Sat 12-12 the LadyGaDivers didn't back down, in fact they were about the only Gulf divers to venture out that day, and then Sunday it was fogged in heavy.
They toughed out the morning following seas and showed me they mean business! The weathermen couldn't make up their mind, but these ladies never waivered diving all day and into the evening.
Judy, Mary Jane, Emily, Laura, Lisa & Char hit the fish pretty hard, especially considering the 4' seas changed the game plan to a tight cluster of ledges in 70'. We had planned to dive the Blackthorn Sheridan wreck trek and then run several miles to several ledges in 75'. It dropped out as the day went on and the LGD made about 5 dives each on 3 tanks, hitting about 9 sites, with mid-60s water temp and pretty good visibility, about 25' to 30'.
Near the end of the day it layed down enough to run elsewhere and we took off for a few of the ledges a few miles north in 75'. The big surprise came as I drove to pick up a diver and the gear shift linkage went out - no neutral - stuck in forward at about 5 to 6 knots. I killed the engine and quickly anchored and the 3 LGD easily swam to the anchored boat. The other 3 girls decided that a back dive was better than no last dive and splashed while I fixed the linkage problem. They returned at twilght just after the sun set, and then we ran the 20 miles in to shore at 20 knots with no more issues.
These ladies were great, never whining about anything, always making the best of everything!
Here's some pics and my column in the Sat. St Pete Times:
They toughed out the morning following seas and showed me they mean business! The weathermen couldn't make up their mind, but these ladies never waivered diving all day and into the evening.
Judy, Mary Jane, Emily, Laura, Lisa & Char hit the fish pretty hard, especially considering the 4' seas changed the game plan to a tight cluster of ledges in 70'. We had planned to dive the Blackthorn Sheridan wreck trek and then run several miles to several ledges in 75'. It dropped out as the day went on and the LGD made about 5 dives each on 3 tanks, hitting about 9 sites, with mid-60s water temp and pretty good visibility, about 25' to 30'.
Near the end of the day it layed down enough to run elsewhere and we took off for a few of the ledges a few miles north in 75'. The big surprise came as I drove to pick up a diver and the gear shift linkage went out - no neutral - stuck in forward at about 5 to 6 knots. I killed the engine and quickly anchored and the 3 LGD easily swam to the anchored boat. The other 3 girls decided that a back dive was better than no last dive and splashed while I fixed the linkage problem. They returned at twilght just after the sun set, and then we ran the 20 miles in to shore at 20 knots with no more issues.
These ladies were great, never whining about anything, always making the best of everything!
Here's some pics and my column in the Sat. St Pete Times:
