Because things are the way they are, things will not stay the way they are. ~ Bertold Brecht
What a difference a day makes….but I digress.
It’s 9PM and I am tucked nicely into bed when my phone rings. “Tide is at 11. You coming?” Benny must have hit his head. I am done for the day. It’s late. It’s a school night. I am in my PJs… Are PJs warm enough under your drysuit?.... Do I have a single tank with air?..... Do I have fresh batteries for my flashlight?... and so it begins.
We suit up at the inlet and Benny discovers his tank is “ less than” filled so we are again hiking down the jetty, trying to get in closer to the area we want to be to get the most out of his fill.
As we slide down into the water it is noticeably cooler than Saturday (54F) and definitely not as clear, things have changed.
With only 3-5 ft visibility we are sticking close. We head east and the current is back with a vengence. While I don’t need to pull myself along, I know I am struggling to make headway and occaisionally pull on a rock to scoot myself along.
Things have changed… A lot… With the current picking up and the water temps dropping, the fish apparently are in hiding. As I swept the sand with my light, crabs of every variety moved about and the ever present starfish were hunkered down at the base of the rocks. The only thing moving in the sand were hermit crabs, large and small.
With the limited visability, I had to pay closer attention to the rocks looming up ahead of me and the beam of my light cut only a short narrow path through the dark murky water.
There were several graduates from the “Fillet and Release School of Fishing” lying on the bottom and it is a little unnerving when someone, who I will not name, picks them up and launches them into the dark and they appear in front of you as a fishy head followed by bones and a tail, before falling to the sand. Actually, kind of comical as I reflect on it.
Rounding out the scant sealife were 2 small rays and a short fluke swimming about.
As expected, Benny began to run short on air and we returned to the rock stairs by the bridge and climbed out.
Things change so quickly in the ocean, from tide to tide as well as day by day. You never know what the next dive will bring. The tide is at midnight tomorrow….Benny and Tom swear we aren’t diving it. Hmmmm…. We will see.