Don’t forget to check www.schoonerconchpearl.com for pictures.
Another night at the dock. We came into the dock because the weather forecast predicted that the winds could be up in the morning. Actually it wasn’t too bad. The sky was very clear at 05:30 with Jupiter almost straight overhead and a stiff breeze blowing in from the north.
No seeping in today. We wanted to get up and out but still have a cooked breakfast so everyone was up and moving at 07:30. The more the sun came up the more the wind picked up. Since it was coming from the north the keys would keep the seas from building and getting too rough. We finished up breakfast, cleaned everything up, put up the main and the jib and headed out. The ocean wasn’t that bad. There were one to three foot swells and a stiff wind but nothing to keep us from diving.
We went back to the large Western Sambo complex of reefs. The way this reef sits protects us from the swells coming from the north. We moor and dive on the south side of the reef. The first stop was Crackers. There were few jellies if any to be seen. When I hopped in to do the conditions check I saw one lone jellyfish.
The second stop was Shark Alley. This site is marked by a wide sand channel that cuts through the reef. It’s called Shark Alley because we see Nurse Sharks here. The visibility was still good and there were still few jellies. On the beginning of this dive the crew attempted to do something that most crews try…a group picture. I’m always up for trying. It’s very problematic. We have to find a large enough sandy spot, which gets kicked up and becomes cloudy. Everyone has to cooperate and get into the group; there’s always a few hams trying to pose and then everyone has to be breathing in sync so there are no bubbles in front of their faces during the photo. If that all comes together you still need good visibility, the sun has to be out and the camera needs to take a decent picture. I hope it came out good enough to see everyone. I will be taking my camera in today and try to get pics of everyone to email home.
Our last stop was back at Haystacks, but a different mooring ball than on previous dives. The mooring balls are far enough apart that the divers see a completely different part of the reef at each one. The dive started out great, few jellies but by the end there were lots of them. Still not as bad as we had seen previously but we had been lulled into a false sense of jellyfishlessness. (?)
Slowly but surely the wind had been building. It was blowing around 20 knots by the time we started back in to the mooring. It was a bumpy ride but not too bad; just a little spray. We made it to the harbor, took down the sails and headed to the mooring ball. Although it was windy we were looking forward to a relaxing spaghetti dinner out ‘on the ball’.
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