We could still hear the laughing as we splashed in for our second dive. On the first dive I had caught an unusual fish. It looked like a big gray snapper and it was running away when I speared it but when it got to the boat it looked a little like a margate crossed with a snapper and it was deemed to be a snargate. Now I used to catch margate all the time before I joined the club. It was one of the few fish that I could consistently find on an anchor dive that would stay still long enough for me to spear them. But after joining the club I was embarrassed into not taking them because they were not sporting enough and they supposedly tasted bad ( not true ) and we were drift diving now and coming across more politically acceptable species.

It didn't help that Sheri had landed a big hogfish on the same first dive but I find that I can handle humiliation better as I get older; one of the few things that I can do better.

We were under pressure on the second dive to catch more fish because it was the 4th of July and we were having a big fish fry after the dive.

Upon entering the water we were startled by two huge sharks that we almost landed on. Without any fish in the bag they looked like friendly sharks and we proceeded with the quest. I swam close to Sheri to protect her from the sharks and it must have worked because soon the sharks were out of site apparently intimidated by the superior predators .

We were diving the dive site named Shark Isle although I am not sure why it is named that. We were in the rubble off of the reef and generally drifting with the current and swimming east to find the ledge . Sheri had the bag and the flag to slow her down because she has these big fins that make her go real fast. I have big fins too but they don't seem to have the same effect on me.

Sheri hovers about 10 ft. off of the bottom and can spot fish and be on him in a second. I am a bottom dweller with full intent to hover but always find myself back on the bottom after a few minutes possibly to give snargates and other fellow dwellers a fighting chance. Then Sheri shot her first hog snapper and we remembered the sharks. So we went back to back while she was bagging the fish waiting for the men in the gray suites. But they didn't come and we were relieved but convinced that we had put the fear of god into those boys." Sharks , snarks ,snargates" I say.

We finally made the ledge and found a honeycombed reef loaded with lane snappers. Actually they were probably dog snappers but nobody calls them that because some of the older publications said that they were poisonous. Since those books are out of print and they could be lane snappers and the newer publications don't mention the poison stuff we were on the hunt.

Lane snappers are elusive . The big guys come out to greet you so you line up and wait for them to come out again. That's when you find out how long they can stay in those holes; it seems like forever but eventually a couple made the mistake of checking if we had left yet. We hadn't and they joined the others in Sheri's bag.

It was getting near the end of our dive and Sheri's bag was getting kind of full ; funny I didn't remember shooting that many fish but maybe I did. Then Sheri spotted a mutton and it was on the run. She took off after the fish dragging the bag full of fish and leaving a noticeable trail behind her. I tried to keep up as Sheri slowly closed the gap between her and the mutton .However the gap was widening between me and Sheri. My fins were wearing a hole in my foot since I forgot to wear my socks .

The Shark passed me like I was standing still following the trail that Sheri had left. I could see Sheri in the distance go into hyper drive on her final push to get the fish. I tried to speed up and at the same time bang my tank to warn Sheri. Then a funny thing happened . The shark turned to look back at me as if to say " forget about it I will never catch that girl" and then he swam away.

Sheri nailed the Mutton and bagged him as we ascended for the surface. I told her later how I had saved her life from the shark and she thanked me.

Later we all dined on snargate and dog I mean lane snapper and had a fabulous time.

BY Tom Campbell