ALEXANDRA IS NOW A CERTIFIED  

PADI OPEN WATER SCUBA INSTRUCTOR

-Guest post brought to you by Alex Barua. Congrats!

Jail, Naked Divers and Trunk Fish Oh My

While there isn't much "new" to report tonight (well, there is always new stuff, just nothing earth shattering), I thought it would be a good chance to just post some pictures and maybe even a video or two.

All is well down here in the south, just doing my thing. I only missed three questions on my DM exam so I've got that going for me (for reference, see here). There really isn't too much more until I am a certified Divemaster. I have to map a dive site and do some coral surveys and that is really about it. I will also be helping on a rescue course this week, although that might have gotten pushed back a day or two because one of the students ended up in jail last night. I didn't even know this island had a jail, much less police! Apparently he got super drunk (big surprise on this island) and started a verbal altercation with Web, a salty, slightly insane crack head that walks around town sounding like the Marlboro man as he says interesting and slightly offensive things. He also makes some mean hot sauce, although I am always a bit hesitant to try it because I am afraid of what is in it. Cocaine? Possibly. Meth? Likely. Made according to international health and food safety regulations? Extremely doubtful. Anywho, the man has some sway on the island (I think he is the resident coke dealer) and so he was able to get poor Derek thrown in jail. I can't imagine that the Utila jail is very pleasant so I truly feel for the guy. Since Derek was still very intoxicated this morning when he came to tell Sarah all of this, it is likely that he will wake up tomorrow unable to function, hence we will need to move the class back. No problemo for me though, I'll just do some more diving! I hit 75 dives today and it doesn't seem like it will be any issue to hit the big 1-0-0 before I leave. And you know what 100 means? It means a naked dive! That is tradition at least, you dive naked for your 100th dive. I'd much rather do that here than back home!

Funny story about that actually. I meant to include this tidbit on my first post from the island but so much was going on that it must have slipped my mind! On my very first dive here we were swimming along and I happened to glance down the reef and out to sea and what did my eyes find? A girl taking her swim suit off. Followed by another one. At first I didn't understand what was happening because I was a decent distance away but I quickly got the picture. Literally. It is an awkward moment when you realize someone is undressing near you. Suddenly the coral in front of you becomes very, very interesting. The perfect line that I crafted during the dive (yes, I often "write" parts of my blog while diving) is as follows: you know you are in the right place when the coral and the fish and the world that surrounds you is more interesting than the girls diving naked nearby. I stand by that.

I dove CJ's Dropoff again today and it was absolutely incredible. Again. It can't hold a candle to the last dive but I blame that mostly on the fact that my deep diving buddy is gone (Simon) and I am left with people who are actually reasonable and sensible. Damn them. Damn them all. We were also on a boat with several instructors and since I am technically only certified to dive to 100 feet, well let's just say it would look bad for me to be joining the deep specialty course at 140 feet.

Can you spot the pea sized baby trunk fish? I spent a good 5 minutes and 800 psi trying to capture this little guy.

The best part of this dive is the fact that there are these channels in the reef that start slopping down and eventually dump you out into nothingness over the wall. I absolutely love getting all of the air out of my BCD and plummeting downwards, feeling like I am skydiving. I actually spread my arms out as if I were jumping. Such a cool feeling. Kind of like this actually. Unfortunately today I had to pull up at 115 feet or so, but there was plenty to see. I took some photos that I will share below, I am getting better! I am especially proud of the photo of the drum fish that I took. Not because it is a great photo (it isn't) but because I absolutely love these fish and we saw two today. They are fairly fearless and so it was cool to hover and snap away without the fish darting away.

A mid-aged Drum Fish!

I also finally got the cable for my other camera so here is a super special picture that you have all been waiting for.

Isn't that cool? The picture doesn't even come close to doing it justice. I also have a video but I decided that I am going to save that for when I get home. I've got to have something to showoff when I get back!

Other than that, things are moving along. Life is still great and I am loving everything. Any day that doesn't start off great is always perfect by the time the boat pushes off from the dock. Seeing peoples faces at the UDC, carrying tanks and setting up my gear, it all just gets me in the groove and makes me feel at peace. I can't help but have a big old smile plastered on my face after only a few moments at UDC.

Hard not to smile when passing this on the way to some epic diving!

I hope everyone is enjoying fall and the changing of the colors. That is something I will always miss from home, no matter how beautiful and warm the water is. Less than a month until Zag season, I hope everyone is getting ready! This years squad is going to be crazy good, or at least they have the potential to be. St Mary's better enjoy the conference title while they still have it, because I think it is time we took it back.

Anyways, I digress. Clearly I still miss something from back home. Basketball isn't too big down here as you might imagine!

Hope all is well. Be safe, be happy!

Until next time,
Content and Satisfied Gringo signing off

Grrrgggrrrrggggrrr

The title of the post is dedicated to Alex, I think she'll both know why and will enjoy it. At least I hope.

Today was the first day in a long while that I didn't dive in the morning, so I got a rare morning to sleep in. It was the first sad day that I have had here, the first day that hasn't been perfect in every way. It was a sad day because tonight we had to say goodbye to our Swiss friend Simon. Over the past weeks I have really become close friends with him and I am really sorry to see him leave. In a way it is surprising to feel this way. I have only had a couple of weeks to get to know Simon but the amount of fun we have had together is extraordinary. The story of our friendship really is the story that I wanted to tell tonight anyways, and it seems especially fitting since he is leaving.

Millie, myself, Halie, and Simon at the pig roast on one of my first nights here.

There is a German woman named Mary who is an instructor at UDC and for the past week and a half she has been teaching a tec course to a student named Ant, a gent hailing from the UK. Tec diving is different from recreational diving because unlike us, they actually have to spend time decompressing. As you descend, the pressure exerted by the water forces nitrogen from the air you are breathing into your blood stream. As you ascend, the pressure lessens, allowing the nitrogen to come out of solution and be "off gassed" through respiration. By ascending too rapidly, you risk "the bends", meaning that the nitrogen turns into gas before reaching your lungs and so you have nitrogen gas bubbles in your blood. Your blood can literally boil in severe cases. Recreational diving is limited to the depths that you can reach while also being able to ascend directly to the surface (at safe rates of course) without risking the bends. So when I say that I can stay at 100 feet for ten minutes, I mean that I have 10 minutes before I will be required to make stops, decompression stops, on my way back up. Tec diving is when you plan on making stops at certain depths in order for your body to properly off gas. It is a crazily advanced course and requires major smarts and commitment. For the past week or two Mary has been taking Ant through the course and teaching him all of the different steps. Tec divers tend to dive a lot deeper than recreational divers and so this is the reason we have been going North side every morning, because it is the North side that has all the deep drop offs and walls that allow them to reach the depths they want and need.

Hardcore with four tanks. And this was only at like 100 feet!

All week Simon and I have been on every single boat that has gone north. Not many other people are willing to get up each and every day, especially because it is for a single tank dive, not the normal two. I am really not sure why, given how incredible the diving is there. Better for us though. Since Simon and I have been on each of the boats and have watched the progression of the tec diving, and have asked questions and shown a general interest, Mary asked the two of us if we would like to be "support divers" for their final dive. Mary and Ant would be descending to 300 feet and would spend over an hour decompressing (compared to the seven minutes they were allowed at 300 feet). They would also be breathing complex mixtures of gasses since oxygen actually becomes toxic to the body at a certain depth. As support divers, our job would be to meet them at about 50 feet and take tanks off of them and bring them different ones if something went wrong. They descended with five tanks each, so you can understand the importance of removing tanks when possible.
The two of us jumped at the opportunity, not only because it sounded super cool but also because it would allow us to dive CJ's Dropoff, one of the top sites on the island. Thus began perhaps two of the most extraordinary dives, and moments, of my entire life.

Mary and Ant before their big dive.

There were seven of us in the boat as we began the forty minute trek north. Mary and Ant had briefed us the night before on our roles and everyone was feeling pretty giddy. I felt both nervous and excited at the same time. Nervous because I knew what was at stake and how easily things could go terribly wrong and how I would suddenly be called upon to act. Excited because I was going to be a part of something really, really cool.
Just as we pulled up to the mooring line the heavens opened above us and began dumping half of the world's fresh water supply on our heads. Since Mary and Ant would be on such a long dive, Simon and I would have a half an hour window to do our own dive before we were expected to meet up with them. As soon as their heads disappeared underwater we began strapping our own measly single tanks on and piling into the water. CJ's Dropoff consists of a reef at about 20 feet and a wall that plummets to nearly 2000 feet deep. Our plan was to get deep quick, burn up our no decompression time and ascend to the boat to prepare for the second dive with Mary and Ant. I won't say that PADI officials would have completely approved of our plan but I will also maintain that it was well within our limits and abilities. We were not being stupid, just having fun and pushing the limits a little bit, which is what diving is about in a way. That being said, it was a hell of a dive profile.

Preparing to get out of the rain. All these photos are by Simon by the way.

So cool to look up when it is raining.

After thirty seconds of swimming along the reef I came across a channel that cut through the reef and sloped steeply downward. I pulled my dump valve and began rocketing downwards as air was squeezed out of my BCD. Every few seconds I would check my gauge as feet ticked by. 40. 50. 70. Deeper and deeper. Light faded until everything was a deep, deep blue. At 80 feet I came out of the chute and had only empty water beneath me. I picked up speed as everything on me compressed from the pressure. The next time I looked at my gauge it read 120 feet. Pulling myself from the swan dive I was making, I slowed my descent by adding some air to my BCD. When I finally stopped falling and leveled off I found myself at 140 feet. Holy shit I thought to myself, this is fucking deep (I can't censure myself on this one, sorry). I looked up above me and could see bubbles streaming upwards forever, seemingly never reaching the surface. Looking over at Simon I flashed the "rad" sign, not even coming close to expressing myself. He flashed it back and then we both flashed the double rad at the same time. Hand gestures just couldn't do it justice.

It was at this point that I noticed that my head felt about three times bigger than normal. I also felt giddy. Not just the normal flutter of excitement that fills me whenever I dive, but an all encompassing euphoric bliss that consumed me. Nitrogen narcosis had set in. This is the "high" that sets in when you near 100 feet and can at times be really dangerous. It can make people do really dumb things, especially to people that claim crabs start talking to them. For me it was more of an incredible high (I can only assume that is what it feels like to get high. The fact is that no drug can feel that incredible, that amazing). I started laughing into my regulator, laughing at the beauty of being 140 feet underwater. I wasn't the least bit afraid because I was fully conscious of my situation and where I was. For instance, I knew that I had three minutes before I would hit my no deco limit. Simon and I snapped a few photos and began kicking our way a bit shallower.
I wish that I could fully capture how it felt to be at 140 feet. It was unlike anything I have every experienced before. Imagine the moment you have been happiest in life, the moment you have been most content. Now pair that with the most beautiful thing you have ever seen. That is what it felt like. Not only did I feel happy and content and thrilled to be alive, but looking around I found myself holding my breath because of how beautiful the wall was. Light had all but disappeared and we were surrounded by nothing more than inky blueness. Nothing else will ever compare to that moment.

There is more on the slate than just the 130 but that is the important part. Ironically I think this was at 140 feet.

After spending a minute or two at depth we began to slowly ascend, aware that if we screwed up, Mary and Ant would also be in trouble. Just as we began to surface we realized that the boat was much further away than we thought, and we were already supposed to be on it looking for the marker that Mary and Ant would send up. We dropped down to fifteen feet and kicked as hard as we could for the boat. No sooner had we gotten on board and switched tanks than the surface marker buoy broke through the surface. I jumped into the water and Simon handed me a tank of 100% pure oxygen. With some difficulty I clipped this to my side and we began our descent to meet up with the tec divers. We found them content and in one piece, happily chewing on some snickers that they had brought with them as a snack. They gladly handed off some tanks and we shuttled them back to the boat before returning to watch over them for the remainder of their forty minute decompression.

Look Mom, I'm almost, kind of a tec diver!

I almost can't tell you what happened in those forty minutes because they just flew by. I saw some cool fish on the reef as we were hanging out, including a beautiful Queen Trigger Fish that G was tempting with the two Lionfish he had speared. It kept trying to eat the Lionfish off the end of the spear and just at the last minute G would pull it away, wanting to save them for lunch.

I'm kind of a big deal, don't worry about it.

Ant and Mary surfaced to cheering and they were all smiles as they climbed back on the boat, exhausted but thoroughly content. As the boat headed back to UDC I think everyone shared in the moment, smiling and laughing at what a wacky, crazy, amazing life we all had.

We were all a part of something special that morning and I think everyone on the boat knew it and felt it. I know that for me, those were two of the greatest moments of being alive that I have ever experienced, and I can't really say why. Something about never feeling more alive, more present in the only moment that matters: the present. It is something that I have struggled with, and will continue to struggle with. In that moment, however, there was nothing else, no future or past. The next minute, the next second didn't even matter because I was alive in that one singular moment I could comprehend and that one moment was greater and more incredible, more special, than any moment that came before it. That moment is what true happiness is all about. In a way, I think that is what grrrggggrrrr means. It is about being content in the moment, happy to be alive in that one instant that you can think about. We spend our whole lives thinking about the moment before or the moment to come but when we truly find joy and happiness we find it not in the before or the future. We find it in a single instant. A single instant of bliss, of joy, of happiness. We find it in a single instant of being really, truly, alive.

Maybe that is why I am sad to see Simon go, because we shared something truly profound. Or maybe it is just because I found a friend in him, and with all friends, you wish you had more time together. But, if all works out, our paths will cross again. Maybe in Switzerland. Maybe in Oregon. I told him I would take him to the Channel Islands to dive and he promised me some dives in Switzerland. Either way, I know we will both be gunning for that 150 foot barrier! And no matter what, I will always remember that remarkable dive and the look on his face that mirrored my own as we sat at 140 feet. It was the look of being really, truly, fully alive.

Busy, Busy Times

I really love this fish, even if the photo doesn't do it justice.

Oh boy, have I really done it again this time. It has been far too long since my last post and there is no way on earth that I will be able to catch everyone up with the multitude of things that have happened since then. In fact, I don't even remember much of what happened. The strange thing about diving every day, and having each dive be even more incredible than the last, is that they start to blur. Did I dive to 126 feet yesterday? Or was that this morning? In fact, what day is it? The only way I can keep track is to check the boards outside the dive center that tell us what boats we are signed up for. Such is the life I lead.

I will do my best to recap some of the highlights of the past week or so, starting with my dive to 126 feet. It was sick. Nothing more needs to be said. Diving the North side is such a treat and the dives are so incredible. So much to see, such deep depths to explore. I went to 126 feet and felt great, no problems whatsoever! I didn't feel even "narced" (essentially feeling high. Some people claim crabs start talking to them at depth).

We dove some great caves the other day and it was an absolute blast! We swam in single file and I brought up the rear. The one problem with this is that everyone in front kicks up all the sand and silt and pretty soon the visibility drops to next to nothing. The final part of the cave was a little tiny squeeze into a little chamber. Going in wasn't a problem. There were four of us in the chamber and it was a rather tight, all of us jostling around trying not to scrape ourselves on the rock (lotta good that did, my hands are still torn up!) Going back out I was again at the end of the train and for a brief moment I felt panic rise inside me as I realized that I couldn't see where I had to go. The good news was that we were maybe ten feet below the surface (although no direct way up) and I had about 2500 psi left, which at that depth would last me well over two hours. Worse case senario I sit and wait two hours for the silt to clear. Figuring that would be boring, I darted forward at where I thought the exit was, and somehow managed to make it out! I've included a picture of what I was looking at before I got out. Some people's worst nightmare!
I've also got some cool videos from that dive that I will try to upload at some point in the near future. It might have to wait until my return though, we'll see.

Somewhere in there is the exit, I promise.

Thousands of tiny fish in the cave. So cool.

My classes are pretty much done now, and the more "practical" portion of my training starts. It was a very busy week, filled with briefings on how to work the boat, how to tie to a mooring buoy, how to conduct underwater searches, and other vaguely interesting but useful things. The nice part is that I got to dive the whole time, and when I had a down morning, I signed up for dive boats going to the Northside. I have found that I can't help myself. There have been several days when I have felt slightly stressed and too busy and I know I should take the next morning off but I can't. Some days I wake up at six feeling like someone poured sand down my ear. All it takes, however, is to step outside and I immediately feel more invigorated than ever before.

Plate coral.

I have been assisting on an Open Water class and it has been really fun. It has also been eye opening as one of the girls in the class was petrified for the first two dives. It has been so cool to watch her get more comfortable with the water. Yesterday I literally held her hand as we sat 6 feet under on the tarp off the dock at UDC. By the end of the session she was pushing people around, doing skills like a champ, and pointing at fish. It was a remarkable turn around. I head out for our first open water dives (real dives at real sites) here in a few, so we'll see how that goes.

Practicing equipment exchange 30 feet under

I guess this leads to the biggest news (well, second biggest, you'll see why in a second). I have decided that I will be pursuing my instructor credentials eventually. I say eventually because I have neither the time nor the financial resources to do it this trip, but I know that I will soon. Essentially I discovered that as a Divemaster, I won't find work anywhere. Sure there are some places where I can do a little work, but mostly places hire instructors because they can do everything a DM can do and much more. This wasn't the main reason I decided this however. The main reason is that I have found that I love sharing diving with people. Helping on this open water class has been an absolute blast because I get to pass on my knowledge to other people. It is really cool to feel knowledgeable about something and to feel like you have something to share with them. I figure this is a double bonus. I get to continue to dive, which has developed into a full blown passion/addiction, and I get to share it with others. I have a couple of issues though. The first is that I feel wildly inexperienced to be teaching people. Sure, I hit 60 dives yesterday. Sure I feel really confident in the water. But that only counts for so much. If I am really going to be teaching people how to do something that could potentially kill them, I figure that I better be pretty damn good at it myself. So I want to get more experience before starting this. I really want to make sure that I am as comfortable as possible before I even begin to think about teaching others. Luckily this means I just have to do more diving! Assisting on courses really helps as well since it allows me to not only practice my skills but to also observe how instructors do their thing.
The cool thing is that the UDC has the top PADI Instructor Development Course in the world. I have been spending a lot of time with a friend Alex and she is currently in the middle of the 12 day course. Let me tell you, she is working her ass off. Training instructors is not something they take lightly here, and I really think that says a lot about the place and the staff. It is cool to see Alex go through the process because it gives me a glimpse as to what it takes and what kind of commitment it is. I'll give you a hint, its a big one. So who knows, I may find myself back here in a couple months time doing my IDC. Or maybe I will go somewhere else to do it. Only time will tell!

A big, bad Lionfish!

I forgot what these are called but they are little shells and are really cool

This was taken at like 115 feet.

 While there are hundreds of stories I want to tell, countless anecdotes to share, I will leave you with maybe the best one so far. It started after a great drift dive with my friends Simon and James. As DMTs we can hop on boats and essentially do as we please, so it was fun to go off with these two guys and do our own thing. After the dive we got back on the boat and it began motoring north. It took perhaps a half an hour to get to the north side of the island but once there we almost immediately spotted what we were looking for: large "boils" of water and circling birds. As the boat neared, we began to see fish jumping out of the water by the hundreds.
"Line up, line up!" the boat captain yelled as we all crowded to the back of the boat and sat down, pulling on fins and masks. All of a sudden the boat slowed and Ryan, the captain, began yelling "Go, go, go, go". Like frantic cattle we slid on our butts to the end of the boat and spilled into the water. Whitewash from the prop hit my face, turning my world into a snow globe. I sucked in a breath from my snorkel and kicked below the surface, looking around wildly. When I finally glimpsed it, my heart stopped. There in front of me, maybe ten feet away, was the massive side of a whale shark. A deep blue with white spots, it blended in beautifully with the surrounding water. My heart hammered in my chest as I kicked closer, my eyes trying and failing to take in the entire body. The length of a small bus, the whale shark was absolutely massive. Truly impossible to comprehend when swimming next to it. Despite its size however, the thing could motor. I found myself quickly falling behind as it finned into the inky depths. Only as its massive tail disappeared from view did I realize that I needed a breath of air badly or I was going to pass out. I shot to the surface, too stunned to care. Words cannot describe the majestic beauty of this creature. My own memory has even failed me. It is one of the few sights in the world that can only be experienced in person, nothing else even comes close. Like I said, my memory of the moment is only a fraction as amazing as the moment itself. A once in a life time experience (except that I still have a month to do it again, and again, and again).

So much has happened and I truly wish that I could tell it all, but unfortunately I cannot. I also realized today that while I love writing my blog and making sure I keep completely up to date with everyone, it is also okay to let that go for a time. What I mean is that I have stumbled on a pretty cool place at just the right time in life. I have made close friends and found something I love doing. I wake up each morning thrilled to be here and excited by the fact that I get to go diving, even if it is to Airport Caves for the 500th time. So, while I love you all deeply, and love writing this blog, I am going to warn you that posts may be fewer in the coming weeks. Not because I don't care, but because the last couple weeks have flown by and I know the next four will as well. I want to spend those four weeks fully present in where I am, with the people I am with, not worrying about anything else. This isn't to say I am going to stop writing, because I love doing that. It is just a warning so that you aren't too disappointed when I stop writing as much!

I hope all is well with everyone and that fall is as beautiful as I always remember it. I am still in full blown summer mode, although it has thankfully cooled down a bit (just a bit though).

Until next time,
Whale Shark Stalking Gringo signing off

Deep Diving Baby

The "thing" I am entranced by.

Boy, sometimes dives just sneak up on you when you least expect it. Yesterday and today were exactly like that. All this week there are boats going to the North side of the island because there are deep walls there and one of the instructors is teaching a tec class that needs deep water to practice in. Since I am new to the North side I decided to sign up for as many as I could and so both yesterday and today I have been on morning boats heading to the North side.

Our first dive of yesterday was actually to a site that I have already been to, called Raggedy Cay (pronounced "key") but I didn't mind because it is, in my opinion, one of the best dive sites around. The site is a wall that drops off to 100+ feet and has a shallow reef along the top (20-30ft). Since it was still technically my "pre-week" I was paired up with a DMT who would leave me in the dive. It turned out to be just me and Zach, a guy from Arizona who is starting his instructor training. We dropped down to about sixty feet and started swimming west along the wall. We jumped in before everyone else on the boat so we were the first ones diving the wall which is always a nice thing. The dive started off normal enough, we saw the usual things: fish, coral, fish, coral. I will admit that I was starting to have the thought that all these dives were starting to be routine. The dive sites are amazing yes, but after awhile you see the same damn fish over and over again. I am glad that I brought a camera down here because I think it will help keep me from feeling bored. It sounds terrible to say, how could anyone get bored of diving these incredible waters? The truth is that being underwater is never truly boring to me. Every single time I feel a bit of a thrill as I descend into the depths. But I will also say there comes a point where seeing the same things are no longer as exciting. I think that is just the nature of diving sometimes. So I was just starting to lament this fact when things got real exciting in a hurry. Zach spotted a Lionfish and when I finally figured out what the hell he was pointing at (it is really hard to tell underwater) I was shocked by what I saw. The day before I had seen my first Lionfish and was frankly a little disappointed. It was such a puny little thing. This one, folks, was anything but puny. This was very, very impressive. With spines and all it probably measured a good foot across. We were also a bit shallower so some of its color came through a bit better and I could see the beautiful orange color. I sat mesmerized and watched it for a minute or two. While it may be a terribly destructive species that needs to be eradicated from the area, it is also amazingly beautiful and cool to see. Just as I turned to Zach to give him the "rad" sign (think surfers, thumb and pinky hang loose dealy) I spotted something that damn near stopped my heart. Swimming ten to fifteen below us was a five foot nurse shark. It swam gracefully through the water, quickly disappearing around the corner behind some coral. Holy shit I thought! We only saw it for a moment but it was unreal. I wasn't scared in the least and my hand didn't even stray to my "shark knife". I was just in awe of the beautiful creature I had just seen. So very cool. I turned to Zach and flashed him the "double rad" sign with both hands. Sometimes being underwater sucks because you can't express how pumped you are about life in any given moment. I was very pumped on life in that moment.
We turned to start swimming after the shark (long gone, there wasn't any chance of catching it) and out of the blue flew a Spotted Eagle Ray. It sailed past us, gliding through the water like a condor on a thermal. In the space of a minute, without moving, I had seen three of the coolest things Utila, and really the diving world, has to offer. I quite literally peed my pants I was so excited (I also just had to go. Its a big ocean okay, relax). What a dive I kept thinking! Shortly after all the excitement we hit the halfway mark on our dive and had to turn around. Hardly had we done so when Zach spotted another huge lionfish! I again spent a minute or two just staring at it, marveling at its beauty. This one seemed to be hunting so it had all of its spines spread out and was twirling above a piece of coral. Awesome to see. We saw a DM named Mike right after we spotted it and tried to signal to him as he was carrying a spear gun and is certified to kill them. The Lionfish Containment Diver is a specialty you can get that teaches you how to properly use a spear gun and then unleashes you on the lionfish population. The goal is to eradicate them from the Caribbean because they are causing so much harm to the native fish populations. I am thinking that that particular specialty has my name written all over it. Suit me, I'm ready to kill something!

Needless to say, that dive was spectacular. I keep saying it, but it was one of the best I have ever done. There came a point when I was diving the Channel Islands this past August where I realized that I couldn't keep writing "most incredible dive and moment of my life" dive after dive after dive. I have just had to accept that each dive adds something inexplicable to my life and that they are almost all "incredible" and "the best dive yet". Its not the worst situation in the world to be in, I know!

The second dive we did yesterday was all primed to be a let down. It is tough to follow up such an incredible dive and I had low expectations. We went to a site called "Labyrinth" where I have been a couple of times already, although it is a pretty cool place so I don't always mind. Most of the dive was pretty normal and I was starting to get that "bored" feeling again. Once again, the diving Gods intervened. As we were diving along a wall at about fifty feet, a Spotted Eagle Ray came soaring out of the blue. It was cool to see it with nothing but a blue background and really increased its beauty and grace. We also got to see it from below a bit, with that goofy grin like mouth it has. Towards the end of the dive we got to go through a couple really cool swim throughs, spaces barely big enough to fit through. I again thought of Dallas and how he is likely hyperventilating a bit just reading this. Something about those tight spaces is really cool to me, even if they get my heart pumping a bit more. One of them was long enough and shaped in such a way that as you entered you saw only darkness and didn't actually know where you were going. Luckily they are relatively short and so you don't have a ton of time to freak out about getting stuck. It was yet another stunning dive in Utila, one that I have trouble adequately describing.

And that is just yesterday! Today might have been the best dive yet! Since it is now officially "low season", they made this mornings boat a staff boat, meaning that we didn't have any pesky classes or anything to deal with. Because it was a staff boat we were able to go all the way to the middle of the other side of the island. Unfortunately this meant that we would only be making one dive. Luckily it was totally worth it.

The wind was a blowing (luckily no Volvo's though) and the seas were nice and choppy. Certainly not for the faint of heart. It took us about forty minutes to reach the dive site on the other side of the island and when we did everyone was very happy, given the conditions and the waves smashing into the boat every few seconds. Getting into the water was a challenge in itself and I more or less toppled in, hoping I was buoyant enough.
Maya, one of the instructors, gave a quick briefing about the site and ended it with, "please don't go too deep". Oh boy I thought. This was the first dive where I was not assigned a babysitter and could do what I pleased so I grabbed my camera and buddied up with Simon, a Swiss fellow who has become a friend. He was also taking pictures so it seemed like we would be good. Everyone headed out in the same direction so it was hard to get lost or too confused. We descended quickly over the top of a reef and began sinking next to a deep, deep wall. Going off the edges of these walls is always fun because if you don't add air into your BCD you start to sink faster and faster so you can pretend to sky dive and free fall. Its the little things in life!
We drifted deeper and deeper and the first time I looked at my computer we were at 80 feet, the bottom nowhere to be found. 90 feet and falling. 95 feet. 101 feet. 103 feet, my new deepest record. 110 feet. I finally pulled up at 118 feet, mostly because my no decompression time was dipping quickly. This means that the time I was "allowed" to stay at such a deep depth was limited to about ten minutes to start. If I stayed any longer than this I would be forced to do lengthy decompression stops at shallower depths. Essentially you want to avoid that like the plague (unless you are tec diving).

When 103' felt deep! Notice on the right it says I have 9 minutes left at this depth.

Being so deep was...well it was unreal. I still couldn't see the bottom and visibility was at least forty or so feet, so I knew that it was very, very deep. Its hard to find the words to describe what it feels like to be 118 feet underwater. Any mistake at that depth will likely lead to death. The pressure at 118 feet is four times what it is at the surface and you consume air much faster. Watching my no decompression time dip down to four minutes gave me a thrill unlike any I have experienced before. Just knowing that I was so close to the edge of safety but perfectly in control and capable was beyond words.

Crazy because I had no idea all this color was down there until I saw the picture!

In addition to that, the wall we were diving was just incredibly beautiful. So many healthy corals and life to see. One of the other divers spotted a Lionfish and quickly speared it. I watched as it wriggled a couple of times on the end of her spear before going limp. I'll be honest, I felt only awe at watching that all happen at 100+ feet. Several of the other divers shot smaller Lionfish and soon it was a party.

Kate with her Lionfish. Notice how unexciting the color is at this depth.

Lionfish hunting party!

Actually really beautiful on land huh? Watch out though, it stings!

Since my no decompression limits were fast approaching I decided to ascend a bit to around 80 feet. There was still so much life and things to see. The North side is so much more vibrant, so much more alive, it is crazy. We reached the halfway point on our tanks and ascended further to the top of the reef, turning slightly to angle back towards the boat. Simon and I spent the rest of the time taking pictures, sucking our air down to the absolute minimum. The dive lasted an entire 52 minutes which is pretty good considering we spent a decent amount of time below 80 feet and a couple of minutes at 100+ feet. I came up feeling elated and like it was the perfect dive. I had managed my air well, gone deeper than ever before, and saw some pretty cool things. I climbed back onto the boat beaming, once again happy to be alive and diving in Utila.

Not looking so hot.

Tonight we start class, and homework is actually hanging over my head right now. After class we'll probably play a little trivia at the UDC and then its time to hit the hay early because we go out again tomorrow morning for a little boat briefing followed by more diving!
I hope all is well with everyone! I am already looking forward to sharing my next diving adventure, maybe one including the whale shark that is rumored to be back! Thanks for tuning in as always.

Until Next time,
Deep Diving, Lionfish Spotting Gringo signing off.

I think it is making the Oregon face!

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