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Sun29Nov2009

November 28, 2009

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Bob Diaz | SpearBlog 2009 | November 29, 2009 | Print

Seas: 1-2 feet
Winds: 5-10 NW
Temp: 72 F
Viz: 50-60 feet
I've actually been slacking off on the blogging as of late. I went out on two winter dives that I didn't blog about right away so I am cramming in both of them in one sitting. I am still going to keep them as separate entries, for the sake of maintaining the conditions separately, but just know that I have written both of these in one sitting, and for that I apologize. I make no excuses for my laziness :).

So I get a late evening call from a friend/in-law (we'll call him Carlos) that has been telling me for years how he does most of his diving in the winter out of Miami asking if I am good to go for an early morning dive out of Black Pointe marina. At first, I'm thinking that I just went out last week on my own, but I look over at my wife while listening to the message and get a condoning nod, so I call him back immediately with my jubilant confirmation that I will be there bright and early and bright-eyed and bushy tailed for my first dive with him and his friends. I rush to get all my gear out trying to make sure that I am not forgetting anything and get in a couple of hours sleep before getting up to load everything in my car and head out to Carlos' house.

I arrive a bit early, so I wait for lights to come on both in the house and the back yard where the boat is before I start unloading all my gear. As with any first dive with a new crew, I wasn't sure what I might need, so I brought "The Kit". After going out on my own a couple of times and realizing that not everyone would have everything I might be needing or missing, I put together what I affectionately call my "Kit". This 18 gallon tub has been loaded with everything that I might even consider needing on any dive trip (with the possible exception of spare shafts that just wouldn't fit) to try an ensure not only a successful dive for me but anyone that may be with me. This kit has enough items in it to let me do anything from repair spearguns to make new slings to clean fish (after making sure they're of legal size) without depending on anyone else to supply anything at all. Luckily, Carlos' boat is big enough so they don't mind my bringing it along.

We headed out of Black Pointe Marina through Cesar's Creek past Elliott Key (where we stopped to suit up so we could avoid some of the cold wind). Our first stop was close by and only about 20-25 feet deep for a warmup dive. I was just getting acclimated to the water , the reef and the company while I followed the others around for a while. They bagged a 20" hogfish and a 23" Mangrove after which we moved on.

We made a stop by Whistle Buoy in about 65 feet at which point they told me to gear up my Euro 120 as they have seen Wahoo in this area before. Anxious at the possibility of my first wahoo, I jumped right in with my as-yet unfired 120. We swam around for a while without much excitement, but I was happy to have the chance to dive here because this was a personal best depth for me and I was very excited to bring up hogfish that had torn off the shaft of one of the other divers. The 120 was definitely overkill for a fish of this size, but I was down there and he gave me the shot, so I took it.

We finished off the day at a very beautiful reef where I lost 2 groupers in the maze of caverns that this reef concealed. Luckily, I hadn't even wounded them, so they should be there for the next time. By the end of the day, I was completely exhausted and even started cramping up a bit, so it was time to dry off, warm up and head in. All in all, it was a wonderful day of diving with some new people I can learn from so, till next time... breathe up, stay down and shoot straight!

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