Stone
Contributor
Date: 4 Jun 05
Wx: Clear and partly cloudy. Winds SE, 70F in the morning, high 80s F
Seas: Swell out of the SW. Mostly 3-4 ft.
Temp: Warming up - 74F on the bottom
Got to the marina by 0600 and we were in the bayou by 0635. Buddies were Candy and Jim. One minute after clearing the Pass, the temperature gauge shot to 240 F and the alternator gauge dropped below 12 volts. I chopped the throttle and turned back to get into the snorkelers jetty. The temp and alt gauges returned to normal almost immediately and there were no other signs of overheating, so we assumed it was a sensor or electrical problem. Marine forecast was pretty close. There were more 4 ft swells than 2 ft swells. The SE wind and the SW swell made for painful rocking.
Dive One: Broken Bottom. Due to sea conditions, we decided to stay inshore. Nice dive, but this site must get fished a lot. I used a new 5-mil Hyperstretch instead of my 7/5 Goldcore. . . much more comfortable and easier to get into. Surface current was a little strong, and there was some current on the bottom. Vis was about 20 ft.
On the way to the next site, the engine temp shot up again. This time we opened the hatch and removed the cabin steps to see what we could see. While I moved the throttle from idle to higher RPMs, Jim checked out the belts that run the alternator, seawater pump, and block pump. Jim discovered that at higher RPMs, the pulley on the block pump was not keeping up. He tightened up the belt and we were good to go for the rest of the day.
Dive Two: More broken bottom. The vis on top was at least 50 ft, but the bottom vis was only 15 ft. Candy clipped off a line reel to the anchor line, but it fouled and we took a long time to fix it. I took Candys under-powered gun on this dive because I didnt expect to see any real action. The first fish I saw was a 20 lb grouper. I couldnt even try the shot with the short gun. I got a trigger and a couple of lobsters.
Dive Three: We stayed on the same site so I could take down the big gun to get the grouper. Strangely, there were very few fish. Ten minutes into the dive we found out why. Two bull sharks were patrolling. One was only 5 ft, but the other one was about 8 ft. Candy picked up some nice shells and I picked up some lead.
Epilogue: Made it back to the Pass by about 1600. SW swell was meeting outgoing tide, so the Pass was a washing machine with 4-6 ft waves going in every direction. . . always an adventure! Bay was pretty choppy, but not white-capping. Back in port by 1630.
Wx: Clear and partly cloudy. Winds SE, 70F in the morning, high 80s F
Seas: Swell out of the SW. Mostly 3-4 ft.
Temp: Warming up - 74F on the bottom
Got to the marina by 0600 and we were in the bayou by 0635. Buddies were Candy and Jim. One minute after clearing the Pass, the temperature gauge shot to 240 F and the alternator gauge dropped below 12 volts. I chopped the throttle and turned back to get into the snorkelers jetty. The temp and alt gauges returned to normal almost immediately and there were no other signs of overheating, so we assumed it was a sensor or electrical problem. Marine forecast was pretty close. There were more 4 ft swells than 2 ft swells. The SE wind and the SW swell made for painful rocking.
Dive One: Broken Bottom. Due to sea conditions, we decided to stay inshore. Nice dive, but this site must get fished a lot. I used a new 5-mil Hyperstretch instead of my 7/5 Goldcore. . . much more comfortable and easier to get into. Surface current was a little strong, and there was some current on the bottom. Vis was about 20 ft.
On the way to the next site, the engine temp shot up again. This time we opened the hatch and removed the cabin steps to see what we could see. While I moved the throttle from idle to higher RPMs, Jim checked out the belts that run the alternator, seawater pump, and block pump. Jim discovered that at higher RPMs, the pulley on the block pump was not keeping up. He tightened up the belt and we were good to go for the rest of the day.
Dive Two: More broken bottom. The vis on top was at least 50 ft, but the bottom vis was only 15 ft. Candy clipped off a line reel to the anchor line, but it fouled and we took a long time to fix it. I took Candys under-powered gun on this dive because I didnt expect to see any real action. The first fish I saw was a 20 lb grouper. I couldnt even try the shot with the short gun. I got a trigger and a couple of lobsters.
Dive Three: We stayed on the same site so I could take down the big gun to get the grouper. Strangely, there were very few fish. Ten minutes into the dive we found out why. Two bull sharks were patrolling. One was only 5 ft, but the other one was about 8 ft. Candy picked up some nice shells and I picked up some lead.
Epilogue: Made it back to the Pass by about 1600. SW swell was meeting outgoing tide, so the Pass was a washing machine with 4-6 ft waves going in every direction. . . always an adventure! Bay was pretty choppy, but not white-capping. Back in port by 1630.
be thankfull for your 15' of visibility 
