Firepower

Day 2, Cozumel. Erin and Dan had located us a boat for hire, with a captain and guide. The plan was to freedive spearfish. And we were ready; ready for 80 pound grouper, or barracuda, or jack, or parrotfish; we had huge spear guns, breakaway float lines, blah blah blah. And when we got to the boat, our guide was carrying the equivalent of a peashooter with a rusted out shaft and no line. We immediately thought, this guy is a BADASS! He can take on huge fish with a teeny tiny dart gun! He must be a crack shot.
Or there was the other option that we didn't really think about.

Anyway, as you can see, not all who were impressed with our equipment knew anything about fishing (see below). But still we went out that windy, swelly, choppy day, with high hopes.

This guy was alot of talk when it came to fishing. But he didn't know how to hold a rod (it's upside down).

Our guide, Geronimo, in the background. Erin the Slayer in the foreground.

We went out for about 5 hours, hit 6-7 different sites, including three wrecks, up to 55 feet deep. We fished hard; we were in the water for 4 of the 5 hours. The visibility was almost unlimited, and the wrecks especially were just beautiful. And we did get fish. Flatfish, parrotfish, lion fish, scorpion fish. Huge fish. HUGE. But not really.

That's a lionfish. Very dangerous. Very goodeating.

Geronimo gracefully offered to cook up our catch, so we met him at his mom's house later in the evening. Turns out his mom gives cooking lessons! The feast was excellent; parrotfish ceviche, the best guacamole I've ever had, the first grilled lion and scorpion fish I ever ate, it was quite the meal.

A portion of the bounty

Chef Geronimo

Outstanding!

While the dinner was great, the fish catch was not what we were hoping for. Well, the species were fine (except no grouper); but the sizes were a tenth of what we had envisioned in our own mind. Geronimo strongly suggested we go to the other side of the island tomorrow, where he would take us for the same amount we had spent that day ($300). But in spite of his excellent cooking, we weren't convinced that there were any big fish anywhere. It was beginning to look as if the fishing pressure were really intense on this little island...