When we left Austin for Freeport, the forecast called for 3 - 5 sea all weekend. When the Fling left the dock at 9:00 PM, the told us the ride out might get a bit rough. We ended up in 5 foot seas with 8 foot swells. About half the boat got sick on the way out.
Saturday was some choppy water on the West Bank, 5 foot seas with 7 foot swells. The first dive was nice. We were hoping for the hammerhead spawn, but the sharks failed to read our memo. Still some nice aquatics running about. Getting back on the boat was exhausting, so I rested during the 2nd dive.
The Fling moved over to the East Bank, but conditions there seemed to be worse, so we moved directly to Stetson Bank. There we found much calmer water. Dive 3 was plesant, but still not many sharks around. I decided to skip the night dive and rest up for Sunday.
The waters on Sunday were much nicer at about 2 - 3 foot. I was with a TPWD vidiographer and we actually got his camera rig in the water to try to get some footage. We saw a few hammerheads and they were huge, probably in the 10' - 12' range. The only trouble was that they were intermingled with a school of King Mackerals and usually stayed about 30 - 50 feet from us. We made both dives on Sunday, before the boat had to head back. Seas on the way back were as smooth as they could be.
All in all, it was a nice trip. Vis was usually in the 40 - 60 foot range and water temp was about 65. The down side was that the videographer did not get the footage that he wanted. The up side is Oh darn, we'll have to go back again.
Saturday was some choppy water on the West Bank, 5 foot seas with 7 foot swells. The first dive was nice. We were hoping for the hammerhead spawn, but the sharks failed to read our memo. Still some nice aquatics running about. Getting back on the boat was exhausting, so I rested during the 2nd dive.
The Fling moved over to the East Bank, but conditions there seemed to be worse, so we moved directly to Stetson Bank. There we found much calmer water. Dive 3 was plesant, but still not many sharks around. I decided to skip the night dive and rest up for Sunday.
The waters on Sunday were much nicer at about 2 - 3 foot. I was with a TPWD vidiographer and we actually got his camera rig in the water to try to get some footage. We saw a few hammerheads and they were huge, probably in the 10' - 12' range. The only trouble was that they were intermingled with a school of King Mackerals and usually stayed about 30 - 50 feet from us. We made both dives on Sunday, before the boat had to head back. Seas on the way back were as smooth as they could be.
All in all, it was a nice trip. Vis was usually in the 40 - 60 foot range and water temp was about 65. The down side was that the videographer did not get the footage that he wanted. The up side is Oh darn, we'll have to go back again.
