[Bill McIntyre]

was Friday, and it sucked!

But ya gotta pay your dues.

Along about now there is at least reason to hope for white sea bass and water clear enough to spear them, so I decided to get my ass in gear and go out for the first try. I even took along Mark Mayeda, one of a very successful friend's dive buddies, in hopes I would learn some of his techniques and secrets.

The vis was maybe 6 or 8 feet at the surface, and maybe 10 or 12 at 30 feet. Temp was a brisk 57. Of course we could tell that it looked bad from the boat, but I felt I had to man up and see if turning 69 had finally pushed me over the hill.

I was pleasantly surprised that my first warm up dive was 40 seconds. That is a good first dive of the day for me any time, but in the murk and cold it was even better. Of course I never got a hell of a lot better than that, but at least there is hope for one more season.

Anyway, we saw no bait, saw no fish, and heard no fish, but we paid the first installment of our dues.