Has it really been a year...

I was just thinking back and this time last year I was teaching my first Open Water class to Leo and we were diving in 34 degree(that's about 1 Celsius for you metric people) in Dutch Springs. I have done several certifications since that time. The water was about 74 yesterday(23C) and I was cold between the dives but with my 5mm plus hooded vest I was warm underwater. And to think just a year ago I was only wearing a semidry suit. I guess I've really become a warm water diver. :-)

Mom and Dad came to visit!

So my parents came for a week here at Columbus Isle. They arrived on Saturday just after we had taken apart the dock. They got a room upgrade to a deluxe oceanview room(thanks Sylvie!) as well as a few gifts in their room, a candle from Flavia, and a nice bottle of wine from Filippo. Thanks to both of them. We enjoyed the afternoon and some drinks at the bar that evening. Sunday was my first day off while they were here so we went diving in the morning. We spent some time catching up and touring the village. That night we went to the BBQ for the night divers and they got to meet the whole scuba team. Monday and Tuesday mornings they went diving and we spent some time together around my work schedule. We toured the hyperbaric chamber with Vinny and practiced some "yoga"(see the pictures) Monday afternoon. We had a nice dinner in the theater on Monday night for white night and enjoyed the Clepoatra show. Wednesday we had a tour of the island with Capt Tony. He drove us around the island and showed us the sights with a few stops along the way to get out and walk around. We also toured Supashai's garden behind the maintanance building. Mom and I enjoyed the hammocks and laid on the beach for a while. The wind made it hard to enjoy the beach for a few days but it wasn't too bad. Thursday diving was cancelled so we spent the day relaxing around the village and played a tough game of Scuba-opoly with Amy in the afternoon. Friday was another cold morning of diving. The afternoon boat was cancelled due to lack of divers so Amy, Larissa and I started the preparations for Matt's birthday surprises. Friday night we had Dom join us at Watlings for dinner and then we went back to the village and watched the show. During the night club the scuba team with some helpers decorated Matt's office with LOTS of confetti, toilet paper, plastic wrap, inflated condoms, a pink feather boa, and our happy birthday sign. On Saturday morning I got up to see Matt's reaction to his newly decorated office and wish him a happy birthday then went to breakfast with "the rents" one last time. They finished packing, then we played on the internet and read until we had a fierce game of bocce ball before lunch. I went to the airport to wish them fairwell and met Chuck and John as they came off the plane. It was a great week and made some great memories. Thanks for coming Mom and Dad!! Miss you bunches!!

The pictures from the week... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063057&l=06fb2&id=44801562

The pictures of Matt's birthday... http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2063243&l=a6538&id=44801562

Good times with Great People!

So for the past several weeks we've had some great guests here that have really made my time here fun. I'm sorry if I forget your name but there's just so many great people that have visited.
We had...
Faye and Wayne- Congrats on your AOW certs!
"Aunt" Nancy and "Uncle" Bill- thanks for all the laughs and fun times
David- Congrats on 40 years and 5000+ dives!! and Sue Thanks for being such great shore support!
"Mom" Mei- Congrats on finally getting your Open Water!
The Liebersbach Family- Congrats to you all on your Rescue Certs!! The stories were hilarious!!
and Jim and Sue are leaving today. Congrats to you both on getting your Master Scuba Diver ratings!!
Page is coming in tomorrow, my parents arrive the 31st and last night Vinny told me Chuck and John will be here the 7th!
Also a farewell to Landon, who is headed home after 4 months here on the Rock and a big welcome to Dom arriving today!

The Adventures of Bahama Vinny

So one of my co-workers, Vinny, is from Oklahoma and he writes a blog about his adventures on his MySpace page. His most recent posting is about a dive that I was on as well. I was with my group just behind him and the Liebersbach family. He had a much more interesting experience with the sharks than I did as about the time they went into the tunnel I was already turning around and headed back to the boat. The sharks were very agitated as he wrote and it was a bit unnerving. check out his post here... http://blogs.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=71682907&blogID=461724420

2009!

Well the new year has begun and we started it with a bang! On New Years Eve we planned a midnight dive to watch the fireworks from underwater and have some champagne as well. Due to concerns about rain the fireworks were sent off about 20 minutes before midnight so we were still assembling gear when the display started. The show was nice and we quickly finished assembling our gear and were underwater by 11:57. At midnight we used our underwater noise makers and popped open the champagne. Some of you may wonder how to drink champagne underwater... It's quite the project especially when the cork doesn't want to come out like it did for us. So once it's opened, the opening of the bottle is covered with ones thumb and then the bottle is shaken and the pressure shoots the champagne into ones mouth and it's enjoyed. It's best if you get the bottle early in the round to reduce the amount of salt water you ingest along with the champagne.
After the dive we had a great water fight with the hoses. A great time was had by all.
On January 1st the group of us on the morning boat saw humpbacks swimming along side the boat for about 5 minutes which was quite majestic. A great way to start the new year!!