May 15 -My last trip of the season, to close up the house for the hurricane season (starts June 1st) and put the boat away, was a little early this year. I enlisted friend Ed Ranson to spend a few days in the Keys and then help me close up and drive the car back to Minnesota. I arrived on May 11th and Ed and his son Ben came on May 14th. We managed to head out to the reef so I could dive and Ed and Ben could snorkel. The weather was hot and humid with water temps near 80. Perfect weather to spend a day at sea! We headed out to Molasses Reef, the best spot for snorkelers. However, the current was extremely strong and unsafe, so we aborted and headed to a nearby shallow reef. The conditions at the Pickle Barrel wreck section of Pickles Reef were great. Light chop, no current. This site contains remains of a ship wreck, including cement ballast that was at one time contained in pickle barrels - hence the name of the site. I captured some decent video as seen below:
For the 2nd dive of the day, we headed 1/4 of a mile SW to Snappers Ledge. As expected it was full of fish and also sharks and a sting ray. Ben and Ed elected not to snorkel, as its a little deep here, but I coaxed Ed in at the end of the dive to see the Sting Ray. I think you will enjoy the video of this dive.