sailing and diving Looe Key

I don't know why we have never been sailing or diving in Looe Key before today.  It is only about an hour southwest of Bahia Honda State Park.  It is a marine sanctuary, like Sombrero Reef.  Our friends, Keith and Jamie used to take their catamaran there often, and our friend, Matt, drove a dive boat to Looe Key for a time.  Today was a first for us, and it was incredible.  Before we get to the diving....

Joel the technician, and Luis, the owner of Marathon Diesel came over to perform another test on Bessie.  The "spitting black soot" problem in the exhaust is a confounding one.  It looks like fuel, or oil to me. 

When they put load on her, the numbers clearly were not in the correct range.  After about an hour of discussion, they decided to let us go for the weekend, and they will be back on Monday to pursue the issue further.  We will not leave for the Bahamas at all until Bessie is running as she should.  We've spent too much money for it to not be right, and we have yet to cash in on the "peace of mind" we were seeking in rebuilding/replacing her.  Dang it.

The morning soon improved, however, we had dolphins in our bow wake several times!  They were quite the pair :)

Dolphin buggers I don't mind one bit!

Though it was overcast most of the morning, we had a beautiful beam reach to Looe Key.  We were steady at 7-7.5 knots with no Bessie.  I love sailing.

Diving off of a sailboat takes some doing, I tell ya'.  Donnie is up on the gunnels on the port side ready to make a back roll entry.  It's the easiest way in the water, in spite of Susie's hesitations.  Donnie simply let go of her and the weight of her gear rolled her right over- no time to think about getting scared!  We put out a couple of taglines in case we hit some current at the end and needed to reel ourselves back in.

I was so proud of SusieQ today :) She did so much better, and was much more confident and relaxed on the dive today.  She looked like an old pro down there....her buoyancy control was better than mine!

A wee little yellowhead wrasse, only 2-3' long.

An even smaller bicolor damselfish in the center bottom.  Also brain coral and staghorn coral.

A bluehead wrasse surrounded by some yellow juveniles.  Pretty fan coral, too.

Mike and Susie...I really enjoyed diving with them- I didn't get separated from the pack today!

A schoolmaster snapper and a stoplight parrotfish- two new species for me in one shot :) 

A blue angelfish, there is no 'queen's crown' on her forehead.

A porkfish...I didn't see one of these the other day- they're in the grunt family.

a poor attempt at selfies, lol.

A rock beauty :)

Mr. 'Cuda...swam by me a little too close...eyeballin' me the whole way.  I waited to get this shot.

This looks like a type of hogfish, but I'm not for certain.  His 'fringe' on top was laid down in the pic.  Just in case it was, I shot him with my imaginary pole spear, just for you, Fran :)

Donnie's shot of the yellowtail damselfish was better than mine.  I love the bright blue polka dots!

There's nothing like swimming IN a school of blue tangs- awesome :)

A wee little blue chromis that Donnie snapped.  This is my second favorite little tropical next to the fairy basslet- which I did not see again today.  Everybody else did; I don't know how I missed them again.  Dang it.

Mike was the last one to come up and shouted up to us, "You gotta see this huge fish under the keel of the boat!  It's over five feet long and at least 200 lbs!"  He was right- it was a goliath grouper.  Donnie jumped in with his mask and snorkel only and I handed him the camera.  Susan and I could watch him plain as day from up in the cockpit.  He was so big that he had a remora hanging out under him just like the sharks have. 

This big boy was clearly named the "Fish of the Dive!"

Is was trickier getting back into Marquesa, over rolling out of her cockpit backwards.  There were steady 3's and the occasional 4' waves coming through, and on a mooring ball that makes for some pretty rough pitching and rolling.  I was the second one up, and by the time everyone got aboard and got their gear off, and I got a batch of brownies in the oven, I was feeding the fish over the side.  As we left Looe Key and headed for home, it was a beautiful sail once again, this time a broad reach.  I couldn't appreciate it nearly as much, as the occasional 5' rolled through and I was green around the gills.  Thankfully, I didn't have much in my stomach, as we didn't eat lunch until after 4pm and we were underway again.  Correction- they all ate lunch, I nibbled on a few ginger snaps and drank water.  I ad to put Susie on galley detail. I got it all laid out for her to make sandwiches, and had to make a dash up top again. I puked burped nearly all the way to the Seven Mile Bridge.  It just is what it is...getting sick still did not diminish the sailing and the diving one iota.  Marquesa was 'in the slot' again, at over seven knots.  Cap'n seldom had to touch the wheel, except to dodge lobster pots.  I could feel Marquesa smiling as she cut through the waves :)

Sailing into a pod of six dolphins on the way home perked me right up!  I get so excited to see them up close in the wild.  It's the same feeling I get when I see a deer in our woods back home.  I never tire of it.

As soon as we crossed under the bridge and back into the Gulf of Mexico, it flattened right out.  Though there was no green flash, it was a beautiful sunset on the water.  Cap'n timed it perfectly, as we watched the sunset about a mile from the entrance to Banana Bay. 

Once we got tied back down to the dock (thanks, Danny and One Gallon Don :) we emptied out Marquesa.  You should have seen down below...all the dive gear and everything else that flew off from wherever  had been, down to the floor.  If a person wasn't careful, they could break some toes trying to get to the head!  By the time we unloaded all of our crap and rinsed it off, it was after 8:30pm.  I nixed the grilling burgers in the dark idea, and instead we ordered pizzas, made some cocktails and hung out in the hot tub and around the pool.  My stomach had made a full recovery and I was ravenous.  Sadly, I have clearly 'overdone' it with my broken toes, though.  Diving twice in three days was probably not the best decision ever, but I wasn't going to miss out on all the fun, or in diving with my friend Susan.  I paid for it as I limped back to Marquesa from the pool. The toes are now rewrapped, on ice, and I am heading to bed.  Nothing like a full day in the sun, in the water, and on the water to wear a person out.  I will have no trouble sleeping tonight.  G'nite, y'all.

PS.  In case you were wondering, we left the furry beast at the dock today.  He was far more happy to hang out in the mangroves than to have been puking with his momma.  He is purring contentedly next to me at the moment ;)  I love him.  Cap'n is purring, too, and of course, I love him even more.