CaptainOrange

Double Crested Cormorant We have started to fall into a really good rhythm here. What with the not throwing up added to lots of sun and diving, it is starting to feel very much like a vacation. Or at the very least, some place that I don't loathe existing in :) We did morning dives again, which means no coffee as we have to be at Quiescence  by 8am. We were on French Reef today. The two locations we did were called Hard Bottom Cave and Hourglass Cave. As you might expect, each of these locations offered some nooks and crannies to weave through. Neither contained any seriously challenging elements, but both were substantially deeper dives than yesterday. Speaking of which, here are some numbers from yesterday at Northern Dry Rocks . Dive 1 -- Minnow Cave 59 minutes at 4m average and 6.1m max Dive 2 -- Dry Rock (Not sure of this name and I think Brad is sick of me asking...) 58 minutes, averaging 4.9m and 7.3m max. Today's Dives:  Weather Hot and Sunny. Light ...

American White Ibis As you know, I like to have coffee in the morning. If you know Brad, you will also know that although he loves coffee (possibly even more than me) he does not love morning. What I'm saying is that I've had to make due with another of my weird animal coffee buddies. Meet the American White Ibis . They seem to be quite curious, and though they are a little skittish, they don't seem to mind posing for pictures. If you were checking Google+ early this morning, you probably noticed that I was feeling pretty positive about my chances for diving in Key Largo today.  I'm really not sure how I managed to be so upbeat after yesterday's gore-fest on the boat. But, I shall not keep you in suspense. I held my breakfast down today! Let the trumpets trumpet and the banners... ban. Brad and I did two dives after lunch totalling about 1hr 55min. The number of fish was really quite spectacular. I found this lovely fish in Florida [Nope! Link now broken....

7:30am Got up and headed for the dive shop. My G+ crew will recognize this optimistic video clip. Headache and stuffiness better but not gone. I decided to give snorkelling rather (than scuba) a try. This was a good plan for a number of reasons. The first reason was that I did still find it difficult to clear my ears, particularly on ascent. It's not a very big deal snorkelling because you don't go to the same depths and therefore there is much less equalization pressure on your ear drum and sinus cavities. Leaving the Keys The other reason that I'm glad that I snorkelled instead is that I was violently sick to my stomach 25 minutes after getting in the water. If you are down at 30 or 40 feet at the time, this can become tricky. You probably remember that I had this same problem early on in Honduras. There is one small difference. I took anti-nausea medication in advance this time. It just didn't work. I don't know if it is because I am immune to this ...

Tuesday -- 7am Still congested. Brad and I agreed that I shouldn't dive today. Extra sleep for me. 8:30am I've managed to get up, shower, and have coffee and a scone. All without hilarious incident. The view out the front door is... okay The view 50 metres out back is somewhat more inspiring Morning Coffee Companion Proof of manly shopping expedition 2pm Brad back from Diving. He reports that the diving was excellent and that there were a lot more fish on his first dive than we saw at the most fishy dive in Honduras. I'm excited to see if his stories live up to the tale. Brad can be given to such exaggeration. We went and found a local grocery store and stocked up on fresh produce and some bread. Tomorrow we will be barbecuing. 4pm Drove into Miami (an hour 1-way). We checked out a couple of stores that sell board/card games and found one to play when we are stopped places for coffee or to sponge free wifi. Additional pictures from thi...

I have been sick for a couple of days leading into this trip. It's a sinus cold, which is not conducive to diving. A ruptured aorta while in shark infested waters is about equivalent ;) Monday -- 4am Wendy was kind enough to help me fumble my way to the airport. Being sick, short on sleep, short on coffee, and panicked about forgetting something vital (like boots when mountain climbing for instance), Wendy seemed torn between kissing me goodbye and reporting me as a terrorist to airport security. Here is a breakdown of my first 10 minutes at the airport: Pass through security. Forget 1.5 day old iPhone5 in an airport security bin. Purchase coffee. Wandered upstairs to wait at departure gate. Walk back down for coffee that I forgot on the condiment counter. Return to my gate. Answer cell call from wife. Karma-Free Sunrise Wendy: Are you awake yet? Me: I left my new phone in a bin. A kind security agent found me as I was buying coffee and returned it t...

Obligatory Back to School Photo Of course the biggest change this month is that Wendy and the girls all went back to school. Phew! I love them--you know I do, but I'm still happy when everyone gets back into the rhythm of school. I get a little more time to myself in the morning and things feel a little less rushed... for me. Everyone else, on the other hand is in quite a tizzy. Wendy is walking downtown every morning to the SPSD division office and trying to destroy the demons of chaos that threaten our children's educational existence. She has a host of new responsibilities this year and it has been a bit of a wild ride for her to try and get it together. She needs new challenges like the rest of us, so I figure it's all to the good. We hosted a pot-luck dinner party for her colleagues last night to try and help the team gel right at the start of the year. Father walking stalking children to school... Leora is trying to get the hang of her first year of high ...

It's a whole new game. The score is tied at 3 victories a piece. I left the house at 4:40am--10 minutes behind schedule. I have often had company for this section of the journey, but this year I was on my own. The first new thing for this trip is the new Tim Horton's in Stonebridge. I availed myself of a little pick-me-up and headed East. The morning was cold and calm. The moon looked over my shoulder as I headed out parallel to the railroad tracks. All the rain we've had this summer meant healthy plant growth and the cool morning was heavy with dew. My shoes were shortly soaked through and I found it necessary to pause every couple of hours to strip off my shoes and dry them in the sun. A major change from previous years is that I didn't take a "real" camera. I had only my trusty iPhone3GS. I was feeling unsure about my ability to complete the trek this year and I was concerned about the extra weight a camera would add. That and Environment Canada pre...