We ended up having four people go Ben, Me, Chuck, and Justin. It started out looking like it was going to be very prosperous when Ben caught one on the way out to our spot. However, it would prove to be the only one caught for nearly an hour.
So we all decided that maybe the elements weren't quite right and we should call it a night. But before we called it we decided to make a loop the other direction through the bay. Fortunately, it turned out that there were a few more over there so Justin ended up catching two more. So all said we ended up with three lobsters but one was a female with eggs so we threw her back. Leaving us with two that we boiled, cleaned, and Chuck and I took home to our wives.
Well, that is how the overall trip went but lets discuss my time! As you can read above, I did not catch anything. In fact, I just barely TOUCHED anything. I can only explain it as gradual progress. Basically, it went like this...for the first half hour my body and mind were coping with the fact that I was floating in the ocean, breathing through a tube, holding a flashlight, while thousands of unknown creatures moved around me!
After spending another half hour determining that in order to catch a lobster, I had to know what one looked like and look for it, I started concentrating on that as well. Once I had mastered that process I realized that no matter how far I stretched my arm out, I could not reach the little booger and breath through my tube at the same time! Another 15 minutes passed while I observed the art of free diving and my body said "alright,you own this!" So I search a little while and sure enough there he was! I took a deep breath, dove down right above him, opened my hand, and my mind said, "extend hand, open palm, grab tail, and swim back to surface." However, somehow in translation my body heard, "open hand, slightly extend arm, there is no way you're touching that thing, ah just do it, NO WAY, ah just do it, NO WAY, hey where did it go, oops he's gone, I can't breath, SWIM STUPID, there is water in my mouth, I STILL CAN'T BREATH, OH NO, OH NO, blow out, inhale, pretend you know what you are doing!" After gathering myself, I realized that although I thought it may have looked somewhat normal and I'm sure no one saw me, that Justin had quietly observed the whole event and was laughing from a distance!
Needless to say it took me a couple of more attempts to convince myself that it was ok to touch them and a couple more after that to actually make it happen. Lobsters really move a lot like cockroaches! They will sit there pretty still till they feel you touch them and then they bolt, and no matter how prepared I was for it, it scared me every time. I touched two or three but couldn't grab them. I think that next time it will be a lot easier though, because as we were waiting for the water to boil we spent some time holding them and getting comfortable with the fact that they really are quite defenceless.When we originally planned our excursion we had decided to have a lobster party on Friday night to enjoy the lobster we caught and spend time with friends. However, we weren't sure that two lobsters would feed 11 people, so everyone came over to our house and had steak instead. We grilled out, ate watermelon and leftover halloween candy, and chatted till nearly 1:30 in the morning.
It was a lot of fun and the kids played so much that all of them fell asleep on Noah's bed watching cartoons.
Today, Tangra has a couple of study sessions to go to and then she will be studying on campus till late. I will probably take the boys swimming and maybe go walk through the marina to look at the big boats. I hope you all are well and we can't wait to see you over christmas break.
Later,
Matt
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