2/11/2006 - Poor Vis? Who Cares?

I went on my friend Ross Overstreet's boat this morning looking for lobsters and nudibranchs. I found nudis. We tried to find the submerged platform at Marineland, but once again were skunked. I think it has a cloaking device. After a short dive in the sand, we motored over to Buchanan's Reef. Although the vis was less than ten feet I still managed to find a lot of nudis and a few short lobsters. There was a strong bottom current, so I freed the anchor and was about to ascend when I saw a Blue-ring Topsnail. I took a few pictures, then couldn't find the anchor. I hate free ascents, but I was diving close to shore and in shallow water so I figured it would be no big deal. I left the sixty foot bottom and made a slow ascent. Ten minutes later I surfaced to see the boat about a quarter mile away. Time to kick. The current at the surface was stronger than at the reef. Thirty minutes later I was still kicking, finally getting close enough to hear Ross tell me the anchor was fouled. I thought he just wanted to see if I could make the swim.  He tells everyone I am freakishly strong. I needed all my strength today.

When I finally made it back to the boat I needed to rest for a few minutes before going back down to free the anchor. Still, it was a fun day. Hilary and I are going to go tomorrow in hopes of finding a bug or two so she can take dinner back to New Mexico Monday.