Yellow Flag 8-7-10

Cool Jellyfish!







This week started out great with two nice dives on the Moonstone on Monday, and then it went downhill from there. I was blown out of the India Arrow on Wednesday which is a dive I was looking forward to doing all year. With 5'-8' seas it wasn't mean to be. I was really disappointed so, I contemplated diving the S-5 on Friday as a substitute but, for various reasons and my own indecisiveness I did not go. Those that did dive the S-5 said conditions were excellent and they all had a great dive. I was so upset that I gave up a perfectly good opportunity that I contacted Capt. Roger of the Dina Dee and got on their dive today along with South Jersey Dive Club. We were destined for the Magnolia or Chappara but, there were boats already on those wrecks so, we went to the Yellow Flag. I never dove this wreck and it is some sort of schooner that sits in 76' of water.











It has been a long time since I've been on the Dina Dee and it was nice to see Capt. George and First Mate Chris. I ended up meeting a lot of very nice people from South Jersey Dive Club and enjoyed their company.









After Chris tied in the hook, I splashed into horrible murky water that quickly opened up to an easy 30'-40' of vis on the bottom. It was however, cold, 47 degrees on the bottom and 58 degrees on my hang. I managed to stick it out for about 30 minutes before I was cold enough to head back up to the boat. I took a lot of photos since the vis was so good and spent a lot of time chasing the red jellies and taking their pictures. This wreck is pretty scattered and has lots of cross beams for fish and lobster to hide. Chris the mate was spearing fish and at one point he spooked a winter flounder that nearly hit me. Once he settled to the bottom, stunned, I tried to take a picture of it but it got up and took off for the sand. There were 10 divers today and this wreck is not so big so, I swam out to several pieces out in the sand to get away from the "crowd'. There were lots of fish on the out pieces that perhaps were scared off the main wreckage by other divers. I really enjoyed my dive and was glad I came.

Once back on the boat there were several lobsters and a few sea bass speared, including Tricia's barnacled lobster that looked prehistoric. There were some divers in which this was their first ocean dive, it was great to see how much they enjoyed it and they were so enthusiastic, its been a while since I've seen that. It made me feel great to be there and be a part of it.

On my second dive, I swam out to one of the distant pieces of the wreck and took a lot of photos. I took so many photos that my scan disk was full and I couldn't take anymore. I then just spent my time exploring this wreck. Its amazing how you can easily map a wreck in your mind when the vis is so good. I ended up with about 25 minutes for this dive and it was time to head up. At the end of the trip Capt. George was having Tricia and a some others draw out the wreck so that they would remember the layout of it for future dives. Not a bad idea...


Mr. Crabbie






We were back at the dock by noon. Fate brought me to the Yellow Flag and it ended up being an amazing day and I'm glad I decided to go. Thanks to the Dina Dee for a great day of diving!

USS Moonstone 8-2-10

Yesterday, August 2, 2010 we went out on the Independence II to the Moonstone. The USS Moonstone was a luxury Yacht that was built in 1929. It was purchased and commissioned into the US Navy during WWII. The wreck sits in 130 feet of water off of Cape May.

We left Utch's Marina by about 6am and were greeted to to a beautiful sunrise. On board today were 9 divers, Capt. Dan Bartone, Capt. Bill Trent, Dave Oldman, Joe Rogers, Tony Hilbert, Steve Kirkland, Steph McAllister, Bill & I. I have not been to this wreck since 1991 so I was pretty excited. We had calm seas and the water was finally that deep aquamarine blue.








First off, the new benches on the Independence are awesome, there is so much room on this boat that it makes gearing up really comfortable! Then I forgot how much I liked their Carolina line system..a simple giant stride or rather a leisurely step in and there is the line heading down below the seas. After I walked off the boat, I was blown away by the unlimited visibility..is this NJ or what? As I descended there were a few illuminesence and just deep blue water. Once I hit the thermocline and boy did you notice it (very cold) it became darker. Once on the bottom we had only about 20' of vis which is not so hot given how far offshore we were. The bottom temp was 47 degrees which isn't bad but, I felt like it was a lot colder and the other divers also felt cold. I did notice that the wreck looked very different from what I remember. It sits a lot lower to the bottom and there was a lot less marine growth on it than what I recall. You can see all the pieces of decking that already collapsed and they lay in neat rows. The gun is still in the bow but does not sit as high up as it used to. The deck below it has collapsed and you can not longer swim into it. I saw some tiles and remnants of a sink. I took a few photos and before I knew it my time was up. During my hang Bill & I fooled around taking pictures of each other to kill the time. There was little or no current so the hang was comfortable.


On the surface interval we talked a lot about rebreather's and the differences between different models and their reliability. Bill and I are going to try a few of them out over the upcoming weeks and hopefully will finally make the conversion. In fact, the Independence was diving the N. Pacific tomorrow and we could not go because we had no where to get air after our dive and if we had a rebreather this would not be an issue.

On my second dive we were going to work on a project that the others were working on. I did not bring my camera in for this dive and once we were on the bottom we swam to the bow (we were anchored in the stern). Bill located the work area and I swam around looking for an area to dig. The vis was better on this dive, brighter and clearer. I was not feeling that great on this dive so I went up earlier than I originally planned on. Several of the divers got valves and they tried to convince me it was something more than a hunk of brass. To each his own... Bill got some tiles to add to our collection of tiles in the garden.

It was nice to be back out on the Independence, they run a clean and safe boat. I am really looking forward to being back on the Independence tomorrow to dive the India Arrow.

I cannot write this trip report without saying, this was a tough day out diving for all those that knew Yasuko. I know I am extremely sad about losing another diver and at this point I am at a loss for words. However, I thought I'd still try and go out and dive and if it was too much for me emotionally, I just wouldn't get in the water. Once I was out there, I figured, I should go and dive in her honor. I was glad that we all kept our thought to ourselves and no one brought up the latest dive accident until we were back at the dock. I know it helped me get through a tough day. We are all involved in this love of scuba diving and it effects all of us, we need to support each other and dive as safely as we can.

Offshore Paddlewheeler 7-25-10

With a 4'-7' offshore forecast, we headed out of Atlantic City Inlet on the dive boat Atlantus to the wreck known as the Offshore Paddlewheeler. There was a ever persistent ground swell of 3'-4' that laid down as the day progressed. On board today was myself, Bill, John Priestly, Brian Roemer, Walt and Capt. Brian Larsen. After a 2 hour nap on the way out, Bill and I splashed first to tie into the wreck. The surface vis was unbelievable, nice blue/green water down to about 90'. Then we went into the darkness and I awaited for it to open up on the bottom. I hit the anchor line chain and realized I was on the bottom and could not see a thing...maybe 1' of vis. I have never had such bad vis conditions offshore. The water temp was 43 degrees at 147' and I sat and waited to see if my eyes would adjust to the darkness and I'd be able to see a little better. That never happened. I did not venture too far and collected a few scallops, took a few macro photos of a scallop and starfish. It was only about 7-8 minutes and I signaled to Bill that I was going up, he tried to convince me to stay down but I said no, its not worth it and up I went. There is nothing worse than doing your hang in water that is so pretty and clear when the vis was nil on your dive.

During the surface interval we debated about moving inshore, but no one wanted to go pop the anchor and sacrifice time for their second dive, so we were staying for 2. Capt. Brian took his spear to some of the surrounding buoy's in search of fish to spear and several of us went for a nice swim. It was HOT out there today!!! I think the heat got to a few of us including me. I do not like the heat and felt tired and weak. I snorkeled for a while shooting pictures of illuminesence and tried to get a picture of Brian Roemer jumping in for this 2nd dive. It didn't turn out...too many bubbles, all I got was his fins. I decided not go on my 2nd dive but, Bill did. He got a bagful of scallops and a lobster. He said I should have gone that the vis opened up and I didn't believe him. I asked Brian Roemer and he said well it was a little better vis but not much. Hence, I was glad I sat this one out. We were not sure where on the wreck we were, and Bill figured out on the 2nd dive that we were about 40' towards the stern from the engines.

On the way back to Atlantic City we went through a monsoon and electrical storm that was pretty wild. I shot a little video of the storm.. All our gear got a nice rinse and it finally cooled off. I have to admit that I was really disappointed about today's dive but, it still was an adventure and better than not diving at all!!

My tanks getting a bath!!

9 Minute Barge & Dry Dock 7-23-10

After a few blow-outs, I finally got out today and was happy I made the decision to go. I have not been underwater since June 20th, which is a long dry spell. I am supposed to dive the Offshore Paddlewheeler on Sunday and in looking at the weekend weather, it does not look good so, I convinced Bill to take a quick run out and dive today. We started out heading for the Glory wreck, Bill dove this years ago with John Slotnick (Captain/Mate of the Sea Robin) and just found some GPS numbers for it. He remembered it being a good dive. Well, the numbers didn't pan out and we couldn't locate the wreck. So, we continued on our journey and went to the 9 Minute Barge. We found it in no time and hooked it on our first try. I was not feeling well in the tummy (thanks to the rollers) soooo, I splashed first and had the job of setting the hook.

The surface vis was this terrible pea soup everyone is talking about and then it went completely black. So I was nervous that the vis would not be so good, boy was I wrong..we had an easy 30' of vis and as I descended I could see the entire layout of the barge. The hook was in a small piece of wreckage and needed to be relocated so with a few throws and some heaving, I got it over to a piece of wreckage that I could tie it into. However, before I could get my sisal around it, someone up above was pulling the hook.. This was not funny and I almost watched the anchor go bye bye. You are not supposed to pull up the slack until it is all set, oh well.. It's not so easy to tie into a low lying barge and I was thinking, this is hard work, isn't it supposed to be relaxing and fun?

Now I was off on my dive, the first thing I noticed was the overabundance of fish, you had to push them out of your way. The second thing was, this wreck had been hit by other divers because there was fresh sisal on it in two different locations. I took some photos and tried to take some video on a different setting. The video came out in better color this time but, it was not focused. Now I have to figure out why. I think it was because there was not as much ambient light on this dive. Some of the pictures I took came out ok. This wreck is wooden and low lying so it is good for both fish and lobsters. It sits in about 70' of water and is a decent size, although I did not get to see the whole thing because I was busy taking video and pictues. In the end I had about 30 minutes on the bottom. The temp on the bottom was 51 degrees and 65 on the hang.





Bill did a long dive and ended up with 2 lobsters and two sea bass. He liked this wreck too. Unfortunately he used up most of his air so he could not make a second dive. We both only had one set of double 80's each, we left our other tanks home since we hope to use them on Sunday. Thanks to my low air consumption, I got to do two dives.

The next wreck is called the Dry Dock. Since I was the only one diving I had to set and pull the hook plus Bill wanted me to figure out what kind of wreck it is. This wreck was in 60' of water and the vis on the surface was worse than the first dive. However, the vis did open up on the bottom to about 20', a little more cloudy on this dive. As I descended all I could see was a ladder. Here I am thinking, what is Bill doing to me, sending me in to dive on a ladder in the middle of the ocean?? How in the world did he find this and hook it. I was starting to say lots of curse words under water but then I figured all right, why is this ladder here? Lets run a wreck reel and take a look around, maybe just maybe there is a wreck down here. The anchor was hooked pretty good in the ladder and I headed in the direction of a large shadow and swam pretty far and hit nothing but me, the sand and the ocean. I went back to the anchor and went in the opposite direction and I did find ribbings of a wreck and some larger pieces but still could not desifer what it was. This wreck is wooden but it is mostly buried. There were some fish on it but not as much as on the 9 Minute Barge. About 20 minutes had passed and I was running low on air and decided to head back, undo the anchor and head up. I am still puzzled as to why the ladder was in the middle of no where and what I actually dove on. Maybe Bill was trying to mess with me...trying to get me back for begging him to take me diving today!! I did take some photos but they did not come out too good.

We were back at the dock by 1pm and I was floating on my raft in the pool by 3pm. I'm glad we went today especially if we don't get out on Sunday. I am keeping my fingers crossed, the weather man is wrong often and maybe he will be this weekend. If we don't make it to the Wheeler on Sunday, we are heading out again on Tuesday and hopefully I'll dive a wreck not a ladder.

After looking through my photos, Bill is trying to tell me that the picture below is an old washing machine dumped on the 9 Minute Barge wreck. He said it's the inside drum that is left. I do not believe him. This was after he told me someone must of dropped the ladder on the Dry Dock wreck...He says people are always dumping junk on wrecks. Hmmmm??? Its been a long day!

Washing Machine

Video of Conway/Wellington

I finally found some time to get my first video together. It is not very good and since I shot it in natural light it is very GREEN. I do not have a video editing program to help with correcting the color as of yet. This was shot with my SeaLife DC500 camera with no color corrective filters and as a result it isn't very clear. I am saving to buy a "real" video camera, housing and lighting and hoped to have it this season but, funds are a little tight so it will be on the back burner for now. I added some actual photos of the wreck at the end of each video so you can see the contrast in color. Please feel free to comment on it and let me know of any programs that are good for editing. Also, if anyone has any information on the Wellington (what type of wreck it was, when it sunk etc.) I would be interested in hearing about it. There is not much left of it, most of it is buried. I am planning on shooting some more video on my next few dives...



There is music so turn up your speakers!

Varanger-Blow Out 7-11-10

Bill and the kids went away camping for 3 days and I stayed home so that I could dive the Varanger today. I have dove this wreck a lot over the years and was looking forward to getting more photos of it. In my opinion, you can never dive the Varanger too much..it is a very large wreck and has a lot to offer from hoards of fish and lobster to great artifacts and history. My dive buddy for the day was going to be Geoff Graham. The forecast was not looking good Saturday night (4'-7') for offshore. When I arrived at the dock, we decided to head out into the Atlantic and see what the sea conditions were. We had a full boat, Geoff Graham, Jeff Heim, John Priestly, Andrew Nagle, Kathy Ondrasik and 4 other divers that I did not get a chance to meet as of yet. Once we broke the inlet there were some rollers but not too bad and no chop. After we drove for a while the rollers grew in size, were closer together and there was some chop. Therefore, it was decided that the sea conditions were not conducive to dive the Varanger. I then thought we'd hit something inshore but, there were several divers that were diving Trimix whom did not want to concede to a shallower dive thus, we did a u-turn and headed back into Atlantic City. We all had a nice breakfast at the cafe next to the dock and called it a day. A bunch of us will meet again as we are heading to the Offshore Paddlewheeler on July 25th. There are so few days to dive, I did not want to give up hope that we'd get out and dive something today. As the saying goes...better safe than sorry!

San Jose 6-20-10

Sunday, June 20th, we were destined to dive the Southern Lilian on the Atlantus with Geoff Graham's private charter. We had a last minute change in plans and decided to dive the San Jose instead. This ended up being the Atlantus' maiden voyage for the 2010 dive season. As we broke Atlantic City inlet we were greeted with fog and a solid 2-4' swell with the occasional 5' footer thrown in. Since we had a light load, Bill, myself, Kris Centrone (owner of The Dive Shop in Cherry Hill), and Brian Larsen (Captain), we decided to still go for the San Jose since it wasn't too far and the seas were supposed to lay down.

The San Jose is a freighter that sunk on Jan 17, 1942 via collision with the Santa Elisa. It is a large wreck that is broken up with some areas still intact. It is a good wreck for lobstering. It is also a silty wreck since it sits on a muddy bottom.

We arrived at the wreck in no time, the new engines in the Atlantus has the boat running a little faster this year. Brian hooked the wreck with ease and Kris was first to splash followed by myself and Bill. The surface vis was phenominal but as soon as we hit the thermocline around 80' it became darker, colder and the vis went to about 10'-15'. We were hooked in the bow along one of the bulkheads. I swam along a bulkhead and took a few pictures. I forgot my wide angle lens on the boat so, I didn't take too many pictures. I did notice that there were not many fish on this wreck. It was strange, there were areas with hardly any vis and then areas where you could see quite far??? We all agreed that these conditions persisted for all of us. My neck seal was leaking again, so I got wet and cold rather quickly. It was 45 degrees at 103'. I ended up with 25 minutes on the bottom before I headed up for my warmer hang. During my hang I shot some photos of Bill and Kris. Upon surfacing the seas were still a little rough so I was dreading climbing up the ladder. I actually got on the ladder fine but once I got towards the top, I made the mistake of taking my regulator out of my mouth to talk to Brian and BAMM a wave took me off sideways and I was back in the ocean. I was fine and just climbed that ladder again. I decided that climbing the ladder is the worst part of diving. Bill ended up with 1 lobster and Kris speared a real nice fluke.

Kris Centrone

















Bill









The surface interval passed quickly as we chatted about "diving". I was going to leave my camera behind for dive #2 but Bill convinced me to bring it along because he thought the vis would be better. He was right, the vis improved to about 15'-20' and it was brighter now that the sun was higher in the sky. I swam to an area of the wreck that had more relief and shot a few pictures. I only lasted 17 minutes and I was freezing so I went up. This time I tackled the ladder without a gliche. I felt great in the water today, slowly building my confidence... Bill got a piece of porcellin from a bowl or cup and Kris got a lobster.

Based on my recent dives and the reports of other divers, I have concluded that the vis has been better on the shallower wrecks. It seems that if you can stay above the thermocline the vis is good. I hope this rectifies itself before my next dive. The water wasn't as green as it had been and seems to be a little more bluer.

It was nice to meet Kris and to hear that his dive business is thriving. He told me all about the shops recent trips to the Bahamas and Utila. I am sure that we will see Kris again out diving someday. I'll also have to take a drive to Cherry Hill and check out his shop. We made it back to the dock quickly and then we were off to Father's Day dinner. We had Filet Mignon, Lobster and Crabs!

I am off to North Carolina next week and hope to get out diving, we'll see what happens. Then I will be diving the Varanger or N.Pacific on July 11th on Geoff Graham's charter...can't wait.

Conway & Wellington 6-18-10

Yesterday I spent the day with eight 12 & 13 year old boys at Great Adventure for my son's field trip. I am not an amusement park person and I was reminded why I do not like large crowds or rides. I just kept thinking, get through this day, and tomorrow I will be diving. After surviving the field trip, it made diving today more much appreciable!





We decided to head out and dive the Conway first today. It has been at least 15 years since I have been on this wreck. It is an old wooden clammer. We hooked into the dredge on our first try. Bill splashed first today to secure the anchor. When he surfaced he had speared 8 large sea bass and got 1 lobster. Not bad!!! I splashed second and was going to check out the wreck, take some pictures and maybe shoot some video. There was a little bit of a current on the surface, which made that swim to the anchor line a little tough but, there was 0 current on the bottom. This wreck sits at a depth of 59' and the vis was a cloudy 20' or so. That prevalent green water is still here. It was definitely loaded with sea bass and I could see how Bill did so well spearing them. I swam along the dredge tubing over to the actual dredge and then along the pipes to the larger part of the wreck. Most of the wooden decking is no longer visible, all that is left is the steel parts of the dredge. There was not a lot of growth on this wreck, just some white hard coral and the occasional sea anenome. I shot some video of this wreck and as soon as I can figure out how to edit it I will post it. The bottom temp was a toasty 52 degrees and the surface was even warmer at 66 degrees. I had fun on this dive watching all the fish chase each other around and ended up with 34 minutes on the bottom. At the very end of my dive I spotted a small sea bass with a large lobster attenae sticking out of its mouth??? Did the fish try and eat the lobster....it was pretty funny to see. I then decided, to try another wreck for dive #2 so, I had to lug the anchor over two of the dredge pipes to get it out in the sand to avoid it getting hung up when we pulled it up. This was a little hard but I managed it...Up, up and away I went.










Clam Dredge

Dive #2 was a little closer inshore on the Wellington which is a low lying wood wreck. We hooked this wreck on out second try and ended up tying in right by the boilers. Just like the previous dive, Bill went in first and he ended up with a very large sea bass and 2 lobsters. He said that the vis on this wreck was cloudier than the first. I decided to bring the camera even though the vis wasn't so hot and I'm glad I did because the pictures came out ok. This vis was still decent 15'-20' but just cloudier. This wreck sits at a depth of 54' and I had a bottom temp of 56 degrees. There were not as many fish on this wreck and most of them were smaller. I swam around the boilers and to the stern and then turned around and headed towards the bow which was more or less buried in the sand. There were some brass spikes sticking up out of the sand and it would be worthwhile to hit this area with a scooter. I kept following the pieces of the bow out into the sand and all of a sudden I realized I was lost...it got me a little nervous but I found my way back. I again had the task of moving the anchor away from the wreck and as I did I found another piece laying out in the sand. I was low on air so I will have to go back and check out that piece another day.












Boilers

It was a real nice day to be out diving while the kids were in school and made it home just in time to pick them up. Bill totalled 9 sea bass and 3 lobsters...that is a good day!

I'm sure with this NW wind, the water should clear up nice in the next day or two. Well, it better because I am heading back out on Sunday to the Southern Lilian on the Atlantus. Can't Wait!!

Anonymous Comments

I have been so touched and inspired by comments from anonymous divers in response to my "First Dive of 2010 Gloria Wreck" post. I have said before in my Safe Diving post (July 2009), that my training by Gene Peterson has greatly contributed to me being safe all these years. It was also things that he said, like, its normal to feel nervous before a dive, that I have carried with me all these years to help me to achieve what I have. Some of the anonymous comments that I listed below attribute to the fact that Gene was accurate in the things he has advised. By verbalizing this fact, it helped to comfort and calm me as a diver and I'm sure other divers too. It makes you feel like you are not alone. I am happy to know that my feelings expressed through my blog are helping other divers too. Lets all have a Great 2010 dive season full of excitement and adventure!

Anonymous said...
Sounds like a good dive and thank you for your honesty. I too have contemplated the recent losses of experienced female and male NJ divers. Your post convinced me I am not alone. I will rely on my training and my buddy (not to mention my gear) to keep me safe. Happy diving! May 26, 2010

Kim Dixon said...
I firmly believe that diving is safer than driving your car around the block. after all, I have safely completed a ton of dives over 24 years. However, these diving accidents and other personal issues intertwined with diving sometimes get into my psyche and expressing my feelings and/or opinion helps to ease the grief. Thanks for you comment, I will be Happy underwater! May 26, 2010

Anonymous said....
You have to wonder how many experienced divers get the feelings expressed by you, Kim, but, are embarrassed to let anyone know? I have 400 dives under my belt, but, still feel anxious quite a bit and don't understand it. Once I actually splash in, I am fine. Like you I could not picture life without diving! Thanks for sharing... June 3, 2010

Perfect Dive on the Double East 5/31/10

Yesterday was the most perfect day! We had a busy weekend filled with kayaking, barbeques, and fishing but, it was not complete without throwing in some diving. The problem was we were meeting friends at a barbeque in the afternoon at our favorite sand bar. Therefore, we needed to get in relatively early. Our original plan was to dive some snags that we found last fall but given the time constraint and the large number of boats out in the ocean we opted for a quick and easy trip to the Double East. As we went out of Little Egg Inlet there wasn't even a wave, which is rarely seen in this inlet and we made the 11 mile trip with ease.

We hooked the wreck on our first try and I was splashing first to tie in the anchor. The surface vis looked great and I decided to bring my camera along. Once I splashed although the vis was good, there was a lot of particulate matter in the water which makes picture taking difficult. As I descended, the wreck came into view at about 30'. Once on the bottom, the anchor was snugly tucked under a plate and was not going to move, so I didn't need to tie it in. The first thing I noticed was the abundance of fish, big difference from my first dive of the season. The fish were everywhere and you had to actually push them away from your face. I did not travel far on this dive, I hung in one small area and played around with taking photos with the external flash and also with natural light. I saw some huge taug, bigger than I've seen in years and they were not skittish. I tried to photograph them but they wouldn't come quite that close. There was no thermocline and the temp at 61' was 52 degrees and the vis was about 25-30'. This time I was not wet at all and I can't remember ever being this warm on a dive including my hands. I really really enjoyed this dive and stayed down for 35 minutes. I did not want to go up but I only had one set of tanks so I needed to save some air for dive #2.

Bill splashed next and he came up with a nice lobster, sea bass and mussels which ended up being out dinner at the barbeque.

We were going to change to another wreck for dive #2 but there was boats everywhere so we stayed put. On my second dive I ventured towards the stern of the wreck where the slabs rose like mountains from the bottom. Bill had seen some taug that he swears were about 15lbs, and I went in search of them. I found them, and I was in awe at their size, we will be back here when the season is open to spear them. I took another round of photos and managed another 30 minutes of bottom time. The perfect ending to this day was when I was all alone on the boat and I saw a fin heading our way and there was Bill hanging on the anchor. I thought, this is a shark and it is heading full speed for Bill. However, the fin kind of flopped back and forth in a strange manner, I then realized it was a sunfish. It swam right up to the boat and stayed next to me and looked at me with his enormous eye for about 10 minutes. There are days out there diving when you have the best dives and are also rewarded with the gift of seeing a sunfish. It couldn't get any better.










We made it back to the dock by 1:45pm with plenty if time to switch to our smaller boat and head out to the sandbar. We stayed out there until the sun set. What an absolutely perfect day!!!




My friend the sunfish!