LadyGaDivers do it with GradyMan!

[DiveGal]

Len aka GradyMan and I have been talking about getting together for a dive for 4 years. Well, today it happened.

Short Story:
Date: 3/19/11
Time: 7:30 to 5:00 (3 tanks)
Place: Ponce Inlet off shore 20 miles
Who: Tania aka tattat, MJ aka mjmpcguru, Laura aka PrincessSlaya!, Bobby aka Dodge, Jerry aka NSB Diver, Chad aka FEEL da STEEL->, Len aka GradyMan, Capt. Robert and myself.
The plan: get lots of bugs, cobia and flounder
Seas: 1 to 2 in the morning, less than one in the afternoon.
Vis: Snotty 10 – 15 foot
Depths: dive 1 – 90’, dive 2 – 90’, dive 3 – 75’
Temps: dive 1 – 64*, dive 2 – 62*, dive 3 – 57* Yes, that is 57* brrrrrr…….
Catch: more sheepies than I can remember, more triggers than I can remember, a bunch of nice flounder, a couple of nice hog fish, over a half dozen good sized mangroves, around a dozen bugs, a MONSTER Ridged Shovelnose lobster (also known as a slipper lobster)
Saw: Lots of ARSs, a bunch of nice gags, a couple or really nice red grouper (very friendly, too )

The Long Story:
Len and I planned this dive for last weekend (3/12) but between the “not so good conditions” and Bike Week, we decided to change the date to today (3/19) Good call Len.

This was a lot of ours divers first time out of Ponce.

Capt. Robert, Len and Jerry loaded ALL of tanks and ALL of our gear onto and off of the boat. I’ve only ever had Rachel from Abernathy’s give THAT kind of service

The dives reminded me of Ft. Pierce diving. Low vis, no current, nice structure, lots of fish, big bugs, chilly water...

1st dive had some nice high ledges. 2nd dive was a small low reef and very productive . 3rd dive was on a really cool (and freaking cold) rubble pile.

Laura came up with an empty shell on the third dive (well, she thought it was empty) but out came an octopus who she quickly named Oswald. He was about 3 inches long. Too cool! She left him go at the dock after he inked on her. LOL

I killed my 2nd lionfish. Woo-Hoo! The slipper lobster was also mine as well as 4 of the mangroves. And, I got the fish with my little JBL Explorer 20 – with perfect kill shots on every fish! I could have had a field day on sheepies and triggers but left them for Len. That little gun worked great under the ledges. I also got a nice bug and a Keys sized bug (had to measure it ). Bobby bagged another 4 bugs and shot a mangrove and a flounder.

Chad got some nice hogs. Jerry was the king of the flatties and got the biggest bug of the day. I think I got the coldest

It was a great day with great friends, on a great boat with a great Crew. I think the pictures will tell the story even better.

1. Heading out.
2. Me and lobster
3. Jerry with the biggest bug of the day
4. Bulit pose
5. Oswald
6. Not a bad day for the Princess
7. Not a bad day’s catch
8. Bobby’s and my take
9. The beast
10. Some scale on the beast. I got a lot of meat out of this gal!

Oops! Forgot to fix the camera date! D'oh.

[mjmpcguru]

Oh it was so cold! but... a great day on the water. Thank you everyone! I really must do Ponce again when the water warms up a bit.

[diverlen]

Very nice slipper!!! That would make some tasty lobster cakes.

[reef roamer]

looks like a great trip, sorry i missed it. huge slipper there Em, i have a small one in my aquarium and to watch and feed him is so interesting. they are so prehistoric looking. funny they use those paddles on their face like ping pong paddles and pop intruders away. sea ya soon, char

[MajorDave]

Looks like a typical day off Ponce... glad ya'll finally got to come up.

Congrats on that monster slipper

[Johnoly]

Great report and nice catch!!

[seadogger]

Glad you folks finally made it up our way. Very impressive shovel !!....Jerry...............nice pose !! We went up North to site 4 on Friday. The vis was a lot better. Like you said DiveGal....the sheeps were everywhere and so were the flounder. Come on back down for the Grouper opening May 1. !!

[FEEL da STEEL->]

Thanks every1 for such a good day...Great diving with fun people, now that makes a Saturday! Not being able to shoot those big A.R.S. & gags killed me but may 1 is right around the corner. A flounder/hogfish brunch will help hold us over till then!!! Gonna have to hit Ponce again for sure........

Go Oswald

ps. no Jobert, i don't have a shirt or wear pink...

[NSB DIVER]

Thanks for diving with us !! That was a really great day with a group of awesome divers. It was nice to meet some spearboard members! Lets do that again !

[SpearitPBC]

Great Report Em! and nice catch there, sorry I missed the trip, but will have to plan another one up that way. Was so nice myself being back in the water yesterday, toasty warmer though, reiterates just how much fun the sport of diving is! That Slipper would have made a great mount Em...... Sea You Gals Soon Spearit

[DiveGal]

Originally Posted by SpearitPBC

That Slipper would have made a great mount Em...... Spearit

A couple of other folks said that, too. I just want to EAT it. Got a LOT of meat off of it. I think I may us it to stuff Bobby's flounder.

Originally Posted by seadogger

Glad you folks finally made it up our way. Very impressive shovel !!....Jerry...............nice pose !! We went up North to site 4 on Friday. The vis was a lot better. Like you said DiveGal....the sheeps were everywhere and so were the flounder. Come on back down for the Grouper opening May 1. !!

I wish I would have measured it. I did a little research last night and read that they get up to 20 inches long. I think mine was close to that.

Can't wait to come up your way again! We figured out the driving and it's only 1 hour from Melbourne! Wow - that's the same distance for us to Ft. Pierce. Hmmm... New territory.

We wanted to do the pose with a nice big cobe, but they haven't made it up to Ponce yet. So, we figured the big bug would work - and I think it worked very nicely.

Originally Posted by NSB DIVER

Thanks for diving with us !! That was a really great day with a group of awesome divers. It was nice to meet some spearboard members! Lets do that again !

Definately want to do it again - as soon as the water warms up. I'm just a WWW (warm water wuss). I should have worn my 7 ml. hehehehe

[Bulit7]

Sounds like a fun trip!!!

Good job on da pose!

[SeadogDebbie]

Don't forget Keith ,The owner of Sea Dogs he helped alot with the loading of gear.

[PrincessSlaya!]

Def a fun day... cold but fun nevertheless, Big thank-you to Len, Jerry and Capt. Robert & Keith for showing us east coasters a great-time! Can't wait to do it again! Debbie it was nice to met you as well!

[DiveGal]

Originally Posted by PrincessSlaya!

Def a fun day... cold but fun nevertheless, Big thank-you to Len, Terry and Capt. Robert & Keith for showing us east coasters a great-time! Can't wait to do it again! Debbie it was nice to met you as well!

That's Jerry, not Terry. And a big thanks to you Kieth. I didn't catch your name at the dock. And Laura, we were still ON the east coast. Share? xoxoxo

Debbie , it was great see you again at the Sea Dogs Dive Shop. We need to talk about some charters for the Venture Crew I work with. (BSA Scuba group)

Till next time...