Friday, September 15, 2006
Tall Cotton Diving
"Good to Go" went back to her maker last week. Usually that is not a good thing. Maybe it will be this time, with repairs to the roof, gelcoat cracks and securing the fuel tanks she will be back to her namesake condition.
"Tall Cotton" is Mike's answer to a dive boat. A 30' Catalina is great sailing vessel, but the confines of the cockpit and upper deck designed to shed crashing waves does not lend itself to the expanses needed to spread out dive gear. Just suiting up with weight belt, stringer, BC/tank takes some contortions. And then the fins go on, now you just have to find a way to wiggle and flop til you are in the water. Great care has to be taken not to get hung up on wenches, cleats, or fishing tackle so that you actually make a splash instead of just dangling over the side, suspended by some fouled equipment.
We had a mission. Jarred added Eagle Scout to his list of many accomplishments in his high school career. The proud parents want to celebrate with a fish fry, which I consented to accommodate. That brings us to step one - get fish. We tried to get an early start which we did fairly efficiently. It just takes a little longer loading gear, placing tanks below decks, securing the ice chest above deck, tying down gear bags, swapping the "fishing anchor" for the "Storm Anchor" ......... we got underway a little after 7am. We had lines in the green cloudy water just outside the pass on a strong outgoing tide. Two hours later we still hadn't crossed the tide line as we approached T-3 for our first dive. Mike held us on the wreck while I dropped anchor. It disappeared a little too quickly, but the seas were calm and the wind was light. I was soon in the water breathing a mixture of 1/2 nitrox and 1/2 water. Back on the deck for me to swap regulators for one that breathed a little dryer. The vis turned out to be about what we had expected, 10'-15', clouded by a lot of algae that has had such favorable conditions this summer with calm seas and lots of sunshine. Apparently the fish had gone to where the clear water was because they weren't here on this wreck. There were some small snapper and undersized Jacks but nothing remarkable. I removed the anchor from the center of the bridge span and dropped it to the sand along-side. I would get to revisit this location again in a few minutes. When we left the site we attempted to pull the anchor with the anchor ball. With no wind and slack current it was difficult to determine which way to depart for the pull. We went the wrong way and managed to pull the line back into a sharp piece of steel, which did just what sharp steel does, it cut the line. Wilson and I were soon back in the water to recover our only anchor. I didn't take my gun and of course a school of nice sized jacks came in from somewhere to escort me on my anchor retrieval mission. Soon Wilson was rocketing to the surface with anchor in tow and I slowly ascended while the big jacks circled.
It was a short trip to the next sunken bridge span and soon we were in the water again. Vis seemed a little better here and maybe that school of jacks had followed us over. Mike busied himself hunting for lobster and it took me a little while to pick out the best of the jacks and bring them to the stringer. While I was working with the 2d jack putting it on the stringer I saw some pretty good anchor line snaking it's way to the bottom. After reloading and stringing the fish I followed it down to a nice new anchor and chain. I really needed a new anchor and chain to accompany the 15 or so others I have cluttering the back room of my garage so I put down my gun and busied myself with the salvage operation. I started the anchor up on Wilson and then freed up the line as the anchor ascended. I guess the combination of the bloody fish and my commotion was just more than a big shark could resist. As I headed back to the bottom I was greeted nose to nose with the big man in the grey suit. He make a close inspection pass as I scrambled to detach my bang stick from its clip on my stringer. I was ready for him when he came back in for another pass and thumped him amidships. Nothing..... no bang, I forgot to take the safety off. I retrieved my gun and found Mike finishing up on his lobster hunt and we returned together to the anchor line for our ascent. I neglected to tell him of my previous shark encounter so he was pretty surprised when the big boy tried to come between his legs as it sniffed its way to my fish. I was almost ready for him this time with bang stick in hand but my approach must have been too threatening as he maneuvered out of range. He continued to circle below while Mike got on-board so he could bring in my fish. The fish disappearing out of the water was almost too much for the shark as he made one more speedy pass under me just as I was ascending the ladder. Maybe he wont be so lucky or I so inept next time.
A nice clean Loggerhead sea turtle watched from a short distance as we dropped anchor on the next bridge span. After a lunch of Maggie's sandwiches and some re-hydration we were ready for our final dive. 
A couple of more fish should be enough for the fish fry but we were limited out on jacks. Vis was a little better on this site and there were plenty of jacks and some snapper that were right at legal size, but too close to be sure so I passed them up. I was cruising above the bottom looking for the non-existent grouper to be lurking alongside the structure and occasionally scanning above for a cuda or ling. I saw the silhouette of the turtle at the top of the structure apparently munching on some algae or sponge of its liking. It was about then that I saw the silhouette of what I first thought was part of the bridge but materialized into a barracuda. It looked huge, even by my standards. Somewhere in the back of my mind was the thought that "maybe you shouldn't shoot this one", as I held my breath and drifted up looking for the right shot angle. I was so focused on range and shot placement that the "don't shoot" was replaced with "hang on" as I squeezed the trigger. It was a good shot, not a great shot because I didn't stone him. The response was what I expected, he took off straight up out of sight in the murk. I was able to grab a piece of the bridge as I was being dragged up, and after just a few moments the line went slack. I pretty much knew what was happening, it was coming back down. The next challenge was to keep him from wrapping on the structure and bending my shaft or shredding the cable. It was tense a couple of times as we threaded our way through the steel beams, but I was able to pull myself to the fish as it tired and finally got my hands on the shaft and then a good grip in the gills. The rest was easy with stringing and point removal.
Back on deck we went through the ritual of stowing equipment, pulling anchor and getting ready for the trip home. I didn't expect the trip to be uneventful. Anytime Mike is onboard there is some fishing going on and the time of day was getting right for trolling. Today's fishing was a contest between his ballyhoo rigs and my awesome ribbon fish lure. It wasn't long before there was a fish in the baits whacking at the ballyhoo. Mike was able to entice a small king to eat the hook and soon we had it on the stringer at the stern. He keeps caught fish on the stringer until they are ready (dead) to go into the cooler. Soon there was more action, again on the ballyhoo and this time a nice dolphin of 8#-10# was added to the stringer. With a lull in the activity I decided to move the fish to the cooler. Not wanting to risk losing our catch I made a loop in the line to put on my wrist and then promptly let it slip off my hand. It wasn't a pretty sight seeing those nice fish slip into the depths in the wake of the boat. It wasn't a pretty sound coming from Mike either. Trolling continued and soon there was another king on a ballyhoo rig. This one went straight from the gaff to the cooler. We weren't far from the whistle buoy when the big strike came on my ribbon fish. The line was screaming out as I pulled the rod from the holder and the fish kept running. I wasn't too concerned about being spooled because I had 200 yds of 50# mono backed with 300 yds of 75# spider wire, and the big fish kept pulling off line. I stupidly decided, with encouragement from Mike, to tighten the drag a little. That immediately took the pressure off the rod. The fish was gone. My line had parted at the knot between the two lines. There will be a rematch between ribbon fish and ballyhoo next week, but for now we have enough meat for the fish fry. Mission accomplished. bbbb
Taylor's moniker for me used to be just Big Bad Bob, but since my pinkie episode he added the extra b... Big Bad Bacterial Bob.
"Tall Cotton" is Mike's answer to a dive boat. A 30' Catalina is great sailing vessel, but the confines of the cockpit and upper deck designed to shed crashing waves does not lend itself to the expanses needed to spread out dive gear. Just suiting up with weight belt, stringer, BC/tank takes some contortions. And then the fins go on, now you just have to find a way to wiggle and flop til you are in the water. Great care has to be taken not to get hung up on wenches, cleats, or fishing tackle so that you actually make a splash instead of just dangling over the side, suspended by some fouled equipment.
We had a mission. Jarred added Eagle Scout to his list of many accomplishments in his high school career. The proud parents want to celebrate with a fish fry, which I consented to accommodate. That brings us to step one - get fish. We tried to get an early start which we did fairly efficiently. It just takes a little longer loading gear, placing tanks below decks, securing the ice chest above deck, tying down gear bags, swapping the "fishing anchor" for the "Storm Anchor" ......... we got underway a little after 7am. We had lines in the green cloudy water just outside the pass on a strong outgoing tide. Two hours later we still hadn't crossed the tide line as we approached T-3 for our first dive. Mike held us on the wreck while I dropped anchor. It disappeared a little too quickly, but the seas were calm and the wind was light. I was soon in the water breathing a mixture of 1/2 nitrox and 1/2 water. Back on the deck for me to swap regulators for one that breathed a little dryer. The vis turned out to be about what we had expected, 10'-15', clouded by a lot of algae that has had such favorable conditions this summer with calm seas and lots of sunshine. Apparently the fish had gone to where the clear water was because they weren't here on this wreck. There were some small snapper and undersized Jacks but nothing remarkable. I removed the anchor from the center of the bridge span and dropped it to the sand along-side. I would get to revisit this location again in a few minutes. When we left the site we attempted to pull the anchor with the anchor ball. With no wind and slack current it was difficult to determine which way to depart for the pull. We went the wrong way and managed to pull the line back into a sharp piece of steel, which did just what sharp steel does, it cut the line. Wilson and I were soon back in the water to recover our only anchor. I didn't take my gun and of course a school of nice sized jacks came in from somewhere to escort me on my anchor retrieval mission. Soon Wilson was rocketing to the surface with anchor in tow and I slowly ascended while the big jacks circled.
It was a short trip to the next sunken bridge span and soon we were in the water again. Vis seemed a little better here and maybe that school of jacks had followed us over. Mike busied himself hunting for lobster and it took me a little while to pick out the best of the jacks and bring them to the stringer. While I was working with the 2d jack putting it on the stringer I saw some pretty good anchor line snaking it's way to the bottom. After reloading and stringing the fish I followed it down to a nice new anchor and chain. I really needed a new anchor and chain to accompany the 15 or so others I have cluttering the back room of my garage so I put down my gun and busied myself with the salvage operation. I started the anchor up on Wilson and then freed up the line as the anchor ascended. I guess the combination of the bloody fish and my commotion was just more than a big shark could resist. As I headed back to the bottom I was greeted nose to nose with the big man in the grey suit. He make a close inspection pass as I scrambled to detach my bang stick from its clip on my stringer. I was ready for him when he came back in for another pass and thumped him amidships. Nothing..... no bang, I forgot to take the safety off. I retrieved my gun and found Mike finishing up on his lobster hunt and we returned together to the anchor line for our ascent. I neglected to tell him of my previous shark encounter so he was pretty surprised when the big boy tried to come between his legs as it sniffed its way to my fish. I was almost ready for him this time with bang stick in hand but my approach must have been too threatening as he maneuvered out of range. He continued to circle below while Mike got on-board so he could bring in my fish. The fish disappearing out of the water was almost too much for the shark as he made one more speedy pass under me just as I was ascending the ladder. Maybe he wont be so lucky or I so inept next time.
A nice clean Loggerhead sea turtle watched from a short distance as we dropped anchor on the next bridge span. After a lunch of Maggie's sandwiches and some re-hydration we were ready for our final dive. 
A couple of more fish should be enough for the fish fry but we were limited out on jacks. Vis was a little better on this site and there were plenty of jacks and some snapper that were right at legal size, but too close to be sure so I passed them up. I was cruising above the bottom looking for the non-existent grouper to be lurking alongside the structure and occasionally scanning above for a cuda or ling. I saw the silhouette of the turtle at the top of the structure apparently munching on some algae or sponge of its liking. It was about then that I saw the silhouette of what I first thought was part of the bridge but materialized into a barracuda. It looked huge, even by my standards. Somewhere in the back of my mind was the thought that "maybe you shouldn't shoot this one", as I held my breath and drifted up looking for the right shot angle. I was so focused on range and shot placement that the "don't shoot" was replaced with "hang on" as I squeezed the trigger. It was a good shot, not a great shot because I didn't stone him. The response was what I expected, he took off straight up out of sight in the murk. I was able to grab a piece of the bridge as I was being dragged up, and after just a few moments the line went slack. I pretty much knew what was happening, it was coming back down. The next challenge was to keep him from wrapping on the structure and bending my shaft or shredding the cable. It was tense a couple of times as we threaded our way through the steel beams, but I was able to pull myself to the fish as it tired and finally got my hands on the shaft and then a good grip in the gills. The rest was easy with stringing and point removal.Back on deck we went through the ritual of stowing equipment, pulling anchor and getting ready for the trip home. I didn't expect the trip to be uneventful. Anytime Mike is onboard there is some fishing going on and the time of day was getting right for trolling. Today's fishing was a contest between his ballyhoo rigs and my awesome ribbon fish lure. It wasn't long before there was a fish in the baits whacking at the ballyhoo. Mike was able to entice a small king to eat the hook and soon we had it on the stringer at the stern. He keeps caught fish on the stringer until they are ready (dead) to go into the cooler. Soon there was more action, again on the ballyhoo and this time a nice dolphin of 8#-10# was added to the stringer. With a lull in the activity I decided to move the fish to the cooler. Not wanting to risk losing our catch I made a loop in the line to put on my wrist and then promptly let it slip off my hand. It wasn't a pretty sight seeing those nice fish slip into the depths in the wake of the boat. It wasn't a pretty sound coming from Mike either. Trolling continued and soon there was another king on a ballyhoo rig. This one went straight from the gaff to the cooler. We weren't far from the whistle buoy when the big strike came on my ribbon fish. The line was screaming out as I pulled the rod from the holder and the fish kept running. I wasn't too concerned about being spooled because I had 200 yds of 50# mono backed with 300 yds of 75# spider wire, and the big fish kept pulling off line. I stupidly decided, with encouragement from Mike, to tighten the drag a little. That immediately took the pressure off the rod. The fish was gone. My line had parted at the knot between the two lines. There will be a rematch between ribbon fish and ballyhoo next week, but for now we have enough meat for the fish fry. Mission accomplished. bbbb
Taylor's moniker for me used to be just Big Bad Bob, but since my pinkie episode he added the extra b... Big Bad Bacterial Bob.
