Stone
Contributor
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
Seas: Two feet and less. Temp: Still warming up Thermoclines still noticeable.
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 FWC, but they were friendly (fishing license and cooler check). We were able to use the radar to head between storms. Some of the rainfall was torrential. We tried 3 wrecks and they all had boats.
Dive One: The Awesome isnt 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 didnt take any. Vis went from 50 feet at the top to 10 ft (sometimes 0 feet) on the bottom. As we were coming up the anchor line (still in the bad vis), a school of large fish swam by and I took a hail Mary shot. If I hadnt been holding the anchor line, I would have been pulled back to the bottom. I clipped the gun off to the granny line and boarded the boat. When I pulled up the line, the fish was still attached. It was a 20 lb Jack Cravelle.
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 didnt 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: Fort Walton Barge. This barge has been beat to death. There are gaping holes in the deck. The vis was so bad 10 15 ft, that I couldnt tell if I was headed stern to bow or port to starboard. At one point, I saw a mooring cleat that helped orient me. Candy actually had to tie off a line real so we wouldnt get lost. There was a very large Jewfish (+6 ft) on the wreck. When he thumped me, I could feel the vibration go through my chest. I had to use the lift bag and all my strength to get the anchor out of the wreck. If the surface current would have been a little stronger, I would have had to cut the rope.
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
Seas: Three feet in the morning, 5 6 ft by 1400. Temp: Around 72 below the thermoclines.
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 Destin Bridge it started getting choppy. We cleared the Pass and headed straight into a steady 15 kt SW wind and 2 3 ft waves (the Marine Forecast and Navy Wave Model were way off).
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 couldnt 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.
Wx: Sunny onshore and isolated rainstorms starting about 5 miles offshore. Winds SW at 10 kts. 72F in the morning, high 80s F later
Seas: Two feet and less. Temp: Still warming up Thermoclines still noticeable.
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 FWC, but they were friendly (fishing license and cooler check). We were able to use the radar to head between storms. Some of the rainfall was torrential. We tried 3 wrecks and they all had boats.
Dive One: The Awesome isnt 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 didnt take any. Vis went from 50 feet at the top to 10 ft (sometimes 0 feet) on the bottom. As we were coming up the anchor line (still in the bad vis), a school of large fish swam by and I took a hail Mary shot. If I hadnt been holding the anchor line, I would have been pulled back to the bottom. I clipped the gun off to the granny line and boarded the boat. When I pulled up the line, the fish was still attached. It was a 20 lb Jack Cravelle.
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 didnt 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: Fort Walton Barge. This barge has been beat to death. There are gaping holes in the deck. The vis was so bad 10 15 ft, that I couldnt tell if I was headed stern to bow or port to starboard. At one point, I saw a mooring cleat that helped orient me. Candy actually had to tie off a line real so we wouldnt get lost. There was a very large Jewfish (+6 ft) on the wreck. When he thumped me, I could feel the vibration go through my chest. I had to use the lift bag and all my strength to get the anchor out of the wreck. If the surface current would have been a little stronger, I would have had to cut the rope.
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
Seas: Three feet in the morning, 5 6 ft by 1400. Temp: Around 72 below the thermoclines.
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 Destin Bridge it started getting choppy. We cleared the Pass and headed straight into a steady 15 kt SW wind and 2 3 ft waves (the Marine Forecast and Navy Wave Model were way off).
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 couldnt 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.
