Scallop dive 2009

[Rileybri]

Well the 2009 dive season is officially open with MSilvia and I hitting up Boston Harbor Diving for there first scallop charter of the year. We met up with the captains in East Boston at their boat the MV Splash. A well outfitted boat complete with a hot shower, head and galley. We were booked with Six divers and the two captains however die to a last minute injury we were down to five divers. With plenty of space to get geared up we headed out to a location that will not be divulged where we found no shortage of scallops! It was a scallop dive after all. I did not get enough time to practice in my dry suit so I wound up doing the dive wet. With 39* water temps I was actually quite toasty in my wet suit for a 32 min dive in 30' of water. With a full catch bag of scallops I headed for the boat. We did the dives a drift dives where every diver had a flag and basically wound up where ya wound up and the boat came and got you and your bag. Everyone had their own method of getting the catch to the top. I tied my flag off to my bag and used it as an ascent line as there was a nasty current. then once in the boat hauled the flag line with my catch bag back up. I attached a lift bag to it with some gas in it to assist in the hauling of the heavy bag.
Once the scallops were on board it was shucking time. As MA does not have a scallop season or permit you are limited to one one gallon bag of chucked scallop meat per person. That was not going to be a problem!
While the dry suited people went for dive two I finished my and Matt's first catch bags and got into some warm dry clothes. In the end Matt and I wound up with about 10 lbs. for FRESH palm sized scallops ready for the kitchen. That night we cooked up a scallop and bacon margarita pizza, a scallop an jalapeño risotto and of course bacon wrapped scallops! I would HIGHLY recommend this dive, the charter and captains to any one looking for a fun new dive to do. check out the photos hear.

[emt]

The vis looked pretty good. Was that an unusually good vis day for there? Nice pics, thanks for sharing another activity.
You looked to be having a lot of fun. Is the scallop season just certain months when it's colder?

[Rileybri]

Originally Posted by emt

The vis looked pretty good. Was that an unusually good vis day for there? Nice pics, thanks for sharing another activity.
You looked to be having a lot of fun. Is the scallop season just certain months when it's colder?

ah ya vis sucked about 1 foot so I had to go to the NE Aquarium and take some pics of there scallops! lol It was a blast diving 39* water wet and all. I would do it again in a hear beat! As for a season there is no set season and no permit needed. you can take up to a 1 gallon bag of sucked meat (not including what you eat on the boat) with you. Its not hard to get your gallon if you have a good cpt. who knows where to go!

[Sansho]

Fresh scallops are the best! Great way to start the season out.

[Rileybri]

a group shot of our collective take at the dock. Not a bad days work if you ask me!

[emt]

ah ya vis sucked about 1 foot so I had to go to the NE Aquarium and take some pics of there scallops! lol It was a blast diving 39* water wet and all. I would do it again in a hear beat! [/quote]

Lol, I thought that picture of the scallops looked mighty clear....1ft vis, 39 degree water, you guys would be perfect for diving the mucky areas of Florida for lobster. My son & I dove about 2 weeks ago but had 4 x the vis at about 4 foot in the florida bay. We had a good time too, most people don't like low vis & wow 39 degree water, I've never tried that but I'm sure I'd be blasted right out of the water; lol, I don't have a dry suit.
Do you scallop in the summer months or does the bacteria content etc. of the water change and make it undesirable then?

[Rileybri]

Originally Posted by emt

ah ya vis sucked about 1 foot so I had to go to the NE Aquarium and take some pics of there scallops! lol It was a blast diving 39* water wet and all. I would do it again in a hear beat!

Lol, I thought that picture of the scallops looked mighty clear....1ft vis, 39 degree water, you guys would be perfect for diving the mucky areas of Florida for lobster. My son & I dove about 2 weeks ago but had 4 x the vis at about 4 foot in the florida bay. We had a good time too, most people don't like low vis & wow 39 degree water, I've never tried that but I'm sure I'd be blasted right out of the water; lol, I don't have a dry suit.
Do you scallop in the summer months or does the bacteria content etc. of the water change and make it undesirable then?[/quote]

I am right at home in murky water fresh or slat. its what I dive regularly and it only makes good viz diving that much better. Believe it ot not I dove that 39* water wet! I was using a dbl 7 mil suit so had about 14 mil on my core. Needless to say I was the only one crazy enough to go wet. It was not that bad in the ned. it was the SI that killed me.....I think they/I scallop year round you just wind up going further out and deeper in the warmer months. This was my first time diving for scallops.

[MSilvia]

Bacteria/"red tide" isn't a problem with scallops like it is with most other edible bivalve mollusks, mostly because the only prt of the scallop that gets eaten (by most Americans, anyhow) is the adductor muscle that opens and closes the shell. The bacterial contamination is in the digestive system, which gets discarded.

[Stripercoast2]

That sounds awesome guys

Definitely something to put on my to-do list!

[2low4nh]

that looks tasty. after i get my certs done i may have to check that out. i wanna do a dive for lobster of NH coast as well