Dolphin escort
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Tuesday 8th
We left Puerto Aventuras around 8 am. Our destination was Bahio de Asencion. It only took us 5 hrs to get there. It is a huge bay that is an ecological preserve. Hundreds of species of birds, butterflies & other things we want to protect. When we got there, we followed the chart to an anchoring behind a little island that supposedly has a town on it. Never did see it. We were greeted by a pod of dolphins, 6 or 7, that took us most of the way to our spot. It was a lovely area. Not very protected by the wind tho, so the next day we moved over to the other side. Either the same group of dolphins escorted us or it was another, not sure. This place had more protection & we were able to get a better night sleep.
The next day we traveled another 24nm to Bahia de Espiritu Santo. So, we went from the bay of the Ascension to the bay of the Spirit of Christ. We must Be protected now! This bay is much smaller. At least you can see the other side of it. Still yet another pod of dolphins were alongside of us & hung around for a little while after we got anchored. Very quiet, Peaceful place, of course! Another sail pulled in at sunset & anchored near us. After a while, it sometimes feels like you are the only ones out there. So it was nice to have another human around. Because there really wasn't anything to do without a guide, & not knowing how to find one, we decided to take off the next morning.
Friday 11th - We could hear the wind howling when we left at 6:30 & knew we were in for a rough ride. This sailing stuff is NOT for sissies!
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05/07/2012
The 3rd dive, this morning, was the best. It ended up Being just the 2 of us & dive master, Nick, from 'Aquanauts'. When we descended, there was a really big loggerhead sitting on the bottom. Apparently they don't see very well & when it came to Fernando to investigate, it looked as if it was going to eat the camera. Ha! Pretty cool! We (the turtle & us) hung around & watched each other for a while & then we all swam off. The fans were huge. We saw crabs that were 8 inches around & really big pinchers. Lobsters, trumpet fish, tiny fish popping in & out of a huge coral head. Really cute! Schools of barracuda, yellow tail & pretty blue fish. Unfortunately, there were also quite a few lion fish. They tell us the problem is just as bad over here as back home. Too bad they are a dangerous species. They sure are beautiful. Our deepest was 67 ft. & we were in the water for 64 minutes. With each dive, I Am feeling more comfortable. This is only # 11 for me. Fernando is on # 39. I know I will get better & better at it. What an incredible world down there. Can we go again tomorrow?
Nope! Tomorrow we head south. We are cleaning Tradewinds, filling up with water & stowing all of our gear. We will try to get out of here by 7:00. We know there is current against us & we are going about 45 nm. It will probably take us about 5 or 6 hrs. to get there & it looks like we might be back on the hook again. We are both ready for a new place. Can life Be any better than this?
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Your diving adventures are so exciting to read about. I, too, am jealous. I am also a bit worried as it has been a while since you have blogged. I hope all is well. I'm looking forward to hearing something soon.
05/06/2012
We lost a few things in the storm on the way to Isla Mujeres. The coffee & sugar jars ended up on the floor - but - our Dear Friend Karen had given us these wonderful cookies & the tins are perfect for our solution. Thanks Karen!
By the way. These tins will hold exactly 1 package of sugar & 1 package of coffee. Not to mention, the cookies were awesome!
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05/06/2012
YELLO BIRD UP HIGH IN BANANA TREE. CHA CHA CHA BOOM!
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05/05/2012
We've been in Puerto Aventuras since Monday afternoon. It is a nice, big marina with condos surrounding it. The weather has been perfect. Getting a little more humid, as I Am sure it is everywhere.
Went diving the last 2 days. Wednesday the current was really strong. They do drift dives here. All ya do is get to the bottom & follow the dive master floating along. Very little navigation is needed, just go with the current. I was very challenged that 1st dive. Did not get enough weights & struggled to stay down with the rest of the group. I was given 4 extra lbs., but it really didn't help that much. Deepest was 75 ft & only 45 min. We had to surface before the rest of the group because I used too much air trying to swim down against current. Thursday the dive was awesome. 12 of us went in 1 group. Fernando & I both started out with 18 lbs & once on the bottom, it was easy peasy. Just controlling our depth with our breathing instead of fighting. The current was going in the other direction & slower, so it made it easier to control. This time our deepest was 69 ft but we were down for 67 minutes! Water temp was 81 degrees. Try & top that!!! We saw a couple turtles swimming by, some things I have no idea what they were, nice fans, colors & at the end of the dive there was a giant loggerhead turtle sitting on the bottom feeding. Really cool! We're looking to go diving once more before we leave, probably tomorrow.
Rolf & Emily & Ken & Carolyn (our dive buddies) & Fernando & I met for dinner at The Café Ole. Ribs were the specialty for the night. It was a very good dinner & really nice company. These couples are snow birds & will be heading north in a week or so. Rolf & Emily were kind enough to take us to Chedraui for groceries. We don't think there will be too much in the way of stores in Bahia de Ascension. So - we stocked up.
There is a vegetable stand on Saturdays, so we experienced that this morning. We bought beautiful mangos, bananas, cilantro, pineapple, lettuce etc etc. You have to soak everything to get the germs off. Otherwise you get introduced to Montezuma. Today is Cinco de Mayo. It's supposed to be a big celebration for I don't remember what. Have not seen any advertisements for any parties, which is ok by me. Want to get some good sleep if we're going to dive again tomorrow.
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