Thank you to all who attended. I just passed Hawaii, headed for Singapore where I can sell the "T" leftovers as aphrodisiacs. I eluded the kayakers in the Panama Canal. They just didn't have the stamina after crossing the gulf.
I'll probably be losing my Wi-Fi connection as I pass Maui, so bear with me if the signal br...
Ok, got the signal back now. I'm riding alongside a nuclear powered shrimp boat that has a satellite uplink Wi-Fi connection, so we're good!
The trip started out great, we were on the water by 8:30am, loaded up and heading to sea. We stopped first at King's Spring and stayed for the first half of the day with two craft. We had to tie the boats together as they kept drifting. With only one person on board one craft, we didn't want to lose a boat to the rocks. After a few tour boats pulled out, we pulled up. I dove the second time, and remembered why I hate rental gear! One of my bc pouches kept dropping out. I UNintentionally ditched half my weights twice on separate dives. After swimming in circles like a dying fish a few times, I decided to just tuck the weights into the cumberbund of the bc.
We headed in for lunch at Cracker's after the kayak police didn't appreciate the Captain's harpoon jokes. Then there was the diver who didn't know what a dive flag was. The kayakers laughed, but we knew he was really unholstering his gun for the mercy killing. Oh yeah,... and the diver in distress at the main spring area. Good thing the instructor could yell loud enogh to let people in Mexico know about it! Anyway, the food and service at Cracker's was awesome once again!
At 2pm, we had turned one boat back in due to the drop from 16 people to 11. Something to do with someone going to work. Then there were the two swimmers that never made it out of the manatee feeding frenzy. You see, manatees are herbivores during the summer when algae growth is good. However, once it starts getting cold, they head to warmer waters in hopes of finding unwary swimmers and snorkelers to drag back into the cave systems for dinner. They especially love small children, since the manatees have more grinding teeth than incisors, and the children are easier to chew.
We headed to 3 sisters spring system and fought a very heavy current getting in. There were so many bream in the last spring, it was awesome. There were also two huge bass! I wish spearfishing in freshwater was legal. After we brought the bass back to the boat, it was getting late in the afternoon and we started heading home. I was constantly killing the engines so we didn't chop up any submarines prematurely. There was a lot of manatee activity between the bridge and Magnolia Spring. We had a great trip back. The weather was awesome; slightly overcast, wind was fairly calm and by afternoon, the sweatshirts had come off. (In Simon's case nearly everything came off.) Most of us thought the sun had come out when we were diving, but it was just him skinnydipping. I told Jenny to bring rumcake, not a rum case! Oh well, she did identify all the Bull animals we saw. I am still wondering about the spitting bull crab we saw during dinner, though. It looked pretty vicious. I also have reason to believe it is also carnivorous, although it didn't take the hotdog bait we set out. Maybe next time one of the boys might be able to catch that crab. I think it needs further study.
All in all, it was a great trip with a very good showing. I hope those who took pictures can post them soon, DAWN! I'd really like to see and get a copy of, the Captain behind the Scubaboard banner, DAWN!
I'd heard he was a cool guy, handsome, funny, intelligent,...
then I realised they were talking about someone else and I felt sorry for him.
Keep an eye out for the May Megadive. I am considering the dates of May 12, 13, & 14 for 2006. We will be in Ginnie Springs at the Turkey Roost Pavillion/Camp Area.
