American Pro dive boat at K.P. Hole County Park and motored 1.1 miles upstream. The Rainbow River Float Dive was a 1.1 mile underwater dive back downstream with the current. Matt and I dove in for the 65 minute dive and were amazed. The clear spring water had incredible 175 feet of visibility. The river bottom depth varied from 10 to 19 feet and was a mix of sand, grass and the occasional bubbling underground spring. We saw catfish, turtles, bass and gar.
Dive Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller, Jacque Miller, Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Shane Miller
Dive Date: June 2008
We booked the Manatee Dive with American Pro Divers. Cruising the Crystal River we spotted several adult manatees and one baby manatee. We entered the water and for over 30 minutes snorkeled, observed and floated with them. Matt and Dave got in trouble from the guide once for diving down and watching two manatees in their underground habitat eating sea grass. We were supposed to stay on the surface and let them come to us, which they did. We were able to touch them and gently rub them. The baby was so cute.
Dive Team: Rosie Miller, Holly Miller, Jacque Miller
Date: 2012
As part of the week-long Disney Cruise Trip from Texas throughout the Caribbean, the ship spent a day anchored at Grand Cayman Island. The girls took a bus to a boat then to a location where they could feed and pet and even kiss large stingrays in shallow water. After many initial screams by Jacque as the rays swam in and out of their legs they got to hold and feed squid to the rays. Later they snorkeled (Photo#3) and watched the rays below. Rosie said they had a great time and felt one with the rays while snorkeling in their habitat.
They left to visit a turtle conservatory and then off to “Hell”, a group of short, black limestone formations (Photo#4) about the size of half a football field. The formations were jagged, spongy looking and gave you an impression of what hell might really look like.
My 56th dive took me down 30 feet to the deck and 67 feet to the bottom of the Lesleen M. The ship was a 165 foot freighter that was sunk in 1986 to provide an artificial reef. It is covered with soft coral, deep sea fans, sponges and is populated by schools of juvenile fish such as damselfish, hamlets and drums. I swam down into a large compartment and peered into holds where I could see ladders but it was pretty dark. The West Indies water was a warm 84 degrees so I did not wear a wetsuit. Saw a moray eel and a frogfish on a nearby reef. Visibility was just 35 feet so the photos look ghostly. Photo #3 shows the bow of the ship along with my air bubbles. The final photo shows a ghostly diver in the top left. Back on the dive boat local natives kayaked over to the boat to sell the divers mango, coconuts or souveniors.
Dive Team: Rosie Miller, Dave Miller Dive Date: June 13, 2012
Rosie’s first ocean dive. I was real proud of her. She did real good. Our dive site was a steep slope with large boulders covered in sponges, coral and gorgonians. It was a beautiful, colorful reef even without large fish. In the shallow part of the reef we saw sea horse, cleaner shrimp, a frog fish, sea urchins, Sgt. Majors, butterfly fish, parrotfish, a crab and lots of smaller fish. For the first time I saw bright yellow fire coral that locals call the “St. Lucia Surprise”. It’s hand off because if you touch it, it burns for three months. We dove about 40 minutes at a depth of 28 feet with 40 foot visibility.
Later back at the resort, we snorkeled. I swam by a 8 inch long water snake, yellow with black spots. I also dove down about 15 feet and brought up a couple of starfish.
Dive Team: Dave Miller, Rosie Miller Dive Date: June 10, 2008
HISTORY: The Hermes was a 165 foot WWII buoy tender built in 1943 with a tall mast positioned forward of the wheelhouse. In 1983 it limped into Bermuda harbor carrying supplies to Cape Verde Island near Africa. The owners did not have money for repairs, so it was sunk as an artificial reef one mile offshore at Horseshoe Bay.
While celebrating our 25th anniversary in Bermuda, I dove and Rosie snorkeled the wreck of the Hermes using Blue Water Divers. I dove about 25 minutes with only 20 feet visibility. Very few photos turned out. The 165 foot long boat was well preserved with the hull resting almost upright at the bottom at about 75 feet with the wheelhouse only 45 feet from the surface. A hurricane recently moved the ship about 300 yards. I had fun swimming through the cabin, lower deck and one hold. A large grouper swan in and out of the pilot’s cabin. Also saw one barracuda.
Dive Team: Holly Miller, Dave Miller Dive Date: December 16, 2015
This was a great shipwreck dive in shallow water with great visibility.
HISTORY: The Kittiwake is a 251 foot long, 44 foot beam, five deck, decommissioned US Navy Submarine Rescue Ship. The 2,200 ton ship launched in July of 1945, it was the first US military vessel to be acquired by a foreign country. It was used by the US Navy during World War II, Korea and Vietnam to rescue sailors from downed submarines. The ship assisted the USS Washington during the the first successful firing of a Polaris missile from an underground sub in July of 1960 off the Florida coast. It was decommissioned in 1994. It was acquired by Cayman Islands Government in 2009 and then sunk as an artificial reef in 2011. The ship rests in 64 feet of water on a flat and sandy bottom.
THE DIVE: Beautiful day, water was a warm 84 degrees with excellent visibility. The crow’s nest and mast is only 15 feet below the surface. The entire ship was easily visible once you submerged in the water. Holly was videotaping the dive on the GoPro. I had trouble equalizing at first. We swam through several decks, the engine and propulsion rooms, crew’s quarters, hospital station & mess hall. The massive propellers and towering smoke stack are still intact. On the top deck we swam through the bridges, radio and navigation rooms. You can pose at the wheel and feel like you were driving the ship. We saw shrimp, crabs and small fish inside the ship. Barracuda and grouper hung around the outside of the ship. The dive lasted 52 minutes. Holly has great video of the dive.
INTERESTING HISTORICAL NOTE: One of the Kittiwake’s famous missions is that in 1986 the ship recovered from the bottom of the Atlantic, the black box from the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster.
Dive Team: Matt Miller, Holly Miller, Dave Miller
Dive Date: December 13, 2015
HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE
The Balboa was a 375 foot long merchant freighter carrying lumber from Cuba. It sank in 1932. Hurricane winds and strong seas smashed her hull against the dock of George Town Harbor. As the cargo of lumber and oil washed ashore, the captain grabbed the strongbox and abandoned ship vowing he would thank God and do something beneficial if no one perished in the disaster. Making good on his promise he built a church on the waterfront. Back on the dive boat after the dive I could see the church steeple a few hundred yards away in the business district.
THE DIVE FINDINGS
It was sunny and 84 degrees. We descended to 37 feet, with 70 feet water visibility. The Balboa is more wreckage than wreck. The wreck is strewn across the sand flats of the shallow area for more than 100 yards. Abundant coral and fish life live on the rusted steel wreckage. The stern section is partially intact, the boiler room barely discernable. Matt videoed the 55 minute dive. A large hawksbill turtle swam by and a second turtle was found hiding under some wreckage. Thousands of fish including parrotfish, trumpet fish, blue tangs, wrasses, hamlets, big eyes, yellowtail snapper, butterfly fish & more were spotted. Leaving the wreck to investigate the reef we saw a beautiful blue spidery anamole and enjoyed a long swim-through cave.
Dive Team: Justin Eller, Holly Miller, Dave Miller
Dive Date: October 23, 2018
It was Dave’s milestone 100th dive and Justin’s first scuba dive here at the Rainbow River. We met American Pro Divers at K.P. Hole County Park with the boat taking us 1.5 miles upstream. This was a float dive as the current slowly took us back downstream with the pontoon boat navigating nearby. We saw dozens of sand boils with warmer water coming out of these natural spring boils. At one boil I stuck my hand down into the loose boiling sand down to my elbow searching for shells, fossils or Indian arrowheads. We dived for 45 minutes with 20-25 foot visibility at a depth of 5 to 25 feet. The swirling sea grass looked golden under the sun. Saw some bass, large gar, a few turtles and lots of small fish.
Dive Team: Holly Miller, Justin Eller, Dave Miller
Dive Date: October 25, 2018
My 102nd dive at Molasses Reef was a memorable dive as it is my last dive to date. It was third dive in two days. The reef had abundant life as we saw stingrays, scorpionfish, angel fish, puffer fish & blue tangs. The dive had one long & two short swim throughs. We dove 48 minutes at a depth of 15 to 30 feet. We got close-up photos of barracuda and a spotted moray eel. I enjoyed taking photos of Holly and her fiancé exploring the swim throughs. That evening we celebrated my milestone “100th dive” by ordering hogfish, rice, clam chowder and a brewski. As dinner went on, I felt ill and my temperature climbed to 103 degrees. Justin drove the entire way back to Ohio. After seeing my oncologist and getting bloodwork, I received the bad news that my cancer had returned only worse – it was acute leukemia.
