Summer Thunderstorms

Who doesn't love a summer thunderstorm? Apparently, buying car insurance isn't the only thing you can do in 15 minutes or less during one. Other times you just have to take some pictures.

Enjoy!

When did we get here???

Key Largo day five, and we finally got into the water. Visibility was still amazingly horrible. 3-6 feet on the reef. The wreck dive for the afternoon was cancelled due to storms, engine troubles, current, locusts, and mung. Total bottom time for this trip so far 35 mins, 30 seconds. I managed to grab a couple of shots despite the crappy dive.

Enjoy!!!

Finally.....Sorta

We finally got on the water today. We had a whopping 12-18 inches of visibility. Total dive time 30 seconds. The afternoon was spent eating Mahi wraps and washing them down with Key West Ale at Sharky's. Then it was off to a hammock for a nap. Here are the pictures of the day. On a side note the picture of me in the water was taken by my trusty sidekick "Davey".

Enjoy!

Country Time Lemonade

The sun finally came out, then it went down.

Followed, looked, and circled, but failed to pull the trigger. Ahhh vacation. (You'll either get that or you won't)

Enjoy!!

The Wind Sucks

2 days
too many inches of rain
Lots of wind
5 dive shops
1 trip to Wendy's
1 trip to Subway
2 trips to K-mart
1 trip to Tower Pizza
1 trip to Radio shack
1 trip to Ace Hardware
2 trips to Publix
1 trip to Wynne Dixie
5 trips to tourists shell stores
1 trip to The Great Wall
1 shower with a voyeur/exhibitionist window to the parking lot

0 Dives

The Wind Blows

Greetings from the Florida Keys, now I remember why I moved from Florida. Bypassing 25 miles of traffic going the other direction and signs explaining why I should be leaving too I ventured in. I figured if they didn't want me here they would turn me around. In preparation for the storm we bought the essentials. Water and Beer. The news described the weather as "bad enough to sink a duck". I haven't seen any sunk ducks, but their situation seems dire.

101 +/- 355

We visited the Advance on Friday. There was about 20 feet of visibility, I had 2 nice long dives. The only problem I had was that my camera was drying in my garage. It's now in a Jeep on it's way to Key Largo. Hopefully it will steer TS Fay somewhere else, because I have pictures to take next week. In the mean time I completed my 100th open water dive on Friday. There was no cake, no presents, just a nice day on the water. It was also my 456th dive, if you count my diving at the aquarium. The great thing about diving at the aquarium is...well the diving, and being able to test all your new toys. So enjoy! No I'm not afraid of sharks, no I've never been attacked, I don't know what that fish is. (you either get that or you don't)

Tune in next week for the warm blue waters of Key Largo, and maybe a beer or two.

Earworms and Muppets

Everyone has had an earworm. Today I was blessed with having the theme to the "Muppet Show" stuck in my head. Ordinarily this wouldn't be a problem, after all if you, if you don't enjoy the Muppets, you're no friend of mine, and possibly communist? The problems start when you're buddy starts humming the theme in perfect pitch and tune 70 feet underwater. If you've ever donned scuba gear, you know that sooner or later you can do anything underwater that you can above it. That includes, laughing your ass off. If you smile underwater you're sure to flood your mask...and well things go downhill from there.

We visited the Jackson again today. We had 30 feet of visibility, but the rain and cloud cover made for a darker than normal dive. I added a fix light to my bag of tricks today, which allows me to shine light on my subject, making focusing in the dark easier (it makes a cool flashlight in blackouts too). I was shooting with my 60mm macro lens. I spent a great deal of bottom time chasing Blennies (I think). Sometimes they cooperated sometimes the didn't, and the dark conditions made for a interesting photographic experience.

~Enjoy!!