I have to say, this year sucked for me and SCUBA diving.

I didn’t get into the water until July because of the weather and conditions, one of our main diving characters – Dennis Gunn – died in February, another has developed health problems, the opening night lobster boat was cancelled because the Captain broke his back and by the end of this year, I have logged seven dives.

Seven dives – that is my total for the year and an all time record low.

A big part of my diving problem after lobster season began was that New England Divers was in the process of moving and I was not able to fill my high quality Luxfer Aluminum tanks from the 1980s.

Even though my tanks pass visual inspection and hydro, both Pacific Wilderness and Dive N Surf told me to never bring my tanks back in their shop again.

Of course, Sports Chalet and Sea D Sea told me the same thing and both are out of business.

As a matter of fact, I had to rent tanks when I went on my last lobster boat.

And that reminds me, I caught only one lobster this year, too – which is still more lobsters than 2015, so I guess it’s not all bad.

I have also put a deposit down on one of the most insane SCUBA diving trips by rational standards.

This trip isn’t until July of 2017, but if you thought my diving trip to Albania was crazy, this next trip may just top it.

Also in the news, Fukushima radiation has been detected on U.S. West Coast.

Now, I don’t even go through the porno-scanners at the airport, opting for the metal detectors or a gate massage, so I will have to buy and bring a Geiger Counter and check radiation levels along with other diving conditions before I go in.

Sorry for being a stranger, but I wish everyone a great and prosperous 2017 – unless you’re a terrorist or a Communist.

One thing is for sure – 2017 will be a very interesting year.