| Well, we went out to
check the reef and see if there were any critters to put in the cooler.
The weather was nice, and we pointed the boat to a ledge 28 miles out. The
current was ripping, and the marker jugs wouldn't hold unless they lodged
in a rock. Once they did grab, they were sucked under. We knew it wasn't
going to be easy, but we went down anyways. Once on the bottom, the vis
was around 30'. The temp was a chilly 67F, but with 7mm of neoprene I
hardly felt it. We had to pull ourselves into the current, there was no
need in trying to swim.
The next dive was inshore a few
miles, the current was still moving fast. We put a jug on the ledge and
started gearing up for the dive when two boats went past us. They turned
around and anchored 50 ft from our jug. Diver down flags get ignored by
most of the boaters, and one day someone is going to get killed by one of
the ignorant boaters. One of the local charter captains ignores the diver
down flag as well as the code flag Alpha. On several occasions the Sea
Puppy has accosted us while we were diving. He tried to steal our jug
once, but the mate missed it with the gaff. We laughed at him and told the
six people he had on the boat they might want to gaff their own fish since
he couldn't gaff a stationary object. We took some photos of this fool and
called the Coast Guard.
The vis dropped off to around
15' and a swell was starting to develop. Now we were being pushed south by
the current, and we were being tossed back and forth by the swell. We put
some lobster in the bag and made our way to the surface. When we were back
on the boat, we noticed one of the other boats was having engine trouble. That's
karma.
The last dive was inshore a
little more, and the vis was now at 5' with the current still pumping. I
picked a ledge that was oriented in a direction where I would be protected
from the current. It was a very easy dive as long as I stayed below the
plateau. When we started home, the seas were building and getting tight.
We settled in for the long ride. The air temp dropped to a point where we
were all freezing by the time we hit the inlet. Although we were cold, we
knew that we would warm up when we fired up the grill and cooked some
lobster and grouper.
If you have ever had a problem
with the Sea Puppy or any other boat which violate the divers space, let
us know by using the form below.
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