Diving in Belize

On Jan. 21, I packed my dive gear, shorts and t-shirt and left the cold winds and freezing drizzle of central Missouri to fly to Belize with 35 other divers sponsored by Capt. Nemo’s Dive Shop, Columbia. http://www.captnemos.com/

Suz wasn't able to go as she works for Hallsville schools...for a few more months.  She retires in July!!

We landed in Belize City and were greeted with 80 degree plus temperatures and clear sunny skies. Our adventure really began as we were transported by bus across town to a small gravel airstrip for our flight to Blackbird Caye Resort on Turneffe Atoll, 25 miles off the coast of Belize. http://www.blackbirdresort.com/index.html  Turneffe Atoll is about 30 miles long and 10 miles wide, and is composed of a group of cayes, lagoons, and lush sea grass beds, all surrounded and protected by a living coral reef “ring.”

Our plane wanting to take us to paradise

As we waited for a 12 seat airplane to shuttle our group to the resort, we were surprised and delighted to find the Mizzou vs. Baylor basketball game on their TV! Mizzou won by one point! ESPN is truly worldwide!

Blackbird Caye Resort was protected by a reef about 400 yards from the beach. There were strong easterly winds with 8-10 ft seas outside the reef most days. The bay inside the reef was amazingly calm.

Our typical dive day consisted of an early breakfast choices of eggs, sausage or bacon, cereal, toast, muffins, fruit and of course lots of coffee. Our group was split into two groups on two dive boats with the boats scheduled to leave dock at 8:00 for the first dive. Most days we were within 10 minutes of the dive site so we returned to dock between our two morning dives and for lunch before our afternoon dive. Evenings were spent sharing pictures and stories over a cold beer or glass of wine.

Sunrise at Blackbird Caye

We saw a wide variety of Caribbean fish: French and grey angelfish, trigger fish, grouper, parrot fish, trumpet fish, barracuda, sergeant major, porkfish, blue tang, spotfin butterfly fish, French grunt... Lionfish, an invading fish for the south Pacific, were also seen in large numbers.

A highlight of the adventure was the Tuesday trip to the Blue Hole and Half Moon Caye Natural Monument. They lie near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 20 west of the resort and about 45 miles from the mainland.

The Great Blue Hole is a large sinkhole off the coast of Belize. The hole is circular in shape, almost 1000 ft across and more than 400 ft deep. It was made famous by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, who declared it one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. It was nice to say I’ve dove the Blue Hole, but I was disappointed in the quality of the dive. As I am a relatively new diver, I did not dive to 130 ft to see the stalactites. I choose to explore the reef and found the water cloudy and colder than other sites. There were not as many tropical fish on the reef.

However, Half Moon Caye Wall and the Aquarium dive sites near the national monument were the best on the trip. Schools of tropical fish swam around us as we explored the huge corals lying on a white sand bottom by the wall that dropped to a depth of 6,000 ft. Two large eagle rays swam with us for much of our dive.

One of Half Moon Caye's principal inhabitants is the Red-footed Booby with a population around 4,000 breeding birds. Half Moon Caye supports what is considered the only viable breeding Red-footed Booby colony in the western Caribbean. A BBQ lunch and time to explore mixed nicely with the diving.

Thursday found us on the western side of Turneffe Atoll searching for more protected dive sites. We were greeted by a pod of dolphins and great diving. A highlight of the day was diving with a large green moray eel about 5 ft long. It swam below us as we explored rocks and coral above a sandy bottom. When our dive master speared a lionfish, the eel slithered up the rocks and coral to feed on it.

Overall, it was a great trip. The food was great with a different menu each evening. The kitchen staff worked hard to meet our every need. This was the first time I have had staff ask if the lunch and dinner proportion was enough food. The rooms were clean and well maintained.

Our divemaster Cardinal was patient and worked to assure we had a safe and enjoyable adventure. I liked the pace of the dive...NICE AND SLOW. We had time to look and explore the nooks and crannies in the reefs. This allowed us to find little cleaner shrimp and several frog fish.

I would highly recommend Blackbird Caye Resort for a dive adventure. It was a trip to remember.

Sailing the BVI

It has been a busy summer. I was surprised to see that I had not posted anything since our trip to Miami. A lot has happened since the. The big thing in our life has been the birth of our grandson Alton in April.

From the sailing standpoint, we sailed to the BVI again this year. It was a great adventure.

Suz and I sailed with our friends Lois and Dennis as we did in 2009. Much of this story was adapted from Lois's story for the Mark Twain Lake Sail Association  "Scuttlebutt" newsletter

We flew into Tortola and caught the ferry to Virgin Gorda to stay two days at beautiful Guavaberry Spring Bay. Suz and I explored new dive sites off of Ginger Island and the Dogs with Dive BVI. Dennis and Lois hung out and snorkeled at the Baths, Spring Bay and Savannah Bay.

Suz diving BVI 2011

We arrived just in time for the full moon party at Leverick Bay. We enjoyed delicious Caribbean BBQ for dinner, then danced to live local reggae music and watched the amazing Mocko Jumbies Sky Dancers stilt walkers.

Mocko Jumbies Sky Dancers BVI 2011...

This year we chartered, Alegria del Mar -- a Beneteau 46, through B.V.I Yacht Charters, Port Purcell, Roadtown, Tortola.

Suz and Lois had outlined the nearly perfect sail plan, so each day we went with the winds and just “sailed the sails”. We started out at Norman Island (Willie T’s of course). We had visited Willie T's before, but not on a full moon Saturday night! The ship was rockin' and lived up (or down) to its reputation! Suz was lucky to escape with her reputation and cloths intact!

We got up early the next morning  and motored out to catch one of the few mooring balls at The Indians for some of the best snorkeling in the BVI. We enjoyed more snorkeling at the Caves on Norman Island before heading for anchorage and dinner at the Cooper Island Beach Club.

We decided Saba Rock was calling so headed there for a fun two days. Again thanks to Mark and Suz’s planning there was “music” on the beach BUT all was not just fun and games. We went to CLASSES. Yes, one night we went to Vodka 101 (free drinks sponsored by Finlandia Vodka) and being good students the second night, we went to Tequila 101 (sampled some of the finest Herradura tequilas).

Our stay in North Sound included a dingy ride around Saba Rock to a quaint little beach complete with hammocks, beach huts for shade, shower, bar, and chess. We played two games of chess on the beach. Suz and I let the guys win both times! We couldn’t snorkel here because the bay was filled with jelly fish. So beautiful in the water but there were so many that we thought it wise to stay out of the water. Also saw a sting ray here, too.

Lois at the helm in great winds BVI 2011....

We left Saba Rock and sailed for Anegada with great winds and fair skies where we enjoyed a delicious dinner of lobster and snapper and sunset on the beach at the Anegada Reef Hotel.

We sailed back to Trellis Bay to swap out the blown out head sail and visit the Loose Mongoose. While getting ready for dinner we heard the scrunch and saw the agony of a large catamaran running aground on the reef surrounding The Last Resort. Glad we don’t own that cat as watching them get it off wasn’t pretty.

Leaving early the next day we crossed between the Camanoes to snorkel at Monkey Point. Suz spotted an octopus which was the big find for the day. From there we kept a “weather eye on the horizon” and ran into showers and strong winds before seeking refuge in Cane Garden Bay.

Sandy Cay was known for good snorkeling so we planned to stop by before crossing to Foxy’s Taboo. However, the unsettled weather, and strong winds limited snorkeling opportunities.Lois and Dennis hiked the little island of Sandy Cay to see the foliage and little critters (lizards and snails). It was fun to see these little guys running around with a shell on their backs.

The afternoon was spent in Diamond Cay for several “Wreck on the Rocks” rum drink and the trek to the Bubbly Pool.
Our time was winding down but not us.

Mark and Suz headed to Foxy's BVI 2011....

We had a romping sail over to Foxy’s (Foxy was actually there in the afternoon but says he no long plays for guests). We spent our last night in the beautiful Great Harbor on Peter Island. Warm sun and a glass of wine makes even the best of sailors mellow.

We had great fun and adventured to places on the islands none of us had been before. Great friends, food, fun, and sailing made the trip a special one. Sailing the BVI is an adventure every sailor would enjoy!

Lois and Dennis enjoying BVI 2011....

Miami Beach

We planned two days of our trip to explore Miami Beach and South Beach during our trip to the boat show. We had a great time.

From Strictly Sail Miami .

The skies were bright and sunny both days. It was warm...in the 80's each day.

We arrived about 10 each morning and wandered up and down the beach with our "toes in the water and our ass in the sand, not a care in the world, a cold beer in our hand." Well, maybe not the cold beer on the beach.

Suz wanted to start her summer tan so brought along her swim suit and beach towel. She played in the surf and laid in the sun while I took pictures and people watched.

I saw all types of people: young kids and old couples; tall and short; thin and not so thin; some young ladies that looked great in skimpy (or one piece) bikinis and some who should have worn a big t-shirt.

Several sailboats sailed by, as did a flotilla of little boats. A couple of para-sail rides toured the area each day. Container ships and cruise liners come an went.

Three hours of sun was more than enough for us. We explored the little shops and galleries of South Beach before heading home.

We had a late lunch on Sunday at the old Waldorf Hotel on Ocean drive. They had tables on the patio. We ordered a Hawaii pizza and Suz had the "small" margarita. We laughed when we got the check...$13 for the pizza and $18 for the margarita. :-) Suz said it was worth it!

From Strictly Sail Miami

We may not be able to attend Strictly Sail Miami each year, but it was sure nice to enjoy the sun for a few days.

Strictly Sail Miami

Brrrr....it's cold here in Missouri. I looked at my frequent flyer miles and discovered Suz and I could fly to Miami for the Strictly Sail Boat show. It was over the President's Day weekend, so Suz had an extra day.

From Strictly Sail Miami

We flew into Miami early Thursday morning with plenty of time to attend the boat show in the afternoon. Many of the same vendors were there is were at Chicago. The big difference was that the boats were in slips in the marina. Beneteau, Catalina and others were there as in Chicago. But Hylas, Passport and the big catamarans were also there.

A Hylas 70 (center cockpit) was one of the first boats we visited. It was huge! The wenches were the size of a 5 gallon bucket and hydraulic powered. The master stateroom was as big as our bedroom. It even had a climate controlled wine cabinet. I was surprised to see it had a roller furling main as did all the really big sailboats at the show. The owners (wife and husband) sailed the 70 ft boat with just the two of them unless they were crossing blue water and overnight passages. Then they had at least one other crew member. We were amazed they could sail a boat that size with just by themselves.

Passport had 50 and 60 ft sailboats on display. They were beautiful. The Passport 60 had three large cabins and a huge galley. We would be happy to sail the world in either of these.

We were surprised to see a center cockpit Tartan 5300. It had a great "utility room" built in with a stacking washer and dryer, wet locker for wet suits and storage for dive gear including 4 tanks. A compressor was included!

We toured several big catamarans and decided they had lots of room, but were not what we wanted.

Dinner at Lombardi's Italian ended a great first day.

BVI Here we come!

We met with Lois and Dennis yesterday to plan our summer adventure to the BVIs. We plan to dive for 3 days then sail 10 days on "Alegria del Mar" (Sea Joy) a 2008 Beneteau 46.

We hope to stay on Virgin Gorda for the first three nights while we dive with Dive BVI. We dove with them in 2009 and had a great adventure. We hope to dive "The Dogs" and "Alice in Wonderland" this time.

"Alegria del Mar" should be fun to sail. She is in the BVI Yacht Charters fleet. She has two cabins, AC with genset, and a roller furling main sail.

Now all we need to do is lose those holiday pounds so we look better in a swimsuit.

Stillwell’s Christmas letter, 2010

Each year seems to go faster and faster. 2010 was no exception for the Stillwell clan.

Ellie’s adventures were the highlight of the year. After a very busy and successful senior year, she graduated from Hallsville High School in May. Her salutatorian speech was great! She was funny, articulate and entertaining.

Ellie had many opportunities for colleges and chose University of Washington in Seattle because “it is as far from Missouri as you can go and still be in the continental US.” It also has an outstanding biomedical engineering program and Japanese study program.

We flew to Seattle in July for orientation and had a great time visiting campus and a few of the sites of Seattle. Ellie took advantage of a six week freshman early start program and left us in early August. She is learning all the things that a freshman experiences…new friends, new places, no money, tough classes, small dorm rooms… We look forward to her being home for a couple of weeks at Christmas.

An equal highlight of the year was the announcement that Andy and Ashlynn are expecting a baby in April. Andy works for National Instruments and Ashlynn is going to grad school currently working on her PhD at the University of Texas in Austin. They spent a couple weeks in Australia recently with a conference speaking tour for Ashlynn. Exciting times!

We’ve enjoyed a few grandparent weekends with Finn and Anna, Amy & Sean’s kiddos. Finn is four and a half (almost five) and Anna turned one is September. Both kids are wonderful and a lot of fun. Amy and Sean both continue as architects in Kansas City.

Mark continues his interim position as director of the Cooperative Media Group. It was supposed to be a short term position, but unknown budgets, state appropriations and a university hiring freeze has limited options to fill. Mark has learned a lot about video and radio production and is enjoying the experience. He anticipates he will be in the position at least through next June when next year’s state appropriations are know.

As if he didn’t have enough to do, Mark completed his two year term as regional vice president then was elected to the Epsilon Sigma Phi Second Vice President position this fall. He will progress to VP, then President in 2013. ESP is extension national organization with more than 6,000 members.

Suz stays busy as educational technology director for the Hallsville School District. She provides training and technical support for teachers and administrators. Suz was excited this fall to learn that she would be eligible to retire July 2012, only one more year!!…until Mark reminded her that Ellie isn’t
scheduled to graduate until June 2014.

We didn’t find time to go sailing in the Caribbean this summer, but took a week to dive in San Salvador, Bahamas. San Salvador was the first island that Columbus found when he “discovered” America. We had the usual travel challenges of delayed flights and missed bags …going and coming. Suz had an ear drum injury that ended her diving early, but was able to snorkel above Mark and the group as they dove. Overall we had a good time seeing lots of tropical fish and a few sharks.

The sailing season at Mark Twain Lake is never long enough. We had many good sailing adventures. Suz was elected Mark Twain Lake Sailing Association Commodore for 2011 so we’re planning many sailing weekends at the lake.

Take care and sea you soon.

Sailing Season Ends

Sailing season officially ended yesterday for "Dragonfly." We had hoped we would be able to sail into December, but as we looked at our calendar, we determined we better head to the lake or it would be after Christmas before we got there.

I had not recently looked at the weather, so I was surprised when I stuck my nose out the door and discovered it was cold...about 15 degrees according to the car thermometer.

Suz put on layers and I grabbed my gortex/thincellite hunting pants as we headed to the lake.

The wind was out of the NW almost on our nose as we arrived. We planned to take off the sails and put on the winter cover. We had winterized the head, water system, AC/heater, bilge and diesel a couple of weeks ago.

We started with the jib and then to the main. We have been doing this since 2003, so it is almost routine. We had the sails off, flaked and in the sail bags in less than an hour. We spread them out and reflaked them in the basement when we got home.

The cover went on without a hitch after Suz reminded me how it fit. The cover is in two pieces and protects D'fly from the cold and snow. We spread it out, zippered and bungied it in place.

We had everything loaded and stopped by the Rustic Oak Cabin for lunch.

Overall, we had a good sailing season. We got the thrills of sailing with reefed sails in 40+ mph winds on two different occasions. D'fly survived nicely as did we. It's encouraging to know when someday we decide to drop her in the big pond and sail the Carribiean for a couple of years.

Suz and I enjoyed many sunset cruises by ourselves and a few with others.

Ellie's heading off to college in August was one of the low points. Don't tell her that we miss her. The house is not the same without her around. We are fortunate she has a blog and regulary writes in FaceBook. She'll be home for Chrismas in a 10 days....but whose counting.

Only 110 days until next sailing season!

Better than sailing

We had a great Saturday...and we were at home and not on the boat!! I bet you have already guessed that the kids were home.

From Anna Walking Sept 26 2010

Friday, Andy and Ashlynn drove up from Austin with dog Porter to attend the MIZZOU football game. It was good to see them. Ashlynn is busy working on her PhD in environmental engineering at UT. Andy is a project engineer with National Instruments. We hadn't seen them is since May. It is fun to hear about their adventure with home improvement as they remodeled their kitchen last year and are about to complete their bathroom...the counter top should be installed soon. They have carpet ordered for the family room and a new sofa is on the way.

Amy and Sean dropped of the grand kids, Finn and Anna, on their way to St. Louis for an awards banquet. Sean had three projects that received recognition and Amy picked up an award for her firm for work in Greensburg, KS. They spent the night at a fancy downtown hotel.

We played with Finn and Anna all Friday evening. Anna fell asleep on the sofa with me while we watch a movie. She is just walking...she pushed a clothes basket all around the house and even took a few unassisted steps.

I made biscuits and gravy for breakfast Saturday morning breakfast. It was fun to catch up on all the things Andy is doing. He and Ashlynn left for the football game around 10.

We played with the grandkids, watched several movies, the NASCAR race and napped the afternoon away.

From Anna Walking Sept 26 2010

Andy is known for his pizza, so Saturday night after Amy and Sean got back from St. Louis he made a deep dish sausage/Canadian bacon and a cheesy, tomato, Canadian bacon.

We Skyped Ellie while the pizza was cooking. Ellie is a freshman at UW in Seattle. She was having a great weekend meeting new friends in her dorm and at Dawg Days.

It was good to see her.

Perfect Sailing Weekend -- continues

We set sail for Florida Pool. The winds were a consistent 10-15 knot out of the SSE. "I'm hungry," Suz said as we entered Florida Pool. I scurried below, opened a cold Riesling, made a quick salad, sliced an apple and found a packet of Ritz crackers....a typical lunch while we sail.

A couple of glasses of wine and a little sun is all Suz needs for an afternoon nap. I sailed to the 107 bridge, tacked and sailed back across Florida Pool and back to Shaffer's Ford before Suz woke. Several sailboats were sailing across Spalding Pool. MAC II was among them! Dennis and Lois aboard MAC II spent 6 weeks driving to Alaska this summer. This was the first time we saw them at the lake since they returned. We sailed together and headed back to Florida with several other boat....Valhalla, Kokomo, MAC II and others.



It was 5 o'clock when we headed to Ski Cove and the evening raft-up. Myron and Terri aboard Endeavor had already anchored and was ready for us. We had a great evening cooking dinner and catching up with Dennis and Lois and Myron and Terri's adventures.

The moon was just rising over the eastern shore when Sandy and Tom sailed into the raft-up. Tom had spent the day reviewing an old boat in southern Iowa for Good Old Boat magazine. He reported a great sail with 15-20 knot winds.

We talked and laughed under the bright moon before finally heading to bed to dream of fair winds tomorrow.

Sunday morning broke bright and clear with a light breeze. We relaxed over breakfast and took a quick swim before weighing anchor and heading for a sail.

The winds did not disappoint us with a steady 10-12 with gusts to 22 knots. We made a quick pass across Spalding before heading to Florida Pool. In less than 3 hours we had sailed the 8 miles to the 107 bridge and back. Our only tack was to turn around at the bridge.

Good winds and good friends made it a weekend we will not soon forget.

Perfect Sailing Weekend

We had one of those weekends that's about a perfect as you can have.

It started a little late on Friday night. I had a 5:00 p.m. retirement reception for Al Black, a colleague for many years. The reception was in Blue Springs, near Kansas City...and about 3 hours west of Mark Twain Lake.

When Suz heard I would be going to the reception, she started looking for a ride to the lake. She was not surprised to learn that Tom and Sandy were headed up after work on Friday. They were happy to let Suz ride along.

Suz reported that they arrived a the lake at about 6:00, unpacked and stowed the supplies, and headed for Hannibal for dinner. Melissa, who owns Rustic Oak Restaurant at the lake, purchased another restaurant in Hannibal right on the Mississippi River. It's a great location with good food at a good price.

I celebrated Al's retirement and headed back to Columbia with my suburban full of passengers. It was right at 10:00 when I left my last passenger out at her car and headed for Mark Twain Lake. I gave Suz a quick call and learned they were on their way back to the marina after a great evening with Sandy and Tom. She would be ready to set sail when I arrived.

True to her word, Suz had most of the cobwebs cleared from Dragonfly when I arrived. I stowed my bags and changed into shorts and t-shirt before dropping the dock lines, unfurling the Genoa and sailing out of the slip to the light of a recently full moon. It's hard to beat a night sail with 5 knot winds, a bright moon and Suz snuggled up beside me.

We dropped anchor in Ski Cove at 1:30.

Clear skies and cool breeze awoke us the next morning.

Suz cooked pancakes while I planned the day. Surveying the cockpit and cabin top verified that a good scrubing was high on the list. Suz finished breakfast dishes as I grabbed a brush, deck cleaner and began the task. Two hours later we had a clean boat . We were both hot so took a quick dip in the lake to cool off and a quick shower on the stern swim platform to wash our hair. We were ready for the day.

I had just finished toweling off when a small John boat came around the point. As they passed about 50 ft away, the young lady on the bow flashed a big smiled and pulled down her top. I gave her a double tumbs up as they passed by.

The day was off to a good start.

5 o'clock on Mark Twain Lake

It's been a busy summer away from the lake. Thursday night we listened to the weather...Saturday high about 88 with 5-10 mph winds. Perfect!

We were packed and on the road by 5 o'clock Friday night.

The spiders and bugs had made a mess of the boat. I turned on the AC to cool her down. Suz grabbed a scrub brush while I put stuff away down below and packed the frig. We finished about the same time so Suz started the diesel as I cast off the line and we motored out of the slip.

From August 8

Five minutes later we were raising the sails to enjoy at nice evening sail to Ski Cove. There was only one other sailboat on the lake. It was Mucky Duck!!

Mucky Duck sat at the end of F Dock unsailed for almost ten years before being drug out and up to the upper storage lot. She was purchased and restored last year. This was the first time I had seen her on the lake. She looked great.

As we entered Spalding Pool Suz looked at her watch and said, "It's way past 5 o'clock!"That was my clue to get a Marguerite.

We arrived in Ski Cove just a the sun was setting. We enjoyed the last few minutes of sunshine, dropped the anchor and then cooked supper -- salad with garden fresh tomatoes, grilled pork loin, and potato wedges.

The stars were shining brightly as we went to bed. It was good to be back on the lake.

Seattle

Our daughter Ellie is enrolled in the University of Washington. She hopes to study bio-medical engineering. We traveled with Ellie to freshmen student and parent orientation. Ellie stayed in the dorm and had a two day program.

Suz and I had Thursday free so we explored downtown Seattle and took the ferry to Bainbridge Island. We saw the fish and farmers market, had a great lunch of clam chowder and a glass of wine before boarding the ferry.

From Seattle

From Seattle

"Let's Go Sailing" was a large sailboat -- we guessed about 60 ft -- available for a 2 or 3 hour sail. We saw it in dock the out on Puget Sound.

From Seattle

Bainbridge was a nice island. We took the harbor walk to the marina and enjoyed the weather.

From Seattle

Diving in San Salvador - the rest of the story

Suz visited the local clinic on Monday morning. They confirmed a small hole in her ear drum. They gave her several medicines and sent her on the way with instructions not to dive for 4-6 weeks. Total bill was about $45.

Suz napped and laid in the sun for a couple of days then was ready to be on the water. Dennis offered her a pair of soft earplugs to keep water out of her ear. She accepted the offer and snorkeled above us while we dove. She saw many fish including a shark and swam with a turtle.

Diving the rest of the week went without a hitch. Dwain, Capt. Nemo's Dive Shop, offered to replace Suz as my dive buddy. We slowed down and focused our dives on exploring the coral and sand for the wild and wonderful varieties of fish. The highlights were being up close to French and Queen Angelfish; finding a very small juvenile spotted drum fish (to small for my photographic skills); and swimming with a small hawkbill turtle. Oh yes, we did see a hammerhead shark and several reef shark...and there was the night dive....

As I became more relaxed, my air lasted longer and I had better buoyancy control. I ended the week with 14 lbs of weight...4 lbs less than the first day. I was one of the last ones to surface on a couple of dives!

Our adventure ended with our flight back to Nassau then on to Atlanta and St. Louis. I wonder when our dive gear will find its way home?

A big THANK YOU to Dwain and Mary at Capt. Nemo's for a great adventure.


Check our Picasa site for pictures...more coming just as soon as I find time to work through them!

http://picasaweb.google.com/DragonflyB331/SanSalvador#

Orange filefish...I think

From San Salvador

Site where Columbus is thought to have anchored when he "discovered" America.

From San Salvador

Dwain and a turtle.

From San Salvador

Mermaid Suz swimming above us as we dove.

From San Salvador

Diving San Salvador, Bahamas

We have made it to San Salvador, Bahamas. We plan to dive for a week.

We flew out of St. Louis early yesterday morning for our dive vacation in the Bahamas. We are diving with 23 others out of Riding Rock Resort on San Salvador. San Salvador is reported to be the island where Columbus first landed in America.

From San Salvador

Our adventure began when we reached Nassau about noon. We were supposed to meet a guide and board small plane for the hop to San Salvador. We checked through customs, retrieved our dive bag and headed for the charter. Our guide was waiting for us. We sailed through check-in and even had time for a hamburger.

Then the wait began. First, we were said to have missed our 1:30 flight. I looked at my watch. It was 1:45. Hummm. No problem mon! There is a 4:30 flight.

4:30 arrived and went…no flight. At 5:00 we learned the plane had arrived and was refueling. It held 19, so who wanted to go on the first flight? A second plane was right behind the first, so only a short delay was expected. Dwain selected the 19 and we prepared to go.

5:30 – we’ll be boarding in 5 minutes.

5:45 --- just a few more minutes…they had to match luggage to passengers.

6:00 – we’re off!! We rounded the corner and saw a VERY SMALL 19 seat plane. We crowded in and roared down the runway. Everyone felt like they needed to raise our feet in unison so we could lift off! Finally we were airborne.

An hour later we landed on San Salvador. We taxied to the terminal, safe and happy to be on the ground. We unloaded and waited for our luggage. 12, 13, 14, 15…..where’s my luggage? Back in Nassau.

No problem mon…it will be on the next flight.

We checked in, found our room, had a cup of rum punch at the reception and sat down to dinner. Suz had grouper, I had steak. We were just getting our food when the remaining 6 arrived…without our luggage. A small cardboard box was all the luggage that had arrived with the others! Eight of the 21 divers and two non-divers were without luggage.

Suz and I had made a good decision…we kept our carry on with us for the hop to San Salvador. We had our clothes and Suz’s dive gear.

Lynn, our dive master, said not to worry. She had enough equipment that we could all dive.
We were up early on Sunday July 4. A quick breakfast and we were off to the boat. It took about an hour to sort through all the rental equipment and get us outfitted. I guessed on about 12 lbs of weight as I would dive in swimsuit and t-shirt…no wet suit. Suz had her own equipment so she was set.

We hit the water and sank to the bottom. I was about right going down. We headed along the reef, and turned around when I had about 1500 lbs left (half tank). Dwain saw us, and switched with Mary and headed back with me. We arrived back at the boat without a hitch.

We saw several parrot fish, black beauty angelfish and a lot of black durgeon.

Second dive was not as successful. We swam along the reef to a gap then headed back. I was low on air (less than 1500) so headed back. You use less air at a shallower depth so we accessed to 30 feet. Unfortunately, I couldn’t control my buoyancy. I didn’t have enough weight or couldn’t get all the air out of my BC, so I struggled to say down for my safety stop. Heavy breathing didn’t help either. But we made it back to the boat safely.

Our luggage arrived as we finished lunch. We swapped equipment and cruised out for our afternoon dive. I guessed on 16 lbs weights for my equipment with the wet suit. We jumped into the water and tried to descend. I was a little light, so had problems going down. I had to stop and clear my ears a couple of extra times. On previous dives we had swam out with the reef to our left and back with it on our right. Our dive master took us around a hump and headed out. When I got down to 1500 lbs, I didn’t have a clue where I was. I ascended to 35-40 feet and hovered waiting for the dive master to turn around. Suz came up to me pointing at her ear. I finally got the dive masters attention and we headed back.

We learned that Suz had gone over a ridge and tried to equalize as she headed back down. She heard a “pop” and felt cold water in her ear when she tried to equalize.

We guessed she had did something to her ear drum and later confirmed it as we filled her ear with water and it bubbled when she held her nose and blew.

Oh well, no pain, but she is done for the week. Now she has a chance to enjoy the beach!

Will and Rob

Suz and Ellie went back to Cunningham, KS this weekend to celebrate her dad's birthday. They stopped by KC and spent the night with Amy, Sean, Finn and Anna. The took Finn with them on Friday. Anna, Amy and Sean went after work on Friday.

Andy and Ashlynn drove up from Austin, TX to join the celebration.

I had several projects and meetings on Friday, so I stayed behind and decided to sail on Saturday. I needed a crew, so I asked Rob to crew with me. Cindy was out of town, so Rob and Will signed on for the day.

From June 25

We had the sacrifice cloth on our Genoa come loose. We tried to repair it on Suz's home sewing machine, but it was not powerful enough to stitch through all the layers of sunbrella and sail.

Sandy volunteered to try to repair the sail with the sewing machine on their boat, Higher Porpoise. I brought the sail back to the lake on Friday night. Sandy pulled out her machine, settled down with the sail around her and within about 10 minutes.

Tom helped my get it back on Dragonfly! Thanks Sandy.



We celebrated by driving to Hannibal and having dinner at Mellisa's new Rustic Oak Restaurant on the Mississippi River.

Summer Sailstice

Suz had Friday off, so we ran up to the lake on Thursday night. We cast off the docklines and sailed to Florida. We enjoyed a great sunset. Unfortunately, the pictures don't do the sunset justice.

From June 19

We sailed by the light of the half moon back to Ski Cove an anchored for the night. I had to work Friday, so we enjoyed the sunrise on the ride back to the dock.

MTLSA had our Commodore's Cup and Summer Sailstice celebration this weekend. Trailor sailors from the Rockford, Ill joined our event. See more pictures at MTLSA photos

http://picasaweb.google.com/MTLSAphotos

Ellie's Graduation

We have missed a few sailing weekends this spring as Ellie is a senior in high school. She graduated on May 29 as class salutatorian. My totally unbiased observations based on years of training and experience is that she did a great job with her speech! She was articulate and funny; very expressive in her gestures...yes, she takes after her mom.

From Ellie Graduation 2010

Siblings Amy and Andy and their families joined the celebration.

From Ellie Graduation 2010

Here is Suz with Ashlynn, Amy holding Anna, and Ellie

From Ellie Graduation 2010

Ellie is off to University of Washington this fall where she plans to major in biomedical engineering...yes, she takes after her mom.

Sailing on Mark Twain Lake

Warm weather has finally come to Missouri. It had been wet and rainy with highs in the 60's. The sun came out last week and it warmed to the high 80's. This gave Suz a chance to get some sun.



Sunday we had good sailing with consistent winds of 12-15 knots.

From May 5

A video of our May 23 sailing is available atMTLSA YouTube site

Spinnaker

We have been wanting to buy a spinnaker to fly on light wind days. We found a used on at Bacon Sails online. It came with a dousing sock that should make raising and lower the sail easier.

From April 11 Thursday nite race

Here is a video of our first try.




We have learned that it works best for Suz to be at the bow and manage the spinnaker. Mark can pull up the halyard and trim the gib sheet. We attach a block to the toe rail near the wench.

We also learned we need to be careful of the wind speed. We tried to fly it in 12+ knots of wind and almost ran aground trying to bing it down.

It will be fun to learn more as we sail this summer.

Road Trip to Texas

Last week was spring break at Hallsville and University of Missouri. We hadn't seen Ashlynn and Andy since Christmas, so we decided a road trip was in order. We picked up Ellie when she got off work from her evening shift at Ruby Tuesday's and headed south.

We arrived in Austin 14 hours later after driving all night...just in time for lunch. Rudy's BBQ seemed like the best option. We were not disappointed.

Andy took off Monday to show us the area around Texas. We headed SW of Austin to the Hill Wine Country. We stopped by several wineries and sampled several different wines. Our overall impression was that the wines were good, but the wine tastings were not.

From Spring Break 2010

Maybe it was a Monday afternoon, but the servers didn’t appear to know much about the wineries or wine and were not in a very talkative mood. Our last stop at Wood Rose was the best. The young lady was happy to see us and knew the basics about her wine. They had a nice outside patio and reasonably priced cheese and cracker plate.

From Spring Break 2010

Back in Austin and Andy cooked us his famous sausage pizza for supper. It was great!

Thanks to Ashlynn, Andy and Porter for a great stay!

From Spring Break 2010