The Holidays are here

So it's almost Christmas here in Columbus. The village occupancy has gone up and we are at about 60% currently. At the present time I am teaching an Open Water course for 4 students aged 18-12. The waters were calm for a few days but as the wind picked up over night the waves did as well and we are back to diving from the marina. Today we saw a turtle on our second dive at Pyramid. Not bad for a dive limited to 40 feet.
Santa will be visiting in the next few days and we are preparing for his arrival. Amy and I decorated a real tree that was delivered to the island and is at the entrance to the two specialty restaurants. We will be having a special nativity "show" tomorrow night as well as a fashion show and some other special events.
We have had two post night dive BBQs at the Sea Center for the divers and others who join us. The first two have been a big hit and we expect the numbers to grow each week as we continue to plan and promote it.
We've had some sightings as well. We saw more pilot whales last week(but of course I didn't have my camera) and another day that I wasn't on the boat humpbacks were spotted.
The hammerheads are becoming more numerous as the winter season continues. A school of about 15 were spotted a few days ago as well as some spotted eagle rays.
I forgot my camera battery charger at home so until my parents come I will only have limited use of my camera. So I hope to have pictures, but they might be from other people's cameras.
Happy Holidays to all!!

Time Flies

It's been two months since I have posted. Yes, I'm still alive. I've been working very hard and having alot of fun along the way. Alot has happened since I last posted...
Half of the scuba team have gone home. We got two new instructors but they didn't like G.O. life and they left as well. We have gotten one new instructor and a new Chief of scuba.
Last Friday the assistant manager of scuba was fired while the chief is still on vacation and I was quickly selected to take over in the mean time. I managed to take care of things from Friday night until this morning when I left for my 2 week vacation. The Chief returns tomorrow afternoon so the team is without me for a day until he returns. It has been a long few days learning as I went. I also hadn't had a day off for 2 weeks. So I am definitely ready for my vacation and plan on spending it relaxing and refueling for the next 6 months of work.

Holy Whale!

Today on the dive boat between the two morning dives we were sitting on the bow as we're cruising along and off the port side of the boat we see something break the water. It was a very calm day with the water like glass so we were able to spot it quickly. There were two pilot whales swimming along! We slowed the boat in time to take a few pictures...

Then I was lucky enough to see possibly the same ones on the afternoon snorkeling trip. These were a bit further away from the boat so the pictures didn't come out well, but there were whales!!

My Visit to the Port St. Lucie Medcial Center

So while I was in Port St. Lucie, FL as part of a voluntary evacuation from the Bahamas I had a brief 2 day stay in the hospital. I hadn't had lunch or dinner and at about 5 pm on Sunday I went on the trapeze at the Club Med in Port St Lucie where we were staying and on the first swing I let go and fell onto the net. After about a half hour I went to the nurse to get my minor skin abrasions cleaned and while in the infirmary I blacked out and hit my head on 2 oxygen tanks and the ground and then blacked out again once horizontal on the table. So on the way to the hospital in the ambulance my heart rate dropped to 40 bpm and then 30 bpm. So I had a CT scan, 12-lead EKG, ultrasound of my heart and nothing was found to be wrong. So now I am back in the Bahamas and feeling fine. The scuba doctor has examined me and nothing appears to be wrong so I will go back to diving in a few days.
Thank you to everyone for their concern and best wishes.
For pictures from my time at Club Med Sandpiper and my visit to the hospital click on the link below...
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2054065&l=7301e&id=44801562

Update from Columbus Isle

Last night we had our storm update meeting at 6 and it was decided to cancel the evening "show" and to just do dinner and send everyone to their rooms. So by 11pm everyone was to be in their rooms and to not come out until further notice. So we had our bag breakfasts(that I helped to make- about 450 of them to be exact) delivered at 8 pm as well as flashlights and water. I spent the night with 3 other people in 2 adjoining rooms and we had a relaxing evening. There was alot of wind and some rain but no major damage to the village. I slept most of the day as there wasn't much else to do so it was an unofficial day off after my official day off. :-) I finally ventured out to see how things were around 7 and things were fine. Some palm leaves down and the like but nothing major. I took a shower and just at dinner at the main restaurant. We have another meeting momentarily to update us on the storm and what's next. It looks like 4:15 am tomorrow we will be collecting bags for the 200 or so people leaving on the flight to Paris.
So in summary all is well here and I'll post as I know more.