Hatterascals

[Mark Laboccetta]

Here's a few pictures of decent day in Hatteras with the clowns I usually dive with, we didn't get any tunas or wahoo otherwise it woulda been what we call "just right"

Start off the day by warming up our arms with a thousand hand over hand pull overs when the all mighty captain misses the hole. It's okay at the beginning of the day but generally by the end of the day you're ready to commit mutiny.

You then ask the life guard if it's safe to go in the water and with your guns and spears and floats and sharkshields and all the other junk you're hereby ready to go for a nice swim.

 

[Mark Laboccetta]

The second stage of the diving in the all mighty seas of Hatteras entails the two "light" current bodies of the Gulfstream and Labrador currernt clashing right where you have decided to snorkel to make your work of getting just a few fish a hell of a time...

You finally get all the way out there and realize that the current is going to make you work like Lance Armstrong for the yellow jersey. At the site of a Popopo (less than 30lb pompano) you don't even think about it twice and now you have yourself a fish for dinner for two. You reason that one or two more and maybe it's not so bad.

The current then picks up even more so that at your 7th drift your only choice is a drive by shooting over the deep wreck, and when the only fish that will come look at you is an Amberjack, you quickly question who it was in your group of family and friends that said they liked eating amberjack. You pull the trigger and fear that the one you were really waiting for is about to circle the stunned amberjack you just befriended. It's kinda like going all the way to Disney World when you're 8, after enduring that hellacious ride with your annoying sister and waiting in line at Space Mountain while you have to pee and then the person standing at the entrance tells you you're not tall enough to go...and you turn around all upset and have to settle for "It's a Small World".

Oh well, it could be worse

 

[Mark Laboccetta]

After nine or ten drifts you've had enough and you look over at your buddies. You at least managed a 35lb saltwater catfish they call cobia and a 10lb rainbow runner too and figure it's probably not worth your effort to take another run down the slope...Your buddies feel the same way and it's time to take a breather and go back to the dock.

Freedivers are funny people. They want to take part in this challenging and rewarding physical activity and way of underwater fishing going through hell and back to do it then when they're tired and done they feel like doing something that's entirely not that good for their body. Me and the others like a few cold beers and my other buddy Pat who started the NFC chapter of the Mid Atlantic (Nicatine Freediving club) gets out of the water with a hard tired look on his face, after having taken out one nice popopo, ready to wind down the rest of his day with a Marlboro. The little devil over his right shoulder named Tabacco won't leave him alone and he decides to put an end to it witha quick fix. Nobody is perfect. Ahhh, life is just great 30 miles offshore after a long day in the swimming pool.