Hey, That Dolphin Stole My Wong Gun! Mar 19-21 '04
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OK, gag
grouper. You wanna f*** wit me? You f****n' with da best. Say hallo to my
lil' freng!!!!
- Scarface (from the deleted Middle Grounds spearfishing scene)
Guests
A veritable UN summit meeting. Scott (as in Spearboard's creator), JC
Action, Topshotta, Spearooo, and zds3488. People from all creeds, religions,
and national origins coming together to achieve world peace meted out via
copious 60 inch spring stainless applications of tough love.
Sea Conditions
Calm seas until it was time to going home when it blew up to 4' for the ride
in. Sunday morning it was as slick calm as baby's bathtub. Vis in the Middle
Grounds varied from 40'-80', and was absolutely incredible inshore (see
below). Water temps 60-64 degrees, with a moderate current at times starting
at 40 fsw to the bottom.
The Good....
*We left earlier on Friday, and were able for all to get a round of dives en
route to the MG. Stopped at a local wreck, and put down zds, Scott, and
Jimmy Z on SCUBA while the rest freedove. The water was so blue, it was
purple. We could easily make out the wreck from the surface, and see jacks
as if they were suspended in mid air. All took their limit, and left the
deck looking as if it had been shot with a paint sprayer full of blood.
*On my last dive Saturday I was on a small ledge with lots of broken off
rock over on the low side. I had harvested some mangos, a gag, and some
female hogs that I was noticing an unusual amount of. I just sensed that the
alpha male was nearby. Right as I was about to go up, I saw a nice male
around 16# swimming through the crevices under the ledge which promptly
received the SS Rhino gun salute. Satisfied with my hoop of doom, I began
for the surface, and met with zds who had his gun already unloaded. My
practice of always looking down as I ascend paid off in a big way when 60'
off the bottom, I saw a massive fish moving rapidly across the ledge using
only pectoral fins in typical hogfish fashion. The alpha male hogfish of the
reef I thought I had was just a mere snot-nosed punk compared to this guy! I
descended quickly, and trailing the beast for nearly 100' feet, waited for
him to make a slight turn in order to get a better shot. My wish came true
as my SS Rhino delivered a perfect drop dead stone shot, and a sigh of
relief with less than 500psi at 100 fsw. On the boat it weighed 22#, tying
my personal best, and capping off another great day in the MG.
*Spearooo, zds, and I put the wraps on the trip by diving a small wreck east
of the MG (no Financial Advis, you do not have this one). It was sheer
steelslinging madness as we took a number of large gags, and mangos while
monster (15-20 pound) closed season red snappers looked smugly on. Have fun
guys, because come late April, the JR2 is going to pay you another visit
.
*Triggerfish ceviche. Yes, thank you, I know that Spearooo and I rule
.
The Bad....
A trip full of minor calamities, and lost gear!
*JC Action got bitten pretty bad by a spotted moray on his first dive.
*zds lost two shafts and a powerhead. JC Action lost a dive knife.
*We saw JC Action's Wong gun float to the surface on his second dive. It was
promptly hidden in the cabin, and all played dumb when he surfaced. After
letting him be a lookout on the bow for fifteen minutes, I handed it up to
him through the forward hatch. As opposed to what he told me fifty times, I
do not have carnal relations with my mother
.
*While moving up to deploy divers on the marker jug, Topshotta lost his
balance at the transom in full gear, and flipped completely ass over elbow
off the boat narrowly missing the dive platform, and more importantly the
boat props. JC Action gave him a 9.4, a good performance, but he could have
tucked in his legs in a little more for better streamlining
.
*While digging out a grouper, I got both knees pincushioned bigtime with sea
urchin spines. Despite everyone's offer to help, I declined that they
urinate on me to alleviate the stinging.
And The Ugly....
Thirty minutes into JC Action, and Topshotta's third dive we saw a Wong gun
pop to the surface butt end first with a what appeared to be a loaded
stringer clipped to it. Knowing that JC usually sends his fish up to the
surface during his deco, we just kept eyes on it, and did not approach to
avoid running over what we thought was him below. After a couple minutes the
entire gun got sucked below the surface rapidly with Jimmy Z claiming he had
just seen a dark shape next to it moments before. OK we thought, JC got his
gun, and is about to surface, only to see him pop up calling us to pick him
up rapidly a good fifty yards from where the gun was last seen. Apparently
he had been fighting the buoyancy created by all the air bladders in his
fish, and had to let go of the gun. When he surfaced, he had an empty tank,
13 minutes of deco left, and numbness on one side. While staging an 100% O2
bottle, we the saw something you don't see every day. A dolphin was on the
surface with JC's Wong gun in his mouth like a dog with a bone, and another
dolphin trailing behind nipping at the fish on the stringer. That dolphin
stole his Wong gun!!! Despite the unbelievable site we were witnessing, JC
was able to get back in the water, and finish his deco at 15 fsw with
Topshotta and myself watching him on the surface in freedive gear. JC made a
full recovery, but despite backdiving the ledge, the Wong gun, and the
dolphins were neither seen again.
Even with all the unforseen excitement, this ended up being a fantastic trip
where all factors came together at once. Great dive conditions, mass
quantities of quality fish, beautiful weather, and most importantly, great
people to hang out with all weekend.
JC Action and I are forming Team Cafe Bustelo, the Cuban coffee spearfishing
squad. We had the Cuban version of crystal meth brewing morning, noon, and
night . Nothing like diving to
130fsw in full caffeine induced atrial arrhythmia
. Standing by.
Slaytistics
Grouper=57
Mango Snapper=89
Hogfish=14
Amberjack=14
Pink Porgies= get your calculator out.
AJ Suarez
