Troop 386 from Edmond, Oklahoma
Pre-dinner posing!
Water bottles on life line.
View of lobster divers from deck of boat.
Sailing.
Tailing the lobster.
Spencer with the treasure chest of edible booty!
Spencer and the gang!
Raising the sails.
Ready to rumble!
Lobstering in mini-season.
Lobster slayers!
At work!
Lobster fear me!
Stick a fork in her, she's done!
Megan in action!
The lengths we go to--hiding from the sun!
Motley crew of lobster slayers!
Matt on deck.
Inspecting the catch.
Lunch time.
Lobster on my mind!
Do you think he'll have a kink in his neck when he wakes up?
Heave ho!
Handing off the catch.
Raising sails.
Ole Hamp!
Going to fetch some lobster!
The welt is from fire coral.
Readying to raise the foremain.
Humble Captain.....
The victorious freedivers!
Why do they call it the boom?
Count'em out! 33! Yeah, that's right! No scuba cylinders involved!
At dock after a hardday of lobstering!
Big bag-o-lobster!
Avery on the ready!
Folding foremain.
Troop 386 from Okalhoma
After the dive...
The morgue revisited.
Just another sunset.
Out of the companionway.
Eeeeewwwwww! Seaweed at the tagline!
New generator, for now.
I love this lady. And not just because she's a good organizer!
Matt made it thru the seaweed!
Happy to help.
Hamp is intent!
His focus paid off! Hamp fillets like a champ!
Background fishing action for Matt.....
His Royal Dogness!
Yes, Captain Holley, we live to do dishes!
Chowline at dinner!
Denny filling tanks.
Connor can gear up in his sleep!
Connor baitfishes.
Alex nets the catch.
The cannon.
Spencer assist Alex after a dive.
Loading gear on first day.
Back from a dive.
Time to tie the gear back up on the lifeline.
Cheesing for the camera!
Post dive, Megan.
How's all this going to fit on the boat??!?!?!?
Under the lash! The boys have a lot to do!
Coming up!
More of the guys from Snohomish, WA
Megan in her zen state.....
Happy fisherman!
Measuring the catch.
At Sand Key Lighthouse
The glancing blow!
Hermes and his boogie board.
Evan with the swimmers assist.
Just before the cuda hits the deck! Then the people scatter!
Three Amigos!
At the helm.
Scotty contemplates......
Preparing to raise the anchor.
No points for style!
Out of the companionway.
Megan communing with the slobbering animal!
What other tricks can you do, Evan? Walk on water?.....
Keving and James gearing up.
Is this going to end badly?....
Jimmy Jamm Jay-Lightening!
"Stop it with the bloody camera and dip my mask! If you would, please!"
James and Bob at the reel.
Evan returns from a dive.
Changing tanks in the blazing sun. Notice Jim is not concerned about hiding from the UV rays......
Hermes is still a foot warmer, even in the ninety degree heat!
Giant stride.
Funky fins, comfy and compact for travel!
Instructions on how to work the reel. Or "J-Lightening on deck, gonna drop a little knowledge!"
Like buttah!
Evan works the blade.
Yes, Evan, the fish looks bigger if you hold it in front of you!
Spotted dolphin on bow.
Holley assisting divers at .
Bob shows us his photogenic nature!
Reeling in the big one!
Free Form!
Smooth......
Swan dive or belly flop?
The guys from Snohomish, WA
Sunset over bow on Tuesday
Divers swimming back after night dive on Tuesday.
Getting ready to night dive.
Deck watch over night dive.
Changing tanks to prepare for Wednesday's dawn dive.
Big baracuda caught on Monday.
Basket star from night dive on Sombrero, Monday night.
Sunset over bow on Tuesday
Austin with baracuda
Troop 373 Wheaton, IL Tuesday July 12, 2011
The lovely Sombrero Reef Lighthouse.
Trevor shows us what the tuna spit out!
Today started off slow. I was right about mosquitoes last night, so everyone was a little dragging this morning. Probably from the blood loss, yes, there were that many mosquitoes!!! But that is the way it goes sometimes, it is HIGH ADVENTURE, after all. 
The day went along reasonably. First thing we stopped off at the fuel dock in Marathon called Pancho’s. There is a convenience store there as well, so some guys had ice cream post breakfast. But it was good to cool off early because the day was hot! We were all sweltering, all day long. After fueling, we made our way to Sombrero Reef, which has a lighthouse on it that was built in 1858 by General George Meade.
We ended up doing all our three dives today there, both ends of the reef during the day. Then it was back to the west end for a night dive after a few hour toodle out into the deeper water south of the reef line to fish. It was a mission accomplished, because we at least caught a few fish, finally! No keepers, though, as they were Little Tuny, not a pleasant tasting fish.
The night dive was lovely. Good visibility and calm conditions made for a good intro to night diving for these guys. I actually got into the water, too. I led half the group, and Jim the other half. Megan has been battling a head cold for the duration of this trip, and doesn’t want to risk making matters (reverse blockage or severe ear infection) worse by diving. We saw some interesting things, a small turtle, some lobsters and baracuda (standard fare), a large group of tiny juvenile fish that were swimming around us like a living cloud. The phosphorescence was highly visible, and the moonlight was bright. I love night dives!
Tomorrow we must work on buoyancy for some folks. And see if we can help young John slow down a little more to equalize the pressure in his ears. He is not having much luck, and has yet to spend a full dive in the water. Too bad!
Patrick and his grass bass!
So we end our night doing something we usually never do–we are on a mooring ball on sombrero reef. The mosquitoes were so bad close to shore last night, primarily because of the lack of breeze. Conditions are the same tonight. No one wants another night like last night (though we have had worse boughts with the skeeters). Usually when folks ask if we can spend the night on the reef, the answer is no. “Only thing preventing me from staying here is fear and common sense,” that’s Denny’s usual reply. But here we are, nonetheless. The winds are predicted to be light (bad for bugs close to shore) and chance of rain 10 %. So we’ll risk it! It’s better to run into shore from a freak thundershower, rather than be drained by the little bloodsucking bugs! So with that, I’ll end this day’s entry. And now to the pictures!
Serious reeling....
Lunch time
Kristina gears up.
Mother/daughter exchange.
John returns from a brief dive.
Three amigos
James on ladder
Holley melting in the sun!
Mid afternoon the ship often looks like a floating morgue!
Just before the giant stride---Ciaran!
All hail the fisherman!
Uh, sunscreen for my sleeping beauties?!?!?!?!.......
Another rare moment, son assisting mother! Renews my faith in the coming generation!
Who called this meeting?
This is what happens when you don't wear your sunscreen! Ouch!
Packing up
Who called this meeting?
Future ninja relaxing. She's 4'11. I am serious about both statements.
Captain, diver ready!
Photo at the end of the adventure!
Yellowtail snapper
Yellowtail snapper under boat
Here, take this!
The great tank transfer. The compressor motor crapped out, but has since been replaced!
When you don't wear your sunscreen, part I. Note: ears.
Safety brief.
Peanut gallery
After the dive.....
Megan underwater---her happy place!
Pancakes: recording the recording!
Jim has this thing about lionfish......must kill, must die!!!!!! Maybe we need to do an intervention.......
Lionfish
The baracuda is bigger than our future ninja!
Handing up the lionfish (in bottom of crate)....Simple catching technique. Thanks Jim!
Keeping watch for divers.
Holley takes a dip.
Denny too! (takes a dip)
Duct tape works another wonder--chafe guard!
Brian tends the breakfast sausages.
Underwater waves.
Cheesing for the camera!
Sleeping beauties--just after dawn.
Sargasso Seaweed is actually an algae.
Jim nets baracuda.
Hermes tells Megan all about it!
Deploying divers on Looe Key next to other scout boat, Yankee.
Troop 373 from Wheaton IL
Firing the cannon at the other scout boat, the Jolly 2 Rover!
Gearing up the crewleader.
Ciaran's baracuda
Currently aboard we have Troop 373 from Wheaton, IL. They boarded yesterday midday. We got a couple dives in at Toppino’s Buoy just off Key West. These guys are mainly new divers, but things went pretty well. Today we got a couple of dives in at Looe Key. And tonight we’ll be anchored off Boot Key just outside of the town of Marathon. It’s calm conditions, so I hope the mosquitoes don’t make it out to the boat. Anyway, that’s it for today’s verbage. Here’s more photographs!
Bait fishing.
More gearing up.
What you can't see is Brian puckering up to kiss his baracuda. This guy "loves" fishing!
The Blogger’s Back!
So, this blogging routinely is far more difficult than I realized! Sorry, Mrs. Funnell! So I will try to make up for it with many pictures and less monotonous ramble! Though I will reserve the right to rant on occasion, like when the head gets savaged, and such. But I must give a quick recap of our last crew, form St Helena, California. What great guys they were, as the photos will show. I won’t go into daily detail, but fun was had by all.
Changing tanks
Duct tape, the blister preventer!
After a good dive....
Cleaning the frisbees, which are also our plates.
Dropping the headsail
Craig
Great backsplash!
Hermes by the compressor
Jim and his love affair with his hair.
Something else got the tuna before we got it reeled in! Note the seahorse from it's belly.....
We're still working on Jim's table manners.....
Jim assisting Tucker into the water.
Hermes, I am beginning to grow suspicious of your loyalties!
Before the night dive.....do I sense cold feet?..
Demonstrating signals before the night dive.
Thomas constantly cheeses before the camera. Here is his most suave look.
But I tell him this is how his "suave-ness" translates in a photograph. He is not pleased but still continues to cheese.
Perpetual cheese!
Will, on the other hand, responds differently to the camera. This photo is called "The one that got away!"
Humble author in pilot house with the two cheese bombs!
Downtime entertainment.
So pleased to see Tucker eats something other than bread and cookies.
Would you trust your pancakes from this crowd?
Peter defies gravity.
Will is a young man of many talents!
Pure poetry.......