The Vandenberg Sinks!!

So a bunch of us from Sea Base were going to drive down to the Brinton Center and take the Scoutmaster to Key West to watch the Vandenberg sink but there were too many people from the Brinton Center so the boat was full. Instead we loaded up on the BSA Adventure(Newton) at 6 am and Capt Carol drove us down the ~3 1/2 hours to watch. It was a long ride but certainly memorable. We arrived about 9:30 and anchored just outside the 1 mile radius safety zone with our front row seats. We pulled out our cameras and binoculars to check it out and watched all the other boats there to watch as well as the planes and helicopters flying over head. At about 10:20am the first charge went off and she started to sink but just as it was going down the Key West Express drove right between us and the boat and totally blocked our view. We thought ok it will be out of the way in a minute and we'll still be able to see it as they predicted 3 minutes for it to sink. Well, by the time the huge Key West Express moved the boat was gone. 1 minute and 45 seconds and it was done. It was still neat to see but the gosh darn Key West Express was in the way!! There were tons of people yelling at the boat on the radio and evidently people were trying to throw things at it and shoot water at the boat because they were equally as mad about the view being blocked but evidently the Coast Guard came to their rescue. So it was neat to see, well what we could see of it, and I won't forget it.
Pictures on Facebook...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2070577&id=44801562&l=28f3bef598

Recap

The past few months have flown by. I left Club Med on Saturday May 2nd and flew to Burlington to stay with my brother and sister in law for a few days, drove to New Hampshire to get my things from my parents place, visit Helen and Phil and my grandmother, back to VT for a few more days then flew to Phoenix on Mothers Day to visit mom and dad for a few days. We went to the Desert Botanical Gardens and saw the glass exhibit by Chihuly, as well as had dinner with Anne and Shawn. Then on May 15th I flew to Miami and took the Keys Shuttle here to Sea Base. We had staff training for a week which included too many practice rescues to count and a few 20 minute dives. It's strange going from 60-130 foot dives to here where our absolute maximum is 60ft and most dives in the 20-30 foot range. I've been catching up with many old friends that are back for one more summer of fun in the Keys. Many have graduated from college and had real jobs or couldn't find a real job and are back at Sea Base. It's good to be back .

Happy Birthday from Under the Sea

For my mom's birthday today!! Much Love, Megs

Where does the time go?

So it's been almost 10 months that I've been here at Columbus Isle and I am wondering where the time went. I will be leaving in 5 weeks and I'm starting to get ready to go home. I've been going through things and starting to make decisions on what I'll get rid of and what to take back with me. When I originally came I brought two almost full roller duffel bags and when I went home on vacation I brought home a few things but definitely brought back more! So, some things just won't be able to make it. I did so well getting rid of so much STUFF before I came and now magically things have multiplied again!
I've been asked alot what my plans are after Club Med... well, I'll go to VT and NH for a few days to get some things taken care of. Then to AZ to visit mom and dad for a few days then back to VT for a few more days then to the Florida Keys for May 16th. I'll be working as an Instructor for Sea Base again for my 3rd summer now. After that ends in the fall I don't know as of know what I'll be doing. I'm working on a few ideas and gathering some applications. If anyone has any suggestions for places I'm open to ideas around the world!!

I love my job, right?

Two afternoons ago I was diving on the 2pm boat with a middle aged woman and two young teenage girls. I haven't been diving alot in the last two weeks while Matt has been gone so this was about the 3rd dive in 5 days. The two teen girls didn't speak alot of English so one of the girl's mothers translated. I was expecting just another Ho-hum dive. Cold water, not alot to see, etc. The site was Pyramid so we had a very short boat ride from the marina. I had kind of forgotten about Fred(or Ted, whatever his name is) the grouper that we are trying to socialize like Bob(RIP). About two minutes into the dive he swam up next to me from behind and scared me. The girls all thought it was really cool to be able to touch a fish and Fred isn't a small grouper either. So we petted him for a few minutes and then swam along to see a turtle on it's way to the surface for some air and two reef sharks. The girls loved it! It was the first dive here at Columbus for all three and they all came up smiling. As I was kicking back to the boat I turned over on my back to check on the 3 divers as usual and I had a moment. Not a senior moment but one where I realized that I do love my job. Looking back on where I've been because of diving and dreaming and planning my future with diving makes me happy. My 9 months here at Columbus have had some ups and downs but when I think about it, it all comes down to exploring the undersea world with people that makes me happy. Sometimes you just need a littler perspective...