Wake Up, Wake Up, Wake Up

Something to note before we get into the nitty gritties here. This blog contains photos. I feel that there might be some expectations with photos and I would simply ask that you not judge me too harshly on my underwater photos for now. I am just figuring out how to take photos underwater and I am discovering that it is a lot more difficult than I thought. It is much more difficult because light behaves so much differently underwater (amongst other things, like trying to stay alive!). Some of the photos you will see today are not ones that I would normally deem "good enough" to actually be contained in the blog, but they are included regardless because I would rather you get the chance to see what I am seeing. Just something that I ask you keep in mind as you bear with my photography.

Now that we've got that out of the way, let's get to the good stuff. First of all, because I can, today's soundtrack! This song just gets me grooving and I tend to play it when I am really feeling good and happy about life. So it is getting played as I write tonight and I hope it will play as you read through. Feel free to dance a bit, I do every time I have to get up to smash a cockroach against the wall with my shoe (another reason you should never, ever, ever come here Madeline).

Today was just a really, really good day. I haven't had a bad day since getting here, but something about today just felt right. Which is mildly ironic given that I thought I might die and/or go insane last night. I didn't realize it but at the Iguana Station I was consumed by mosquitoes and right around bed time discovered that the only thing I wanted to do was scratch my legs and feet until they came off. I have never tried to do something as mentally challenging as not scratch my bites (hyperbole!!). At some point I fell into a fitful sleep that was more like a nightmare because I was constantly tossing, turning, scratching, and slapping at myself. I didn't know if I would survive the night in all honesty, I thought I might just go insane. Finally at about 2 am I got up and rummaged through the first aid kit my loving mother had so thoughtfully assembled before I left. I found anti-allergy pills but didn't know if they were meant to be taken for mosquito bites so, despite myself and my consuming desire to do anything to stop the itching, I did the somewhat prudent thing and googled it. As soon as I saw that I was good to go, I threw a couple of pills down the hatch and collapsed back into bed, begging the gods to spare me. I think the drugs just knocked me out because I woke up and everything still itched. At least I had gotten a few hours of sleep though.

Any grogginess was washed away by the morning air as the boat motored out of the harbor and turned north. I will never say the mornings are "cool" per se, but they are refreshing in the way that only mornings can be, especially when the salt laden ocean air is smacking you in the face and washing over your smile. That's the way morning boat rides are for me, a moment of feeling really truly alive and stoked about it! I can't help but smile.
As I mentioned yesterday, we headed to the north shore this morning and it was spectacular. The ocean was as calm as it can be and it looked as if I could have water skied to Roatan, a mere 24 miles away. Seeing other parts of the island was pretty cool, although it looked much the same. Jungleness and mosquito infested. We anchored at a dive site called "Maze" and I buddied up with two other DMTs, Brian (from the states) and Richard (a Canadian). The whole point of coming north was because of a deep specialty class being taught to some of the DMTs. This class certifies divers to go to 40 meters (I am currently "limited" to 30) and really the only way to accomplish this is by going north side.
The dive was spectacular and made me realize that the north side really is a treat. The water seemed somehow bluer, although this might just have been because it was deeper. We explored our way through deep canyons, Brian and I with our cameras, searching for anything and everything. We found a really cool stingray hanging in the sand and as I descended to try and snap a close up, my dive computer beeped at me. 101 feet, a new deep record!

Despite the picture it was actually pretty cool to see this down at 100 feet.

I also saw my first Lionfish! This are an invasive species and are actually terrible for the Caribbean environment, despite the fact that they are beautiful. You can actually take a course here where you are taught how to spear them. There is a widespread effort to eradicate them from the Caribbean and if I have the time I would be more than happy to help. We had lionfish ceviche tonight at the UDC and it was marvelously good! Bring on more dead lionfish!
Seeing the Lionfish was really cool, although less cool than I thought it would be because we were so deep that it essentially looked brown to me. My picture of it is pretty bad (I was afraid to get too close okay, I've heard that the stings are truly excruciating) but even still you can see that color is missing. Need. More. Camera. Equipment!

Kind of crazy huh? Also note, everything around the fish looked purple to me at the time!

The rest of the dive went fine, although I was slightly stressed about air much of the time. I had stupidly entered the water with about 300 psi less than I should have. Normally this wouldn't be a big deal at all but I forgot to account for the fact that we would be diving deep. The deeper you go, the quicker you consume your air. We got back to the boat with no problems and I had more than enough air but it just showed me how a little issue can consume a dive and take the fun out of it, even if you are perfectly safe the whole time. From now on my tanks will have the full 3000 psi I am entitled to.

Unfortunately we didn't see any whale sharks or dolphins on the way back but we did have a fun encounter. As the boat was motoring back to the south side of the island for our second dive the captain suddenly turned out to sea and started to slow down. We quickly saw what had caught his eye; a plastic fifty gallon drum like the kind used to store grain for Y2K (oh come on Ashland folk, I know some of you stockpiled!). Captain Brian was super excited until we pulled alongside and discovered that the drum was open on one end. I guess these drums are usually filled with pot, cocaine, or cash and are dropped over the side of boats by drug cartels when the fuzz is hot on their tail! Captain Brian literally trudged back to the wheel with his head down, muttering something about how it would have been Christmas come early had it been properly full. Pretty crazy stuff considering that they often find them with stuff inside. And I am sure that they then turn it over immediately to the authorities...ahem...cough.

The second dive of the day was truly the remarkable one, although each dive here seems to have its own little characteristics that make it special. The first thing about this dive was the three Spotted Drum fish that Brian found. Unfortunately I didn't have my camera but these little guys are absolutely adorable. The three we saw were only an inch or so long and they were frantically swimming in tiny little figure-eights. Pretty cool looking fish and not something you see on every dive (although I have spotted one before).

Obviously not my photo but I wanted you to see what it looked like.

Sometimes while diving I feel like everyone else sees all the cool stuff and I never notice anything out of the ordinary. This was proven false when I discovered a moray eel chilling in some coral. It was my first moray and I was strangely excited that it was me who found it and not someone else!

Moray from the second dive, chilling with a little crab (to the left)

And finally, the highlight of the dive and maybe of my time down here (competing with the turtle certainly). As I glanced over at Richard to make sure he was okay I looked over his shoulder at the edge of the wall we were diving and saw a Spotted Eagle Ray! These are truly magnificent creatures and are stunning underwater. Beyond words really. They fly through the water with grace that is truly unparalleled. I can see why Amanda is going to get a tattoo of one and after seeing one with my own eyes, I fully support this decision (hopefully this isn't news to Bill and Karen. If it is...oops). I really could go on and on about how amazing of a creature it is. The way it cuts through the water is something that you can really only appreciate by witnessing first hand. This video does a decent job (I've also seen the eels in the second part) but let me tell you, its really nothing. In a blink of an eye, it was gone. They move so fast, but with such grace, it is astonishing. I am not exactly sure why, but I feel like they should be really noisy underwater. Anything that quick has to make some noise right?
I almost can't even believe how cool seeing the eagle ray was. Really, really neat to say the least.

A couple of hours later I would make another dive, taking my camera along once again. There wasn't as much to see this dive but I managed to snap a few photos that were decent enough. Like I said, I am still learning.

This little guy is a baby Trunk fish (I think). It is only about half the size of your thumb but zooms around like its on crack.

I just liked the texture of this coral.

One of my favorite...things. Not sure what it is actually.

Another view of the "thing".

A Trumpet fish. These guys are a dime a dozen and people are getting sick of me pointing them out.

 

A nice large school of fish, not something we often see.

 Before starting dive master training you are only allowed to do three dives in a day, so I sat out for the final one this afternoon. I actually had a lot of fun doing this. I got to lie in the sun on the roof of the boat with my friend Simon and just take it all in. You know you are one lucky son of a gun when the highlight of your day is NOT laying in the sun for an hour while being rocked gently by the waves. I don't know what I did to deserve all of this but I couldn't be more thankful. Wow.

Its been a tough day Simon, get some rest.

Looking towards "town".

A Cow Fish. Cool and slightly rare to see.

This is the fish I was talking about the other day. Really hard to photograph!

After skyping with my family tonight I signed off with the biggest grin on my face, and it took a few moments to realize why I was smiling so much. The reason is hard to explain. Normally skyping is an absolute blast but is also a sad moment for me, a moment when I deeply, deeply miss whoever is on the other end of the line. Tonight was different though, and that difference reflects my overall feelings these past two weeks. While I of course miss everyone from home, I also know that I am doing something that I love and I am exactly where I should be. It is one of the few times that I can honestly say, with 100% certainty, that there is nowhere else I would rather be right now. Not because I don't want to be with all the people I love and care about. Rather it is because I know that this is where I am meant to be, this is what I am meant to be doing. Everyone is out there and I am fortunate to be able to share my experiences and journey with them but right now I belong on the island of Utila, I belong beneath the waves. Call it a calling. Call it a passion. Call it rapture of the deep. Whatever you call it, the fact is that the ocean has dug its hooks into me and is refusing to let go. I wake up every morning with a smile of my face and in between scratching mosquito bites, that is how I go to bed each night. If that isn't how life is supposed to be, then I am not sure what it is. I am not sure if I can make this last forever, I am not sure if the "real world" will allow me to avoid it for that long, but I am starting to wonder if it isn't worth a shot, isn't worth a try. Only time will tell. In the meantime, I thank you for the opportunity to share. And I thank you for this opportunity. Because it is the love and support from everyone around me that allows this life to be so damn amazing.

Working with light (near the surface).

 And so, with the last notes of the Hot 8 Brass Band playing in my head, I bid you goodnight.
"I'm hot just like an oven". I'm not sure what Marvin Gaye meant by that but I'll tell you what, that's exactly how I feel right now. Time to pop some anti-histamines, crank the fan up to Mock-9, strip down and lie spread eagle on my bed, praying for some sweet relief from the heat (oh yeah, you didn't really think I was done bitching about that did you?)

Until next time,
Gringo in Bliss signing off