SLSU032413A – Friday March 29th, 2013

Lobster? What Lobster?

 

This crew has had the pleasure of being on the dock for three of their nights. That’s three nights of no anchor watch. They should be well rested but the diving and rolling seas are still keeping them pretty tired.

We started the day with a cold breakfast so that we could get going quickly. We were going lobstering. We got off the dock early and headed for Pelican Shoals. This used to be a small island that has been worn down over the years so that it is all pretty much under water. It slopes down to around 20 feet so there is plenty of 8 -12 ft. deep areas for skin diving for lobsters. Scouts aren’t allowed to scuba for lobster due to risk management issues. The crew received a briefing from Captain Denny on the best methods for catching lobster using a net and a tickle stick. Everyone geared up in their snorkeling gear and off they went, being led by Divemaster Paul. The seas were really choppy adding to the difficulty but the crew really went at it. We call it 'sporty'; when the boat is being tossed back and forth and you don't walk around, you throw yourself from place to place and grab on. After about and hour they had had enough and everyone returned to the boat. The reward for their efforts was one lobster that was too small. Sometimes there are lots of lobsters at Pelican Shoals and sometimes there are none. Being the end of the season may have had something to do with it.

 

We left Pelican Shoals and had lunch on the way to the dive site. The seas were really rolling so any movement was a real challenge. We arrived at the dive site hoping that the reef would protect us from the large swells, which it did, with little effect. The dive site was Wrecker's Reef, a reef in the Western Sambo group. The visibility was great. When I jumped in to do conditions and got down to around 30' it was so peaceful, especially compared to being on the surface. There was no current, very little surge and fantastic visibility. The dive was great. Steven even spotted an octopus and we watched it race across the bottom, changing colors as it went.  Everyone made it back on to the rocking boat. That's not easy when it's really rocking bad.

 

The crew voted to do another dive which was led by Paul. Again they had a great dive. After the dive we headed to the mooring in Key West Harbor.

 

Dinner was our traditional last night dinner of steaks,mashed potatos and green beans. Too bad we couldn't have Surf & Turf.