"tender tummies" LOL very accurate description of a novice. I hope they come in safe and don't stay out too long in the storm. I would hate to see hear that the die-hards died young!
Better they live to scuba another day cause that big old sea is there to stay and there's many other chances for good scuba and play.
Nature's Underwater Gardens II
Zany, what a poet you are! Seems to have died down somewhat....but my friends at the weater station tell me there is more and bigger soon to come. Haven't heard if the dive boat is back yet...so it must still be out there, word travels fast on a tiny rock like ours. Sure wish some of the others would get on line here....I love John's pictures. So what's going on in California today? Did you have a fun 4th? Here's a Black and White Snapper to give you the "fish-eye".
Oh my what a fish eye he is giving the camera!
I am loving all the great photos on there but I'm with you on wishing they would get back here and keep us company.
I had a quiet 4th since I had to work but it was still a nice day. Friends brought me a plate from their BBQ YUMMMY! And I watched the little fireworks of the children in the neighborhood when I got home since it was too late to go see any of the local bigger displays. I tend to volunteer to work holidays so those with small kids still at home can be with them since mine are all grown and out of the area now.
Shari, are you still doing OK?? Have the others come back yet??
Storm sounds fierce Shari - hope all is well with you and your friends....
Shari,
Here you have been worrying over all of us and now you and your friends are in harms way.
Will pray for the safety of the divers and that they are all back ?safe? on shore. Don't understand when you say your patio just flew by your window. Thinking your power is out.
Waiting to hear from you.
Christi
Yeah, I got a funny image of that patio flying. lol.
Shari, hope all is well there. Get back on as soon as you can.
Let's hope the divers got back....patio furniture can be replaced.
Shari, did the weather/seas calm down yet....I have been stuck in bad weather on a dive boat and it's not pleasant. I trust the skipper found safe harbour somewhere and everyone rode it out safely....let us know as soon as you can....phone service still up???
j
I am going to assume the best and think everyone is safe. Hopefully the storm is past and power will be restored soon. Too long with now DG is just not healthy!
Hello my friends! We are all safe. The bigger, badder storm never materialized. I was mistaken about the boat the divers were on ... it was an LCU. Big, strong, and they were fine....actually had a good couple of dives because it wasn't a superhot day, found good places in lea of islands and had lots of fun. All my worry was just a waste of energy. Here though we had some damage....The cover of our patio was blown off and some of the cross bars were broken...lots of plants blown over...some may not recover. Today is clean up day. It turns out it really wasn't a bad storm, but I am on a corner - so got the brunt of it. No one was hurt that we know of, but just property damage around the island. We have definately been through worse. Thank you all for your concerns - sorry to have caused worry.
I am delighted to hear everyone is safe. Sorry to hear about your wind damage but on the bright side, one plant that does't make it equals a chance to replace it with 2 ~4 others ;~) At least that is what I told my DH when he kept mowing some of my pretties down. LOL he got to be pretty careful after I carried through with that threat on his credit card.
Shari, so glad to hear that everyone is safe! If you need anything just let us know.
Zanymouse, I went through the same with my hubby that is also the way he learned to stay away from my plants........ LOL
Glad to hear every ting kris mon!
I just returned from a friend's house and he came up with a great idea....after a big storm tore his extra big satellite dish apart, he turned it upside down, raised it 12 feet off the ground, covered it with 50% screening and now it shelters over 20 different varieties of orchids!!! Maybe you too can find a purpose from the mashed up patio umbrella!! Make lemonade when you get lemons!!!
Glad to hear the divers are safe.....sorry to hear you took a hit....let me know if I can send something for you....got lots of cuttings going on here....We missed you.
john
Shari, a bouquet of Social Feather Dusters to brighten your day!!! I would bring them personally if I could....
j
Oh John - They're beautiful!! Thanks everyone! Yes, I have that "replacement ratio" down much too well. People call my yard a Jungle now! Hah! I am no where near done! In fact, I'm trying to take part in the Plumeria Co-op....you all know about that? Check it out in the Co-op Forum.
John - talk about "social" here is a Lined Butterfly and a Bluestreak Fusilier who are having some sort of major conversation....would love to know what they are talking about!
Lined Butterfly just told Bluestreak Fusilier that her date last night was a real octopus and had trouble keeping his tentacles to himself... and Blue is telling her it serves her right for dumping him for that creepy invertebrate anyway.
ROFLMAO !!! Butterflys are so shallow!
And here I thought they were discussing how those silly humans had finally decided that the Moon was important enough to be in DG - well DUH!
Thank goodness you are ok. Just took a side trip to Wikipedia for more information about your part of the world. oooooowheeee! You are out there, girl. Notice it is not yet a toursit attraction....and there I was planning my vacation.
Christi - probably won't be a "tourist attraction" for many years to come! It's an Army base. Gotta have a reason to be here, or a sponsor, or you can't even get on the plane in Honolulu. But, ya see, I be a sponsor! Tee hee! But that is one of the reasons our lagoon is so human friendly - no masses of tourists handling it in ignorance. When we (read all the islanders) take our guests out into the water, we make sure they know how to properly treat a reef. Right John? More damage is done unintentionally by ignorance than by storms. I'm sure the same is true of the Caymans.
Hey, John. This is causing me to educate myself in more ways than one. Just checked Wikipedia about the Cayman Islands. Seems this is just the opposite of Marshall Islands.
Lots and lots of tourism. The tourisom(sp) sites seems a little pricey. Maybe that is because I just don't how to check these things.
Aw, do you mean that if a land lubber like me manages to get sponsored to visit you wouldn't let me go down with a chisel and break off big chunks off a genuine living reef to bring home as souvenirs? Or even net a couple ddozen nice rare specimens to sell statside to help me pay for my trip? Now what kind of hospitality is that? LOL I guess it might not go over too well at that.
Right!!!! Like I can see you with a hammer and chisel banging away at the coral....LOL - I'd send some of the men in gray suits over to tap on your shoulder and say.....um...excuse me....um.....buy would you mind terribly not doing that....um....
Better send out the guys with the long sleeved white coats while your at it cause I'd have to be totally crazy to go diving when I can't swim!
Wow, how big is that thing?
He's about 4ft. Not very big - a Gray Reef Shark. Zany - get your butt out here and I will teach you how to swim!!!!! The sharks in the lagoon are actually very human friendly - well maybe not friendly exactly - but we leave them alone, and they leave us alone. Not so oceanside! My SIL was fishing off the "Shark Pit" one night and fell in! He's very macho - but even he admitted that he was scared! Luckily he got back to the rocks between waves, and climbed back up with only minor rock scrapes. There is one guy out there we call Frankenstein who is about 20 ft long! He can be seen from the helicopters that fly between the islands. NOBODY wants to mess with him!!!
20 ft long! That must be some monster.
LOL teach me to swim? That would be fun. I sink. Anyone ever wants to do away with me just needs to toss me in and I'll sink, no need for cement weights. Funny thing is I am not afraid of the water and have almost drown several times when I got in too deep and forgot I can't swim. It isn't bad in a pool because I can push to the surface for air and walk out or swim underwater to the edge. But I can't reach the surface if the water is too deep.
LOL!! The ability to sink is a great commodity for divers! Most of them (including my DH - who plays Scuba Santa with no padding), wear numerous weights on a belt to help them get down under the water....Too bad you can't bottle that talent, you could make enough to pay your way here for swimming lessons!
Here is a shot of various types of corals....and a little fishy hiding from the camera. The round one is razor coral....aptly named I assure you!
Nice to see some of you in the chat room...I have never noticed it open before and just gave it a spin tonight for the first time....kinda busy...folks talk and type fast...too many conversations going on at once but it was fun and I look forward to joining in again soon....I see there hasn't been a post here after Miss Shari's razor coral so I will add this for tonight and call it a day....diving at night presents it's own set of issues, not to mention very dark subjects that are masters of camoflauge at any time....this longsnout was shot in one of the canals in shallow water.....on snorkel, amongst the beer cans and barracudas....have a good night all...
aurabest,
j
Oh he's adorable! And look how he matches his surroundings!
I haven't posted any of the wreck dives around here, but some of them are pretty cool. This is at what we call 1st ship. Not sure exactly how it got that name, but anyway - take a gander:
694 views!!!! I feel like putting up a guest book/sign in sheet! Wish you folks would tell us what you think!
Looks like that ship is a "host" for lots of marine life. So many fish swimming and the coral, etc. growing.
In my mind, I can hear Celine Dion (or whatever her name is) singing the song from the Titanic! HAHAHAHA
Shari, I'd love to see more photos of the dives, or what did you call them...Wreck Dives. Sad for the folks who were on these ships, but very interesting for us on this thread.
John your sea horse is beautiful.
I've had 3 grand babies here off and on for a few days, so haven't been able to take the time to comment properly. I love all of the photos and have really enjoyed my "island friendship" with you folks.
Janet
John, thank you so much for the seahorse! I was studying your beautiful picture........does something have lights on it? It looks like there are some small glowing spots behind the seahorse...........
Ann, he probably used a strobe light to get the picture....don't know for sure - he'll let us know eventually. Ha ha.
Janet - yes - the ships or wrecks, because some are planes, copters, etc. can be fascinating. Most of these are relics of WWII....this was a big battle site, there are lots. And all the sea life sort of treats them like a new subdivision or a high rise condo! In fact the Scuba Club just bought a copter from the Army that they are going to sink for the high school biology class and the scuba club to watch as an on=going project. I was against this for ecological reasons, but they convinced me that it was just giving the sealife a new place to grow, and to watch the timing of the growth would be a good lesson for the folks out here.
So much food for thought there Shari. I hadn't thought about the battles that were fought in your region and the planes, etc. that went down. As I said in the beginning of watching this thread, I learn something new every day. Good thing I read that since this day is almost over for me. :-)
Looking forward to more photos and learning more about your neck of the woods. :-)
Janet
John, as my daughter used to say "that seahorse picture is so clear it almost looks real"
The razor coral sounds deadly but it is probably a good defense from predators.
We have a jetty here that was built using old cars, washing machines, chunks of old concrete roads and whatever else was available. It is teeming with ocean life. I would rather see it used to provide homes for fish than dumped in a landfill as long as they don't include batteries or other toxic garbage.
I agree about the jetty. If we can put our garbage to some sort of use, that is all for the good!
Yeah, WWII is not just history out here. Relics are everywhere, and some of the islands still have bunkers, tanks, cannon etc....right out where ya walk past em everyday. We occasionally find unexploded ordnance (big bullets and small bomb type thingys), either washed up on shore, or unburied when someone does some digging. There is even one island that has two towns on it....Betty and Lana...both named for pin up girls of WWII.
Here is another shot of 1sh ship:
Shari, bring that cap over here!! :~p
Yeah....we've been pretty quiet here lately. What's goin on with you Pep?
Working, baking, chores around house, gardens, trying to stay caught up and not suceeding much. lol. Then I have a big family cookout on Sunday and we are trying to get ready for that too. lol. Summer's here!!!
Summer's here too, which means that the island is much emptier....everyone gone on vacation. It's quiet during the day, but lots of parties at night. WooHoo!
Oh My. This thread has an almost religious effect on me. Please keep posting the pics from South Pacific.