Stone
Contributor
Date: 1 Dec 05
Wx: Sunny and 45F early (warming to 68F), winds N to NW to W 5-15 kts.
Seas: Glass in the Bayou and smooth in the Bay. Gulf was smooth to over 2 ft.
Temp: No thermocline. About 65 F from top to 85 ft.
Boat Info: Replaced the primary bilge pump last week. Boat ran great.
Prologue: We left the marina at 0900. Just Candy and Stone. Marine forecast was pretty close, calling for NW winds and seas 2 ft or less. Gulf was still smooth at 1000, but built steadily to 2 ft by 1500. The water temp is still warm enough for 5 or 7 mil wetsuits, but we dove dry due to the wind chill on the surface intervals. I can pull myself down with 24 lbs, but I dove with 27 lbs. Candy used 30 lbs, but was about 6 lbs over-weight.
Dive One: Navarre Barge. Vis was about 40 feet. These are the same words I used in the last dive report: The barge was covered in juvenile red snapper, but there were many of legal size, and even a couple of big Sows. Since the snapper season is over, we settled for some smallish triggerfish. Candys neoprene drysuit leaked badly at the wrists. She may have to go back to the trilam.
Dive Two: Elmore Barge. Candy didnt trust her drysuit, so I dove solo. Vis was still about 40 ft. Same combination of red snapper and triggers. The snapper were so thick, I had to wait for an opening to take a shot at the triggers. There is only about 3 ft of relief on one side of the barge. The sand has completely covered the top of the barge and the opposite side.
Epilogue: I was going to do one more dive on the Butthead Tug. I tossed the anchor and let it hit bottom. Instead of letting the rope out as we drifted back, I kicked a bunch of it overboard. I didnt know it at the time, but the rope remained tangled and did not provide enough scope to let the anchor catch. When it was apparent that the anchor wasnt holding, I attached the ball and started to fly the anchor up. Normally, the ball would slide back on the anchor line until the anchor pulls free from the bottom. This time, the anchor pulled off the bottom immediately and started spinning like prop. This made the rope twist very tightly upon itself. To make matters worse, a loop got wrapped around my prop. I had to cut the rope away while the rocking boat tried to beat me to death. We made it back to port at 1645 after a trip of 59.3 nm (51.5 statute).
Wx: Sunny and 45F early (warming to 68F), winds N to NW to W 5-15 kts.
Seas: Glass in the Bayou and smooth in the Bay. Gulf was smooth to over 2 ft.
Temp: No thermocline. About 65 F from top to 85 ft.
Boat Info: Replaced the primary bilge pump last week. Boat ran great.
Prologue: We left the marina at 0900. Just Candy and Stone. Marine forecast was pretty close, calling for NW winds and seas 2 ft or less. Gulf was still smooth at 1000, but built steadily to 2 ft by 1500. The water temp is still warm enough for 5 or 7 mil wetsuits, but we dove dry due to the wind chill on the surface intervals. I can pull myself down with 24 lbs, but I dove with 27 lbs. Candy used 30 lbs, but was about 6 lbs over-weight.
Dive One: Navarre Barge. Vis was about 40 feet. These are the same words I used in the last dive report: The barge was covered in juvenile red snapper, but there were many of legal size, and even a couple of big Sows. Since the snapper season is over, we settled for some smallish triggerfish. Candys neoprene drysuit leaked badly at the wrists. She may have to go back to the trilam.
Dive Two: Elmore Barge. Candy didnt trust her drysuit, so I dove solo. Vis was still about 40 ft. Same combination of red snapper and triggers. The snapper were so thick, I had to wait for an opening to take a shot at the triggers. There is only about 3 ft of relief on one side of the barge. The sand has completely covered the top of the barge and the opposite side.
Epilogue: I was going to do one more dive on the Butthead Tug. I tossed the anchor and let it hit bottom. Instead of letting the rope out as we drifted back, I kicked a bunch of it overboard. I didnt know it at the time, but the rope remained tangled and did not provide enough scope to let the anchor catch. When it was apparent that the anchor wasnt holding, I attached the ball and started to fly the anchor up. Normally, the ball would slide back on the anchor line until the anchor pulls free from the bottom. This time, the anchor pulled off the bottom immediately and started spinning like prop. This made the rope twist very tightly upon itself. To make matters worse, a loop got wrapped around my prop. I had to cut the rope away while the rocking boat tried to beat me to death. We made it back to port at 1645 after a trip of 59.3 nm (51.5 statute).
