T&C Underwater Photos

The latest and greatest underwater photos from Turks and Caicos have been posted but are locked down. Let me know if you are interested in viewing them and I will send you a link to the album.

Thanks to the french...

It isn't too often that I thank the french for anything but I definitely owe them a bit of gratitude for something I recently discovered - a dive site named 'Le Dome'. The site is the remains of a large metal underwater dome that was created for a french television show back in the early 80's. Apparently the show was much like the modern day show Survior and contestants had to compete for rewards (food, money, etc). One of the challenges they had was to freedive to the underwater dome (which is in 40 feet of water) and search for pearls hidden inside the dome (which were turned in for rewards). During their freediving, scantily clad mermaids with scuba gear would give the contestants an occasional breath of air when needed. Unfortunately, the contestants were not scuba certified and were unaware that they need to exhale on their way up to avoid an embolism. Needless to say, the show was cancelled early when several contestants were hurt. After the show ended, the dome was left to become part of the reef. Over the years, hurricanes have knocked portions of the dome over and now it is a perfect dive site and home to numerous fish. We did three dives on the dome last week (2 daytime dives and 1 night dive) and each dive was spectacular. Thanks to the french, this dive site is now in my top 10 of caribbean dive sites.

Thankful for training...

Last week in Turks and Caicos I had a minor problem while diving. It was on the third dive of the day - the 2 pm after lunch dive when I had the problem. Lunch that day was spaghetti and I had two pieces of garlic bread. Unfortunately, the garlic seemed a little harsh for my digestive system and my stomach decided it would be better to reverse gears. Normally, this would not be that big of an issue, however I was in 20 feet of water. So, what do you do when you throw up underwater? Well, I am not sure if everyone would have the same experience but I quickly had a flashback to my training 15 years ago. I vividly remember my instructor Steve Deem of Aquatic Connection telling me to keep my regulator in my mouth and that the vomit would clear. I remember thinking that it would be gross and doubting that it would clear but he was adamant that the regulator stay in your mouth or you would risk drowning. Well, I will spare the details but I can say that it DOES indeed clear. :-)

I also got a chance to take an underwater photography course while I was diving last week. Prior to last week, most of my photography was shot using the various automatic modes that the camera provided. With the help of Amanda from the T&C Aggressor, I learned to use the manual mode of my camera by specifying both shutter speed and f-stop of my camera. Doing so, I have been able to minimize the over-exposure that I was experiencing from my dual Inon external strobes and improve the quality of the photos I took. I am really happy with the results and I am thinking about taking things to the next level and buying an SLR.

I will post some photos soon. In the meantime, here are some photos of me in action...

Turks and Caicos...

Turks and Caicos was wonderful last week. Here is the weekly captain's report (since I don't know how long they keep it):


Saturday, June 21st, 2008 at 12:00 AM
Entry By: Scott Arni

June 14-21, 2008 The water temperature was a lovely 80 degrees, visibility 90, and many dove in just a 3mm wetsuit.

Saturday the 14th.
It was another splendid day in paradise as people from all over the country gathered in provo for a fantastic cruise aboard the Turks and Caicos Aggressor II. Coming aboard were people from all over including New Jersey, Arizona, Oregon and many other cities from Texas to Colorado. Spirits were high in anticipation for the Sunday dives and the energy aboard ship was complimented by near perfect weather. The accommodating crew secured baggage and the guests gathered on the sun deck for a meet and greet. We had many returning guests from previous dive cruises and conversation centered around the upcoming dives.

Sunday 15
Upon arriving at eel gardens everyone promptly suited up and entered the water to kick off another fantastic week. Bill from New Jersey marveled at all the life he encountered in about 76’ of water. He glided effortlessly over the eel gardens properly named for the abundance of sand eels. Many different tropicals were observed and terry from Arizona commented of how calm and beautiful the dive was. At lunch time we moved to RGI in the West Caicos. There we dove among the flamingo tongues and huge parrot fish along the wall. Our friends the sharks showed up and joined in the dive along with Flounder, huge eels and rays. The night dive was even more spectacular when all the denizens of the reef came out to play in the moonlight.

Monday the 16th
We entered the water at white face West Caicos in an area known as the anchor. A fantastic dive with a cool swim through next to an anchor that has now become part of the reef. The frog fish were present and so were some lovely trumpet fish. All topped off again by a visit from our friends the sharks. Huge crabs were photographed by Todd and Kim as well as a variety of other marine life. We had one of Ronnie’s famous bbq’s on the sundeck and celebrated Kim’s birthday. It was a wonderful evening

Tuesday the 17th
Today was a great day for Teri from Arizona. We anchored at French Caye and she was entertained by a variety of eels. She was also amazed at the quantity of barracuda present. I couldn’t believe it she said “I was surrounded by them”. That’s the great thing about this place said Nick from Arizona. Everytime you dive it you get a different experience. The next dive on the site called driveway. Trumpet fish were observed. Photographer had a real treat as a friendly turtle made an appearance.

Wednesday 18
The afternoon dive at Brandywine was memorable. It seems that all the ocean’s denizens came to us all in one spot Georgia saw a variety of marine life. A spotted drum, a lovely hawksbill turtle, and a quite unusual looking jaw fish. It was also her first time seeing a frog fish.

Thursday 19
We dove Elephant Ear Canyon on this day. Many marveled at the many different types of coral. The formations are varied and beautiful. Later we dove The Dome. It is an old abandoned set for a French TV show. Luckily for us the dome has collapsed and we now have an awesome dive site. There we met the lion fish who frequents there quite often. We also had the usual hello from the resident nurse shark.

Friday 20
We arose early and moved to the black forest. Although it was the last dive of the trip the early risers had a great time. In the afternoon we headed back to turtle cove for a wonderful dinner party. New friendships were cemented as people traded phone numbers and e-mail addresses. Many a toast was made as we once again concluded another fantastic cruise aboard the Aggressor II. The crew this week was Capt. Scott, Amanda, Belinda, Patty, Ronnie, and Brett.

A really rough run...

I remember the old US Army slogan, "We do more before 9am than most people do all day." It was a good commercial that I never really gave it much thought to. Well, this morning I awoke early, determined to get my long run in for this week - I too felt like an army of one.

It was really hot - even in the early morning and the hills didn't help much. Oh well, another ten miles down.

:-)

Poetic Justice...

Considering the first post of this blog is actually a poem by Rudyard Kipling, I found this article to be very interesting. What a great way to punish and hopefully add to their enrichment. Too bad that youth is squandered on the young... This also is one of my favorite poems.


The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim
Because it was grassy and wanted wear,
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I marked the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

It Happened...

For a number of weeks now Kim has been getting text messages to her phone from Red Box giving her codes for free DVD rentals (assuming you return it the next day). I have jokingly told people that I think she and Red Box are having an affair. Well, yesterday seems to be the end of the affair. I have described the events that unfolded very truthfully and without drama. Please remember, this is all TRUE! Enjoy...

It was a warm Monday afternoon and Kimberly was going about her day as normal. She had completed several items at work this day and she was feeling quite satisfied with the work that she had accomplished. Continuing on her list of to-do items, she heard a muffled beep coming from her cellular phone. She thought for a second as to who would be text messaging her in the middle of the day. She opened her purse to get her phone but before she reached it she already knew who had sent her the text message. Like so many weeks before on a Monday afternoon, her lover was calling to her and making her the offer that she knew she could not resist. It was Red Box (RB).

RB text messaged her to invite her to enjoy another free DVD rental and included a secret code just for her so they could keep it just between them. Kim hated to admit it but the idea of secret code and text messages in the middle of the day excited her. Her imagination wandered and she thought of her relationship with RB as if it were a James Bond film and she needed to keep the secret code away from the prying eyes of the villains. She read the message, closed her phone, and tucked it back into her purse knowing the anticipation would grow as the day wore on.
The remaining hours of the day seemed to drag. Kim lost focus for the work that she had been so diligent at accomplishing just hours prior. It seemed that Kim was distracted and even though she had not moved from her desk, in her head she was already where she really wanted to be. Minutes seemed like hours until it was finally time to leave. Kim quickly packed her things and made for her car. As she drove, she thought about the almost limitless possibilities that awaited her. Her anticipation grew.

At what seemed to be an eternity, Kim finally arrived at her destination. It was her secret rendezvous place that she had already established with RB. She knew he would already be there. He was always dependable and never kept her waiting. Kim parked her car and hurriedly searched the contents of her purse to find her cellular phone. With phone in hand, she exited the car and walked directly to where he was standing. This time however, Kim would have to wait. RB was there as planned but someone was already talking to him. Careful not to blow his cover, Kim patiently waited as though she was just a normal customer. She took the time to look over his handsome exterior. She thought to herself that the color red had never looked so vibrant. The font used to label himself was distinguished and rugged. Even his interfacing screen was easy to see in the warm bright June sunshine. Kim's patience was tested as the individual before her seemed to take a long time to resolve their business. She hoped they did not notice that she was excited and struggled to keep the appearance of a normal customer. After what seemed an eternity, it was finally Kim's turn.

Kim smiled as she approached RB knowing that it had been several days since their last meeting. She greeted him with a loving swipe of her credit card and he immediately acknowledged that it was indeed her. Even so, RB was not to be fooled by an impostor so he asked Kim to input the secret code that he had given her just hours before. As Kim typed in the code, she felt things were strangely different. Her intuition said that something was wrong and it was immediately confirmed by the response she received. RB refused her code and asked her to try again. Was he being coy? She had thought that she had entered the code correctly but she complied with his request and entered the code again. Once again, RB denied her. Kim looked around thinking that somehow their cover had been blown and that he was purposefully denying her code to protect her from the evil villains that were observing her. However, she did not care. She longed for the satisfaction that he had been giving her for weeks and she wanted satisfaction now. She knew the risks and also knew the rewards. She entered the code a third time, this time paying more attention to the lover she had become so comfortable with. Her finger firmly touched the screen almost as to say that she was accepting of the consequences to her actions. For the final time, RB denied her.

Devastated, Kim left RB there as she had found him. She drove away taking a last look hoping that somehow he would call out to her to come back. She asked herself why the relationship had gone wrong so quickly and what could she have done to cause such a reaction. She held her phone close - waiting for another chance, another time, another opportunity.

Idiots... Pure Idiots....

Ok, finally something has fired me up enough to blog... Admittedly, I have been a little lazy lately. So what interesting type of thing might I have to say especially when the title of the post implies idiots are involved? Well, I logged into Yahoo this morning to get my mail and I see this interesting article about a man sneaking an octopus onto the ice at a Red Wing hockey game. Of course, the title got my attention and I had to click on the article to see what they were talking about... I mean... why in the world would someone throw an octopus onto the ice at a Red Wings game??? Even more strange was the fact that the article didn't seem to think the octopus prank was that big of a deal but rather focused on the fact that the idiot who did it got back into the game after being ejected by buying a $300 ticket from a scapler and changing into a Red Wings jersey. I read the reader comments at the bottom of the article and much to my amazement, everyone thought it was great and it showed a lot of Red Wing pride. Hm... at this point I was realizing that I didn't understand something so I decided to dig a little deeper.

I searched a little more and found this article where it says the NHL is declaring war on "octopus twirling". Hm... a WAR on octopus twirling? A WAR? Ok, I hate it when someone says they are declaring WAR on something - but the media loves to use that expression because of the hype. However, in this case I think it works only because the subject of "octopus twirling" is such an insane idea to be declaring war against. Seriously, who would have ever thought there would be a war on octopus twirling? Then again, who would have though a bunch of idiots would get off on seeing the dead body of an octopus being twirled and flung around in the first place?

Reading further into the article, I discovered this has been something that the Red Wings have been doing since 1991. According to the New York Times, "During a home playoff game in 1991, a fan tossed an octopus onto the ice after a Red Wings goal, a tradition that dates to 1952, when it took eight postseason victories to win the Stanley Cup." Okay... eight postseason victories... eight... octopus... eight arms... Hm, I'm starting to understand there is a number relation here and frankly I'm starting to see that these Detroit idiots have at least attended third grade.

For anyone that does not follow hockey (I don't really either), the Detroit Red Wings symbol/mascot is the Winged Wheel. It has nothing to do with any type of sea creature. This entire octopus twirling tradition started merely because it took eight postseason victories to win the Stanley Cup. Finally, the NHL recently stepped in and declared "octopus twirling doesn't fit in with league image, or something to that effect" and is issuing fines to the team each time an octopus is thrown on the ice. Detroit fans argue that the tradition should continue as it has been going on for 17 years now and has become woven into the fabric of Detroit hockey. But I ask, if the only thing an octopus is guilty of is having eight legs and the relationship is lame anyway, why must this "tradition" continue? If you follow their argument that it is now "tradition," I would offer you this pearl of wisdom. This country has had an eight year "tradition" of having a complete jackass as a president, should we continue to keep him because it is "tradition"????

Think it over Detroit... and when you get your head out of your ass and decide to stop harming innocent cephalopods for fun, maybe you can get to work and design energy effiecient cars that compete with foreign models!