Monthly Archives: October 2012

Made it back safely to cocoa beach on Saturday afternoon, just in time to watch the rest of the horrible Florida Georgia football game.  Enjoyed another great seafood dinner with the family.

Woke up Sunday to chilly weather!  When we left in mid September it was still summer, but the season has definitely changed.  After a quick search thru my clothes, remembered that i had donated all my pants when we left town back in july.  None of them fit anymore after shedding pounds when we started the pescatarian diet and regular running earlier this year.  But cooler weather was much nicer for a 5k run that morning.

Slater brothers had a surf contest goin on down at the beach, so we enjoyed a tasty brunch at Roberto’s cafe then walked over to watch some action.  Waves were huge and clean!  Hurricane Sandy pumped in some double overhead waves and an offshore breeze for about the best east coast surfing conditions I’ve ever seen.

Loaded up the truck once again on monday morning to bring back our friend’s boat and gear to Jacksonville.  Safely returned the boat and voted that afternoon.  Crazy to have 4 pages on a ballot.  Got together with some friends for another great seafood dinner and spent the night in Jax.

Got up early on Tuesday to knock out some errands and see some family, then back down to cocoa beach.  Got fitted for new running shoes, so looking forward to trying them out in the morning.

Couple days remaining in cocoa beach, then we fly out on Thursday to LA.  Gonna spend 5 days in San Diego (aka. whale’s hoohaa for Ron Burgundy fans) before we depart to NEW ZEALAND for a month in a camper van!  Both really excited about this trip!

Our time in the florida keys has come to an end.  We had a spectacular time here the last 6 weeks; great weather, great fishing and lobstering and we got to share our time here with some special friends and family.

Loaded up most our stuff in the truck and boat yesterday with the final packing this morning including our bounty of seafood.  Headed back to cocoa beach!

lots of goodies to share with folks

Beverly hillbillies style

wind is still blowing... feel bad for folks only down for the week

Forecast for our entire last week didn’t look good for boating as the winds were to be 20+ knots, so we’ve been doing some other activities.

Sunday – We undertook a biathlon: leisurely bike ride down to the seven mile bridge, then walk/ran the 2-mile portion of the old seven mile bridge. Much easier heading down to the bridge, rather than running/riding back into the really gusty winds. Along the way back on the bridge, we came across a couple who were asked to look around for a diver that hadn’t come back from diving the pilings. A man on a boat was frantically driving back and forth trying to locate the diver. He had called the coast guard in the meantime and in about 5-10 minutes the entire fleet showed up including coast guard, homeland security and marathon sheriff. Luckily, the coast guard immediately spotted the diver near a bridge piling further down where we were not looking. Turned out to be a safe ending!  Rode back to the house with a severe leg workout against the 20 knot winds, then endured some relaxation the rest of the day watching football and some movies.

Three departments on the scene for a missing diver near 7 mile bridge

Jalapeno’s been enjoying R&R here in the Keys too!

Monday– The forecast was right and the strong NE winds continued. Made some calls around town about getting the boat serviced/detailed, then I drove it over to the bayside to the boat ramp. Cindy drove over with the truck and trailer. We took the time to give her a trailer loading lesson, since it was a ghost town at the boat ramp due to the winds. She was able to back it down after a few tries, load the boat and pull it back up to street level. Success! Dropped the boat over at the marina, then decided we’d give the kayaks a try as we could likely stay in the lee of the island. Peddled over to Vaca Cut, caught some bait and tried fishing to no avail. Enjoyed a nice peddle back at sunset going downwind.

Stacked up real good near Vaca Cut on my last boat ride in the Keys for 2012

Tuesday – Woke up and took care of some bookwork stuff, still gotta pay bills and what not 🙂 Around 11, we decided to go for our normal 5k run up the road a bit. We had nothing else planned for the day, so we just kept on running east. They have a nice bike trail almost the entire length of Marathon. Ended up going about 6.5 miles to Grassy Key before turning back around.  About 3 hours later we arrived back at the house and ended up doing a walk/run half marathon! Our bodies would pay for that the rest of the day and the next couple days, so we took the rest of the afternoon off and got to bed early for our early morning adventure on Wednesday.

It would’ve been nice to have another few days on the boat this week, but actually works out good to have some free time to explore other things and get some planning done for our next adventure which is approaching quickly, NEW ZEALAND!

Saturday was forecasted to be the last day of good weather with light winds so we loaded up the boat with multiple types of gear, depending what we would find out towards the reef line. Said our goodbyes to Steve, who was headed out around noon to head back north, then departed out into the ocean.
Lot more boats out on the reef line for the weekend, so finding an empty marked spot was difficult. Didn’t have much luck in about 50 feet of water, so we picked up anchor and drove out into the deep blue to see what was happening. Came across a nice scattered weed line in about 350 feet of water, which is still in sight of land. Put out a couple lures around 1pm and started trolling easterly working our way thru the patches of weeds. I’ll let the video and pics be self-explanatory, but we had a GREAT day!

Mahi Fishing from Chris Schaul on Vimeo.

My lil lady with her big bull dolphin

Capitan con dos pesces por la cena

Another great dinner waterside, eating our cobia and mahi at Lazy Days

Likely our last day out on the boat on this trip, as the wind is gonna blow the entire week, but hoping to get back out on the kayaks to find some sheltered areas to explore on some of the other keys.

The spectacular weather here continued on Thursday and Friday, so we took advantage of more activities on the boat. Thursday we cruised over by 7 bridge and the molasses keys to scope out some new lobster spots. Found about 5 keepers and some nice new spots in the first few hours. The high tide slack current started around 2pm, so we headed over to snorkel around the bridge pilings. Conditions were pretty good, so i snorkeled first while Cindy and Steve reeled in a couple mangrove snappers for dinner. Steve and I then snorkeled down the old bridge pilings while Cindy drive the boat to stay near as we found keeper lobsters. Ended up finding about 9 more to bring home. amazing how much sea life hangs out around the pilings, especially at slack tide. Along the way, saw a couple good size lion fish and speared one to bring home to try for dinner. A little dicey filleting them, but tasty white meat.

Friday was Steve’s last day on the boat with us. Snorkeling at sombrero reef was first up on the agenda. Water clarity ended up being great with the lights winds all week letting the Gulf Stream flow closer over the reef. Spent a couple hours exploring the area on snorkel and regulator, ate some lunch and then off to the reef line for some more yellow tailing. By this point in the day, all the wind had disappeared so got to be quite toasty on the boat in the afternoon sun. We put up the umbrella to get some shade and proceeded to do quite well again on fishing. Ended the afternoon with 9 yellow tails and a cobia reeled in by Steve, which was a nice surprise! Took the last couple hours to cruise out to around 600 feet of water and check for any Mahi or tuna. We didn’t come across much, but the ride offshore in glassy conditions was amazing.

Yellow tailing in the shade on a beautiful afternoon

Woke up early on Wednesday to a nice morning with light winds out of the east. Started packing up the boat for an offshore trip, and woke up the crew around 7:30am so we could make an 8:30 departure.
Headed south southwest about 28 miles to an area which was showing the possibility of weed lines. This is in about 900-1000 feet of water and right in the middle of the shipping lanes. Luckily the boat has an AIS-capable radio integrated with the GPS so you can see the heading of all large ships on the GPS screen which is helpful in staying out of their way.

Passed up a decent weed line about 10 miles out in 350-400 feet of water to continue towards our original destination. Luck would have it that we didn’t see much of anything else. Stopped near the destination and decided to head back to the original weed line rather than blind trolling, which is trolling without seeing birds, weed lines or some sort of indicator of fish. The ocean is one big-ass desert for the most part..

Started trolling back at the weed line and driving around the larger patches while trying to avoid fouling up our lures.  Didn’t take too long and FISH ON! Cindy was first up to bat on the jumping mahi and did a great job getting it boat side for a clean gaff shot and into the box.

Cindy’s first mahi in a long while

Reset the lures after a celebratory beverage and got back on the troll continuing to head up and down the line. Next fish we caught was while making a u-turn near the end of the weeds. FISH ON for Steve!

Got Steve up from a nap to reel in this one

Was getting to be about 1pm at this point, normally the time of day when trolling gets very slow. Best times are early in the day and late when the sun isn’t so bright overhead. So we trolled until about 1:30, then decided to try some bottom fishing instead. Lot of boats out on the reef for some reason, so a few of our spots were already occupied. Ended up anchoring in about 50 feet of water and dropped a chum bag over the side. Current wasn’t moving much = tough reef fishing conditions. Then the rain showers from offshore started moving nearer, so the group decided to pack it in and head back before the heavy rain started.

Nice to see some mahi again and looking forward to enjoying the new type of fish in our meals.

About to be mahi sandwiches

Tuesday turned out to be another great day on the water. Couldn’t have asked for better weather with glassy conditions for most of the day, which made finding lobster spots much easier as you could see them from the boat in the clear water. Even with a bit later start around noon, we were able to find 16 legal lobsters, which is almost another limit for three of us. Also, Steve got his first chance to use the regulator on a nice spot to pull out 4 keepers.

The current started picking up in the afternoon, which can tire you quickly when snorkeling, so we decided to try some fishing instead. Current at the 7 mile bridge was much too strong for fishing, so we continued on back towards the house to try a couple spots. No luck other than some small stuff at the first spot near Boot Key. Moved on to a new spot about a mile from the house, which was some coral heads in about 20 ft of water. Anchored up and dropped in a chum bag. Started off catching small stuff again, but as the sun began to set we got into some bigger fish and more action. Kept 2 yellowtails and a spanish mackerel. Caught an almost legal 23″ black grouper on an inshore rod with 10lb line, what a battle!

Light tackle fishing a mile from the house at sunset

Headed back to the house in slick glass conditions and a beautiful sunset to enjoy another tasty seafood dinner. Got to bed early, as conditions were to be good on Wednesday for offshore fishing..

Keys house has been infested with these edible bugs

Mike sent me the part # and instructions for replacing the prop hub and I likely would call a repair man on Monday morning to get us fixed up. I spent some time on Sunday night reading about spun hubs and recalling some of the prop maintenance I had completed on our Key West boat a few years back. That knowledge, a handy repair dock onsite and some tools we had brought down in the truck gave me the confidence to undertake this repair myself. Picked up the parts needed at West Marine first thing on Monday morning and went to work for replacing the hub.

About 10am I had completed the test drive (with the electric trolling motor onboard, just in case :). We were back in action and ready for a great day on the water and thankfully the weather had cleared up and forecast showed light winds all day.

First stop was back over by 7 mile bridge, this time being extra careful to not contact any floating objects. Cindy had seen some nice stone crabs at a spot last week and thought we might check if they were still home as this was opening day for stone crab season. Found the spot and anchored up to try my luck at stone crab extraction from holes. Struck out trying the tickle stick even while using the regulator with air. Rethought about other devices onboard for crab extraction and decided on some long-nose pliers. Most experienced crab hunters will grab them barehanded, but I wasn’t yet at that level to take my chances of getting pinched by a large claw. Pliers were the right tool and I was able to drag him out of the hole by locking the pliers onto his large claw which was about to be removed. Netted him once out of the hole and brought him up to the boat for further processing. I had watched a few youtube videos in previous days on proper handling and claw removal, so was able to capture his largest claw with relative ease. (you can learn just about anything via youtube videos). A great start to the day with a hefty claw on opening day!

A tasty treat from the ocean, keep in mind the size of my humongous hands

Proceeded onto a series of GPS spots in search of lobsters, where we spent the rest of the beautiful day exploring and loading up a nice haul of 16 lobsters and 2 red groupers. Steve got right back into the groove, pulling up a legal one on the first spot and his first dive down! Cindy also had a first today, using the regulator and lobster bag to dive down on an anchored spot and pull about 4 legals. With 3 people on the tank we ran out of air quite soon, so most of the day would be without the regulator and require the hold-your-breath snorkeling method. Some day we’ll splurge and buy the Brownies third lung or some variation so we can have unlimited air on the regulator.

Clear water, blue skies and light current makes for great lobstering

Steve back in action in the Keys

Steve’s first day of lobstering was a success!

Ended the day with a glassy sunset cruise back to the house, what a complete 180 from our experience on Sunday! Weather is supposed to be just as nice all week..

Couple of lobsters about to be prepped for dinner

The wind continued to blow Saturday and Sunday, up to about 30 mph out of the Northeast which would be considered the first cold front of the year and confirmation that the season is changing to fall. Cindy and I took the day on Saturday to clean up the house and stock with fresh supplies for our last 2 weeks in the Keys. Rode our bikes the entire day, which ended up being quite a workout peddling back a couple miles against that strong gale.

Cindy’s brother Steve arrived on Saturday night and plans on hanging out with us the entire week, which is great timing cause the winds are supposed to ease up for the entire week. We pushed our luck on Sunday by trying to get out on the boat a day earlier while the winds were still howling. The forecast showed a minor drop in the wind speed for the day, so we headed out towards 7 mile bridge to see if we could escape the worst of the gusts.

Started off not being able to find any live bait for cast netting, then decided to drive down around a couple small keys to try to find calmer waters. On the way I ran over one of the lobster trap buoys, but thought I had seen it just soon enough to put the engine in neutral. Verified no damage was caused visually on the lower unit, then continued on our way. Only problem was that we had no thrust over about 2,000 rpm. With the wind and outgoing tide we weren’t gonna be able to make it back home on our own power… Appeared that we had “spun a hub”, which is what occurs when u hit something and a rubber/plastic piece fails on purpose to let the prop spin freely to prevent damaging the drive shaft or propeller itself.

We were close enough to some shallower water and drifting towards it, then threw out the anchor and we proceeded to snorkel around for a bit. Might as well get some fun out of the trip for a little while. Actually almost caught a couple lobsters I came across in the some small holes, but they were too quick and wily.

Got on the radio about an hour later and contacted Sea Tow with our info and location for a tow back to the house. About an hour later, captain Jay showed up and threw a line to tow us back home. Along the way the wind really started cranking and the rain showers started to move through the area. It was a wet, windy and bumpy ride back home, but it makes you really appreciate the calm and sunny days ahead.

First part of the tow was sunny with moderate winds..

Luckily for us we had signed up for a sea tow membership a couple weeks back, otherwise the towing bill would have been almost $700! While Mike and Vicki were here, we had an electrical issue with the engine’s ground wire while abut 10 miles out in the gulf side. Didn’t need to call Sea Tow since Mike was able to call his dealer’s service department and get some tips on things to try which worked. But that was a close call and convinced me to renew the sea tow membership, which paid off this past weekend when needing a tow. Interesting how life events occur, if we had not incurred the electrical issue, then we likely wouldn’t have renewed sea tow and now be out quite a bit of money for our tow this past weekend.

We all made it back safe to the dock, which is the most important thing during each trip out on the ocean.