Photos

It was frustrating not being able to control the settings on my shots, but it was easier on my mental processes to not have to worry about losing an expensive camera. Anyway, click.

Home

Yuck. I want to go back to the pretty warm place. :(

The last day was dive, dive, snorkel, snorkel. The diving, of course, was way more fun, but I did get to be attacked by about 5 stingrays on a sandbar when they realized I had a squid in my hand. They are soft and tickle. Being attacked by stingrays is much more pleasant than having an octopus stuck on your arm.

The dives were boat dives, as described by Adam. I did not have fun on the boat. It was terrible. I was overheating and hadn't eaten enough so I felt horrible. Then I cut my arm on aircraft cable. Once I was in the water I was 100% better. The temperature was better and I wasn't getting tossed all over the place like on the boat. Burping underwater is funny. Sneezing is not funny.

The snorkeling was with a lot of those annoying cruise ship tourist types which I can't stand. There were a ton of incredibly rude kids, and their equally obnoxious parents. Once I got away from the main group of snorkelers, I felt much better and was able to enjoy myself.

I think the name of my mystery favorite fishy is "yellowfin damselfish", as determined from a little card with fish pictures on it. The flounder was also neat; it lays/swims flat on the bottom and blends in really well when it isn't moving. Turtles are awesome. I didn't get to eat them, but I did get to see a few at about 100 feet deep.

Now that I am home, however, I need to do the standard errands of developing photos and returning my drowned watch to REI. Oh yeah, and maybe show up at my office...

Departure

Sad! :(

More information will be provided soon, and a link to photos will be provided when available.

Adam ran over a crab

I think *that* story tells itself just fine.

As for other events, the stingray trip got cancelled today due to poor visibility, Adam and I both got new scuba fins (they are much easier to use than my snorkel fins), and I got to ride a horse named Johnny. I made the mistake of saying I'd ridden a bunch, so I got the stubborn one. :) He was good for riding though; he took off running while I was missing a stirrup and I didn't have any problems keeping my balance. It felt good to ride again, even if just down the beach and back.

Oh, I tried a cigar. I made two semi-successful puffs. It tasted interesting, but I am not sure how to describe it; a) I only took two puffs and b) I don't have anything to compare it to. I only really know how tobacco products *smell*.

We snorkeled off the pier at our condo today for a little while. We saw some fish and three gigantic lobsters hiding under a rock. The water was about 4 feet deep and about 95 degrees. Adam and I then went diving because, frankly, we are addicted. (There was a BIG damned spider at the dive shop; holy crap, I almost had a stroke and wouldn't go within 10 feet of it because I have this fear that they can sprout wings or something). We are going diving again tomorrow morning off a boat, and then we are going on a snorkel trip in the afternoon to try to see the stingrays again.

I got postcards, so I will send those out before I leave.

God save the queen

It's the queen's birthday, so few places are open today. This is good because it gives my muscles some time to relax. Also good, it is both a very nice day and not a day cruise ships come to port; we are going down to the nice sandy beach to take advantage of these conditions.

My feet are a little torn up from fins, but a little duct tape should be enough to keep them in line for the stingrays tomorrow. Then after stingrays I get to ride a horse!

I'm going to try to get in a final dive (or dives) on Wednesday of some form or other. I'm not sure what the viable options for that are yet.

Alright, enough sitting on the porch messing with the computer. I have a hot date with the sun.

Certified!

Now we devoting
Full time to floating!
Under the sea...

Ok, I need conditioner.

Open water dives 1 and 2

The tropical depression moved off to bother Florida so we got to dive today. The visibility was surprisingly good considering all the rain nonsense that has been going on. The water was also nice and warm, and I now have adorable rashguard tan lines. My favorite fish from today was a black one with pretty blue freckles on top that seem like they glow. My contacts worked out well and I was happy with my first real dives. It is great having so much mobility and control in the water. I will have to put some work into agility as I am almost as graceful as my split-tail fancy goldfish, Jacques. :)

The dive folk here are incredible. They don't act like the usual annoying "Texan" tourist types and are mainly interested in discovering the environment. I find these people to be much more pleasant company than those who come in off a cruise ship only to shop, lay on the beach, and visit tourist trap spots.

REI has a good refund policy: return it if you aren't happy with it for any reason. Well. I am not happy that my 100 metre water resistent watch broke somewhere between zero and 37 feet. Hmpf.

I think I may take the the little underwater camera out tomorrow. Someone's going to die if that breaks too.

After diving tomorrow, I am going to take a book outside and try to even out this tan...

Arrival

Well, it's warm.

It's also pouring rain, windy, and threatening to turn into a tropical depression right on top of us. I am not content.

Countdown

I leave for Grand Cayman early Friday morning, which is good because now I will stop buying crap for the trip. Objectives include: dive, ride, eat a turtle, feed Ros to a stingray, send annoying postcards to everyone.

Don't believe anything Adam says.