I was told to write good stuff... "Mama got skinny.... not that my ass needs a lift, that was bad." SOOOO, here is the recap for today plus a photo or two for your viewing pleasure!
Today was a bit of a whirlwind, mom and I awoke and went down and enjoyed breakfast and a cup of coffee while staring at the ocean, I must say this is a magical way to start your day. We came back suited up and headed to the dive boat. We're diving on the Reef Cat and we're both too tired to remember the dive masters name, whoops. It was a LONG morning. An hour boat ride out to the first dive site. Water temp was 78, now you may think that sounds warm, but in water, thats friggin cold. I like to froze my little butt cheeks off shivering half to death. We saw some good fish, a few HUGE red and green parrot fish, these things were beautiful and I couldn't believe their size. We saw a giant spotted eagle ray, those things are really neat. It was a drift dive and because I'm so light the current grabs me and shoots me off like a cannon. I kept flying past the dive master then turning around and kicking like I've never kicked before to catch back up to the group. I'd find a spot to rest and look at the coral, let everyone get far ahead of me, then BAM there I'd go again. I've got to figure out a better way to do the drift dives, my legs are getting tired. The dive master couldn't believe it, he said he'd never seen someone get swept away as quick as I did. We spent an hour topside, freezing, huddling together for warmth, and then we took another plunge. The second dive wasn't as good as the first. Mostly because my ears weren't de-pressurizing. I have really small sinus' and when I dive its difficult for my ears to equalize, sometimes they just won't and I have to end the dive. I take 2 24hour sudafed and that helps, I've also got these little ear buds my sweet mama finally convinced me to try, I'll painfully admit that yes, she was right (I can hear her saying I told you so) and I won't dive without them. About 30 minutes in I went up to try and clear them, came back down, the group was below me, my ears were screaming, so I went up a bit more to try and calm them down, when I looked down, sure enough the current had taken me FAR AWAY again. I fought like hell for five minutes to swim back against the current to the group, but then said forget it, surfaced and let the boat come fetch me. I'm on vacation and thats just too much work. We didn't get back for lunch until 1:30, quickly shoveled in some food, changed swimsuits and boarded the Scuba Cat II for our afternoon wreck dives. If you've never been wreck diving it is truly something else. Without a doubt wrecks are my favorite dives. There is something just so cool about swimming inside a sunken shift. Drifting through all the rooms, seeing all the fish that hide out. Really Really cool! This wreck was an old US minesweeper that was built in the 30's. Sometime ago the US sold it to Mexico who used it and then sank it in the early 2000's. I thought it was pretty cool to go through that ship because it's the kind of ship my grandpa Rod was on in the Korean war when he was on a minesweeper. Who knows, it could have been that very ship! We got to go inside a LOT of rooms in the ship. You kinda feel like you are living in a discovery channel TV show when you're in a wreck seeing all the old stuff. After the wreck dive we washed out our gear, showered, and headed to dinner. I ordered the shrimp and mom had the pasta. Neither were as good as last night's. I ate one shrimp and decided I'd switch to bread and chocolate ice cream, they were hard, chewey and VERY fishy. Let's hope that one shrimp doesn't do me in for the rest of the trip. The chocolate ice cream is quite good, as are the margaritas which mom and I indulged in.
All in all it was a good, but very long and rushed, day. Mom and I are excited to dive in the morning and then spend the afternoon laying in our hammocks.
