Once we arrived, we put on our gear. One of the things they have you put on is a weight belt. I had 4, 4lb bricks on my belt. The problem was that as tight as I could get it, the belt was not going to stay on my behind. Once we got in the water, it was even more apparent. So I signaled the Dive Master to come over. I asked him if we could remove the weights and put them into the BCD. He agreed. So as every one descended to the bottom (about 50 to 60'), we fiddled with the weights. Eventually they were in and then off I went. The descent was a bit more painful than other dives. I could not get my ears to easily balance. But I just took my time and worked through the pain and eventually made it. Brent, however, could not get his ears to equalize. So he never made it down. Bummer! The first dive around the wreck was fun. We went in and around the sunken vessel. Lots of coral had built up around it.. Lots of sea life in and around it. We spent a good 35 to 40 minutes down. They told us at 1000 PSI we were to notify the dive master. I did. But he said that everything was ok. So we did another 10 minutes. In the end, I had about 150 PSI left in the tank. Kind of close. But I was ok with it...I was watching. Beautiful dive.
After surfacing, we were on the boat for about 40 minutes. They offered us some juice and a native potatoe sandwich. It was all good. We had great visits while we waited. The 2nd dive was going to be along a coral wall. It was going to be a much shallower dive...about 30' at the deepest. The dive was beautiful! So much coral. So many different formations and tons, I mean tons, of sea life. All kinds of beautiful fish. It felt like you were swimming in a salt water fish tank. So much fun. I loved it so much. Brent was successful getting down this time. The dive master really helped him by giving him some very good ideas and instructions to get down. That's the good news. The bad news was that Mackenzie, 15 minutes into the dive, touched her toe against a sea urchin, which stung her. Apparently, being in salt water and such, it was really painful. So after indicating to Travis, they both went to the surface and hailed the captain of the boat. Kenzie got in the boat and Travis came back down. We dove for a good 40 minutes weaving around different coral formations with so much sea life.
All in all, a great dive. We were back at the boat by 1PM. Kenzie and Travis went looking for soft candle, a waxy stuff that is to help get the spines out of her toe. I hope it works. After showering, I was sitting in my cabin wondering what the islanders did today. Denise eventually showed up and told me that they all had hailed a driver who took them around the town and into the mountains at the highest point nearby to see the full island. It is only something like 5 miles by 7 miles big. Not big at all. But the island is really pretty...at least the port where the cruise ship is moored.
Slowly we have all hooked up together as we grab food and just chill for the remainder of the day.
As usual, on an elegant night, we all met up at the front of the ship to get pictures in our formal wear. I went unique in a white shirt, tie and blue jeans...nice ones. We met Travis and Kenzie there and they took some really good pictures of the two of us. Eventually, Brent, Ashley, Karlien and Atticus joined us. Cassid and Mike were already seated at the dining room so we had to pack up and head the there. However, as Denise head down the outside stairs, her shoe caught one of the stairs wrong and she went head first tumbling down the stairs. Upon landing at the bottom she hit her head on a pipe. I was at the top when I heard our kids yelling. I thought I'd find a pool of blood where she hit her head. People responded pretty quick calling 911. We called for Mike, our ER Doctor in the family. He came and checked her out. She has a big goose egg on her forehead with other miscellaneous bumps and bruises. We ended up in the sick bay of the ship checking the medical facilities out. We then went back to the room. I think I felt more pain knowing I was missing jumbo shrimp and filet mignon! Actually, I'm grateful her damage was not much worse. Going down 3 quarters of a metal and wood staircase and not having anything broke was pretty amazing. We hung out in the room for a while. But Denise did not want to miss the Motown show. So we went down to the main stage and waited for the kids to come. The act was really quite good. It was full of music that we all know. After, we went and visited while listening to some Motown trivia, played a couple of rounds of Skipbo, then off to bed. She will look like a battered woman tomorrow with new places hurting. :-(
What a day!
Pictures....
Since I did not go on this tour, I cannot comment on every picture. But the islanders were Karlie, Cassidy, Mike, and Denise....and oh yes....Atticus. You can obviously see our boat in the background in the port of call. Pretty setting it is.
Hopefully I'll have some dive pictures soon and will post them before we leave. If not, it will be tomorrow sometime.
The lion fish is a prevalent fish in the Caribbean. So much so that the divers try to spear them and feed them to other species of fish.
Crazy diver...no reg in his mouth.
....but everything is ok.
Kenzie still breathing.....but later she was stung by a sea urchin on her toe and had to go up.
Floating in the sea.....
Travis from the bottom looking up....
Ashley swimming backwards...
Brent saying that he is ok....
Pack of three divers....
Kenzie and Travis inside the ship wreck....
The whole gang top side....
Beautiful sunset...great picture location.
Great looking kids. The next shots are great but we missed Mike and Cassidy as they were at the dining room already. Bummer...we wish we had a shot. This is Travis and Kenzie.
Brent and Ashley....
Whose bigger? Hey...I'm talking height...not width!!!!
The fall re-enactment by Ashley....(at the actual site)
Denise went down the stairs head first and banged her side of her head on a metal pipe. It was a nasty fall as I described above. Lots of places are hurting. But this was the worst.
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