Down too long in the midnight sea…

Sunday marked my return to the sea after a 3 month hiatus.  Got out on the Tuna Seazure, and after 3 months of blow outs, I nearly shed a tear at my reflection in the “glass” as we cleared the inlet into the Atlantic.  Definitely not a typical day in March but no one was complaining especially the guys that drove up from DC and VA Beach.

We initially tried for the DELAWARE but Kenny reported no viz so we pulled up and headed over to the “Emerald“.  On the way we passed a pod of dolphins enjoying the calm conditions and in no time I was on the bow throwing the hook again.  It was hard to tell if we hooked anything or not as with no seas and no current the line just stayed limp.  eventually Capt Bill gave Kenny the go ahead to splash since the GPS said we weren’t moving and the ball popped up in short order.

After everyone returned excited about the good conditions on the bottom I geared up and jumped in with the camera.  The visibility was a nice 20-25 feet but a little dark due to the overcast skies we had all day up above.  I didn’t look at the temperature but other divers reported 40 F.   I spent my dive playing with the camera and didn’t venture very far as the engines on the EMERALD are very pretty all by them selves.  I spent about 45 minutes tooling around on the bottom and if it wasn’t for my leaky drysuit I probably could have gone a little longer and looked for some lobsters.

Everyone else had a good time, feeling fortunate for the good early season conditions.  3 or 4 legal lobsters were boated with several larger ones eluding hands that were probably slowed a little by the cold.  Kenny attempted to sneak up on the BIG blackfish (plural) in the engine but ultimately found out they have a much higher tolerance for cold and he was forced to tap out of the battle prematurely.  There’s always next time…