Guests
Jack Zukley with his son Robert, Charley Bailey, and Marty Walsh all
from Mobile making their return visit to the JR2.
Sea Conditions
Between the ominous forecast for Suwannee north called for on Sunday
and the lost gear that happened on Saturday we opted to stay local
instead of head for the MG. I subsequently found out the MG ended up
being very doable while off the Hatch we finished our trip right as the
wind started howling from storms at 30 knots with a 5' following sea
heading home. En route we got hit by a much larger rogue wave that
completely turned the boat sideways in the seas, and sent more gear into
Davy Jones' locker. My packed dive bag was hanging half over the side on
the gunnel , but several of the guys loose gloves and booties were not
so lucky. Vis was 10' max the first day SW of the Hatch, and T2B 10+
miles north on the second. Water temps ranged from 75*-77*.
Slay Report
On the second rotation of the first day one of the guys in the
process of unclipping his stringer from his BC (uninflated) which he had
already taken off at the dive platform lost his grip, and the whole pack
plunged into the Gulf. The regulator must have been upended because a
huge stream of bubbles trailed from the sinking rig. Everyone just sat
there stunned for the couple of seconds where someone could have
freedove down and probably had grabbed it. I threw a spare marker on the
bubbles right as the regulator must have righted itself to stop free
flowing, but off course it was tied off for a depth just shallower than
we were working and started floating . I told the diver in the water to
hold onto the jug while I wheeled around to MOB the spot where he was.
Long story short, six full dives and 3-4 hours later no gear.......BC,
HP120 tank, two Atomic (ouch) regs, dive computer etc. estimated around
$2K GONE. The current was ripping so who knows how far the diver drifted
hanging onto the jug in the short time before the MOB, and the 5'-10'
vis didn't help matters. One of the things we thought of in retrospect
is that the BC could have had just enough buoyancy to be bouncing off
the bottom and maybe got snagged up on the ledge that we were
diving......the one place we didn't make a recovery dive attempt.
After the total bust of the first day we recovered nicely after heading
north to what ended up being a very productive area. Good stringers of
gags and hogs came up on every dive filling the box to a fairly
respectable level. We finished the trip and headed back in a hellacious
storm which cleared up to total calm just in time to be eaten alive by
sand gnats and no-see-ums at the dock.
__________________
Thank you for choosing the Gulf of Mexico. Your bag limit will be
lowered in the order that it is received. All dive sites may be
monitored for quality assurance purposes.
Robert Zukley who is a student at Ole Miss was definitely the
top gun guest shooter this trip. Pictured here with his dad (both
holding stringers), with Charley, and after ascending from the last dive
of the trip in a driving rainstorm.
