I woke up about a half an hour before I intended to – but felt really good after finally getting a pretty decent nights sleep. Woke up rested and only mildly beaten. 3 Aspirin before I went to bed helped a bunch….. that and being just plain ole worn out. Made me a small breakfast and then gathered my gear up. Grabbed a bottle of Spark and headed out the door. I finally got the right mix of Spark now for it to do me some good~! I nursed the Spark and had a cigarette before arriving at the dive boat (Only about 8 minutes away – I love it~!) I got there a little bit early, so I sat in my truck, finished my Spark, had another cigarette and swapped a couple of texts with my Queen.
08:30 – Got loaded up on the boat – got my first tank assembled and sat and waited on the rest of the divers. There was some technical issues with one of the rigs and the dive master had to make a quick run to the shop for parts. I wasn’t really in a hurry anyway – so it was all good. Finally underway – first dive site was North Star – I have dove that site a couple of times in the last couple of weeks, but I didn’t really mind. Vis was decent and I dropped straight down onto about a 4′ Barracuda~! Several other good finds…. (Jelly fish and a turtle~!) A very enjoyable dive. A long boat ride later and we wound up on a site I have been trying to get to since I arrived on the island…… the West Wall of Salt river~!! In we went, minus a couple of divers from the first group (ear and eye issues) — Many, many, many years ago, when ocean levels were much lower, Salt River was an actually river, with waterfalls where it entered the ocean. Now, under water, you can still see where the ‘falls’ where at~! Just past the base of the falls, the ‘wall’ falls off to some 13,000′. What an awesome experience to float out over that edge and start sinking, knowing there is over 2 miles of water under you~!!!! As we swam along the wall, we ran into what the dive master later referred to as ‘a cloud’. It was like someone flipped a light switch and visibility dropped almost instantly to less than 15′. An eerie feeling… like going almost instantly blind. We spent about 20 minutes in the cloud before we finally swam our way out of it. It sucks because I couldn’t see anything or take any decent pictures – but still kind of cool in it’s own right. We were rewarded though, as we got back to the boat – I was using the remainder of my air when I got visited by 4 Caribbean Reef sharks. Not very friendly or cooperative – but I managed a couple of pictures and a [long] video you’ll have to go to FB to watch [sorry]…………….
A day off from diving tomorrow, as I am supposed to help friends move a friend (same one from a couple of weeks ago) – so not sure what tomorrow brings….. until then – fun pictures from today to share with you~!
Received word Clem Penrose passed away late yesterday….. You were a cool old dude Clem and the place will be a little sadder now that you’re gone. R.I.P. brother~
Good Night Ya’ll – – – – – – – – – – Thankx for stopping in~!
Barracuda~!
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