This reminds me of the first time I got my custom Blue Water Hunter,
skin in suit. My friends all had them, and I had seen them lube up
many
time. In my excitement to get into the water with my new suit, I
rushed
to the store, grabbed the first bottle I saw and rushed to the beach.
It was a hot, sunny spring day, flat water and 10 foot+ viz. GREAT!

I mixed the bottle with water, as directed, and sprayed the inside of
the suit. I sprayed my legs and began to pull the suit on.

Hmmmmm, I was really wet, but it was not sliding on like I had seen my
friends slip into their suits.

I finally force the suit on, and gather my gear.

Walking from the car to the beach, I began to feel a little odd…...
with every step, the lube seemed to be drying up, and sticking to every
hair on my body. Every step became more and more painful, to the point
where I could knew something was wrong. Reaching the waters edge, I
dropped my gear and scooted into the water, with as little motion as
possible.

At this point, I could bearly move my arms to reach the zipper pull (it
was a one-piece, zip across the shoulders suit). It took all I had,
not
to pass out and open my suit. I dropped into the waist deep water and
felt the instant relief as the cool water entered my suit.

What the H@ll was going on? All my friends swore by these suits, did
I get taken, was I supposed to shave all my body hair off? (I am not
hairy
at all???)

I can’t remember how the dive went, it has been about 10 years, but
when
I returned home, I called my friend and mentor, Matt, and lamented my
issues with the suit.

He asked me what I used to lube up.

I replied, Hair conditioner, like he said.

He said what kind, go get the bottle.

I ran to the car and grabbed…..........

A bottle of Vidal Sasoon (or whatever brand name it was) HAIR
SPRAY!!!!!(liquid, not aerosol)

The lube was acting like a glue and cementing the suit to my skin.

Moral of the story: Make sure you take your time and follow
instructions!!

I guess we all have some funny stories of mistakes we made.

Marco Farrell
Have2fish at yahoo dot com
Santa Barbara, CA

Well after a long night of cinco de mayo festivities, mexican beers and tequila
shots…. I awoke to find the bouys down, the wind non-existant, and had 2 hours
before my girl returned from her 2 week vacation with her sister in Seattle.
Hmmmmm, I thought, what a great way to welcome here, but with a nice halibut,
ready to throw on the grill.

So began my mission. Find water, find halibut, kill halibut, get girl….. pretty sunset…
you know how that one ends….......(wink)

I ventured to a spot just north of Santa Barbara, one that I knew would probably
hold some flatfish. The water seemed pretty clear, just clear enough, but there was a
little windswell pushing at the point.

I still felt pretty good, well, lets say, I didn’t feel too bad, yet!

After struggling with all my gear, putting on a suit that had 6 months to shrink, with
the hot sun beating down, WOW, my head is starting to throb! ow!

I lumber the 1/3 mile to the point and put in. The cool water feels good, but I am
sweating, and my head is really pounding. The tide was a little low for the spot I
liked to work, where I generally find a hali or two, and the surge from the swell was
making for less than favorable conditions. If I were in top form, I would have used
the surge to hunt the sand channels, holding on to the eelgrass as it pushed me too
and fro, but alas, my throbbing head. ouch!

I work out a little deeper, on out to about 8 feet deep. I can bearly see the bottom,
and the long green strands of eelgrass are making me feel a little queasy. Oh, yeah,
and I am pretty congested, so every time I drop down past three feet, my sinuses
start squealing like a stuck pig, and my head THROBS even more, even my jaw and
a tooth with a filling in it hurt.

I am not that happy of a camper, but the water is normally so healing, I will feel
better in a little bit. I decide to go and work the kelp, hoping for a White Sea Bass.

As I kick out the 150 yards to the reef outside, the visibility only about 6 feet, a hazy
green, I am feeling green in the gills. I float slowly amoung the kelp stringers, dipping
down to peer into the kelp rooms, seeing if anyone is home. But for a few perch,
and a short calico bass, this is starting to look pretty bleak.

I decide to make my way in to the inside reef, in shallower where I can see the
bottom, hoping for a halibut. I am not really thinking about seabass anymore, as I
am sure that my sinuses have scared them all away. about half-way down the reef, I
notice a bright orange dive float, in the middle of the kelp! Now, anyone who has
dove with a big float in the kelp, knows that it is about as easy as pushing an anchor
chain!

I slowly make my way in his direction, wondering who it might be. when I am about
100 feet away, I notice that he has the “dive store $29.99 special, yellow” polespear,
and has duckfeet fins on, happily splashing his way through the kelp. I think to
myself, any hopes for a seabass are now long gone, as all this comotion will for
surely have spooked any fish within a mile radius…....... I wave hi to him and decide
that my throbbing head, the squeaking, squealing sinuses and now, two other
snorkelers pounding this kelp is deciding my decision of who is gonna win, the
heavely favored hangover, or the fish.

Now not three seconds pass after thinking that, floating still on the surface, when like
a strange apparition, materializes before me, WOW, I darnd big seabass! Hurry, no
don’t rush the shot, hurry, wait, you don’t want to get a bad shot, a second longer,
and BLAMO!

I dive , trying to follow the mono, aw, hell, I can see the kelp moving, I just bomb
down and start grabbing, nope, almost, wait, there is the shaft, I can’t see anything
but kelp, I feel a thump, I miss, air starting to run out, grab the shaft, the fish,
bearhug, hand in the gills, must have air, I put my feet on the reef, hang on to the fish
and rip my way through the kelp, two feet from the surface, the fish rips from the
spear and I have it under control.

YYYYYEEEEEAAAAAHHHHHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!

The guy looks over, and I hold the fish up! I get a thumbs up from him.

OOOUUUCCCHHH, my head hurts.

YYEEAAHHH!!!, first fish of the year, on the first dive!

Thump thump, the fish is losing strenght. I take my rope stringer, damn, there is only
a loop on one end, I forgot to tie it on the other. I get it throught the gills, into the
mouth and after a minute or two, tie a loop with one hand. Harder than you think,
with a struggling fish, a death grip on his gills. I am not going to lose this one!

Throbb THROBB, OUCH, man why did I have that darned last beer last night, it is
always that last one (yeah right!) that hurts so bad the next day.. : )

I retrieve my gun, line everywhere and a overhand knot has magically appeared in
the mono.

Just focus on getting in. I feel like I am sweating in my suit, even though the water is
cool.

Yeah! got one, and looks like a nice one. Forget stringing the gun, I just look the
line up and make my way in.

Long story short, it was a long walk back to the car, juggling my gear and fish, and I
was not sure who would win, the hangover or the fish, but as I drove away, the
throbbing started to fade, and my grin was shining through the sick feelings.

The seabass won!

PS, it was 36 inches, about 14 lbs. Not too shabby for 6 feet of water, 5 feet of viz
and a kick a$$ hangover.

Marco Farrell
Santa Barbara, CA

Oh, and yes, the I also won over the girl….. roll pretty sunset and credits…. ” CUT,
it’s a wrap!”

Seas: Rocky Bayou and most of the Bay was glass. I expected the Gulf to be less than a foot, but as soon as we hit the jetties, we ran into 2-3 footer with a wavelength of 30’ (I know this because my boat is 25’ and my bow was trying to rise before my stern came down the previous swell). Once we got past the C-Buoy, the seas were a pretty steady 2 ft with a few 3 footers.

Boat Info: I don’t know how to make this very short (although it explains why I haven’t filed a dive report in a month). I bought a new Rochester carb and installed it. The raw water pump that I semi-rebuilt in July started leaking from the shaft seal, but with a hurricane approaching, I decided to buy a new pump and finish the rebuild on the old pump later. We tried to go out last week, but halfway across the Bay, the engine started missing. After replacing the fuel/water separator and fuel filter, the fuel pump wouldn’t self prime. I was able to pour some gas into the fuel/water separator which primed the pump, and we were able to limp home. Obviously, I replaced the fuel pump. In the meantime, a salt water leak developed at a hose fitting right over my alternator, so it got fried. I installed a new alternator yesterday. The sea-trial was okay (still not enough power), so we planned today’s trip.

Crew: Candy and Stone

Gear: Candy: 7 mil / 14 lbs - Stone: 5 mil and 12 lbs

Prologue: We left the dock at 0730. Our first objective was to verify the location of the ECRA Members’ Reef (cement mixing drum). Last month, Croz, Candy, and I spent most of a day searching for it with Side-Scan-Sonar, and we were pretty certain we had located it.  We spent over an hour doing search patterns today and couldn’t find it. We may have to side-scan a larger area.

Dive One: Spiny Rocks. The water was blue on top and the vis down to 15 ft was about 40 ft. After that, the vis deteriorated all the way down until it was 15 ft on the bottom. We saw no spinys or slippers, but red snapper (illegal in Federal waters) were everywhere.

Dive Two: 18s. This was supposed to be another lobster hunt. We were surprised that the vis on the bottom was 20 to 30 ft. We ran out Candy’s 200 ft reel and had to head back to the anchor line. Luckily, we ran across a gag and a triggerfish, so we didn’t get skunked.

Epilogue: I was pretty tired from working on the boat yesterday, and we were on the water for nearly 4 hours before our first dive, so 2 dives were enough for me. The boat never missed a beat, but I couldn’t get it over 3000 rpm. We were back in port by 4:30 pm.

Trip Info:

Elapse Time (hrs): 9 hrs
Total Miles (st): 79
Fuel (gal): 74

Wx: 80 F early (warming to 90F). Sunny until 1500. Winds light and variable early, then 25 kts out of the north due to multiple afternoon squalls

Seas: Rocky Bayou was glass, the Bay was flat, and the Gulf was mostly rolling 1+ ft. The squalls changed everything.

Boat Info: In the process of finding a new transmission, Candy called the same company that we bought our engine from. To make a long story short, Candy mentioned that we were not getting the gas mileage or power we expected. We were informed that our Holley carb had a latent defect and they would replace it. I blew the dust, sand, and cobwebs out of my old Rochester carb, pulled the Holley, and re-installed the Rochester. The old carb seemed to work.

Crew: Candy, Stone, & Viper

Gear: Candy: 7 mil / 14 lbs - Stone: 5 mil and vest / 12 lbs

Prologue: We left the dock at 0730. We didn’t find any fish inshore last week, so we headed to our private coops. We planned on 4 dives, 3 offshore and a shallow dive on the way home.

Dive One: Private Coop. Surface current was pretty strong (2-3 kts?). Vis was lousy on top, but 30 – 40 ft on the bottom. The water was 82F on top and 76F on the bottom. No legal fish, so we thumbed the dive pretty quickly.

Dive Two: Prewitt Tug. We tried the Baskin’s Tower Barge first (a favorite for AJs), but it had 2 boats on it. Thankfully, no one was on the Prewitt. The vis was still lousy on top, but after descending through the whale snot, the vis was about 50 ft (even with the lower light level). While still on the anchor line, we were met by a school of barely legal AJs. I swam toward the wreck and another school of AJs swam by, but this school had a few bigger fish mixed in. I shot a 25 lb, 36 inch AJ and spent the rest of the dive getting untangled from monofilament.

Dive Three: Prewitt Tug. Since there were plenty of legal AJs on the wreck, we decided to stay put. We used the surface interval to eat lunch and play with the carburetor. After 2 dives to 120 ft, we knew the 3rd dive would not be very long. I swam to the wheelhouse hoping for a grouper. Candy shot an AJ while still on the rope, but it pulled off.

Epilogue: We headed inshore for a 4th dive and actually dropped the hook and prepared to dive on Anniversary Reef. The skies over Destin were dark and I could see (RADAR) a rainstorm over land about 5 miles north and another squall about 5 miles SW. Before we knew it, the wind picked up to 25 kts and we reevaluated the dive. We couldn’t use the anchor ball in the Anniversary boulder field, so Viper pulled the anchor by hand (which was not very easy as the seas quickly built to 3-4 ft). The winds turned offshore, so we made the best headway we could almost due north. The closer we got to shore, the more speed we could make, and we finally turned east toward the jetties. The RADAR helped us maneuver through the slackest parts of the squall, and we didn’t hit any very heavy rain (the lightning was pretty, but I’d rather watch it from the comfort of my living room).

The transmission continues to give me problems, but the old Rochester Carb noticeably improved my gas mileage.

Trip Info:

Elapse Time (hrs): 11
Total Miles (st): 82
Fuel (gal): 72