Going for swim ..... anyone?

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I love the reference to swimming in the great lakes! What is going to eat you that lives in the great lakes??? No alligators, no sharks... LOL
 
I love the reference to swimming in the great lakes! What is going to eat you that lives in the great lakes??? No alligators, no sharks... LOL

It's about the only thing us poor suckers with a 3 month boating season have going for us :)
 
Testicle nippers? Yikes!

As to swimming of the boat, I do it several times a season. Just not if it is windy enough to move the boat. If I'm alone, I wear a life vest and tie a line between myself and the boat. If I have someone with me, I just go for it.
 
I love the reference to swimming in the great lakes! What is going to eat you that lives in the great lakes??? No alligators, no sharks... LOL
Lamprey!!

"Awww mom.....but can't I keep my Lamprey?"
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Down in the Keys one time. Went out to a reef on a dive boat from the place we were staying. Was only the two of us - and the dive boat captain - not a big or loud group.

Tied off to a mooring at the reef, probably 10ft or less of water under the boat.

After an hour or two around the reed, came back to the boat. In the water but hanging on to the platform. Captain said I saw a large grouper swim under the boat, take a look.

Dipped below the water to look. This "friggin" grouper was longer than my wife is tall. This thing was 6 ft long - probably 4 ft from belly to dorsal at least. Just sitting there staring at me.

I went in the boat without the ladder! Was finished snorkeling for the day

Mark

Here he is !
We didn't have an underwater camera but my daughter was able to get this shot from our deck with her cell phone. This was at Looe Reef in the Atlantic. It was an amazing day with no wind so we decided to leave our dock in Marathon and go snorkel for the day. He was content to just hang in the shade in the shadow of the boat for about an hour or so. Every time we would swim close to him, he would just slowly move away keeping about a 10' buffer between us. When we would move away, he would come back to the shade. Great memories from our loop.
I can't imagine not swimming off our boat, no matter where we are, fresh, salt, shallow or deep. To us it's just one of the best parts of owning a boat.

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Jump in the water and take a swim. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than seeing or encountering a shark. I have been scuba diving these waters for the last 30 years and have never seen a shark. I dive a wreck in Fort Lauderdale that some have seen a Bull shark. I have not been so lucky. The minute the shark hears the divers come down to the wreck, it is gone. I have gone shark fishing in our waters and it generally takes 4+ hours to create a long enough chum slick to attract a few blue sharks. That is 4 hours of dumping fish chunks, guts and fish blood in the water.

Jump in the water and enjoy the swim. Wait until August for the water to warm up. Still a little chilly. And as others have said, throw out a long safety line in case you are too tired to swim back to the boat.

Lastly, make sure not to piss off your wife that day, let alone weeks, maybe months before jumping in - 3 miles in the ocean is a long swim to shore!
 
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Shock and awe! Whole family had a father's day swim in the Pacific off our searay!
 
Jump in the water and take a swim. You have a better chance of getting hit by lightning than seeing or encountering a shark. I have been scuba diving these waters for the last 30 years and have never seen a shark. I dive a wreck in Fort Lauderdale that some have seen a Bull shark. I have not been so lucky. The minute the shark hears the divers come down to the wreck, it is gone. I have gone shark fishing in our waters and it generally takes 4+ hours to create a long enough chum slick to attract a few blue sharks. That is 4 hours of dumping fish chunks, guts and fish blood in the water.

Jump in the water and enjoy the swim. Wait until August for the water to warm up. Still a little chilly. And as others have said, throw out a long safety line in case you are too tired to swim back to the boat.

Lastly, make sure not to piss off your wife that day, let alone weeks, maybe months before jumping in - 3 miles in the ocean is a long swim to shore!
I have always seen sharks. Had a bull in the canal behind the house in Largo two weeks ago and the bastard kept grabbing the mid sized amberjacks the nine year old was fishing for. Still went swimming-just not in the canal-because that’s nasty.
 
Hope not; I'd be a smoking cinder....
Maybe not, the father of a woman I know was hit by lightning twice. The second time he was on a farm tractor pulling some kind of implement, when the lightning hit he fell off the tractor and the implement ran him over, I don't know which killed him. Your odds of being struck by lightning in your lifetime are about 1 in 12,000, twice in your lifetime are 1 in 9 million.
 
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Here he is !
We didn't have an underwater camera but my daughter was able to get this shot from our deck with her cell phone. This was at Looe Reef in the Atlantic. It was an amazing day with no wind so we decided to leave our dock in Marathon and go snorkel for the day. He was content to just hang in the shade in the shadow of the boat for about an hour or so. Every time we would swim close to him, he would just slowly move away keeping about a 10' buffer between us. When we would move away, he would come back to the shade. Great memories from our loop.
I can't imagine not swimming off our boat, no matter where we are, fresh, salt, shallow or deep. To us it's just one of the best parts of owning a boat.

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Look at those lips - just a big ole baby! Has been around the block a few times - knows where there are boats and docks there is usually food.
 
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In addition to the very good advice of having a lifejacket on and a secure line (tied to you, not held in your hand) I would add that you should have someone watching you while you do it. If you get in trouble or pass out they could pull you in with the line. Make sure they would be able to pull you back on and have some warm blankets ready! Other than that, go for it and have fun!

One more thing.. maybe get your body as warm as possible immediately beforehand so you have some buffer body heat, and eat a high-carb meal before so you will have lots of energy when your metabolism spikes to deal with the cold.
 
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Nj / atlantic Water temp was 69.34 yesterday. Calm waters, fish finder had one fish in scope, I was gonna find it, or it find me. Quick in and out, both lived to tell another tale. I'll do it again cause it was so much fun!
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