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Dive Log: 2005
Date: 17 Apr 05 The boat is running
great. The only problem was with my
freshwater pump which failed after three years.
Candy ordered a new one (18 April) and I installed it the same day. Date: 19 Apr 05 The Navy Wave Model and the Marine Forecast were bogus. Should have been variable winds 10 knots or
less, and seas about a foot. By the time
we were 10 miles south of the Pass, the wind was steady at about 15 knots out
of the southeast. We got knocked around
pretty good. We left the dock at 0850
and returned at 1830. Dive One: Angelina.
Candy had a mask flood and motioned for me to dive solo. Dive Two: Deborah.
This wreck is less than two miles from the Angelina, so the conditions
were the same. Candy used her backup
mask, but by the time we hit bottom, she found out her BC wasn’t holding
air. We were surrounded by AJs that were
just under legal. I never took a shot. Dive Three: Janet.
I wanted to see the LCM-8 sitting upright, but there was a boat on
it. We didn’t fix Candy’s BC problem,
but we have had a similar problem before.
When Candy got to the deck of the wreck, she removed one weight pocket
and left it next to the anchor line. She
was fairly neutral for the rest of the dive.
The vis was 20 ft or less. We had the same “less than legal” AJs all
over us. I finally made it down under
the bow (the bottom is at 103 ft after Ivan scoured the sand away). Saw a lobster sitting in the sand under some
old anchor rope. As I went to grab him,
he took off, but he hung up on a piece of monofilament and I grabbed him out of
midwater. I am really glad to be carrying a lift bag on every dive. This time, I dropped the anchor past the
wreck and drifted back over it. The
anchor line was fouled in some of the structure, so it would
not have been easy to just motor forward over the wreck and use the anchor
ball. I used the lift bag to get the
anchor up and over to the down-current side of the wreck. Candy dumped some of the air out of the lift
bag so we wouldn’t drift into the boat anchored on the LCM-8, then we used the
anchor ball as usual. Except for getting beat up by the 3-4 ft seas, it was great being back
in the water. Boat ran great again, and
the new fresh water pump is working super. Date: 2 May 05 Navy Wave Model was fairly accurate.
Marine forecast was off by a couple of hours. We shoved off about 0830. The northeast wind was still cranked up. We thought about Baskins Barge, then decided to drop by the LCM-8 first. By the time we were a couple of miles
offshore, we were into 3 ft waves and whitecaps. Wind was not the predicted 10 kts, more like
15 -20 kts. We decided to get as close
to shore as possible. Dive One: Miss Louise.
Yes, the Miss Louise. I hate that
wreck. Dive Two: Air Force Barge. Another wreck I will only dive if I am forced
inshore. Fortunately, it held red
snapper. I shot a big sow that spun
off. Candy shot 2 more, then I shot about a 27 incher. My shaft broke at the weld near the
notches. It must have had a defect. Candy tried out her new back plate and wings. Buoyancy control was fine and the
streamlining is much better than her old SeaQuest. It will take a couple of dives for her to get
use to the new placement of gear. We bought a “Sun Shower”. It’s a
4-5 gallon bag that heats water when you lay it in the sun. Water hit 104 degrees and felt great going
down the wetsuit. Boat continues to run great. Date: 7 May 05 Temp: 68F on the top, will check the computer later 0720 arrival at the
Dive One: Belize Queen.
Seas were calm, almost no current.
Since we were tied to the stern of another boat, we had to make a longer
swim than normal. Dive Two (for Stone and
Jim): After the surface interval, my
buddy and I headed down. I tied off a
reel line to the anchor chain and started a circular search. I found the gun about 60 ft from my anchor as
I started the second circle. Best sand
dive I ever made. I also encountered
some of the old wheelhouse, but it is just scrap that is too small to be seen
on a bottom finder. Dive Two (for Candy): After driving around the boat parking lot for
a while, we found the Odyssey open (probably because it is beat to death and
has very little relief). Candy did a
solo dive, but did not pull the trigger. Dive Three: Tried to hit an old spot. The anchor chain fouled the flukes, but we
didn’t know until it was too late. Candy
was first to the anchor. She un-fouled
the flukes, and set the anchor in the sand (mud). We hit the water with the GPS showing .03
miles (which is normal for scope at that depth). I made it to the edge of the site after swimming
150/200? ft. We
didn’t have time to investigate. Back on
the boat, the GPS told us we were about .08 of a mile from the site. Epilogue: While telling my buddy about replacing the
fuel tank, rewiring most of the boat, and replacing vents, the holding tank,
and the trim tab hydraulic unit . . . I
also mentioned that I dropped a hatch cover on the distributor cap (which I
replaced). Since my boat has never run
this good, I am now leaning toward the theory that my old distributor cap was
to blame. Date: 12 May 05 Date: 14 May 05 Got an earlier start today. Met Subdude and Jim at the marina at 0630 and
shoved off at 0710. Boggy Bayou was nice
and flat. The Bay started building on
the way to the pass. The Gulf had a SE
swell that started out about 2 ft, but was easily 3 ft by the time we reached
our first site. The swell period was not
too short, so it wasn’t terrible. Dive One: Jim and Subdude. Tried to find the Valp #2
boat. Didn’t see anything exactly
on the old numbers, but saw a little relief within .01 miles. I apparently dropped the anchor between what
is left of the boat and some of the culverts in the area. Subdude may give more details, but he said
the boat is broken up. I think the vis was 30 ft. Dive One: Prewitt Tug.
Tug has moved due to Ivan. I will
post the new coordinates in the ECRA member’s forum. I drove over the old numbers twice and saw
nothing. After about 10 minutes of
“freehand” searching, we started preparing a marker buoy to start an
“organized” search. I put the boat in
idle, but kept my eye on the bottom finder.
Before we had a chance to throw the buoy overboard, we drifted over the
wreck. The surface current was pretty
strong, but we had 2 up and 2 down, so we weren’t as worried. The Prewitt is still upright and in fine
condition. Many schools of AJ, but 99%
were short. As soon as we hit the deck,
we saw a Goliath Grouper which was less than 5 ft (I use Candy as my ruler),
several large ‘cudas, and a few red snapper.
I shot a lonely red grouper. Dive Two: Prewitt Tug again. We were hoping for some legal AJs to visit,
but no luck. I shot a red snapper. We considered a third dive on the Janet or LCM-8, but the seas were
still building and the following swell was pushing the boat around like a
drunken sailor. Getting through the pass
was fun! Boat ran great, but the main bilge pump was intermittent. I’ll probably buy a new pump, then work on the old one. If anyone needs marine stuff, let us know. Candy is a dealer in discounted name brand
marine parts and equipment. She can get
really good prices on quite a few boat parts & accessories. Date: 21 May 05 (ECRA Fishing/Spearfishing Tournament) I loaded most of the gear on the boat the night before. We left the house at 0430, and left the dock
a little after 0500. Lightning was over
Destin while it was still dark, and as the sun rose, we could see the storm
front. After clearing the Pass and
determining the swell and wind conditions, we headed SSW. Dive One: Deborah.
For the first time ever, we beat the fishing boats to a site. First anchor drop didn’t catch, so we pulled
it and tried again. Strong North wind
against a 3-4 ft SW swell made for a rocking boat and difficult gear-up and
entry. There was a fairly strong surface
current, so we increased the tag line to about 150 ft. The Deborah is upside down, so there is no
superstructure to hold fish. If the AJs
don’t come to visit, then you have to look for fish with your belly in the sand
which is at 135 ft. Dive Two: Angelina.
We made the dive a little over an hour after the Deborah. I didn’t see any fish in the superstructure,
so I went to the sand again (135 ft).
Shot one red snapper, but had to call the dive when I went into Deco
(Candy went into Deco a minute later).
Had a beautiful spotted dolphin visit us on the surface, and on the way
to the next site, I saw what looked like a squadron of turtles just under the
surface. Dive Three: FWB-Butler-Brown Barge. After Deco diving, we needed to move inshore
for some shallower dives. Drove by the
Destin Liberty Ship (boat parking lot) and over to the Reefex Tank area. There were boats on all the tanks, too. We ran over to the FWB barge just as a boat
moved out of the area. The barge has
moved and I will post the numbers in the ECRA member’s forum. The top of the barge use to be fairly intact,
but many of the deck plates and side plates were disintegrated by Ivan. Candy saw a Goliath Grouper.
. . probably the reason for no fish on the barge. Dive Four: The boats in the Reefex area had departed, so
we went to the tank we had first tried to dive.
Dive Five: We didn’t have much time to look for another
site before the tournament weigh-in, so we stayed on the tank for our last
dive. We got skunked. Epilogue: We made it to the weigh-in at AJ’s with 15 minutes
to spare. The fish fry and awards
ceremony was a lot of fun. Candy’s
flounder earned her first place in the lady spearfisher division (she was also
the only lady spearfisher). I picked up
second place in the Gag Grouper and Red Snapper spearfishing categories. We motored back home through a one-foot chop on the bay, but the moon
was almost full and the vis was good (I’m still glad I
have radar). At one point I saw a shrimp
boat dead ahead, but I could only see his stern light, so I thought I was
following him. As I got closer, I could
see that I was approaching him from his port, so I maneuvered around him. Turns out, his port lights were not working. We made home port about Date: 28 May 05 Wx: Clear, winds West to WSW, 70F in the morning, high 80s F We were on the bayou by 0630.
Bay was fairly calm Dive One: Hit an old wreck that was pretty beat up by
Ivan. It sits in a hole, so what little
structure is left is about level with the seafloor. The bottom finder shows no relief, but I was
able to see a change in the density of the bottom. I shot two nice black snappers (24 inches)
and a trigger. Candy shot a red snapper
and a trigger. Dive Two: Same wreck. . . more
triggers. Dive Three: Another wreck. We were going to retrieve Candy’s spear, but there was a boat on the
tank. Date: 29 May 05 Wx: Overcast early, then clear.
Winds West to WSW, 70F in the morning, high 80s F We were on the bayou by 0630.
Bay was nearly flat. Marine
forecast called for 2-3 ft seas, but this time they were off by 6 hours in our
favor. The seas actually calmed between
0630 and 1230. Current on all sites was
non-existent. The end of the granny line
that attaches to the anchor line was dropping down about 50 ft, so after
stepping off the dive platform, each descent was almost straight down to the
site. After burning many $$ on offshore
excursions, we decided to stay close. Dive One: Went to the tank that swallowed Candy’s spear
during the ECRA tournament. I took a
boat hook down with me and managed to retrieve the spear after 10 minutes of
effort. Dive Two: Went to another tank. Same bad vis and a
couple more triggers. Dive Three: Hard bottom.
I got Candy’s spear back, but broke a tip (a better than even
trade). We were finished diving by
1230. Took a hot shower courtesy of the
“Sun Shower” laid out on the hard-top, got into dry clothes, and made a
leisurely (gas friendly) run back to port.
Wind and seas were building the whole time, so we finally got lucky with
our timing. Date: 4 Jun 05 Wx: Clear and partly cloudy.
Winds SE, 70F in the morning, high 80s F Got to the marina by 0600 and we were in the bayou by 0635. Buddies were Candy and Jim. One minute after clearing the Pass, the
temperature gauge shot to 240 F and the alternator gauge dropped below 12
volts. I chopped the throttle and turned
back to get into the snorkeler’s jetty. The temp and alt gauges returned to normal
almost immediately and there were no other signs of overheating, so we assumed
it was a sensor or electrical problem.
Marine forecast was pretty close.
There were more 4 ft swells than 2 ft swell. The SE wind and the SW swell made for painful
rocking. Dive One: Broken Bottom. Due to sea conditions, we decided to stay
inshore. Nice dive, but this site must
get fished a lot. I used a new 5-mil
Hyperstretch instead of my 7/5 Goldcore. . . much more
comfortable and easy to get into.
Surface current was a little strong, and there was some current on the
bottom. On the way to the next site, the engine temp shot up again. This time we opened the hatch and removed the
cabin steps to see what we could see.
While I moved the throttle from idle to higher RPMs, Jim checked out the
belts that run the alternator, seawater pump, and block pump. Jim discovered that at higher RPMs, the
pulley on the block pump was not keeping up.
He tightened up the belt and we were good to go for the rest of the day. Dive Two: More broken bottom. The vis on top was
at least 50 ft, but the bottom was only 15 ft.
Candy clipped off a line reel to the anchor line, but it fouled and we
took a long time to fix it. I took
Candy’s under-powered gun on this dive because I didn’t expect to see any real
action. The first fish I saw was a 20 lb
grouper. I couldn’t even try the shot
with the short gun. I got a trigger and
a couple of lobsters. Dive Three: We stayed on the same site so I could take
down the big gun to get the grouper.
Strangely, there were very few fish.
Ten minutes into the dive we found out why. Two bull sharks were patrolling. One was only 5 ft, but the other one was
about 8 ft. Candy picked up some nice
shells and I picked up some lead. Epilogue: Made it back to the Pass by about 1600. SW swell was meeting outgoing tide, so the
Pass was a washing machine with 4-6 ft waves going in every direction.
. . always an adventure! Bay was pretty
choppy, but not white-capping. Back in port by 1630. Date: 14 Jun 05 Wx: Clear and partly cloudy.
Winds SW, 74F in the morning, high 80s F later Buddies were subdude, Jim, and Candy.
We started loading the boat at 0530.
At 0600 I pushed the throttle forward and it broke. Checked linkage to the carburetor and the
transmission and everything was okay. Removed the panel that holds the throttle handle and found that the
threaded metal rod that holds the cable to the throttle cable had broken. Subdude and I worked the corroded linkage
apart and used the remaining 4 threads on the broken rod to put the linkage
back together. After adjusting the
linkage on the carburetor to compensate for the shortened throttle rod, we were
ready to go. We decided to go far, far away, so we stopped to get fuel at the
Pass. As soon as I put the boat in gear
to pull away from the dock, we heard a squeal that was either a belt or a
bearing. We tossed the hook and did some
troubleshooting. Both Jim and subdude
have more engine experience than I do, so they took the lead. A belt that appeared to be plenty tight was slipping
anyway, and the guys tightened it even more.
This belt will be replaced soon. Dive One: Natural Reef.
Top and bottom of the water column were totally different. On top, the water was a beautiful blue-green,
the vis was 30 to 40 ft, and there was very little
current. On the bottom, the water turned
brown, the vis was 15 to 20 ft, and there was a
nagging current. There were 2 points of
interest. We saw dozens and dozens of
large Jack-knife fish, and I shot a Hogfish.
I have never seen a Hogfish around Destin, and I thought they did not
come this far north in the Gulf. Subdude
floated a nice “Fortress” anchor. Dive Two: Wreck.
Same water conditions. Shot a Red, a Gag, and a large trigger. Candy shot many triggers and a nice black
snapper. Dive Three: More broken bottom, but we didn’t find any
more fish. Epilogue: We had planned on 4 tanks, but boat problems
kept us from hitting the water until after 1000. We made port at about 1830 after putting 80
nm on the boat. I cleaned fish until
2100. Sure was better than going to
work! Date: 18 Jun 05 Wx: Total overcast early and a little rain. Winds N at 15 kts then SW about 10 kts. 72F in the morning, high 80s F later Buddy was Candy. I started
loading the boat at 0530 and we got underway a little after 0600. The belt that
gave us problems on the last trip started to squeal, but it stopped right away. Unfortunately it stopped squealing because it
broke. We only made it to Postil Point
before the engine temp went through the roof.
Of course I had to take another belt off to put the replacement belt
on. Fortunately, Candy found my socket
extender that morning and brought it to the boat. Took about 45 minutes to
complete the job. The broken belt
does not even look like it was the right size. The forecast called for a light northerly wind. I think it was a steady 15 kts. We decided to stay inshore until the wind
died down. Dive One: Reefex tank.
Nothing special. . . a few triggers and short
red snappers. Candy shot a trigger. Viz was 15-20 ft. Dive Two: Wreck.
Candy shot 7 triggers and a red snapper.
I shot 2 triggers and 2 red snappers.
I had gun issues. I took the
sawed-off magnum which I thought I had fixed, but under the load of heavy
bands, the trigger mechanism would lock up after each shot. Dive Three: Wreck.
More triggers. Candy shot another
7 triggers and I shot 3. Another gun
problem: this time I took the big
magnum, but the tip broke on the first shot.
I recovered the tip and it has a manufacturing defect (just like the
last tip I broke). I shot 2 more
triggers just using the shaft. Dive Four: Wreck.
Many red snapper and some were sows.
I shot a nice gag as soon as I left the anchor line. The tip didn’t come out the other side of the
skull, so I wasted a lot of time banging it all the way through and trying to
pull it out. That’s when a 20 lb sow was
within pokey pole range. I shot 2 more
triggers and Candy shot another snapper and trigger. The wreck was incredibly silty and covered in
monofilament. Both of us had to cut free
a couple of times. Epilogue: We had a nice tail wind on the ride home and
managed 18-19 kts. Pass was a little
rough due to outgoing tide and SW swell, but nothing like the 6-footers we saw
2 weeks ago. Total trip was about 65 nm,
and we were back in port by 1800. I
needed help to load the fish cooler in the car. Date: 1 Jul 05 Wx: Sunny onshore and isolated
rainstorms starting about 5 miles offshore.
Winds SW at 10 kts. 72F in the
morning, high 80s F later Buddy was Candy. I started
loading the boat at 0730 and we got underway around 0800. The bayou and Bay were pretty calm. We cleared the Pass and headed SW into the
wind and swell. Got stopped by Dive One: The “Awesome” isn’t so awesome anymore. It sits in a hole at 120 ft. Go any direction for 200 ft and the depth is
only 90 ft. The interior of the wreck is
full of silt and the hole that it sits in has at least 6 inches of silt. There were a few flounder, but we didn’t take
any. Dive Two: There was only one boat on the Destin Liberty
Ship (DLS), so we threw out the anchor. First dive on the DLS since hurricane Ivan. A whole section (maybe 40 ft – 50 ft) has
separated from the main hull and shoved 20 ft – 30 ft west. The DLS is terribly over-fished, which is why
we rarely dive it. There are always
black snapper around, but we didn’t pull the trigger. Saw a 6 ft bull shark (there seem to be 2
bulls that hang around the DLS and Whitehill Reef). Again, vis was 50 ft
above the thermocline and about 20 ft at the bottom. Dive Three: Epilogue: Uneventful return to port. Trip was about 70 nm. Date: 3 Jul 05 Wx: Sunny all day. Winds SW at 15 kts. 72F in the morning, high 80s F later Buddy was Candy. I started
loading the boat at 0645 and we got underway around 0720. The bayou was pure glass. The north end of the Bay was smooth, then halfway to Dive One: Dropped on a Reefex tank. Immediately saw 2 anchors (8 lb and 13 lb
Hookers) and attached them to my lift bag.
Anchor rope was hopelessly entwined, so the entire process took at least
10 minutes. We were only 20 ft from the
tank, but couldn’t see it, so Candy clipped off the line reel. We found the tank, but only one trigger fish. Dive Two: Barrel Barge.
More bad vis and a smaller Jewfish (about 5
ft). Dive Three: Broken bottom. Even more bad vis
and nothing to shoot. Candy picked up
some pretty shells. Epilogue: The wind never let up. By the time we pulled anchor for the last
time, the swell was mostly 4 - 5 ft and white-capping. There were times when I was standing on the
bow, pulling in the anchor line, and the point of the bow nearly went under
water as we went from crest to trough. I
thought the Pass was going to be a washing machine, so I headed for the western
side of the jetties. I finally got into
position so I could turn NE to enter the Pass with the swell at my stern. The Pass was bad, but not as bad as I
expected. We were back in port by 1500
and left the boat in the water for July 4th. Date: 16 Jul 05 Wx: Clear, winds SW 10 kts, 74 F Seas: Calm in Boggy Bayou and the Bay Temp: NA Got out of the
marina by 0715. Boat was running great until we were a couple
miles into the Bay. We heard a loud bang
followed by unmuffled engine noise. Dive buddy Jim was driving, so he immediately
throttled back and killed the engine. An
inspection of the exhaust system revealed that a fiberglass elbow which is part
of the wet exhaust manifold had blown apart and one of the wet exhaust hoses
had started to swell. This was the first
indication that the exhaust system had overheated. We called Towboat US and got towed back to
the Follow up: Back in port, I
removed the elbow and swollen exhaust hose; the inside of the hose was charred
and the elbow had delaminated. This was
the proof that water was not cooling the exhaust gasses. When I ran the fresh-water flush, very little
water came out of the starboard riser, but the flow from the port riser looked
okay. I replaced the starboard riser
and two of the three hoses that make up the exhaust manifold. When I checked the hose temperature with my
infra-red temperature gun, the new hoses were an acceptable 130 F. Unfortunately, the port hose quickly rose to
260 F. I believe the old starboard riser
was so blocked that water was being forced through the port riser. When I replaced the starboard riser, the
water probably took the path of least resistance and little water flowed
through the old port riser. I replaced
the port riser and all hose temperatures returned to normal. Date: 26 Jul 05 Wx: Clear, winds SSW 10 kts, 74 F Seas: Glass in Boggy Bayou, calm in the Bay, and
less than a foot in the Gulf Temp: Bottom finder read 88 F on the surface. My computer read 83 F on the surface and 73 F
on the bottom. Switched
to the three-mil wetsuit. Prologue: Departed the
marina around 0630 and watched the sun rise through the dust cloud that has
blown over from the Dive One: Butthead Tug. This may be our last dive on the
Butthead. Even though the vis was 40 – 50 ft in the top of the water column, as soon
any movement is made near the wreck, the silt comes up and the vis can drop to
zero. The fish in the hold stir it up on
purpose, so it’s no use looking for hiding fish. If you scare a flounder on the outside of the
wreck, all you can see is a cloud about 3 ft high, 3 ft wide, and 8 ft long
where the flounder use to be. Dive Two: Dive Three: Elmore
Barge. The sand has piled so high on the
south side of the barge that it is even with the top. You have to trust your numbers or have a good
bottom machine because there is almost no relief. My machine just shows a thicker bottom line
when I pass from sand to steel. We shot
some more triggers and a couple of red snapper.
Picked up another beach ball. Dive Four: Epilogue: The wind picked up to about 15kts in the afternoon, but the seas never got over two feet. We made it back to port by 1630. I parked the boat to have the holding tank emptied, but hurricane Dennis had put the pump-out station out of commission. When I cranked the engine to pull the boat into the marina, I heard the screeching sound of a loose belt and I watched the temperature gauge start to rise. The screeching stopped abruptly and the temperature started coming down. I’m guessing the water pump is seizing and I will probably replace it before next weekend. Date: 30 Jul 05 Wx: Overcast, winds E 10 - 15
kts, 74 F Seas: Not too bad in the Bay, but two ft and more
in the Gulf Temp: Mid 80s on the surface and mid 70s F on the
bottom. Prologue: I replaced the
engine water pump on 28 Jul and tested it on 29 Jul. I got a little nervous when the engine
started overheating, but after letting it cool and starting it again (twice),
there was finally enough water flowing to get a normal temperature. My 26 Jul 05 dive report said that replacing
the fuel/water separator resolved a rough running engine problem. Apparently it did not. I had to empty the fuel/water separator twice
before the first dive. We now believe
that we got some bad gas. ECRA Reef Clean-up Dives. Buddies were Candy and Ed. Dive One: Reefex Tank.
Dive Two: Another Reefex Tank. Before Hurricane Dennis, we saw a broken mast
with sail attached near this tank. It
may still be there, but the vis was so bad we couldn’t
find it. We retrieved more anchor rope,
fishing line, and lead. Dive Three: Barrel Barge.
Epilogue: The crappy weather
finally closed in on us after the third dive.
Actually, my Radar showed that we were surrounded by very heavy rain,
but we were able to make it to the From the bridge to the marina, I could only make about 6 kts due to the
fouled carburetor problem (although the engine did run smoothly twice which let
me get up to normal speed for about 10 minutes). I guess I’ll be working on the fuel system
this week. Date: 30 Sep 05 Wx: Clear skies, winds NE 10 kts
early, 72 F Seas: Calm in the Bayou and Bay. Gulf was less than 2 ft early and less than 1
ft by 1600. Temp: Did not notice a thermocline. About 80 F from top to 120
ft. Boat Info: My last dive report was two months ago. I reported
possible bad gas (there was definitely more water in the separator than
usual). Since my last report, I have
replaced the fuel pump, the raw water pump, the ignition coil, the spark plugs
and wiring, changed the oil, rebuilt the carburetor, and replaced all of the
engine belts. Although all of this
maintenance was necessary, the underlying cause of the original engine
malfunction was a loose ground wire from the electronic ignition module
(discovered by buddy Jim and Candy). The
improper ground allowed the engine to start and idle, but the engine timing
would not advance when throttled up.
Good God All Mighty! At least we
had a couple of hurricanes to keep us busy. Prologue: We left the marina
at 0830. Buddies were Candy and
Jim. Intel from Subdude convinced us to
head offshore. We saw many (50 or so)
small fish floating on the surface.
Although Crab Island looked fairly clean, there appeared to be “red
tide” from the Pass out to about 7 miles due south. Dive One: Odyssey.
Dive Two: Belize Queen.
More triggers and a Gag. We had
so much fun that we went into deco and had to hang out for 10 minutes. Dive Three: Belize Queen.
We went to the Mohawk Chief, but I forgot to load the post-Ivan GPS
coordinates. We did a random search for
about 10 minutes, then went back to the Belize
Queen. By now (1530) the wind and
current were almost non-existent. We
shot some more triggers, went into deco, and spent another 10 minutes hanging
out. Epilogue: The boat ran
better than ever. The weather remained
perfect for the ride home. We reached
the Date: 26 Oct 05 Wx: Sunny all day and low 70s F Seas: 2 inches (Vortex Springs) Temp: 68 F Prologue: We went to Vortex
to “dial-in” our drysuits. All
of our adjustments were made while sitting on the entry steps. We trimmed my neck-seal and adjusted our
weights. Stone (Dacor): 26 lbs; Candy
(Moby) 24 lbs. Dive One: Vortex.
We dove for about 35 minutes. . . 35 incredibly boring minutes. Epilogue: Diving in fresh
water is lovely; however, it is not our “cup of tea”. Date: 27 Oct 05 Wx: Completely overcast and 60F
early, winds NE 10 -20. 70F by 1400. Seas: Calm in the Bayou and choppy in the Bay. Gulf was 1 to 3 ft early and about 1 ft by
1500. Temp: No thermocline. About 75 F from top to 95
ft. Boat Info: 13 Oct 05: Replaced starter motor, ignition solenoid and
associated circuit breaker. When Candy
ordered the parts, she found out the old solenoid and circuit breaker were not “standard” for my engine. She ordered the correct parts and I installed
them. I also installed a fuel flow
meter. It is working, but will take a
few trips to calibrate. Prologue: We left the marina
at 1000. Just Candy
and Stone on this trip. Bayou and
Bay were uneventful. When the
alternator gauge showed “below nominal” charging, I switched to battery ”1” so I would have a fully charged second battery
if needed. Once through the Pass,
there was a strong SE swell competing with a 15 kt NE wind. We picked the Janet and LCM-8 as targets. We headed into the swell and could only make
about 10 kts without getting beat up and sprayed (there was some
white-capping). Dive One: Janet.
We dove “dry”. Candy used 24 lbs
with her Moby, and I used 26 with my Dacor.
Both suits have a little leakage at the wrists, but I am satisfied. Candy needs to adjust her CG a little, and
she may have an allergy to the latex.
There was a 6 ft nurse shark under the bow, a few small red snappers,
and a few baby grouper. Dive Two: LCM-8.
Candy switched to her 7-mil wetsuit.
I stuck with the dry-suit. The
LCM certainly looks different sitting upright.
The stern superstructure was fairly intact when it was on its side, but
now it’s mangled. No decent fish seen. Epilogue: The boat ran great
except for the alternator output. The
sun came out at about 1530 and was intermittent for the ride home. Seas calmed to 1 ft. Just before we pulled anchor on
the LCM, we were surrounded by many spotted dolphin. They appeared to be doing a feeding trick
where they would be very active at the surface, then “blow” at the same time
and descend. At first we thought there
were only 12 dolphin feeding at a time; however, as they moved away from the
boat, we saw their numbers double (must have been 12 up and 12 down). We reached the
Date: 5 Nov 05 Wx: Mostly sunny and 68F early,
winds SE 15 - 20. Seas: Calm in the Bayou and choppy in the Bay. Gulf was 3 to 4 ft (a couple of 5s) all damn
day. Temp: No thermocline. About 75 F from top to 102
ft. Boat Info: Since the
alternator output was low on the last trip, I decided to replace it. It took me about 4 hours just to get it off
(including trips to the hardware store, auto store, and home to get some
specialty tools). To make a long story
short, I had to cut off the head of the pivot bolt, remove the alternator
bracket from the engine block (with alternator still attached), and use a
hardened steel nail-set tool to drive the pivot bolt out of the alternator and
bracket. I replaced all bolts with
stainless. Next time, it will only take
me 45 minutes. Prologue: We left the marina
at 0745. Candy, Stone, and buddy
Jim. Bayou and Bay were uneventful. Once through the Pass, there was a strong
SE swell and SE wind. I headed toward
the LCM-8 just because it put the bow into the wind and waves. I could only make about 8 kts into the
tightly packed 4 ft waves, so we decided to hit the Dive One: Janet.
Due to the sea-state, we could only turn around (head NW) or continue on
to the LCM-8 and Janet (head SE). A boat
was on the LCM, so we dove the Janet. We dove wet. I used the 5-mil with 3-mil hooded vest (14
lbs) and Candy used her 7-mil with core warmer.
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