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Washing Machine / Summiting / sCUBA!!!
Normally, agitation is not a good thing, but it is if you’re washing clothes. The herky-jerky back-and-forth movement of the agitator was how the clothes used to get cleaned. Front-load washers nowadays no longer have agitators, I imagine our clothes aren’t getting as clean as they used to. When the the wind is blowing at or close to the opposite direction from where the tide is flowing, that creates surface water agitation all along the Gulf coast. The stronger the wind is blowing and the tide is flowing, the greater the agitation. This ‘washing machine’ effect is magnified in and around the passes as the current speed increases. It makes the seas rough, and the wave period short.
Loop Current Woes / Tribe loss/ ‘Tisn’t the Season
The loop current is warm water that enters the Gulf of Mexico from the Caribbean between Cuba and the Yucatan peninsula. It makes its way north before looping east and then finally south along Florida’s West Coast. It is part of the reason that we have not ran a dive trip into the gulf since January 2nd. Cold fronts are the main culprit though, the alternative title to this segment would be ‘cold front caca’. Cold fronts here generally blow out of the northwest which crashes waves along the shoreline. That action quickly thrashes near shore visibility. The west Florida coastline has an extremely gradual drop off so that allows for large areas of shallow water to be churned up.
My DDC? Construct / Is it what it should be?
First, let’s tackle the local diving report. I have a very small sample size to draw upon but the report I got was encouraging. Joshua and crew braved a cold, rainy Friday morning last week to run offshore and do some spearing off of his sweet, recently acquired 26 foot Glacier Bay. The water was too cold for most of us locals (mid 60s).
Dodging Disasters / Circling Around / Good & Loud
The weather this summer has been unlike any of the other 49 summers I’ve spent down here. That’s probably a true statement for the majority of people wherever you are. I’ve always been a student of the weather, but when you’re trying to run a boat back into port and have to deal with massive thunderstorms rolling off the coast, it personalizes the relationship between man and Mother Nature. Whenever I knew we were going to dance around lightning I started saying the phrase, ‘it’s time to play dodge the thunderstorms’ as we would get underway.
August 23,1998 / Air J&J / Good Ole Days
Twenty-five years ago today I opened up the doors to Scuba Marco (we actually opened as Scubadventures w/ Captain Jeff Dawson) for the first time. I never thought I’d be sitting in the same shop STILL OPEN a quarter century later. Yes, that’s a long time and it hasn’t been easy. I credit my perseverance and stubbornness for the shop still being viable. Throw in a little luck, extreme frugalness, and a lot of really cool people coming through the front door and you have a dive shop celebrating its 25th anniversary/birthday!
Marco Morphing / ‘I’m Melting / Damned Fools
‘Changes aren’t permanent but change is’ rings loud and true on Marco Island. New people continually come, and too often don’t always stay. Paul & Debbie and Scott & Colleen you will be missed and I wish you a happy journey down whatever path you choose! It sucks when cool people (divers) pull the plug. New replacements are always on deck though and not all of them are self-absorbed!
Tranquility or Anxiety / Happy Anniversary Baby / Rock Lobster!!
There’s something special about those first initial breathes taken as you deflate your BC to drop below the surface for a brief encounter with the aquatic realm. For me it’s very relaxing and yet exciting at the same time. I’m relaxed because I’m entering into a different world where my cell phone is no longer a thought (unless it’s an a waterproof case and I’m taking pictures with it). I am excited because you never know what you’re going to see on a dive, especially in the Gulf.
Rebooting / Michael Sipos: Eye D / The Heat!
Reboot is a funny word. It’s what you would do after your dive buddy realizes you put on their boots instead of your own. Did this word even exist before computers? That’s my memory of how reboot came into language. I could be wrong, perhaps it goes way back to a farmer that had to kick his tractor repeatedly to get it to run. Or an abusive parent; ‘you know I’ve put my boot to your backside before boy… You want me to do it again?’
Clarity / Straight Forward / Stretch Run
My mental clarity is not unlike the clarity locally in the Gulf of Mexico… It fluctuates greatly! Like the reasons behind the fluctuations in the gulf, mine too seem to be the result of multiple forces. The degree to which each of those forces plays a role is a fluctuating percentage also. There is not necessarily a direct correlation between the gulf’s and my own clarity. The gulf can’t take a pill or meditate or seek therapy to improve its clarity, but I can, maybe I should try some of that! I’m definitely happier and more optimistic when the gulf is clear.
Overhauled / Slithering / Ebb & Flow
Overhauled is a beefy word. It insinuates that a lot of work needs to be done. It also implies that once the work is completed, the subject will be much improved, if not, in a like new condition. The Psychquatic is the subject of Scuba Marco‘s latest overhaul. We have been working hard on her for several weeks.
Huge Orbit / Bouncing Back / Are You My Landlord?
They say we know more about outer space than we do about the deep depths of the oceans. Perhaps, but we didn’t know about C/2022 E3, the comet that is going to pass relatively close to earth as it whips around the sun over the next couple of weeks, until 10 months ago. Perhaps a caveman made a drawing on a wall way back, but that file has crashed. A 50,000 year orbit seems crazy, how can our sun have that much magnetic force to pull that ice and dust ball back to it?
Dry Gills / Seeing Red / Thanksgetting
Are your gills dry fellow divers? Mine are brittle and desperately in need of a submersion in seawater! We are approaching two months without running a boat trip on the Psychquatic. The longest dry spell in almost 25 years for Scuba Marco. Ian was absolutely brutal to our water quality and clarity. Nicole’s little exclamation point didn’t help either. Can’t complain, we were ultimately very fortunate. Healing takes time! Patience is part of our motto… along with kindness, it’s always free. So let’s maintain our sanity (or semblance thereof) until that next submersion! Hang in there gills… good dives come to those who wait!
