Dang, another hurricane threat in South Florida! As I write this, the storm trackers are busily plotting their colorful "cone of death" charts, and warning us all to get ready for Ernesto. For most Floridians that means a trip to Home Depot, waiting in line at the gas station, and fighting with their unwieldy aluminum or plywood hurricane shutters. But for the boat owners, a hurricane threat means even more worries.

What should I do with the boat? How do I secure it? Should I leave it on a trailer, or keep it in the water at the Marina?

Fortunately, the great folks at BoatUS.com have posted several great articles that answer all of those questions and more. They maintain a great Hurricane Tracking information site, where I found this extremely informative PDF document on how to secure your vessel.

• The Boater's Guide to Preparing your Boat for a Hurricane

Ah jeez, it's August already! By this time last year, we had tracked seven (7) named storms, including Emily, a Category 5 hurricane, and Dennis, a Category 4 hurricane! There were twenty-seven named storms in 2005, including four Category 5 hurricanes!  It seems we've been pretty fortunate this year -- at least, so far. Experts say that we're about 11 years into a cycle of very intense storms. No one is really sure how long the cycle will last, but most are pretty sure it will be at least another 10 years. That means that for those of us living in Hurricane Alley, securing boats (and homes) should be taken as a serious matter.

From all the destruction last year, some good news has emerged. Two years of hurricanes have given boaters and marina operators a lot of opportunity to evaluate which protection methods for boats and facilities worked the best. The main learning has been that the boater's best protection from damage to their boats is to get them out of the water. Boats and yachts that were stored ashore on blocks and tied down survived the storms virtually unscathed. But almost 100 percent of those boats left in the water at docks suffered some damage or sank.

Here are several great resource to help you keep your boat safe this season. Don't wait until it's too late!

• Keynoter.com - Prepping Your Boat
• Coast Guard Auxilary - How to Prepare Your Boat
• Boats.com - How To Tips

Willy Volk of Divester.com has a remarkable ability for finding way cool and interesting diving-related posts. A little over a week ago, he posted a gem! The article is a very simple How-To, detailing the steps for building an underwater housing for your video camera. And for less than $70! I read the article three or four times, growing more excited each time I read it. Yes, it might just work! Sure, I can do this!

So, I've decided to give it a try and post my results as I progress. This article is Part I in a series. At the end of the project, I'll either have a working housing and you'll get underwater video added to DiveSpots.com, or I'll be buying a new video camera to replace my water-logged JVC!

So far, I've purchased all of the materials noted in the article except for the stainless steel screws. I could not find them at Home Depot, but I'll try the specialty hardware store down the road tomorrow. The o-rings, compression springs, and acrylic plate I ordered online. I'm waiting for those to arrive before I begin assembly.

My camera is a JVC Mini-DV, model GR-DVL920U. It's a slightly older camera than the one noted in the article, and a bit larger, I suspect. The larger size might actually be a good thing. It's very snug in the 4" PVC pipe and I believe I can do without the mounting tray detailed in the How-To.

So far, I've spent $67.71 on materials. However, when you add shipping and taxes, the total is just under $80. That's about $10 over the target, but still very reasonable.  I probably could have cut expenses by buying less PVC.  I purchased a five-foot piece even though the article actually said to buy 10 feet.  I could not figure out why that much PVC would be needed. With that much PVC, you should be able to build four or five housings!  And, I had to buy a 9-pack of o-rings, which cost me $12. I could not find any less than that.

Item	Price
PVC, 5' x 4"	$10.76
4" couplers (3)	$5.52
2 part epoxy	$5.97
PVC Glue	$5.34
Compression Spring Latch (3)	$19.32
O-Rings (9-Pack)	$12.15
PVC Glue	$5.34
Acrylic Plate (1/2 x 12 x 12)	$8.71

Stay tuned for Part II, which I?ll post as soon as the parts arrive!

Florida's annual two-day lobster mini-season began for me at 4:45 AM on Wednesday morning. I loaded up the truck hoping to get an early jump on the competition, and arrived at Matheson Marina by 5:30 AM. My dive buddies and I had a short wait at the gate while the park services employees unlocked and prepared for the barrage of boats and divers. Once inside, we quickly loaded the boat with ten tanks, a beer or two (or three, or four, or ...), and four divers, and we pushed off for the short trek to our secret lobster spot. I won?t disclose the exact location, but I will confirm that?s it?s between Ceaser Creek and Broad Creek on the ocean side of Totten Key (or is it?).

At this particular spot, you have to time your dives with the tides. Slack tide is about the only suitable time for diving here. If you miss it by too much, be prepared to fight pretty strong currents! We got there a little later than planned and thus had to fight an incoming current for pretty much the whole dive. Fortunately, our trusty spot was replete with lobster! There were lots of shorts, but plenty of legal bugs as well. We had our limit (which is 6 per person per day) by 9:00 AM.

After a short rest, we decided to head back north to visit a couple of the reefs off of Key Biscayne. We stopped at Emerald Reef, a small shallow-water patch reef one mile east of Key Biscayne. Emerald is considered by many to be one of the most beautiful reefs in Miami, rivaling those found further south in the Florida Keys. I was immediately awe-struck by the beautiful clear blue water, reminding me very much of the waters around Bimini. The waters are shallow -- approximately 20 to 30 feet -- and alive with all kinds of tropicals, corals, and a few snappers. The clean white sand surrounding the reef makes this spot very easy to find, and contributes to the crystal clear blue hues of the waters.

After our second dive, we headed back into the Biscayne National Park, passing the famous Cape Florida Lighthouse and anchoring at the sandbar on the bayside of Key Biscayne. While there, we were visited by a small pod of Bottlenose Dolphin making their way through the Bay. Twenty-four lobster, diving on Emerald Reef, and lunch with dolphin ? a fantastic day in South Florida!