Private SCUBA Charters http://schoonerconchpearl.com Scuba, Snorkel, Sail in Key West Wed, 06 Mar 2013 19:40:06 +0000 en-US hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.5.1 Belated Holiday Wishes! http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1781 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1781#comments Wed, 16 Jan 2013 16:22:45 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1781 Here’s a few photos from Christmas and New Years aboard Conch Pearl.  We had a lovely family celebration aboard for Christmas, followed by a good week with a Venture Crew from Virginia.

Christmas aboard the Schooner Conch Pearl

Who doesn’t love presents under the tree?

 

As for life aboard the Conch Pearl, it keeps sailing forward!  We are currently booking day long (or half day, or sunset) excursions out to the reef.  This is a new undertaking for us, but seems to be a promising endeavor.  Time will tell….

 

Fireworks in Key West Bight

Fireworks in Key West on New Years Eve!

 

]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1781 0 New Years Charter with Troop 602 from Laurel, MD http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1610 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1610#comments Sat, 31 Dec 2011 15:03:25 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1610 More adventures aboard the Schooner Conch Pearl, running scuba liveaboard excursions for the Florida National High Adventure Seabase.

!!! A little nose bleed. Bonding time. Boys in charge. Ready to rumble! Back from the action! Briefing on dock for the midweek evening at dock. Changing out empties for full cylinders. Setting bcd up on a freshly filled scuba cylinder. Smile for the camera! Pre dive. Mike surveys the scene. Dinner line. Gathering at the line that leads to the ladder. Shiver me timbers! Cousin It! Going down for the night dive. Every night this week we've had dinner after dark, because the days are so short. Hauling up the mask dip bucket. Everyone is looking at dolphins swimming on the bow of the boat. I didn't make it up there in time to get a photo... Duct tape makes an excellent chafe guard--if you know how to use it! What you cannot tell from this picture is that Jackson is heaving the contents of his stomach. Into the end of the rainbow, no less! The tag line is a complicated affair. Evan heading down below for some quality reading! (tell 'em, Evan!) Setting fenders at the dock. Getting into a tight wetsuit requires flexibility. Bringing down the staysail Head plant! Gearing up Great giant stride! Hermes keeping watch. Returning from the dive. Howdy! Crazy beast! Hoisting the mainsail. Jackson. Cheese bomb! Steering. Father son teamwork. Kirk and Evan securing gear to the line. Happy Divemaster! Oops! Forgot to put on the weight belt first. Perfect giant stride, Mike! Briefing for the night dive. The boys spent a lot of time doing this! Father son teamwork, take two! Nick was a natural at steering! And diving, too! Captain Denny briefs the night divers. Where are all the boys? (downstairs......cards, sleeping, reading....) Do that voodoo you do so well! More puppy love! The push up challenge! Will is in, too! Nick gives it his all! Older stamina prevails! Readying the chain to deploy the anchor. Hydrate or die! It was a challenge to rinse off, because everyone was always cold after the dives. Post dive equipment securing. Lovely sunset. Surface swim. Another surface swim. Everyone loves Hermes, right Taylor?!? Even more puppy love! This is what the dive site looks like from the boat---Toppino's Buoy. And if you don't fasten the strap properly, this is what happens to your tank during a dive. The tanks are warm after filling them. And Will liked to cuddle! Howdy, again! Here is what a night dive looks like from the deck. It is easy to see where the divers are as long as they keep their lights on! Will returns from a snorkel at Sombrero. Instructor Will returns from a dive Getting the wetsuit zipped! ]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1610 0 Troop from Rochester, New York http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1533 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1533#comments Thu, 25 Aug 2011 21:32:35 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1533 More adventures from the Florida Sea Base liveaboard dive boat, the Schooner Conch Pearl.

Jared is cutting a piece of chicken for baiting his hook. This is about the typical size we catch. I believe this is a pinfish in his hand. The yellow bucket is what we hold the fish in until time to rig the sharkline. It hangs over the side so the fish get enough water circulation for oxygen to keep them alive. Fletcher is about to be seated, the more comfortable way to fish. Killian seems to be enjoying the fishing! The guys are using hand lines with small hooks and weights to get the baitfish. The sky was beautiful every night. We baitfish before sunset, then rig a shark line after dark. Baitfishing is always popular. Jack is not so interested in baitfishing tonight. Jared is baitfishing. And more cards. These guys (like all scouts) love to play card games. Dane works on the scrambled eggs and sausages at the stove. He's a bit tall for the job, though. Yes, these guys can do dishes. They don't like it, but they can do it! Preparing the dock lines. When I see everyone in this position from the pilot house, I know dolphins are with us! Even the dog likes to look (and bark over the side). We did get to see a dolphin on the bow. I didn't get a photo, but everyone ran to the bow! Always gearing. More gearing. Getting into the bcd is not always easy on a rocking boat. That's why another person always handles the tank for the diver, who is seated and has fins donned. It makes for balance troubles, so the tank handler helps the diver stay seated until time to depoly! Gearing up. Jack makes a McGriddle out of his pancakes and eggs! Mr Smiles! But with this visibility, to the naked eye the jellies are highly visible. Here, there is almost a solid curtain of jellies at about 10-15ft. Enough to make my heart race at the sight when I jumped in--because you could not see them from the surface! Look close, the jellies are so transparent to the camera that it confuses the auto focus. It is difficult to capture in a picture the vast quantites of these jellies. If you look close, you'll see vague round shapes in the background. They appear to have reached their maximum numbers this week. The guys were smart to bring along their winter undergarments as impromptu dive skins. Here is a closeup of the moon jellyfish, which has plagued us for three weeks now. Close up of said sting. Dane shows us his guns! Hahaha! Actually, it's his jellyfish sting on his bicep! More lobster close ups. This warpaint seemed like a good idea, until I realized it was getting all over everything. Lines, bcds, me.......Ugh! It is difficult to have contamination control with boys, always. Doesn't matter the group. Gameface. Lobster class 101. More warpaint preparations for the upcoming battle with the lobsters! Thinking of dinner and smiling! This bug is hers! Megan vanquishes her nemesis! Megan has devised an ingenious hood for protection against the jellyish. She's still taken quite a few hits to the face trying to help the guys not get stung while trying to get up the ladder! I forgot to buy chocolate chips, but I did have some M&M's aboard to sweeten the experience! Pancakes are on the menu the first morning at the dock. More close up of the flesh pressing out of the shell. I suppose it could be this lobster was preparing to molt.....Just not sure about that. Hamming it up. More chaos... Making sure the gloat photos are good! More gloating! Everyone gathers for a victory photo! But this was enjoyed by all! Truly, chaos..... It's chaos on the dock as we clean and prepare the lobsters for our dinner. Stormy weather has plagued us all week because of Hurricane Irene. Chris getting clarification. It's a lot of work. Cleaning and splitting the tails. David hams it up1 Megan and Colton work on pulling the digestive vein out of the tail. Funnily enough, if you stick the lobsters broken off antennae through it's tail, the vein comes right out. These bugs look like they just molted, and the shell hasn't caught. You literally pull and twist the tail from the head. This one look like it was about ready to drop roe. Everyone helped. Here is Jon helping to tail the lobsters. More fishing action. Fish were skunking us this week, so when something was on the line, everyone wanted in on the action! Lobstering again! One day we went in the water three times to go lobstering. We didn't catch all that many, but the guys LOVED the thrill of the chase. The dad's always get the job of carrying the dive flag and the bag of bugs. David returns from lobstering. Beside the boat on the tag line, waiting for a turn on the ladder. Jon is ready for the action! Lobstering, here we come! Getting ready to go lobstering. Sunset in the anchorage off Fleming Key. See, he's not upset about it at all. Here is an out of focus shot of Chris' jellyfish sting. Not to worry Chris, chicks dig scars! Colton has a little issue with a nose bleed from forcing an equalization. It hasn't been a continuous problem for him. David shows us his warpaint for catching lobsters! ]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1533 0 Troop from Rochester, New York http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1481 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1481#comments Tue, 23 Aug 2011 01:48:51 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1481 More adventures from the Florida Sea Base liveaboard dive boat, the Schooner Conch Pearl.

A glimpse of below deck, peering down the ladder of the main companionway. Megan briefs on how to signal air pressure under water. Dave briefs on the "okay" signal Denny describes the dive area. Shuffling tanks between dives. Changing out the tanks. The guys work in teams of two while changing tanks to make the job a little easier on a heaving deck. Eric seems to be on his own for changing his tank! More swapping out empty air cyliners for full ones. These guys are checking out a tape measure sticker that has images and limit sizes of various game fish. Cheesing for the camera! Paul exhibits the latest Conch Pearl fashion--using performance winter thermals for jellyfish protection. Great Idea! We use frisbees as our paper plate holders. Here the guys are cleaning them after dinner. So, for the second week in a row, the fish have IGNORED us! David and Dave are putting on about a fish on the line! Wishful thinking, fellas! But we still keep trying! Just like the lottery, you can't win if you don't play! Keep those lines in the water boys! Getting ready to dive. Jared dipping his mask to clear the defog coating. Gearing up for the next dive. Eric waiting for assistance with his tank. Gearing up. One guys sets down on the end of the dock box. A second fella picks up the tank/bcd and assists the diver into it. They then do their buddy checks together, and the diver is ready to deploy. Cheerful guy, that Chris! Some examples of diver apparel to protect skin from the infernal jellyfish. I am ready for my tank, please! Cleating the forsail halyard. Preparing to hoist the foresail. Lunchtime. Lunch is usually prepared and eaten while we are underway. Dane has trouble smiling for the camera.... Hoisting the mainsail. First victim of the "mal de mer". Cruising past the famous Mallory Square Sunset Festival. Megan is perfecting a new jellyfish prevention headpiece. With two buffs and a head band over her upper lip, everything is covered. She's taken quite a few jelly hits recently trying to prevent the guys from getting stung at the ladder. While we were at Sand Key, a new type of jellyfish came floating by. I need to look it up. My suspicion is that it stings as bad or worse than the moon jellyfish. Cheesing for the camera on the bow, Sunday afternoon. David brought his sailing teams pirate flag along. Returning from the deep. The last step up the ladder. Handing up fins. This guy should really have his regulator in his mouth. Another diver returns. More returning from the dive... After some quick action, Jared rescues the empty snak pak cup. Good job, man! We don't want to contribute to already over polluted oceans. A storm approaches as we dive near Key West. It went around us, did not disrupt our dive. Giant stride. Giant stride. More giant stride. Tanks rest by the bridge, waiting for the next diver who needs a refill. Here are some war wounds! Killian took a hard hit from a moon jelly. More war wounds from the moon jellies. The guys are getting stung alot, but seem to be taking it in stride. Vinegar and bactine are our onboard cures. ]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1481 0 Troop from Maryland http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1448 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1448#comments Fri, 19 Aug 2011 01:38:24 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1448 Austin cannonballs! And he flips out, too! Here's evidence of Parker's boo boo toes. He thinks his booties rubbed them, then they got infected. The "Doc to Your Door" came to visit us at the dock last night, and the toes are doing much better now! We saw the Coast Guard doing what we think were drills nearby today. Cleating off the halyards. Coiling lessons. Coiling the lines. Denny stands at the bow as we leave the dock because visibility from the pilot house is limited. He has a marine VHF radio to give me directions in the pilot house. Removing the gangplank as we prepare to depart the dock. Diving in the anchorage off Fleming Key. Doug gets in on the flipping action! More Doug! heave ho Heaving the staysail at the fife rail. The Coast Guard helicopter gave us a flyby at one point today. Looking for dolphins on the bow. More heave ho. Heave ho at th.e main The 'jaguar shark" returns from a conditions check. The dive was scrubbed--too many jellies. Breaking the news to the guys. They could see for themselves the jellies were think. We were just hoping that the jellies weren't too deep, maybe closer to the bottom was more "jelly free"! Is it going to be a belly flop? Megan masquerades as the "jaguar shark" from the Bill Murray movie "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zssou"! Parker with the delicate entry----NOT!!!! Passing up gallons of water for the drink coolers. We have a nice carbon block filter at the sink. It's a lot of work for filling and passing, but the water tastes great! Ryan on the twist dive! Sand Key Lighthouse. Catching up on his reading. Our bathing beauties! They are always together, always having a good time! Zach, I think....

More liveaboard scuba diving adventures from the Schooner Conch Pearl, running boy scout charters for Florida Sea Base since 2005!

]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1448 1 Troop from Maryland http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1332 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1332#comments Thu, 18 Aug 2011 23:04:02 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1332 Buds! More Austin striding. Austin sneaks a peak at the camera. Uneven growth pattern of this large old brain coral. More of our crew leader. Billy gearing. Crew leader back from the deep! Black band disease on a coral cluster. This disease has wiped out many corals. Brain coral at Toppino's Buoy. Breakfast grace. Brian gearing up. Brian! Cameron breaks our fishless streak! Unfortunately, this is not a keeper. Too fishy tasting! Cannon ball! Going down the chow line. Sometimes gearing up can be a cluster #$@! Dave doing quality control on the Giradelli chocolate chips I got to make the pancakes just that much better. More male bonding. Dave getting to his happy place! Dave in his happy place. Pulling up a bucket of clean water for dipping masks. Rinsing the defog out of his mask before diving. Denny give directions on where to dive. After snorkeling, an exhilarating dive! A single dolphin swam along with us briefly. Everyone crowds around to get a look! Doug striding. Another plate without the evidence! Breakfast must have been tasty--there's not much left! Putting out the fender for our night at the dock. There are always yellowtail snapper and sargent majors. Everyone is looking at the fish that are hanging out in the shade of the boat. Wish I had some better shots of the landings! More flipping. These guys love doing these flips! I love these head over heel pics! Gearing up. More heave, ho! Hoisting the staysail, as seen from under the awning over the foremain. Hoisting the main. Here I am in my Jaguar Shark outfit! It's a fabulous dive skin from "Dive Goddess.com"! Great jelly fish protection. Hunter flipping out! I am not sure why he looks confused?!?!? I think this is Hunter. What an awesome photo! If you look closely, you'll see the jellies well below the surface. Joe ready to splash! Caught this stride an instant late, but still a cool pic! Another smiley fella! Justing getting ready! Justin has a great stride too! Justin and his catch! Seaweed salad, anyone? Lobstering lecture. Our two instructors, Megan and Dave. At their bunks.... She doesn't even know the clothespins are accumulating! It's a favorite game each week to tag the unsuspecting with a randomly placed pin. Megan pulls the tuna out of the net. Smiles and gearing. Gearing up. The captain with the assist. Cameron getting ready. I am speechless...... Pancake making is some serious business! Lunchtime! More male bonding! Parker! Parker had a bout with some swollen toes. Here, duct tape to the rescue for a chafe guard. The munchkin is small, but he can heft a tank up for his pal. Parker and Billy..... This is just a crazy pile o boys! Beautiful pillar coral at Toppino's Buoy. Raising the sails, Denny and Megan climb on the pilot house roof to coax the lines along the mast. Getting ready to jump. When a fish hits a line, everyone wants to see the action! Ryan is quick with the smiles, too! More Ryan, form still great! Ryan has a great giant stride. Mealtime grace. Passed out in the rack! Cooking our big breakfast! Giant stride. Ted ready to dive. Cameron reels in a tuna! Jumps of the side--the twist! Some of these fellas flip around so fast, I cannot count the turns! Cameron and Billy cheesing. Buddies cheesing for me! Cameron is Mr Cool! And more clustering. It makes me chuckle to see them bumping into each other. Must be some form of male bonding that I am ill equipped to understand. Clustering, clustering...... More clustering. The divers usually go off in groups of two to explore a site. But the boys always find each other near the end of the dive and form a loosely milling cluster under the boat. Dave is dreaming of a nap, who knows, maybe he's really taking one in this shot...!?!?!? Example of the dodging to ascend. Dave said it felt like playing "frogger"! Doug gives me a formal greeting underwater! Going for the ladder between the jellies. Hunter chillin. But I do find these brainless creatures interesting to photograph. A closer look at the moon jellyfish, our nemesis for the past few weeks...... Right on, Joe! Joe is in the zone! They could appreciate the small stuff. Justin and Brian discover something cool! The jelly fish did finally make us call a dive today. There were just too many to make it in and out safely. Here, at Toppino's Buoy yesterday, there were plenty to watch out for, but still a doable dive. Parker is getting along swimmingly. Ryan takes a break.... Here is the overhang, and why there are bubbles coming out of it..... When you swim under an overhang, the bubbles that you exhale still have to come out somewhere. Another father/son moment captured! Ted and Parker Justin and his buddy Brian also ready to cooperate for the camera. If he didn't have that regulator in his mouth you'd see that Zach is smiling! :) Zach and Austin These guys are taking a breather, rating the others on their flips off the side of the boat. Father and son--always ready with the smile! I think this is Zachary.

More liveaboard scuba diving adventures from the Schooner Conch Pearl, running boy scout charters for Florida Sea Base since 2005!

]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1332 1 Troop from Maryland http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1268 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1268#comments Tue, 16 Aug 2011 03:14:11 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1268 Baiting the hook for yoyo fishing in the anchorage. Batting moon jellies away from the diver on the ladder. Billy checks out his moon jelly stings. Billy and his tuna! Finally we break the "no fish" streak this week! Justin has a little bloody nose from pushing to hard to equalize. Megan counsels him on how to avoid this. Brian took a hard few hits from the jellies, too. Many did! Vinegar and bactine to the rescue! Anchor watch briefing. Cameron returns from a dive. The galley is a little tight for some guys. Cameron is one of those..... Cameron is also a team leader aboard, and here he helps with role call after a dive. Changing tanks. More changing tanks. Mr Smiley! Dave rescued someones fin! Perfect giant stride from Diver Dave! Denny and Dave yuck it up! Denny prepares the anchor for deployment. Diver Dave! See the fish in the water splashing about! We haven't caught a keeper yet! But have faith, we've not been skunked yet! Fishing as we motor along. Gearing up for diving. Getting ready to dive Sombrero Reef. More gearing. Great giant stride! Grace is helped along by a cheat sheet with the "Keys Blessing". Fortunately, there is a rail that Hermes cannot jump over. He does not like it when divers go into the water. In his little mind, why would we jump off a perfectly good boat! Pin fish in the bait bucket. Hopefully we'll catch a shark tonight with "Lucky." The jellies are somewhat difficult to see, but this is what it has been looking like every dive. They are the size of a dinner plate. And they sting! The under side of the bell has fine tendril tentacles that pack a whollop if you contact those. Here they are drifting by the ladder. Here's Dave swimming under the jellies. Cameron got stung on the leg. And a few other places. This guy got stung on saturday back at Sea Base doing the swim review. Justin caught a bait fish. More on our impromptu methods of helping the divers up the ladder avoid the jellies. Those darn things are hard to avoid if even a little current is running. Simply because of the time it takes to get your fins off and hoist yourself up the rungs. Here we are looking for a "window" in the nonstop stream of jellies just to jump in without landing on one! More jelly control measures! They are not so thick in this picture as they sometimes are! Another nice sunset. Parker returns. Capturing the capturing of the sunset! Piloting. He can barely see over the compass! More at the helm! More steering. Cheesers! Reeling in the big one! Justing removes the hook from his pin fish. Hook removal. Mr Smiley Mr Smiley See the bubbles in the foreground....Those are our divers trying to avoid jellies! :) sunset Tuna on the line. First day, lots on the tagline. Here is a handline we use for fishing. We call them "yoyo's". More yoyo fishing. Some call the yoyo's Cuban reels. This is about the size of what we catch with the yoyos. Yoyos with yoyos! Everyone love to fish with them!

More adventures from the Schooner Conch Pearl, the liveaboard boat for Florida Sea Base.  Sailing and diving in the Key West area.

]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1268 4 Troop from Seattle WA Thursday and Friday http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1182 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1182#comments Sat, 13 Aug 2011 17:13:39 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1182 Andrew and Merry check out something on the bottom. This is the infamous "pencil" dive! Love the above/below moment! Lobster dinner on a high adventure trip? This is living! But why do they look so skeptical? Maybe the camera interferes with their delicate constitution..... Gearing up. This guy was alway in a good mood! And always ready to help out! Andrew, you are a good egg! See what I mean, here he's unfurling the dive flag as the rest of the crew gears up. Waiting until you are on deck to take off your mask shows you have experience and common sense. Good job, Benjamin! Uh huh. Ben is still eyeing the lobsters..... Another perfect giant stride. William on the assist. This rainbow parrot fish is a big boy! Breakfast buffet--a big spread for our morning at the dock. We take advantage of the table on the dock to clean the lobsters. Many hands make for lighter work. I think Benjamin is mopping drool--his eyes are glued to the grill full of lobster..... Creole wrasse, this photo does not do justice to their vibrant colors! More lobster dinner action. With extra gravy! Dave cheesing for the camera. Ascending.... I couldn't quite capture it, but Dave can blow some perfect bubble rings! Dave jumping in for the night dive. Back from the deep! Deck scene during the night dive. I love this camera! You can even make out the moon in the sky! Captain Denny points out the dive area. We had to rush dinner for the night dive! But it was worth it! Descending.... Near dark, you can see the lights of the divers on the surface. In the lower right hand corner, you can see two divers on the surface. They are ready to descend for the night dive. Every one loves jumping off the side of the boat! Sargent Majors and Yellowtail Snappers But we got fortunate, the storms cleared just before dusk. A fabulous night dive was had by all. Though there were plenty of moon jellies to dodge during the dive. Gearing up for the night dive. It almost didn't happen, storms were around all day long! The cheat sheet for the seabase grace was used all week long. Lovely.... The yellowtail are way too fast to catch like that! More Ian. Ian had a brief night dive because he couldn't equalize. More evidence, son assists (maybe advising, could it be?!?!) Quite a look of concentration. Another of those somewhat rarely photographed moments.....son helping father! Why don't you have a hold of the tagline, my funny looking friend? Ian diving. Half of our lobster catch fits on the grill at one time! Crew leader peeping down the hatch! Beat it! (yust yolking! he never knew the foot was so close! ) Ian, you are a good sport! This photo is payback for all the "tongue sticking out" shots you netted me!!!!! Free diving. Jaguar shark (that's what we call the colorful dive skin) ready to night dive! Megan and the ship's varmit! Into the blue.... Megan is pointing out a yellowtail snapper that looks a little odd. Good form! Happy diver! More gearing..... And the lady is ready to dive. Logging dives while the cabin is clear. It's an unusual peaceful moment. The kids were normally playing rather boisterous card games at the table. Merry has a perfect landing on her giant stride. This is not her first rodeo! Long Island Mike watches over the divers. His diving was cut short by an ear infection. Fortunately there is a physician that will make house calls, so he got it looked at and some antibiotics while we were in port for our midweek break. Post dive routine. More striding! William took a hard hit from a moon jellyfish. He's had a very strong reaction to the contact. But we remind him, "chicks dig scars!" Be sure to show all the ladies back home your war wounds, man! The moon was out for the night dive. We really lucked out. Just a cool shot! The whole gang on the bow, just before we say our goodbyes. When removing your fins at the surface, you should always have a hold of the tagline. Good job, Ian! Benjamin worked hard at galley duties, too! But for the life of me, I have no idea why he is pouring pancake batter from a paper plate. Creative cooking, I guess! Giant stride into glassy waters. We saw a few rainbows this week! A safe slow acent is the way to end every dive. Helping out again, here's Andrew stirring eggs. And it wasn't even his day for galley duty. Hope your crew appreciates your effort, because I certainly did! A storm just missed us, but looked quite ominous. Here's what stressed coral looks like. Patches of algae compete for space on the reef where other coral polyps have died off. The water has been hot lately, so this coral is bleaching out too. Notice the paler polyps, they have purged their symbiotic algae that not only give the coral color, but helps the coral gain nutrients/food. Beautiful sunsets are seen nightly. Happy crew on the foredeck! I think this is a happy face?!?! Should be, it's LOBSTER NIGHT! William and Kent talking to Dave (see him in the water, visible between the two). William assisting Phil pre dive We spotted a few black durgeon on the reef. A big school of blue tang came swimming by. Then a couple of big parrot fish decided to swim along as well. This rainbow parrotfish is a biggie! Blue tang. Checking out the tang from a little closer.

More boy scout adventure from the liveaboard Schooner Conch Pearl, in the Florida Keys!

]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1182 0 Troop from Seattle, WA Wednesday http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1116 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1116#comments Thu, 11 Aug 2011 16:21:07 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1116 De-veining the lobster tail. Tailing the lobster. More tailing. Lobstering in action. The lobstering bombshell! Looking for lobster from the surface. If you notice, our guys and gals are snorkeling. Sea Base policy requires us to only snorkel, even though we do scuba. People tend to push themselves beyond the limit when lobstering with scuba gear. Cleaning up after tailing all the lobster. The bucket is full of tails. This is just a great photo. It was a little choppy when we were lobstering. Dave scores! Lobstering takes a lot of patience, but it pays off in the end. Free diving down to find the "bugs." Flamingo tongues on a sea fan. Everyone swimming out to do battle with the lobsters! Galley duty. Everyone takes a turn at cooking and cleanup! Even those who are a little too tall to fit in the galley. Staging the victory picture. Giant stride without the scuba tank! Victory picture! Handing up the bugs. Ready for the hunt! Got one! Starting to fill the cooler. Eventually we caught 21 lobsters! The "bugs" hide under rock ledges. It takes considerable effort to dive to the bottom and peer under the rock. Then you gotta run a tickle stick in behind them and scoop them up with a net as they run out. Looking...... Denny gives lessons for lobstering. More de-veining. Mike and Phil were very persistent in their endeavors. Measuring the catch to see if it is legal size to keep. Laying out the catch. Megan and Dave in action. Megan is a great "bug" hunter! And she is quite photogenic, too! Examining...... Another keeper! megan up megan upside down Is it a keeper? Mike and Phil go head over heels for this sport! And he scores! Victorious! Time to measure.... Still at it! Sending them to the cooler. And again..... Looking, looking.... More looking. Striding. Tailing. De-veining. Topping off the water cooler. On the hunt. The booty caught on Wednesday! Everyone has to help clean the catch. It's not as easy to lobster as one might suppose..... Mike and Phil were hard core! The thrill of the chase never grew old!

More boy scout adventures aboard the liveaboard Schooner Conch Pearl, in the Florida Keys!

]]> http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?feed=rss2&p=1116 0 Troop from Seattle WA Tuesday http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1056 http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1056#comments Wed, 10 Aug 2011 03:39:55 +0000 Holley http://schoonerconchpearl.com/?p=1056 Big fork for a big appetite! He's rabbit earing himself out of guilt for doing it to his buddy earlier! Andrew has a great giant stride. Big baracuda! The fish's head is bigger than either guy! Big scene when the baracuda lands on deck. At Sombrero Reef Lighthouse, Benjamin assist William. A little blacktip shark we caught on Monday night, 3:30am to be exact. Not a single boy got up to reel it in, or even to just see it! Tired little buggers are worn out and the game has just begun! While all the adults are on deck enjoying the boat ride, our scouts are down below playing cards. What are they thinking? It's a scout thing?!?! We use frisbees as our paper plate holders. These fine fellows are cleaning them after lunch so they will be ready to use again at dinnertime. Colin pre-dive. Andrew feels guilty later! Just after a big baracuda is brought aboard, these clever fellows decide to get their toes off deck level! Dave returns! General scene of life aboard. Tuna Divers at Looe Key, I think it is Ian and his dad Mike. Making the slow, safe ascent to the surface. Downtime French Angelfish at Looe Key Goofy boys playing cards down below instead of enjoying the deck breezes! William has a good giant stride here. He's been known to hop like a bunny to avoid the moon jellies. A goliath grouper visited us a Looe Key. It is hard to get perspective on how big he is, but truly he's about the size of a sofa! Still, hard to show you how big this old boy is..... Here he is with his groupies. I have noticed a tendency for Ian to go goofy when the camera is pointed his way.... After a dive, everyone waits on the tagline for their turn on the ladder. Hermes is often known to use Megan as his personal lounge chair. Again, goofy..... Finally, Ian gets serious for a fish. Lots of cameras are out when a fish in on the line! Jaguar shark! Look out Steve Zizou is after you! Jaguar shark preparing to snorkel! Jellies are still plaguing us. Attention must be paid every moment you are in the water. For something that really cannot swim against the current, these darned things really sneak up on you! Merry with the assist. Tuesday night, we caught a big baracuda in the Key Lois anchorage. Miss Megan at sunset. Mermaids were to be seen at the reef today. Merry is ready to dive! Mike is about to splash. Mike and his impromptu lighting system! Father son moment goes GOOFY (again) Great giant stride from Long Island! Long Island Mike reeling like he means it! Here's the catch, William is witness! Scoutmaster after a dive. Phil putting on his dive stockings! Sir Barksalot! Beautiful sunset for the gang at Key Lois. This is the under side of flips off the boat! William and his tuna. William is always ready to smile! Wiliam working the reel.

More boy scout adventures aboard the liveaboard Schooner Conch Pearl, in the Florida Keys!

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