Hetland
Contributor
MrXRay, Recharge, JHayes75, DeniseGG, Moondog75 and myself headed out two Saturdays ago and made the trip to Ft. Lauderdale. Our plan was to spend a few days diving Ft. Lauderdale, then wrap the trip up with a day diving in Key West. The weather kept us out of the Keys, and rearranged our schedule a bit, but we got a good bit of diving done, and had some great grub and fellowship in the process.
Conditions were not as good as what we had last year. Viz had dropped into the 40's, and there were lionfish everywhere. It may have been my imagination, but it looked like we had less tropical fish in the water with us. It was not my imagination that there was a significant lack of lobster. Everyone from charter boat captains to beach bums (even some charter captain/beach bums) lamented the total lack of lobster in the area.
Despite the lack of numbers, we were still able to put a few lobster in our bags (mostly me)
One diver in particular (me) was a lobster-snatching tyrannosaurus. Unfortunately, we let about four of our keepers go because SOMEONE (me) couldn't measure them properly 
Next year, someone else is in charge of the fishing regs, I'll be in charge of filling the lobster bag, what with my super-human lobstering skillz and all
The diving was great, but we also had a nice place to stay this year. The condo was much better than the all-smoking hotel we stayed in last year, with the pimps and drug-dealers testing out their amps and Mossberg pumps in the rooms next-door.
For grub, Jason made an awesome jambalaya, and an even awesome-er soup. Barry and I collaborated on a semi-homemade marinara and Italian-sausage pasta, and the ladies made chicken and beef tacos with re-fried beans and Spanish rice. Barry and I also turned Jason, Larry and Denise to the dark side with a super-dragon roll. I'm thinking they're all future sushi-lovers now
Diving highlights included lots of nice eels, including a large green moray, several sleepy-time nurse sharks, including a lazy-@$$ sleeping at night and a baby, a drive-by manatee encounter, sea turtles, and the crown jewel: a seahorse.
Lots and lots and lots of stuff to tell, but I'm too lazy to type it all. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, you should see below.......
[vimeo]18605519[/vimeo]
Conditions were not as good as what we had last year. Viz had dropped into the 40's, and there were lionfish everywhere. It may have been my imagination, but it looked like we had less tropical fish in the water with us. It was not my imagination that there was a significant lack of lobster. Everyone from charter boat captains to beach bums (even some charter captain/beach bums) lamented the total lack of lobster in the area.
Despite the lack of numbers, we were still able to put a few lobster in our bags (mostly me)
One diver in particular (me) was a lobster-snatching tyrannosaurus. Unfortunately, we let about four of our keepers go because SOMEONE (me) couldn't measure them properly Next year, someone else is in charge of the fishing regs, I'll be in charge of filling the lobster bag, what with my super-human lobstering skillz and all The diving was great, but we also had a nice place to stay this year. The condo was much better than the all-smoking hotel we stayed in last year, with the pimps and drug-dealers testing out their amps and Mossberg pumps in the rooms next-door.
For grub, Jason made an awesome jambalaya, and an even awesome-er soup. Barry and I collaborated on a semi-homemade marinara and Italian-sausage pasta, and the ladies made chicken and beef tacos with re-fried beans and Spanish rice. Barry and I also turned Jason, Larry and Denise to the dark side with a super-dragon roll. I'm thinking they're all future sushi-lovers now
Diving highlights included lots of nice eels, including a large green moray, several sleepy-time nurse sharks, including a lazy-@$$ sleeping at night and a baby, a drive-by manatee encounter, sea turtles, and the crown jewel: a seahorse.
Lots and lots and lots of stuff to tell, but I'm too lazy to type it all. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, you should see below.......
[vimeo]18605519[/vimeo]
