Ingredients:
· live lobsters
· boiling salted water
· melted butter
Preparation:
Bring a very large kettle of salted water to a rolling boil.
Using long tongs, quickly but carefully lower live lobsters into the boiling water.
Simmer for about 10 minutes, or until lobsters are bright red.
Serve with melted butter for dipping.
I arrived among a flourish of running children and small and large dog scrambling on bright tile floors…. Bedlam at its best…..
The plan was to rest the evening and in the morning…..dive, dive, dive.
As I arrived, Becca, who has had some computer troubles lately, was trying desperately to get some much needed help in Key Largo from a computer guru in India to no avail. While she set out dinner I had a heart to heart with our friends overseas and got things moving along and by the end of the evening we were sorted out and kicked back just relaxing and gabbing away…..
Morning comes too quickly and we load up and head out for the Garden Cove Diver boat. It is the last of the lobster season and a small group of us are heading out so see if there are any left after the frenzy of the season. Our boat, a 36 foot 6 pack, offers ample room to spread out gear and relax for the ride. My DIN dilemma is quickly sorted out with the removal of plugs from several adaptable valves and we are on our way.
Today Becky is trying her new Hollis regulator and I am taking a pair of HOG fins on their maiden voyage. The air is warm, such a pleasure after our strange and cold winter, but the water still cool. There are three of us diving and we each opt for a different suit trying to figure out the best option for the day.
Scott has chosen to layer his 5ml and vest with a skin for good measure. I am going straight 5ml and Becky has chosen a 3ml with added hooded vest. Time will tell.
The captain has suggested we try one of the lesser hit reefs as lobster season is coming to an end and many spots are now picked over. We stretch out leisurely on the deck as we head out.
I have heard stories of the damage this past winter to the waters. Fish kills of tropicals that were just not prepared for the temperatures the waters dropped to. Turtles in distress and turtle rescues of numbers so large that wading pools were put in rooms to accommodate them all. Eels of bright green, blackened and washed up on the beaches and coral….. beautiful colored coral, turned dead and gray. It will take time for the waters to recover. I wonder what I will find. Any fish to poke, bright colors to distract me, polka-dotted lobsters with no claws waiting to be grabbed….. hmmmmmm.
We arrive at our first site and the captain moors us between four coral patches. Each offers a different opportunity to poke around and find the elusive hot buttered lobster…. Well not buttered yet maybe, but they will be.
We kit up and stride off the stern platform. Scott first, followed albeit slowly, but followed by me and then Becky, who hit the water with an…. “Oh My!” The look on her face told it all….. she was back on the boat much quicker than we ever got off and pulling my 3ml over her already layered suit. He second water entrance was followed by a huge grin…… much warmer .... and we were off. The water is a cool 72F and a thick dark color. Only about 30 foot of visibility here but we are not to be deterred.
.
Scott was taking pictures and we were hunting and keeping track of each other proved difficult. But not as difficult as finding the elusive hot buttered lobster.
At the tie in was a small coral head very easily described….. 3 feet tall, 2 branching corals and a tiny lobster hiding in a hole. Sing that to the tune of the 12 Days of Christmas…. It grows on ya.
We swim out to one of the larger coral heads. There is much more gray than I want to see but we do see sponges and branching corals holding firmly in place. Tube worms are scattered about with feather duster looking arms waving in the current. Hiding in amongst the structure are some temptingly sized snappers but alas Speargirl has no spear and a poke with my finger is the best we can do. We swim all about looking over and under but no lobster are to be found.
We move on over to a second spot and check below the coral ledge but still no lobster. Some black tetra are about and yellow butterfly fish, but no lobster. We swim around to the far side and there in a tall coral formation are two long thin antennae poking out from a hole. I make a grab and come up with only antennae and I try diligently to ease them down and out of the hole but come away with no luck. I suddenly feel something bounce off of my arm and as I look down I see a small lobster shoot for the hole with my little friend and Becky in hot pursuit. We look at each other and Becky motions tiny. They were both too small to keep and the thrill of the hunt was the best we would get so we moved on to try again. As I again round a corner Becky is trying to tickle out something from beneath an outcropping and she motions "big" this time, but his hiding hole is too far back and he too lives another day.
We head on back to the boat for a little warm sunshine and a new tank.
With dives this shallow we are not taking a surface interval but still manage to hang about and talk a few minutes before going back in. We vow to keep better track of Scott and we all step back into the water one by one.
Our third site is similar to the first two but still no lobster and Scott has run out of things of interest and motions to move on to the next site and we follow. We still find no lobster and spend our time looking diligently while pointing out things of interest for Scott to take pictures of.
Different fish are hiding amongst the corals, a large ray lies nestled in the sand, but no lobster. As we look about we find sea biscuits laying at the reefs edges and French grunts swim past. One of those ugly fish that looks like a rock hides nestled in the reefs edge. I think they are toad fish but they sure look like rocks to me. There are pink sponges that look like fingers made from playdoh and large spiny sea urchins peek from crevices daring you to stick your hand there to check about. Looking high and low for the elusive lobster, as we come around the ledge we lose Scott once more.
We go back up and over and look all about but to no avail and so up we head to look for either him or his bubbles at the least. On the surface we scan the water but see no sign of him. We checkout the boat in the distance….. quite the distance, we have swum out really far. And so we opt to surface swim back and watch for Scott to pop up looking for us. We lie on our backs and kick our way along while talking away about past dives and friends and family. We see no sign of Scott but pass over white coral heads reaching near the water’s surface and expanses of dark green water. As we look behind us the boat is still a fair distance away and we question our wisdom of swimming back but continue on.
As we approach the boat the captain calls out that Scott is already there, having swum beneath us undetected in the limited visibility the water offered today. Hmmm……
Our third dive was to be a drift and I was to be charged with carrying the flag.….. I am still new to them …… they will learn. The captain lines us up on the stern swim platform and one by one we enter the water vowing to keep together this time.
This reef is larger and has more life on it, corals of all shapes and sizes protrude as we swim past. Wavy fingers of multicolored corals and sponges.... some look like they are covered in a brown fur and others are bowl shaped. Large heads of brain coral spatter the scenery while star corals with their little tiny florets covering them are interspersed. Again we come upon a huge ray half buried in the sand. His wingspan is well larger than my arms can extend and his eye follows us as we move past but not a muscle is moved.
Our last site I was so intent on my search for lobster I didn’t really take in all the reef had to offer and barely noticed the fish and scenery but here I moved along like a tourist. Juvenile hogfish swim past and a huge grouper is nestled amongst the jutting reef structure. Many more sponges and corals are here. There are sheet corals layered one atop the other and sea fans sway in the current held fast to the reef with bright purple base. Small puffer fish hide in the reefs holes and rainbow parrot fish swim in and out.
The reef structure is much higher here and in some places natural bridges form swim throughs for fish and divers alike. The flag carrying diver can’t go through them…. Don’t ask why I know.
Queen angels swim regally along, disappearing in a cave like hole and reappearing a short while later. Damsel fish and blue tetra swim about, while butterfly fish and more parrotfish scurry past.
We are soon ready to surface. Three dives and we are starting to feel the cold. Time to call it a day. We all three surface, together, and the boat comes to pick us up.
We ride in eating oranges and snacks and soaking up the sun. Hot buttered lobster…. Wish I had some……but I don’t …. there is always next season……. and I enjoyed the day none the less. A burger and sweet potatoe fries at Mrs. Macs and my day is complete.
Rebecca loves her new regs. The way they breathed and the easy set up…they are her primary now. My fins…. Not a fan. The pocket too deep and the top edge flat across instead of curved made me uncomfortable and dug into the top of my foot. The spring straps on one fin swiveled around and came off on one side each time I removed them at the ladder. I didn’t even use them the third dive, I swapped them out from my old fins. I will keep on looking.