Station 41025 (LLNR 640) - Diamond Shoals
35.006 N 75.402 W (35°0'22" N 75°24'7" W)
By Jim FieldAs weekend sportfishermen (that's us!) we live and die by weather conditions that happen to develop--by pure chance, of course--for the weekend: 2 days out of 7, or 28.6% of daily fishing opportunities in a week. Given this highly circumscribed time frame, imposed upon us by the twin commitments of work and family--and, why not go to the beginning, to the unfortunate fact that none of the Crew is the deserving beneficiary of inherited wealth--it's often the case that we get screwed, royally screwed. Why is this the case?
Well, for starters, weather is unpredictable--I mean, it sets the benchmark on uncertainty. If (1) you can only fish on certain days of the week, and (2) these designated days make up just over a quarter of days in a year, and (3) good weather develops randomly, and (4) is a subset of potential weather patterns, and (5) you can only fish in good weather, then walla--do the math!!!!--you're not going to end up on the water very often! (Meaning, you're getting screwed.)
And then there's a second form of "getting screwed" to consider. The process goes like this: in arranging a fishing weekend, we spend valuable spousal capital to get a "free pass" for an upcoming weekend. (These chits, I'll note, are difficult to secure.) Then the weekend rolls around and the weather is, let's say, terrible. So, you don't go fishing, and you don't use the free pass, but--and here's the catch!--
you are unable to hand it back at face value. Oh nooooo! Because you asked for the pass, and received it, and the weekend agreement was in fact consummated, you wind up using some of the free pass' goodwill. So, next time around, getting a free pass will be even more difficult--because in not going fishing, you nevertheless had reserved and been bestowed time to fish, and so you used 20% of the pass, which is applied by one's spouse as a weighting factor in determining the odds of fishing in the future. Now that, in my book, is also getting royally screwed, part II.
In our group commiserations, about the punitive nature of imposed marital scheduling practices, and in particular, the cruel fates of fishing weather, we have noted, however, our impression that weather patterns this last fall have been particularly unkind to us, the weekend sportfishermen. Not that we're developing a persecution complex, or anything, but it is beginning to get us down. Now, we don't have data on this, but it seems as though at least 50%, maybe as high as 60%, of absolute weekends have been purse washouts, with even higher percentages applicable to weekends we explicitly reserved for an outing.
Alas, upon awakening this morning, and checking out the weather, and finding it, predictably, just horrible (insert primordial yell: Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!), I'm thinking that we should bring some science to this whole issue. Instead of guessing the record on weather, perhaps if we had hard data, we could turn this in our favor. Specifically, if we could quantify our bad luck, perhaps this would create some spousal empathy for our plight, and we could use this to (1) secure fishing weekends more easily and with enhanced flexibility built in, and (2) help restore full value of our returned free passes.
So, from this day forth this blog will track weather at Diamond Shoals buoy for each weekend across the year (we can also do this for the Delaware light ship buoy). This new blog feature can be found in the right-hand column, at the very bottom, the last box of test. The data collected and shown will be presented as follows, using this weekend as an example:
February 27-28Reserved: No
Sat--WDIR WNW, WSPD 31.3 kts, WVHT 12.8 ft
Sun--
Verdict:
UnfishablePersonally, this will be fascinating to track. I mean, what other Crew has this kind of data on hand? It could really make science work for the betterment of mankind (i.e., us). I'm certainly going to make sure that my "loving spousal unit" (LSU) is kept appraised of the latest aggregated numbers.
The Atlantic bluefin tuna is highly prized, especially for sashimi, and a single fish can be sold for tens of thousands of dollars. (Photo at left of Japanese fish market.) The Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock is threatened by overharvesting, which includes illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing. In the Atlantic Ocean, bluefin tuna are managed as two separate stocks, an Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean, and a Western. The Eastern Atlantic and Mediterranean stock of the Atlantic bluefin tuna has declined steeply during the last 10 years. Based on estimated catches, scientists estimated the spawning stock biomass in 2007 to be 78,724 metric tons. This contrasts with the biomass peak of 1955, at 305,136 metric tons. The decline over the 50-year historical period ranging from 1955 to 2007 is estimated at 74.2 percent, the bulk of which (60.9 percent) took place during the last 10 years.
TBF President Ellen Peel and scientist Russell Nelson sent a strong statement that was read during the course of the meeting. Peel and Nelson both argued against the possibility of authorizing the use of purse seine gear or net fishing in the waters of the Bahamas. They cited not only the irreparable harm such practices would cause to billfish resources and other marine species, but also the negative impacts to sportfishing tourism.
And then there's a second form of "getting screwed" to consider. The process goes like this: in arranging a fishing weekend, we spend valuable spousal capital to get a "free pass" for an upcoming weekend. (These chits, I'll note, are difficult to secure.) Then the weekend rolls around and the weather is, let's say, terrible. So, you don't go fishing, and you don't use the free pass, but--and here's the catch!--you are unable to hand it back at face value. Oh nooooo! Because you asked for the pass, and received it, and the weekend agreement was in fact consummated, you wind up using some of the free pass' goodwill. So, next time around, getting a free pass will be even more difficult--because in not going fishing, you nevertheless had reserved and been bestowed time to fish, and so you used 20% of the pass, which is applied by one's spouse as a weighting factor in determining the odds of fishing in the future. Now that, in my book, is also getting royally screwed, part II. 
By Jim Field
By Jim Field
Working my way through Norfolk, and then upon exiting the tunnel into Newport News, I spotted a fishing fleet to my immediate right and exited the highway. I had noticed these boats before, just never had time to stop. Today I did. I walked up and down the peer and found some men working on one of the boats. I asked what the fleet fished for. One man, a friendly sort, said scallops. Here's a few other things he told me:
On the fishfinder, the Dixie Arrow presents a clear-cut, easy to find target. The ship's profile, nicely presented in the photo, wouldn't appear to support this: pretty flat except for front and aft houses. Of course, the ship, being a tanker, was deep-drafted and constructed of tons of hidden steel plate; it also sank violently, which means sections of it settled in a twisted heap.
The Dixie Arrow was a 468' long tanker that was torpedoed off Hatteras, North Carolina, 26 March 1942, by the German submarine U-71. She remained afloat, purging crude oil, flames, and profuse quantities of black smoke, visible for miles. She eventually settled in 90' of water on a clean sandy bottom. The bow rises almost 30' off the bottom, with the skeletal frame intact for 80' until it breaks down into jumbled debris. 
Anchor chain fills the bow space, with a hull plate holding a couple of portholes peeled off and laying in the sand below the portside quarter. There are deep washouts directly under the bow where copious supplies of seashells collect -- a great location for a malacologist. The main part of the wreck is a mass of twisted steel, though contiguous and with several landmarks. The three boilers, followed by the large engine are visible as one heads aft. Brass valves and an occasional gauge are found throughout this area. The stern boasts the bronze propeller, buried in the sand. About 60' off the starboard side of the stern, the remains of the superstructure lie half-buried in the sand. The Arrow is a popular wreck, home to several resident sea turtles and sand tiger sharks.
The answer, of course, is the sea/weather forecast for Diamond Shoals buoy off Hatteras, NC. What's always caught my eye and imagination in particular, however, when reading the forecasts, being that I'm a naval and Civil War aficionado, is that the area covered encompasses the "Monitor National Marine Sanctuary," i.e., the site where the ironclad USS Monitor foundered and sank, entombing some of its crew in a steel coffin. 
In December, Monitor was ordered south to join the blockading forces off the Carolinas. After preparing for sea, on 29 December she left Hampton Roads in tow of USS Rhode Island, bound for Beaufort, N.C. The weather, expected to be good for the entire voyage, stayed that way into the 30th, as the two ships moved slowly along, several miles off the North Carolina coast. However, wind and seas picked up during the afternoon and turned to a gale by evening. The Monitor labored heavily as she neared Cape Hatteras, famous for its nasty sea conditions. Water began to enter the ship faster than the pumps could expel it and conditions on board deteriorated dangerously.
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