It has taken almost six months to get to this trip description. Heidi can't find my log books, although they have bto turn up before August rolls around again. One reason for the delay has been my indecision over how to present the story; so much of it is in the video Heidi shot. It turns out posting the video on youtube works nicely for that.
The flight south went well, except I'm alwawys last off the aircraft waiting for the ground crew to get the aisle chair and haul me to the door. We worry about making our connection as it can take quite a while. And travel is really hard on me in general. There are no bathroom breaks for me in flight.
Andy's Car Rental took good care of us again. And the folks at Sunshine Suites put a disabled parking permit note in the van when they noticed folks were taking up the accessible spot. Folks make the extra effort with such courtesy and consideration. Warms the heart.
We had lunch at Cassanova's one day. I think we went to Fidel Murphy's two or three times. Since the place isn't very accessible we would pick up carry-out from Tim Buc Tuu to take back to the room, and we did so often. In the past we have stocked up on cold cuts and sandwich fixings from Foster's IGA to eat in the room and this year was no exception. We added selections from their prepared hot and cold foods as well. It's just a ten minute walk from the room.
We did get a chance to see Keith's new undertaking, Cayman Custom Cycles. Beautiful bikes I wish I could still ride, and a pack of dogs - Casey is the Cayman Island dog rescuer. The dogs were not sure what to make of the wheelchair. I think Keith took off most of the week from his cycle business to move my carcass around to and on the boat.
We did talk with Jorge about eateries and he mentioned that many places have specials that are worth looking into. Turns out the Grand Old House has a Thursday evening pasta buffett for half price. Very nice place; Heidi and I invited the crew and their families to join us there the evening before we left. We had a great time. Dinner on the seaside deck at sunset.
And then there was the diving.
On Wednesday, Auguast 10th we started the first dive of the day at 9:15 on Leslie's Curve; 75 feet for 45 minutes with 60 foot visibility in 82 degree water. We forgot our computers, the lanyard for the scooter, and the ankle weights were on the other boat. As is to be expected, the first dive of the trip presented difficulties with bouyancy and trim. I ended up spending a lot of time inverted which made breathing and clearing my ears a struggle.
I dove with Jorge and Heidi. Since I don't bother with fins I managed to scratch up my toes on the bottom of boat as I was messing with my gear at the dive platform. Ankle weights are a necessity these days; we ended up using a weight belt wrapped around my ankles for this day of diving. Very strange, but it worked. I've never seen an eagle ray sneeze before. That was stranger than the yellow snapper chasing the weight belt strap end on my ankles.
That first dive was tiring, but everybody knows I feel better when I dive, so... We slipped back into the warm water at Eagle Ray Pass at 10:30. We spent forty-four munutes at or above 64' on the edge of the wall. I saw a huge southern ray and a nice moray eel up on the reef and a group of eagle rays cruising in the deep along the wall.
Thursday at 9:15 we dropped onto the Main Street Wall. Maximum depth was 110' for a dive of 39 minutes Visibility was about 80' and the water temperature was a very comfortable 85 degF. See the Main Street Wall Video.
Our second dive Thursday at 10:34 was Durgeon's Domain. The reef was at 44' and we spent 48 minutes. Heidi likes shooting video.
Friday morning at 9:18 we found ourselves on White Strobe. Our maximum depth was 98' with a dive duration of 41 minutes. Visibility was a breathtaking 80' and the water a pleasant 85 degreesF.
I am not sure where the name comes from, but we found ourselves on Blue Peter at 10:36. 52 minutes at a maximum depth of 45'.
After a bit longer transit than usual, at 10:08 on Saturday morning we entered the water above Andy's Wall just off Rum Point. Maximum depth was 110' with a dive duration of 36 minutes. Visibility was about 60' with a water temperature of 86 degreesF. The scooter failed just a minute or two into the dive, so we left it under the boat and Jorge pushed me around the reef and wall while Heidi shot video. With the dive gear it was kinda like shoving around a 300 pound sack of potatoes underwater. Nonetheless, it was a great dive, very relaxed...
Our second dive at 11:27 was on a reef called Leslie's Curve. The reef lies in 53' of water. We spent 54 minutes on the reef, but Heidi didn't shoot pictures or video.
More to come soon...