This past weekend we were visited by what started as tropical depression three and ultimately grew into tropical storm Bonnie. Although the storm itself was ultimately ineffectual, the build up for it was of monumental proportions. As usual the weather forecasters declare doomsday in the Florida Keys during the week as their forecasts had the storm building to over 50mph and traversing right through the middle keys. By Friday morning, the forecast had not changed much and even though you always have to take the entire cone into consideration, I decided to head down and pick up any loose items and take down the large canopy we have setup to avoid unnecessary damage. So I decided to head down Friday morning to do the necessary preparations.

As I'm driving down, the weather deteriorates rapidly with some torrential downpours as I cross the 18 mile stretch leading into Key Largo. I'm thankful as I arrive at the campground to see that there was a break in the weather so I could hopefully get everything I needed done and put away without having to put it or myself away wet. Other campers have also arrived to make some preparations for the storm. Almost every boat was out of the water and most trailers were sealed up fairly tight. After a while, I had taken all the measures I thought were necessary and had also helped out and spoken to some of the other campers about the possible aftermath of the storm, so I departed for home.

By the time I left for home, the 11am advisory had already been released stating the course was now between the middle and upper keys. So on the way, I call a friend of mine to ask if he would like me to stop at his place in Key Largo to make sure everything is buttoned up just in case. He asked if I would mind doing just that. At his place I take down couple of things and make sure everything else is secured from being pushed around the yard by the wind. Once I was done with that, I was back on the road towards home. As I'm heading out of Key Largo, I notice what an absolutely gorgeous day it has turned out to be and wish only that I had thought to bring my gear with me because if I had, I would be spending the rest of the afternoon in Key Largo diving off my friend's boat. Little did I know at that time, that it would be the only worthwhile shot I would have for the weekend.

After driving through some more rain on the way home (rain I should say, that I only ran into well outside of the storm's forecast area...) I arrive home to wait for everyone to get home so we can all start preparing to head down for the weekend. So after loading up the truck that evening, I turned right around and drove back down to the Keys, this time with the family in tow.

Saturday got a very late start as I was finishing up putting things back together and waiting for a dive partner to show up who decided to come in Saturday morning instead of Friday. We headed out well after noon which meant we would get the afternoon winds and the afternoon incoming low tide dirty water. Trying to remain positive (I was fairly positive we wouldn't catch squat) we head to the reef line. With little time to spare, we jumped right in at a couple of our spots and left pretty much the same way we got there (no fish). At the end of the trip we had very little fish to show for our efforts. So little fish that I actually had to defrost some frozen dolphin to make sure there would be enough for everyone that night as at least 5 families were going to be feasting. Luckily for everyone, someone must have shot a cow and a couple of chicken that day, because we also had steak and poultry to complement the menu. As usual we all went to bed extremely full.

Sunday was a good example of how odd the weather can be due to the fact that within a matter of an hour, you can go from being inland (so-to-speak) to being well offshore outside the reef line. As we left the campground that morning to scout some spots for the upcoming lobster mini season, we were not expecting the viz to be there, but the wind appeared to have laid down so we were hoping to not get beat up. Well, at least we were right about the viz (like that's some kind of consolation). After scouting a couple of spots in close for the upcoming mini season, (where the viz ranged from 1-5 feet) we decided to venture out to see if we could find clean water beyond the reef line. As we cross Hawk's Channel, we are greeted by constant 5-6' seas but apparently my friend's steering wasn't working, because we kept heading offshore. Meanwhile, unbeknownst to us the weather at the campground while wet, was dead calm. We were told there wasn't a breeze to save you from the heat and humidity while we were battling 15-20mph winds and 5-6' seas. We did utlimately manage to catch some mangroves and a red grouper so at least there would be some fish for the freezer.

We arrive back at the campground, shortly after which every floating device  (everything from kayaks to windsurfer boards to paddle boats) in the place had been commandeered by all the children (even some of the grown up children) in the marina where they splashed and knocked each other over to their hearts content as the rain continued to come down all afternoon. As I've always told people, even bad weather isn't so bad down in the keys.